Banking
Published  6 MIN READ
Please note: this article is over 14 years old. If you feel this article is inaccurate or contains errors get in touch here . Many thanks, TMI

What Next for Cross- Border Payments?

 An Interview with Ebru Pakcan, Head of Payments, EMEA, Treasury and Trade Solutions, Citi GTS

Citi recently conducted a survey amongst over 250 companies across Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), which aimed to re-assess some of the challenges associated with cross-border payments. Making cross-border payments efficiently and cost-effectively remains a basic need for companies operating internationally, so Citi was keen to understand the challenges which exist today and how the bank can help. Some highlights of the survey results are illustrated below, but in addition, we are delighted to talk to Ebru Pakcan, Head of Payments for the EMEA region at Citi.

Were you surprised at the results of the survey?

Whilst not on the whole surprising, I was and continue to be fascinated to see that some of the basic payment needs never seem to change. I was particularly interested to see that so many treasurers said they continued to experience often considerable challenges in cross-border payments, perhaps unaware of the opportunities that exist to resolve these issues. For example, 34% of respondents indicated that they did not have visibility of the FX rates used for currency conversion, and 49% of companies hold non-resident accounts simply to make payments to offshore beneficiaries. These statistics alone illustrate that for a large proportion of firms, cash management has considerable complexity and a lack of visibility over important information required for benchmarking and accounting purposes.

As a result of this complexity, it is perhaps less surprising that such a large proportion (68%) of respondents indicated that they are intending to rationalise the number of accounts and currencies that they maintain, with 38% emphasising that this is a very important consideration. Some currencies create more challenges than others, particularly in Eastern Europe and Russia, and parts of Asia such as Korea. While regulations are changing in regions that have traditionally been more difficult from a payments and cash management perspective, significant challenges still remain.