Banks and Fintechs: Collaboration Not Competition

ISO 20022 is a globally adopted standard for financial messaging that is changing the way payments are made and processed. Developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the standard aims to increase efficiency and reduce costs within the financial industry by enabling the exchange of structured data between financial institutions and corporates.

Examining the common cash management pain points that law firms face and how Ceviant's solutions can help mitigate them.

The PSSP license enables Ceviant to offer a comprehensive range of payment services to clients in Nigeria, including electronic fund transfers and payment processing.

The partnership will enable Ceviant to build automated LEI issuance into its treasury platform, allowing companies, funds, and other financial entities to be accurately and efficiently tracked. The partnership reflects Ceviant's commitment to increasing transparency in international business and trade, while eliminating data duplication and enhancing compliance and risk management.

How Ceviant uses SWIFT gpi to make international payments swift, secure, and easy.

Open Banking allows third-party access to multiple bank accounts via APIs, giving banks new ways to add value and enabling competition from small players. Across the EMEA, open banking initiatives create standards which banks must meet, making it the future of banking.

Treasurers are responsible for the financial health of their organizations, and they must now take greater care when initiating payments and managing data flow. They need to be aware that every payment, whether it is a cash transaction or an electronic transaction, carries with it the risk of fraud. The pandemic has forced businesses to rethink their operations, which is why it’s so important for treasurers to keep up-to-date with the latest trends in technology, security and compliance.

Treasury departments are under pressure and must adapt to rapid technological advancement. Managing multiple liquidity pools, streamlining numerous payment types and maximising value are some of the treasury division's pressure points. With the rise of APIs and the inevitable shift to a digital-first approach, treasurers need to embrace change. This attitude has been further accelerated by the Covid pandemic and remote working, forcing institutions to reprogramme their business processes and workstreams.

Looking at the evolution of banking systems in Nigeria, it is clear there are specific services that banks in Nigeria are already offering, such as providing access to accounts and e-wallets. However, beyond creating accounts for customers, banks are often unable to effectively provide innovative value-adding solutions to customers because of a lack of technological expertise. This is exactly where fintechs fit in.

There are several challenges for companies in Africa with regard to managing cash but fintech is developing solutions fast to help businesses address these challenges.

Some Nigerian banks may resist fintechs because they regard them as competitors who are taking away their customers, but fintechs have a duty to explain to them that this is not the case. Banks have the banking infrastructure which is effectively complemented by fintechs’ IT solutions. Fintechs essentially help deepen the relationships that banks have with their customers by providing complementary services. Fintechs are not banks because they do not hold funds. Customers’ accounts are held in and managed by the banks and the flows through the accounts remain there.

The LEI future eliminates unnecessary data duplications for clients and financial institutions. Legislators have increasingly called for greater transparency in domestic and especially international financial transactions in recent decades. This is due to the need to curb crime, notably terrorist financing and money laundering. The regulatory environment has progressively extended the list of information that must be collected and stored about customers to achieve this.

Application programming interfaces (APIs) help consolidate enterprise payments and reduce the need for third-party intermediaries.

Streamlining payments into a simple and effective process can often be elusive to corporates. An ineffective payment system leads to inaccurate reporting, loss of valuable time and, ultimately, a distressed treasury department. These potential issues have been further amplified by the current business climate, where erratic supply chains and remote working environments have become the norm rather than an exception.