These days, it’s not paranoid to be concerned about cyberattacks and fraud risks.
The security firm, Gemalto reports that nearly 2 billion records were stolen or lost globally in the first six months of 2017 alone, an increase of 164 percent compared to the previous six months.
What can companies do to minimize financial fall out?
You certainly don’t want your cash management and liquidity to take a big hit due to a data breach. Today, treasurers are becoming a line of defense against fraud and cyberattacks.
To learn how treasury teams are strategically minimizing security risks, we spoke with Erik Bratt - Senior Director of Corporate Marketing and Communications at Kyriba, a trailblazing company leading the pack in Cloud Based SaaS Treasury Management. We will discuss how Treasury professionals are taking on more strategic roles and using modern treasury management tools to help prevent fraud and cybersecurity glitches—and minimize their financial consequences.
Q: How is the treasury function changing and what are the drivers of change?
"According to respondents to a 2017 Association of Financial Professionals survey, the increasing volatility of global markets, rising interest rates, and looming tax reform are causing chief financial officers and board of directors to look to treasurers for guidance on issuance of stock, repatriation of cash, and overseas investments strategies that will create the best outcome for their organizations.
Respondents further indicate that risk management and payment fraud detection and prevention are top priorities for corporate treasury."
Q: What skills do modern treasury professionals need to have?
"The treasury professional of today is expected to embrace a more strategic role to support executive decision-making.
With the demand for accurate cash positioning, treasury teams need to streamline key processes, reduce the cost of cash and unlock bottom line value.
Unlocking value isn’t enough, however.
Treasurers also need to protect their company assets by gaining skills and adopting the tools to detect and stop fraud in its tracks."
Q: What are some important security-related treasury trends for 2018?
"The top three emerging trends for 2018 are greater protection against fraud with machine learning, improved decision support and data visualization, and real-time payments. While the conversation about blockchain continues to make headlines, the application is not yet proven for treasury."
Q: Why is a cloud-based TMS the optimal solution to protect against fraud and cybercrime?
"Cloud solutions are better able to protect a company’s assets because the company’s financial data is offsite and in a highly secure cloud environment. Cloud-based treasury management vendors employ world-class data centers, adhere to best practices for data encryption, and are updated easily and efficiently several times per year.
The predictability of cost and offloaded IT support are compelling reasons for chief technology officers to champion cloud-based solutions. To maintain the level of security and support required to protect financial data is out of reach for even the largest enterprises. For organizations with multiple locations and mobile workforce, cloud solutions deliver the level of security required to keep financial data safe.
For more information about the value of cloud-based solutions and for someone who is unfamiliar with the difference between a true software as a service (SaaS) solution and hybrid models, Kyriba offers an in-depth report on SaaS and the Cloud."
Q: How does the modern TMS facilitate cash and liquidity management, while simultaneously accounting for fraud detection and prevention?
"A TMS significantly helps with cash management, payments and banking connectivity. These are the core daily functions of a treasurer. With a best-in-class TMS, global bank connectivity enables easy access to reporting on cash reserves, and allows treasury to automate cash position reports with informed guidance on how to allocate cash.
As chief executive officers and corporate boards demand better margins, automation of manual tasks relieves small treasury and finance teams of the burden of Excel spreadsheets. There are well cited reports on the self-inflicted pain of using spreadsheets that are worth referencing.
Cash management solutions within a TMS environment gives companies easy access to reports on cash payments activity. Where internal fraud is a risk, and especially in smaller organizations where separation of duties is not enforced, a TMS can add a layer of policy driven workflows that track and monitor payments activity.
Because payments fraud and cybercrime are major risks for all organizations, a solution like Kyriba’s industry first fraud detection and prevention module can provide critical automation to prevent cyberattacks. For example, organizations can enable payments to be screened against a range of scenarios that would indicate a need for review.
When payments are being made to a first time bank in a blacklisted country, the payment will be stopped and flagged for review before it is too late to review the payment, adding another layer of protection to mitigate risk of payments fraud."
Erik Bratt is a veteran technology marketing executive, helping accelerate brand awareness and drive lead generation capabilities for B2B technology leaders. He is currently the Senior Director of Corporate Marketing at Kyriba.
Previously, Erik held senior-level positions at Microsoft, Tealium, Ensighten and WebSideStory (now part of Adobe Systems). He graduated from San Diego State University.
Want to learn how you can maximize the value generated from treasury management solutions to fuel your continuous improvement and business success, reach out to our Kyriba experts today!