A technological world

A letter from our editor

In this packed edition, a few key themes come to the fore. First up, corporate frustration with international payments. In our Insight & Analysis feature, European treasury teams say slow processing times, complexity, and time-consuming and costly management behind cross border payments remain an enduring bugbear. SWIFT, the global payments network that celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, holds solutions to their payments angst which often remain tantalisingly out of reach.

Payments are also front of mind for this edition’s Corporate View interviewee, Francisco Meyo, Corporate Controller at New York startup Masterworks. His resounding treasury wish is for better worldwide payment rails that will allow companies like Masterworks to send and receive money from around the world at high speed and low cost.

Meyo’s call for more technology and digitisation in treasury spans blockchain, APIs and AI. We take it one step further in this edition’s Technology feature. The possibilities of wearable technology are exploding. Not only does this mean increased efficiencies for the treasury and finance teams, but treasurers could also soon be wearing them to do their day job.

Speaking to treasury teams that successfully navigated SVB’s collapse, this edition gathers the key treasury requisites in a startup. Treasury needs to be agile and scrappy. As for strategies, bank diversity and careful investment of VC money and startup assets – rather than leaving large sums on account with risky banks – is essential.

Cue the edition’s final features where we explore the impact of higher interest rates. Corporates with money to invest are finally getting a return, putting MMFs back in the spotlight . We explore the regulatory environment and examine how investors and MMF providers are responding to the latest market conditions. Our Question Answered also explores the other corporate narrative behind higher interest rates. Companies that depend on cheap borrowing are feeling the pinch and timing refinancing is a crucial element of treasury strategy.

Read our May/June edition now - https://treasurytoday.com/magazine/may-june-2023