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KEY FINDINGS
2015 AFP Transaction Banking Survey
of corporate practitioners are highly satisfied with bank services, but suggest the following areas for improvement:
HARMONIZATION OF BANKS
TIMELIERINFORMATION
KNOW-YOUR-CUSTOMER (KYC) PROCESS
2/3
92% of Organizations Have Relationships with Multiple Banking Partners.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 20+8% 38% 21% 13% 20%
Association for Financial Professionals
4520 East-West Highway, Suite 750
Bethesda, MD 20814
Phone 301.907.2862
Fax 301.907.2864
www.AFPonline.org
2015 AFP
Transaction Banking SurveyREPORT OF SURVEY RESULTS
September 2015
Underwritten by
Transaction banking has been a major growth driver for banks over the last five years, yet this growth has often been impeded by heightened competition, changing corporate treasurer expectations, and the impact of new regulations. Leading banks are keeping a keen eye on what is happening in the transaction banking market and evaluating their business and IT priorities accordingly.
For the third consecutive year, CGI is pleased to sponsor the Association for Financial Professionals® 2015 Transaction Banking Survey to help support banks’ growth strategies. This influential survey provides detailed insight into the transaction banking industry through the eyes of corporates and their bank service providers. It examines the needs and challenges of corporates, and also investigates the bank-to-corporate relationship from end-to-end.
The 2015 survey reveals another year of changing market dynamics, with nearly 50 percent of corporate respondents indicating they are looking to review or renegotiate their current bank partner relationships, despite high levels of corporate treasurer satisfaction. Regulatory changes, cash management and associated payments, FX, and open account services are driving this re-evaluation, as well as experimentation with non-bank providers. This is especially true with mid-tier corporates ($500k-$4.9bn in revenue).
Banks are taking note of this willingness to experiment outside the banking industry. One in three corporate respondents are open to looking at various new non-bank alternatives, including non-bank payment networks (38 percent), mobile wallet or similar providers (35 percent), and third-party know your customer (KYC) solution providers (30 percent).
Paradoxically, 58 percent of corporate treasurers haven’t changed their existing portfolio of financial relationships (33 percent of corporates have 11 or more relationships), citing financial stability and long-term strategic support as key reasons. However, there is a strong desire to consolidate relationships to drive economies of scale.
While many banks offer single-bank portals, corporates are looking to move to multi-bank portals due to increasing treasury department consolidation. There is a significant opportunity for banks to enhance their offer-ings by harmonizing standards among banks, offering real-time information and streamlining the KYC process.
Corporates are frustrated by the lack of consistent file formats and data standards, as well as IT testing costs among their various bank service providers. Their demands also reflect the rising importance of online and mobile services, with nearly 60 percent of corporates citing both as important criteria in selecting a bank.
Ultimately, developing and building strong partnerships with corporates is key to bank growth and success. Corporates desire a solid strategic partner with whom they can implement long-term successful solutions. It’s important for bank partners to make a conscientious effort to understand their corporate customers’ business and operations, so that the bank-to-corporate partnership can be elevated to the next level. Ninety-four percent of corporates agree with this view.
It is encouraging to see then, that when considering their future growth strategies 43 percent of bank respondents suggest that enhancing the customer experience is their top focus, ahead of cost efficiency (23 percent) and innovative offerings (24 percent). To execute any of these strategies, technology plays a key role, with both corporates and banks citing technology-based capabilities as a key determination factor in selecting a bank partner.
Improvements in standardization, access, and information delivery would lead to greater efficiencies and strengthen the bank-to-corporate relationship. Going forward, leading banks are also focusing on digital banking; offering multi-bank portals, value-add services and real-time payments is high on their IT agendas.
CGI is a global leader in providing business consulting, systems integration, outsourcing and software to wholesale banks around the world. We hope this report will provide you with useful insight into the transactional bank-to-cor-porate relationship and assist you when considering your future growth strategy. If you wish to discuss this research in more detail or learn more about how we can support you, please contact us at banking.solutions@cgi.com.
Penny HembrowVice-President, Global BankingCGI
©2015 Association for Financial Professionals, Inc. All Rights Reserved www.AFPonline.org 1
2015 AFP Transaction Banking Survey
IntroductionOrganizations and their banking service providers share an important relationship.
Regardless of their size almost all companies perform tasks which include processing cash,
meeting payroll, and paying vendors and for other services. Larger companies may need
their banks to provide a host of services both domestically and internationally and thus
have greater expectations of their banking partners. While smaller organizations may make
fewer demands on their banks in terms of services and global reach, they might want more
of a partnership with their banks; in some instances companies may even expect their bank
relationship officers to take on the role of strategic consultants.
Transaction banking services, or transaction banking, has evolved and is continuing to
change in the wake of new regulations. Just this year several banks have pulled back on
some of their strategies; some have reduced staff in key divisions. Banks have also been
exiting businesses in various markets. Banks chartered in the UK have had the largest
impact on their clients’ treasury departments. As new rules under Basel III are introduced,
more changes are expected and transaction services will definitely be affected. Because
banks are changing their strategies, organizations’ Treasury departments around the world
are also actively pursuing alternative strategies, engaging new banking partners or
extending their current relationships as a result. The ultimate solution sounds simple:
prudent bank relationship management. But companies also need to be open to developing
relationships with banking providers that might not have been considered in the past.
In June 2015, the Association for Financial Professionals® (AFP) conducted a survey of
corporate practitioners to gauge their organizations’ level of satisfaction with their banking
service providers. Additionally, the survey assessed the number of banking relationships
maintained, factors considered when selecting banking partners, banking channels and
access preferences. The survey also reached out to banking service providers to assess the
barriers they are facing, the services they are providing, and to examine whether they have
a grasp of their clients’ expectations. The survey results and conclusions in this
2015 AFP Transaction Banking Survey Report are based on the responses of 269 corporate
practitioner subscribers and 515 banking service providers. Many of the companies and
banking service providers that participated in this survey have operations that span the
globe and conduct business across multiple regions. For more detailed demographic
information see page 30.
AFP thanks CGI for its underwriting support of the 2015 AFP Transaction Banking Survey.
The research department of the Association for Financial Professionals® designed,
implemented and analyzed survey results. AFP is solely responsible for the content of
this report.
2 www.AFPonline.org ©2015 Association for Financial Professionals, Inc. All Rights Reserved
2015 AFP Transaction Banking Survey
Client Experience/SatisfactionClient Overall Satisfaction The majority of organizations are satisfied with their banking partners’ services. Two-thirds
of finance professionals indicate they are satisfied with the services their organizations’
banks provide, rating bank services a “4” or “5” on a 5-point scale. The share is slightly
smaller than the 70 percent that held this view in last year’s survey.
There are minor differences in client satisfaction levels across company demographics.
The largest percentage of corporate practitioners rating their banking partner services highly
are from companies operating primarily in North America (72 percent). Still, nearly two-thirds
of finance professionals based in Asia Pacific (63 percent) and Western Europe (64 percent)
rate their companies’ banking partner services a “4 or 5” on a 5-point scale.
With economic disparities across regions, the various regulations in place and overall
business expectations, it is not surprising that in Western Europe and Asia Pacific com-
panies’ levels of satisfaction with their banks are slightly lower than for those in the U.S.
Negative interest rates in Europe are likely the primary driver for any dissatisfaction among
finance professionals in that region, especially if banking counterparts are passing the cost
of the European Central Bank’s (ECB) negative deposit rates along to their clients.
More than 2/3rds of finance professionals
are highly satisfied with
their banks’ servicesOverall Satisfaction with Service Provided by Main Banking Partners(Percentage Distribution of Corporate Practitioners Rating Service “4” or “5” on a 5-point scale)
Highly satisfied (4 or 5 rating)
Less than highly satisfied (1, 2 or 3 rating)68%
32%
Overall Satisfaction with Service Provided by Main Banking Partners(Percentage Distribution of Corporate Practitioners Rating Service “4” or “5” on a 5-point scale)
Revenue Revenue Less Than Between Revenue $500 $500 Million- At Least Publicly Privately Asia North Western All Million 4.9 Billion $5 Billion Traded Held Pacific America Europe
Very Satisfied (5) 16% 18% 17% 13% 16% 13% 13% 21% 13%
(4) 52 52 53 54 47 54 50 51 51
(3) 29 26 28 28 31 31 34 26 30
(2) 3 5 2 4 6 3 3 3 6
Not Satisfied at All (1) – – – – – – – – –
©2015 Association for Financial Professionals, Inc. All Rights Reserved www.AFPonline.org 3
2015 AFP Transaction Banking Survey
Reviewing Banking Relationships While a slight majority of corporate practitioners (52 percent) participating in the survey
indicate their organizations are not going to review strategy with their main banking partners,
nearly half (48 percent) plan to do so. About one-fourth (23 percent) of companies are nego-
tiating banking contracts and 25 percent are either actively seeking new banking partners in
key areas or have plans to move their business accordingly.
While there is not much variance across organization demographics, a larger share of compa-
nies that operate primarily in North America are more inclined to maintain the status quo with
their banking partners than are those organizations in Asia Pacific and Western Europe.
Review of Strategic Relationship with Main Banking Partner (Percentage Distribution of Corporate Practitioners)
Revenue Revenue Less Than Between Revenue $500 $500 Million- At Least Publicly Privately Asia North Western All Million 4.9 Billion $5 Billion Traded Held Pacific America Europe
Renegotiating banking contracts 23% 24% 15% 28% 21% 25% 20% 20% 23%
Seeking new banking partners in key geographies 16 18 23 9 18 21 14 15 18
Will have to move business accordingly 9 6 8 13 11 8 11 8 9
Not reviewing strategy with main banking partners 52 52 54 51 49 46 54 56 50
Of those organizations with plans to assess their current strategic relationships with their
main banking partners, a majority are planning to focus on cash management (62 percent)
and payments (58 percent). Other product areas of concern are foreign exchange (FX,
including hedging) cited by 45 percent of corporate practitioners, open account (42 percent)
and trade finance (40 percent).
Again there are differences across company demographics. A greater share (79 percent)
of mid-size organizations—those with annual revenues between $500 million and
$4.9 billion—have plans to review cash management compared to the shares of their
counterparts at smaller (50 percent) and larger organizations (61 percent). Foreign exchange
is also on the list of products to be reviewed by a greater share of mid-size companies
(54 percent) than larger or smaller organizations (43 percent and 50 percent, respectively).
Results also differ depending on ownership type. Publicly traded companies are more
likely to spotlight cash management, payments, FX, depository services and pooling/net-
ting than are privately held organizations. On the flip side, privately held companies are
more likely than publicly traded ones to review trade finance and liquidity.
Although it is a product area of prime concern for companies in all three regions, cash
management is a focus for a larger share of North American companies (76 percent) than
those operating primarily in Asia Pacific (66 percent) or Western Europe (70 percent).
Conversely, foreign exchange (including hedging) is more likely to be cited as a product
under review by finance professionals representing those companies that operate primarily in
Asia Pacific (55 percent) and Western Europe (58 percent) than those from North America
(46 percent).
52% of corporate
practitioners do not
plan to review strategy
with their organizations’
banking partners
4 www.AFPonline.org ©2015 Association for Financial Professionals, Inc. All Rights Reserved
2015 AFP Transaction Banking Survey
Often due to regulatory changes, banks need to revise their balance sheets; thus many
cash management products are affected by those same regulatory changes. In addition,
many banks are eager to increase their share of the wallet with their corporate clients and
consequently corporate Treasury departments try to find ways to support their banking
service providers. Treasury departments may take a product-by-product approach and add
“best in class” products. Companies and their Treasury departments may also rely on a
consortium of banks rather than limiting their interactions with one bank or a few banking
partners. Other factors influencing a company’s need to review products or renegotiate a
banking relationship contract include changes in geographies (where companies are based)
or expanding operations into new markets.
Products Under Review(Percent of Corporate Practitioners Planning to Assess Current Relationships with their Main Banking Partners)
Revenue Revenue Less Than Between Revenue $500 $500 Million- At Least Publicly Privately Asia North Western All Million 4.9 Billion $5 Billion Traded Held Pacific America Europe
Cash management 62% 50% 79% 61% 64% 59% 66% 76% 70%
Payments 58 57 61 61 61 56 61 58 58
FX (including hedging) 45 50 54 43 58 38 55 46 58
Open account (payables and receivables) 42 40 46 48 44 41 43 56 44
Trade finance (letters of credit, collections) 40 47 46 35 36 49 39 32 37
Credit 35 40 29 48 39 41 36 38 37
Depository services 32 37 32 30 33 23 27 32 28
Pooling/netting 31 27 39 43 44 28 43 38 44
Liquidity 29 40 32 17 22 33 36 32 28
Investment banking/capital markets 22 30 18 13 19 18 23 16 14
Forecasting 12 13 11 13 14 10 11 12 9
©2015 Association for Financial Professionals, Inc. All Rights Reserved www.AFPonline.org 5
2015 AFP Transaction Banking Survey
Reliability of Non-Bank Services or New Technologies No single non-bank service or technology received a majority vote (more than 50%) from
corporate practitioner respondents. The three items considered most reliable by about
one-third of finance professionals are alternative (non-bank) payment networks (38 percent),
mobile wallet or similar providers (35 percent) and third party KYC (“know your customer”)
service providers (30 percent). One likely reason for these relatively low percentages is
that some of these services are industry specific. Additionally, KYC providers are relatively
recent entrants.
Products Under Review(Percent of Corporate Practitioners Planning to Assess Current Relationships with their Main Banking Partners)
Reliability of Non-Bank Services and New Technologies(Percent of Corporate Practitioners)
Revenue Revenue Less Than Between Revenue $500 $500 Million- At Least Publicly Privately Asia North Western All Million 4.9 Billion $5 Billion Traded Held Pacific America Europe
Alternative (non-bank) payment networks 38% 40% 32% 44% 37% 32% 33% 38% 31%
Mobile wallet or similar providers 35 42 26 44 24 43 32 36 35
Third party KYC service providers 30 30 29 30 34 28 37 23 27
Third party on-boarding service providers 24 19 32 30 41 19 29 20 35
Non-bank FX providers 24 28 24 22 22 28 26 26 33
NFC Enabled Mobile Pay 18 21 18 19 15 23 14 21 17
Cryptocurrencies 7 7 6 11 5 9 9 7 8
Block-chain or decentralized consensus ledgers 6 7 6 7 5 11 9 5 6
Other 4 2 6 7 10 2 5 3 6
Bank Growth Strategies When considering future growth strategies, 43 percent of banking service providers are moving
towards a global banking model while 27 percent have plans to adopt a regional model. Three
out of ten banks are considering a blended regional and global banking approach.
Half of banking service providers (51 percent) that participated in this survey plan to focus
on their customers’ experiences when considering their business growth strategies. Other
areas banks plan on emphasizing are cost efficiency and innovative offerings (each cited by
23 percent of bank respondents).
6 www.AFPonline.org ©2015 Association for Financial Professionals, Inc. All Rights Reserved
2015 AFP Transaction Banking Survey
Reasons for Change in Banking Relationships The majority of organizations (58 percent) have maintained the same number of banking
relationships since the beginning of 2015 (i.e., the past six months). Three out of ten (30 percent)
finance professionals report that their companies have increased the number of banking partners.
A larger share of corporate practitioners from smaller organizations (annual revenues of less than
$500 million) than from midsized and large ones indicate that their companies have increased the
number of banking relationships in the past six months. The two main reasons organizations have
increased the number of their banking relationships are so they can gain access to credit (cited by
28 percent of respondents) and in order to spread counterparty risk (24 percent).
Changes in Bank Relationships in the Past Six Months(Percentage Distribution of Corporate Practitioners)
Revenue Revenue Less Than Between Revenue $500 $500 Million- At Least Publicly Privately Asia North Western All Million 4.9 Billion $5 Billion Traded Held Pacific America Europe
Increased 30% 32% 20% 23% 25% 26% 28% 24% 25%
Decreased 13 8 13 17 24 3 17 14 16
Unchanged 58 60 67 60 51 71 55 62 60
But multiple banking partners can be a double-edged sword. Having numerous banking
partners and managing relationships with each of them can be costly. Consequently,
organizations stand to benefit from economies of scale by consolidating their banking rela-
tionships. A majority of corporate practitioners hold that view, as over half (53 percent) report
the primary reason their companies are consolidating their banking relationships is to be
cost-effective and exploit economies of scale. Smaller companies and privately held ones are
more likely to consolidate banking relationships in order to enjoy economies of scale than
are their counterparts at larger organizations and those that are publicly owned.
Reasons for Consolidating Banking Relationships(Percentage Distribution of Corporate Practitioners)
Revenue Revenue Less Than Between Revenue $500 $500 Million- At Least Publicly Privately Asia North Western All Million 4.9 Billion $5 Billion Traded Held Pacific America Europe
Economies of scale-easier to maintain fewer bank relationships 53% 46% 65% 47% 49% 60% 56% 55% 55%
Products and services related issues 18 25 5 16 20 10 9 13 15
Changes in credit facility and bank’s appetite to extend credit 14 21 15 11 11 20 12 10 12
Fewer banks that are global or that cover us 10 4 15 16 14 10 16 12 12
KYC or regulatory reasons 4 - – 5 3 – 2 8 3
53% of corporate practitioners report cost effectiveness as the primary reason for consolidating banking relationships
©2015 Association for Financial Professionals, Inc. All Rights Reserved www.AFPonline.org 7
2015 AFP Transaction Banking Survey
Client Overall Satisfaction with Specific Services Companies’ levels of satisfaction with specific services vary, although a majority of corporate
practitioners rate most services either a “4” or “5” on a 5-point scale. Payments and cash manage-
ment are the most highly rated, with 77 percent and 71 percent of finance professionals scoring
those services as a “4” or “5,” respectively. Those shares are significantly larger than in last year’s
survey in which 56 percent of respondents rated payments highly and 54 percent rated cash
management a “4” or “5.” Following closely behind are FX services (including hedging) with 69
percent of corporate practitioners rating it highly, credit and trade finance (68 percent), and liquid-
ity (66 percent).
Similar to results in last year’s survey, forecasting scored a “4” or “5” with the smallest share of
respondents—41 percent—although that share is much larger than the 22 percent last year. But this
result should not be surprising. Cash forecasting is unique to each company and the forecasting
process differs at each organization. With such unique structures in place, unless banking providers
are able to customize their forecasting services, it is likely that corporate practitioners will continue to
be less satisfied with this feature compared to others.
Satisfaction levels differ across organization demographics. Corporate practitioner respondents
from privately held companies are less satisfied with payments than are those from publicly traded
organizations (60 percent versus 75 percent). Smaller companies with annual revenues less than
$500 million are not as satisfied (60 percent) with the foreign exchange services provided by their
banks as are their counterparts at mid-sized organizations (73 percent) and larger organizations
(76 percent). Open account payables are rated higher by smaller organizations than larger ones.
Reasons for Consolidating Banking Relationships(Percentage Distribution of Corporate Practitioners)
Overall Satisfaction Provided by Main Banking Partners for Each Service(Percent of Corporate Practitioners Rating Service a “4” or “5” on a 5-point scale)
Revenue Revenue Less Than Between Revenue $500 $500 Million- At Least Publicly Privately Asia North Western All Million 4.9 Billion $5 Billion Traded Held Pacific America Europe
Payments 77% 79% 78% 73% 75% 60% 69% 67% 63%
Cash management 71 66 77 69 61 65 61 65 59
FX (including hedging) 69 60 73 76 71 75 71 79 65
Credit 68 68 74 64 71 71 74 73 67
Trade finance (letters of credit, collections) 68 65 70 71 68 56 62 63 62
Liquidity 66 65 63 64 38 41 43 35 45
Open account (payables and receivables) 62 67 59 60 73 54 69 67 73
Pooling/netting 61 50 64 75 63 54 63 63 64
Investment banking/capital markets 58 56 60 59 69 67 72 76 71
Forecasting 41 44 33 41 69 62 72 71 70
8 www.AFPonline.org ©2015 Association for Financial Professionals, Inc. All Rights Reserved
2015 AFP Transaction Banking Survey
Valuable Aspects in Relationship with Main Banking PartnersTo ensure a successful partnership, organizations and their banking service providers
need to develop and then foster a strong relationship. Banking partners need to make a
conscientious effort to understand their clients’ businesses and operations. That simple
approach can help move a company/bank partnership to a higher level.
A vast majority of corporate practitioners—94 percent—agree with that view. Many also
believe that it would be valuable if their bank providers acted as a strategic partner and
worked with companies on longer-term solutions (90 percent). Additionally, a similar share
of finance professionals (85 percent) indicate they would like to see their banks’ relation-
ship officers act as strategic consultants rather than simply sell them banking services.
These results validate the view that clients would like to work with their banks more
closely and view them as business partners rather than just banking service providers.
Ultimately, a successful company/bank relationship is one in which a banking partner
fully understands a client’s business; this allows an organization’s Treasury function to
focus on more strategic solutions rather than worry about educating banking partners on
how the business operates. A knowledgeable banking partner that understands a client’s
business becomes a true resource to Treasury and can provide more value-added services.
Valuable Aspects in Relationships with Main Banking Partners(Percent of Corporate Practitioners Rating the Level of Value a “4” or “5” on a 5-point scale)
Bank’s understanding of the organization’s business and operations
Bank acts as a strategic partner and works for longer term solutions
Relationship officer’s ability to not just sell the organization on products, but acts as a value-added consultant
Bank provides credit and/or unique capabilities
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
94%
90%
85%
77%
The vast majority of both corporate practitioners and banking service providers indicate that financial stability of the bank and strategic support are the most important factors when establishing a banking relationship
©2015 Association for Financial Professionals, Inc. All Rights Reserved www.AFPonline.org 9
2015 AFP Transaction Banking Survey
Bank SelectionCorporate Practitioner Perspective Treasury professionals consider a number of factors when establishing a bank relationship.
The two most important criteria cited by a vast majority of respondents are:
• Financial stability of the bank (92 percent rating it either “4” or “5” on a 5-point scale)
• Selecting a provider that best supports the organization from a strategic standpoint
(91 percent)
Other factors considered important by a majority of respondents are technology platform
and capabilities (cited by 84 percent of respondents), selecting the best in class providers of
products (82 percent) and the global footprint of the bank (67 percent). Of least importance to
finance professionals is finding providers for services and then seeking credit to obtain them
(35 percent).
Factors Considered When Organizations Establish a Banking Relationship(Percent of Corporate Practitioners Rating the Level of Value a “4” or “5” on a 5-point scale)
Financial stability of the bank
Selecting a provider that best supports the organization from a strategic standpoint
Technology platform and capabilities
Selecting the best in class providers of products
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
92%
91%
84%
82%
Global footprint of the bank
Selecting the lowest cost providers of products
Historical relationship between the bank and the organization
Online and mobile service and product offerings
67%
66%
63%
59%
Allocating bank relationship services in proportion to credit supported
Finding providers for services and seeking to obtain credit from them
56%
35%
10 www.AFPonline.org ©2015 Association for Financial Professionals, Inc. All Rights Reserved
2015 AFP Transaction Banking Survey
Large organizations with annual revenues of at least $5 billion, publicly traded compa-
nies, and those with operations primarily in Asia Pacific and Western Europe are far more
likely than other organizations to consider the global footprint of the bank an important
factor when selecting a banking partner. This is understandable: larger companies and
those which are publicly traded are more likely to conduct business globally than are
smaller ones and those which are privately held. A larger share (66 percent) of finance
professionals from smaller companies with annual revenues less than $500 million cite the
historical relationship between the bank and the organization as an important factor when
starting a bank relationship than do finance professionals from mid-size (57 percent) and
larger organizations (54 percent).
Factors Considered when Establishing a Banking Relationship(Percent of Corporate Practitioners Rating the Level of Importance a “4” or “5” on a 5-point scale)
Revenue Revenue Less Than Between Revenue $500 $500 Million- At Least Publicly Privately Asia North Western All Million 4.9 Billion $5 Billion Traded Held Pacific America Europe
Financial stability of the bank 92% 90% 93% 93% 96% 89% 92% 96% 94%
Selecting a provider that best supports the organization from a strategic standpoint 91 90 90 98 99 86 95 91 89
Technology platform and capabilities 84 84 82 87 84 84 84 87 83
Selecting the best in class providers of products 82 75 90 79 83 79 85 84 81
Global footprint of the bank 67 55 57 79 80 68 80 69 77
Online and mobile service and product offerings 59 69 57 70 66 61 62 65 62
Selecting the lowest cost providers of products 66 65 62 61 70 52 65 60 61
Historical relationship between the bank and the organization 63 66 57 54 58 58 52 55 51
Allocating bank relationship services in proportion to credit supported 56 57 49 62 62 54 61 54 64
Finding providers for services and then seeking to obtain credit from them 35 45 27 32 33 36 36 26 33
©2015 Association for Financial Professionals, Inc. All Rights Reserved www.AFPonline.org 11
2015 AFP Transaction Banking Survey
Banking Service Provider Perspective Banks should have a strong understanding of their client’s expectations in a banking
provider. The attributes that banking service providers indicate are important to their clients
when selecting a bank partner are similar to those cited by corporate practitioners. Those
include the top-two-ranked attributes: a bank’s financial stability and a bank that best
supports the organization from a strategic standpoint.
There are a few discrepancies between the two groups. For example, while two-thirds
(67 percent) of corporate practitioners report a bank’s global footprint is an important
selection criteria, 56 percent of banking service providers see this as an important
consideration when their clients choose a bank.
Factors Considered Important by Clients when Establishing a Banking Relationship(Percent of Banking Service Providers Rating the Level of Importance a “4” or “5” on a 5-point scale)
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
92%
90%
84%
80%
74%
74%
64%
56%
Financial stability of the bank
Supports the organization from a strategic standpoint
Technology platform and capabilities
Selecting the best in class providers of products
Historical relationship between the bank and the organization
Allocating bank relationship services in proportion to credit supported
Online and mobile service and product offerings
Global footprint of the bank
Selecting the lowest cost providers of products
Finding providers for services and seeking to obtain credit from them
51%
42%
12 www.AFPonline.org ©2015 Association for Financial Professionals, Inc. All Rights Reserved
2015 AFP Transaction Banking Survey
Mobile Solutions Slightly more than half of corporate practitioners cite online and mobile services as
important criteria when selecting their bank. Banks are responding to that demand, with
the majority of banks offering such services in a variety of areas.
Two-thirds of banking service providers participating in the survey offer mobile solutions
to their corporate clients. An overwhelming majority of that two-thirds offer payments and
cash management solutions, 92 percent and 89 percent, respectively. Much smaller shares
of banking service providers have expanded their services in the areas of bank-assisted open
account, forecasting and approved payables finance.
Banks Offering Mobile Solutions for Corporate Clients(Percent of Banking Service Providers)
Payments
Cash management
FX
Trade finance
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
92%
89%
64%
58%
Liquidity
Pooling/netting
Integrated payables
Receivables finance
56%
48%
41%
38%
Integrated receivables
Forecasting
36%
28%
Bank-assisted open account
Approved payables finance (reverse factoring)
28%
25%
The vast majority
of mobile solutions
offered by banks
are payments and
cash management
solutions
©2015 Association for Financial Professionals, Inc. All Rights Reserved www.AFPonline.org 13
2015 AFP Transaction Banking Survey
Product Areas Covered by Online or Mobile Banking Solutions (Percent of Banking Services Providers)
Revenue Revenue Less Than Between Revenue $500 $500 Million- At Least Asia North Western
All Million 4.9 Billion $5 Billion Pacific America Europe
Payments 92% 86% 97% 95% 97% 93% 96%
Cash management 89 86 92 93 89 90 90
FX 64 44 60 72 75 65 75
Trade finance 58 30 52 66 73 55 66
Liquidity 56 26 47 68 65 53 66
Pooling/netting 48 19 43 59 58 45 61
Integrated payables 41 19 25 56 53 48 48
Receivables finance 38 14 33 45 52 39 46
Integrated receivables 36 11 28 51 49 42 42
Bank-assisted open account 28 26 28 27 31 29 30
Forecasting 28 12 25 33 35 31 37
Approved payables finance (reverse factoring) 25 9 18 33 38 25 30
14 www.AFPonline.org ©2015 Association for Financial Professionals, Inc. All Rights Reserved
2015 AFP Transaction Banking Survey
Banking ActivityNumber of Banking PartnersThe number of banking partners with which organizations work regularly varies greatly. The
typical organization works with six to ten banks. Forty-six percent of organizations work with
one to five banks on a regular basis, one-third maintains relationships with six to 20 banks,
and 20 percent maintain relationships with 21 or more banks.
54% of organizations work with more than 5 banks on a regular basis
Number of Banks Organizations Work on a Regular Basis(Percentage Distribution of Corporate Practitioners)
1 bank
2-5 banks
6-10 banks
11-20 banks
21 or more banks
38%
8%
21%
13%
20%
Not surprisingly, smaller organizations tend to have far fewer banking relationships than
do larger companies. Seventy-four percent of organizations with annual revenues under $500
million work with five or fewer banks; only five percent have relationships with 21 or more
banks. In contrast, 36 percent of large organizations (those with annual revenues of at least
$5 billion) work with 21 or more banks and 26 percent from this group work with five or
fewer banks.
Number of Banks Organizations Work with on a Regular Basis(Percentage Distribution of Corporate Practitioners)
Revenue Revenue Less Than Between Revenue $500 $500 Million- At Least Publicly Privately Asia North Western All Million 4.9 Billion $5 Billion Traded Held Pacific America Europe
1 8% 19% 3% – 1% 15% 3% 11% 3%
2-5 38 55 38 26 32 42 28 35 29
6-10 21 16 27 19 20 20 24 20 21
11-20 13 5 13 19 15 10 15 11 18
21+ 20 5 18 36 31 13 30 23 29
©2015 Association for Financial Professionals, Inc. All Rights Reserved www.AFPonline.org 15
2015 AFP Transaction Banking Survey
Bank Accounts Maintained The typical organization maintains 26-75 bank accounts. That is well off the 76-149 bank
accounts maintained by the typical company last year. As with number of banking partners,
the number of bank accounts used or maintained by companies varies widely. One-fourth of
organizations have 10 or fewer accounts; 30 percent have 150 or more bank accounts.
An organization’s size plays a significant role in the number of bank accounts maintained.
Half of small organizations with annual revenues of less than $500 million have ten or fewer
bank accounts. Sixty-four percent of those with annual revenues of at least $5 billion have
150 or more accounts.
Number of Bank Accounts Used or Maintained(Percentage Distribution of Corporate Practitioners)
25%
20%
18%
30%
7%
1-10
11-25
26-75
76-150
More than 150
Number of Bank Accounts Used or Maintained(Percentage Distribution of Corporate Practitioners)
Revenue Revenue Less Than Between Revenue $500 $500 Million- At Least Publicly Privately Asia North Western All Million 4.9 Billion $5 Billion Traded Held Pacific America Europe
1-10 25% 50% 7% 11% 10% 38% 13% 18% 9%
11-25 20 27 23 6 17 20 20 16 14
26-75 18 11 20 13 15 10 10 18 11
76-150 7 2 15 6 7 10 13 10 16
150+ 30 10 35 64 51 23 43 39 50
16 www.AFPonline.org ©2015 Association for Financial Professionals, Inc. All Rights Reserved
2015 AFP Transaction Banking Survey
Centralized Treasury Functions Banking relationships can be influenced by an organization’s Treasury structure; that is,
whether Treasury processes are centralized or decentralized. Services that are directly
impacted by an organization’s income statement are normally centralized; this allows for
greater control of complex services and the expertise in a centralized service function is
naturally more concentrated. Foreign exchange and risk management are the two most
commonly centralized services (at 71 percent and 69 percent of companies, respectively).
Cash pooling/netting, investment services and credit services are centralized in at least 60
percent of organizations.
Services that are more decentralized have a higher dependence on local knowledge of
particular markets where such services are provided. Accounts Receivable and Accounts
Payable are two examples of these types of decentralized services. Regional shared service
centers typically support these initiatives.
71%
69%
64%
63%
60%
53%
51%
51%
Centralized Treasury Functions(Percent of Corporate Practitioners)
FX
Risk management
Cash pooling/netting
Investment services
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Credit services
All payment services
Trade finance
Accounts payable
Accounts receivable
Channel management
48%
32%
©2015 Association for Financial Professionals, Inc. All Rights Reserved www.AFPonline.org 17
2015 AFP Transaction Banking Survey
Centralization and Decentralization of Treasury Functions(Percent of Corporate Practitioners)
Decentralized/ N/A or Centralized Regionalized Do Not Use
FX 71% 16% 13%
Risk management 69 24 7
Cash pooling/netting 64 19 17
Investment services 63 22 15
Credit services 60 26 14
All payment services 53 44 3
Accounts payable 51 43 6
Trade finance 51 26 23
Accounts receivable 48 45 7
Channel management 32 26 42
18 www.AFPonline.org ©2015 Association for Financial Professionals, Inc. All Rights Reserved
2015 AFP Transaction Banking Survey
Banking ChannelsFinance professionals use a variety of channels to access their banking partners’ services.
Most common is the single integrated bank portal; 61 percent of corporate practitioner
respondents indicate that their organizations access services provided by at least one of their
banking partners via an integrated bank portal. Other channels include:
• multiple ports (separate channels for specific services at the bank) (cited by 36 percent
of corporate practitioner respondents)
• Treasury workstation or host-to-host (31 percent)
• via SWIFT solution (26 percent)
• mobile apps from a banking partner (13 percent)
• access bank information by either paper or fax (11 percent)
Having a single integrated bank portal is the more preferred choice of smaller organi-
zations and those that are privately held. Larger organizations and publicly traded ones
are far more likely to opt for Treasury workstations or host-to-host systems than are their
counterparts at smaller companies and privately held ones.
Channel Used When Connecting/Accessing Banks(Percent of Corporate Practitioners)
Single integrated bank portal
Multiple portals(separate channels for specific services at the same bank)
Treasury workstation or host-to-host
Via SWIFT solution
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
61%
36%
31%
26%
Mobile apps
Paper based/fax
13%
11%
61% of survey
respondents use
a single integrated
portal as
their preferred
banking channel
©2015 Association for Financial Professionals, Inc. All Rights Reserved www.AFPonline.org 19
2015 AFP Transaction Banking Survey
Bank Access Treasury Workstation Fifty-three percent of organizations use Treasury work stations—and of those a little more
than half use an in-house/installed version and the remaining use a software service/ASP.
This is very similar to last year’s survey results in which 56 percent of corporate practitioner
survey respondents reported using a Treasury workstation.
Forty-one percent of companies are neither using a Treasury workstation nor do they
plan to install one in the near future. A very small share—six percent—does plan to install a
Treasury workstation within the next 12-18 months.
Channels Used to Connect/Access with Banks(Percent of Corporate Practitioners)
Revenue Revenue Less Than Between Revenue $500 $500 Million- At Least Publicly Privately Asia North Western All Million 4.9 Billion $5 Billion Traded Held Pacific America Europe
Single integrated bank portal 61% 68% 56% 53% 46% 68% 55% 64% 56%
Multiple portals (separate channels for specific services at the same bank) 36 32 44 38 41 38 38 41 44
Treasury workstation or host to host 31 10 34 57 45 22 45 34 48
Via SWIFT solution 26 20 20 36 37 21 38 28 34
Mobile apps 13 18 10 9 11 13 10 13 6
Paper based/fax 11 17 8 6 6 16 11 10 10
Use of a Treasury Workstation(Percentage Distribution of Corporate Practitioners)
29%
24%
41%
6%Yes—Implemented in-house/Installed version
Yes—As a software service/ASP
No—Currently not using a Treasury workstation
No—Plan to implement a Treasury workstation within the next 12-18 months
53% of
corporate
practitioners
use treasury
workstations
20 www.AFPonline.org ©2015 Association for Financial Professionals, Inc. All Rights Reserved
2015 AFP Transaction Banking Survey
There are sharp differences in the use of Treasury workstations based on organization
demographics. Larger organizations (those with annual revenues of at least $5 billion) are
more than twice as likely as smaller ones (with annual revenues of less than $500 million) to
have Treasury workstations (75 percent versus 33 percent). Slightly more than half
(55 percent) of mid-size companies (those with annual revenues between $500 million -
$4.9 billion) have Treasury workstations. A greater share of publicly traded companies than
privately held ones use them (66 versus 41 percent). There are regional differences as well.
Larger shares of companies operating primarily in Asia Pacific (40 percent) or Western
Europe (38 percent) have Treasury workstations implemented in-house/installed versus their
counterparts at companies with operations primarily in North America (24 percent).
Building a business case for a Treasury workstation—justifying the cost and the
necessary IT support—are two major hurdles companies and their Treasuries often have
to overcome as they move from Excel to a Treasury workstation. This explains in part the
greater prevalence of Treasury workstations at larger companies. Those (larger)
organizations typically have more established policies and procedures. Consequently, their
Treasury functions (or senior management) are better able to justify the cost of a Treasury
workstation in order to minimize errors and adhere to compliance and controls. In addition,
the more global an organization the greater is the need for enhanced Treasury workstation
capabilities. Companies that operate in a variety of countries and across borders often
need a more customized solution than an off-the-shelf SaaS/ASP version can deliver.
Use of Treasury Workstation(Percentage Distribution of Corporate Practitioners)
Revenue Revenue Less Than Between Revenue $500 $500 Million- At Least Publicly Privately Asia North Western All Million 4.9 Billion $5 Billion Traded Held Pacific America Europe
Yes – Implemented in-house/Installed version 29% 23% 22% 45% 31% 30% 40% 24% 38%
Yes – As a software service/ASP 24 10 33 30 35 11 32 31 32
No, we are not using a Treasury workstation 41 61 38 21 27 52 27 41 27
No, but we plan on implementing a Treasury workstation within the next 12-18 months 6 6 7 4 7 7 1 4 4
©2015 Association for Financial Professionals, Inc. All Rights Reserved www.AFPonline.org 21
2015 AFP Transaction Banking Survey
Preferred Bank AccessWhile a single integrated bank portal is the most commonly used form of bank access, the
use of a multi-bank portal—one portal providing shared access to multiple banks—is often
cited as a preferred form of access. Forty-five percent of corporate practitioners indicate
that their organizations prefer a multi-bank portal, 27 percent prefer single-sign on for each
bank to access all services, and only four percent prefer separate access/log in for specific
services at each bank. These results are comparable to those reported in last year’s survey:
41 percent of corporate practitioners preferred multi-bank portal access and 22 percent
preferred single sign-on access.
About half of both smaller companies with annual revenues of less than $500 million
(48 percent) and mid-size companies with annual revenues of between $500 million and
$4.9 billion (52 percent) favor access via a single portal providing shared access to multiple
banks. One-third of larger companies (with annual revenues of at least $5 billion) cite the
same preference.
There is a tradeoff between cost and bank agnostic solutions. Multi-bank portals are the
choice for many, but the downside is the banking provider will have visibility into all of the
bank activity that the portal utilizes. The advantage from an administrative standpoint is that
there is only one sign-on/token to manage. For some, this is a more cost-effective solution
than using a SWIFT connection which allows for more bank agnostic capabilities.
Preferred Bank Access Methods(Percentage Distribution of Corporate Practitioners)
Revenue Revenue Less Than Between Revenue $500 $500 Million- At Least Publicly Privately Asia North Western All Million 4.9 Billion $5 Billion Traded Held Pacific America Europe
Multi-bank portal (one portal providing shared access to multiple banks) 45% 48% 52% 34% 43% 51% 43% 43% 49%
Single sign-on for each bank to access all of the bank’s services 27 38 17 23 21 21 18 28 12
Via a SWIFT service bureau 10 3 12 19 14 9 17 13 20
Via SWIFT direct 8 5 5 11 13 4 8 6 6
Via SWIFT Alliance Lite2 6 2 9 9 6 7 8 4 7
Separate access/log in for specific services at each bank 4 5 3 4 3 6 5 4 4
Via other network providers 1 - 2 – – 1 1 2 1
22 www.AFPonline.org ©2015 Association for Financial Professionals, Inc. All Rights Reserved
2015 AFP Transaction Banking Survey
Types of Access to Bank Services Forty-five percent of finance professionals indicate they prefer multi-bank access and 39
percent of banking service providers are responding to that preference by providing their
clients with shared multi-bank portal access via online offerings. Two-thirds of banks are
offering their corporate clients mobile services and a similar percentage have the capability
of a single portal with access to all services. Fifty-four percent are offering their clients a
single sign-on feature. Larger banks (those with annual revenues of at least $5 billion) offer
their clients greater access to online offerings than do smaller ones.
Last year’s survey report noted that mobile services and the single-sign on capability
to access multiple banks were offered by 65 percent and 61 percent of banking providers,
respectively. This year’s survey results are similar: 41 percent of banking service providers
report offering their clients the shared multi-bank portal access.
Online and Mobile Services Provided for Corporate Clients (Percent of Banking Services Providers)
Revenue Revenue Less Than Between Revenue $500 $500 Million- At Least Asia North Western
All Million 4.9 Billion $5 Billion Pacific America Europe
Mobile 67% 52% 64% 75% 72% 70% 69%
Integrated (one portal for the bank with all services) 66 50 61 76 79 70 73
Single sign-on 54 37 49 66 60 66 63
Integrated (shared multi-bank portal access) 39 13 41 48 47 44 49
Separate sign-on (for specific services) 36 37 30 40 35 38 40
Do not provide online access 2 5 _ 1 1 _ 1
©2015 Association for Financial Professionals, Inc. All Rights Reserved www.AFPonline.org 23
2015 AFP Transaction Banking Survey
Areas for ImprovementWhile a majority of corporate practitioners are satisfied with their banking partners’
services, they also believe there are opportunities for banks to improve their offerings.
Similar to results in last year’s survey, harmonization of standards between banks topped
the list; 58 percent of corporate practitioners cite this as an approach that would improve
their banking partners’ services. Still, that share is lower than the 67 percent reported last
year. More timely information and a streamlined KYC process ranked second and third
as those services corporate practitioners would like to see improved (cited by 54 and 51
percent of respondents, respectively).
Desired Areas of Improvement for Banks(Percent of Corporate Practitioners)
Harmonization of standards between banks
More timely information (e.g., real time instead of next day)
Streamlined KYC process
Payment (remittance) tracking and reconciliation
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
58%
54%
51%
44%
Integration of data from many banks 44%
Improved ability to compare alternative services and prices (e.g., lending, factoring, swaps and other options)
Proactive guidance and advice
Greater support in service onboarding, including set-up and data input
38%
37%
34%
31%
SWIFT connectivity or being SWIFT capable
Additionalservices
24%
2%
Single entry of corporate data and preferences (for all services)
The most common
areas for improvements
cited by corporate
practitioners are
harmonization of
standards between
banks, more timely
information and
a streamlined
KYC process
24 www.AFPonline.org ©2015 Association for Financial Professionals, Inc. All Rights Reserved
2015 AFP Transaction Banking Survey
Why the consistent results regarding harmonization of standards? Various key services
require harmonization of standards between banks, such as enabling eBAM across a multi-
bank channel utilizing a single solution or utilizing bank billing standard formatted files.
These features are important as companies seek to have greater transparency in their bank
relationships to help manage costs, risk and maintain stronger bank relationships.
Over 80 percent of finance professionals from large organizations (those with annual
revenues of at least $5 billion) indicate that harmonization of standards between banking
providers is a top area for improvement. Those from smaller organizations (with annual rev-
enues of less than $500 million) consider harmonization a lower priority (46 percent).
Desired Areas of Improvements for Banks(Percent of Corporate Practitioners)
Revenue Revenue Less Than Between Revenue $500 $500 Million- At Least Publicly Privately Asia North Western All Million 4.9 Billion $5 Billion Traded Held Pacific America Europe
Harmonization of standards between banks 58% 46% 52% 81% 68% 57% 63% 59% 68%
More timely information (e.g., real time instead of next day) 54 63 40 62 52 60 55 45 51
Streamlined KYC process 51 37 50 68 56 49 60 58 57
Integration of data from many banks 44 49 35 47 42 43 52 44 43
Payment (remittance) tracking and reconciliation 44 46 37 55 44 40 36 45 43
Single entry of corporate data and preferences (for all services) 38 37 38 38 32 42 43 38 39
Improved ability to compare alternative services and prices (e.g., lending, factoring, swaps, other options) 37 42 32 40 38 39 43 32 34
Proactive guidance and advice 34 33 32 34 25 36 34 31 32
Greater support in service onboarding, including set-up and data input 31 30 28 34 35 30 35 30 34
SWIFT connectivity or being SWIFT capable 24 30 17 23 24 27 27 21 22
Additional services 2 - 5 2 4 – 3 4 5
©2015 Association for Financial Professionals, Inc. All Rights Reserved www.AFPonline.org 25
2015 AFP Transaction Banking Survey
ChallengesChallenges Faced When Integrating with a Bank for Cash Management ServicesPractitioners did highlight some challenges their organizations face when integrating with
a bank for cash management services. A majority of corporate practitioners cites file
formatting issues (57 percent) and the testing of IT procedures for bank services (52
percent) as the greatest constraints they face. A greater share of finance professionals from
large organizations (annual revenues of at least $5 billion) notes these two issues as
restrictions compared to respondents from smaller companies.
File formatting issues are greater obstacles for companies that operate primarily in North
America (62 percent) and Western Europe (61 percent) than for those in Asia Pacific
(51 percent). Publicly traded companies are more impacted by testing IT procedures for
bank services; 59 percent of finance professionals from these companies consider this a
challenge while 43 percent of those from privately held companies hold the same view.
When a company changes banks for certain cash management services, new file
protocols, delivery methods and security measures have to be tested. For instance, file
formatting is an issue for the majority of corporate practitioners due to the variability of
standards being utilized. At many organizations, there are different formats for delivery
utilizing the same standard. EDI—electronic data exchange—is an example of where the
standard can change based on the data format version utilized. Negotiating with the bank
on the file format is often when companies have to make concessions in the interest of
implementing a new solution. Testing this and other such services can add time to the
process in onboarding since the methods are typically different and require a company’s IT
support. It can often be a challenge to procure those IT resources.
Challenges Faced When Integrating with a Bank for Cash Management Services (Percent of Corporate Practitioners)
Revenue Revenue Less Than Between Revenue $500 $500 Million- At Least Publicly Privately Asia North Western All Million 4.9 Billion $5 Billion Traded Held Pacific America Europe
File formatting issues 57% 58% 51% 67% 54% 60% 52% 62% 61%
Testing IT procedures for bank services 52 38 47 67 59 43 63 55 60
Ease of implementation 41 46 35 43 37 45 41 42 42
KYC onboarding 37 25 40 48 43 34 51 43 48
Use of their security protocols 32 33 26 41 31 31 28 33 26
Differences between what was sold vs. what is to be implemented 30 29 21 46 38 28 35 25 32
Other 2 2 5 – – 6 2 2 3
Corporate practitioners
cite file formatting
issues and the testing
of IT procedures for
bank services as the
greatest constraints
they face
26 www.AFPonline.org ©2015 Association for Financial Professionals, Inc. All Rights Reserved
2015 AFP Transaction Banking Survey
Challenges for BanksIn addition to the opportunities and concerns corporate practitioners express about their
banking partners, banking providers, too, face challenges that may restrict their ability to
expand their business and improve the services they offer their clients. Foremost among
these barriers is regulations in existing countries, cited by nearly three in five banking
service providers. Additionally, 45 percent of banking service providers report they are
constrained by regulatory complexities in new countries or new markets of operation. Other
factors restricting bank growth and improved offerings include the systems limitations/
scalability of current infrastructure (cited by 44 percent of banking service respondents) and
fragmentation/silo of technology solutions and platforms (38 percent).
Greatest Barriers to Bank’s Growth(Percent of Banking Services Providers)
Regulations in existing countries
Regulation complexity in new countries
Systems limitations/scalability of current infrastructure
Fragmentation/silo of technology solutions and platforms
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
59%
45%
44%
38%
Providing a seamless customer experience omni channel 34%
Discretionary funding/investment
Cross selling in existing client base
Sales capability (availability, skills, training, tools)
30%
27%
23%
23%
Entry costs to new countries 20%
Multiplicity of legacy channels
59% of banking
providers cite
regulations in
existing countries
as the greatest
barrier to
their growth
©2015 Association for Financial Professionals, Inc. All Rights Reserved www.AFPonline.org 27
2015 AFP Transaction Banking Survey
The majority of finance professionals from large banks (with annual revenues greater than
$5 billion) cite complex regulations in other countries as a constraint holding back their
expansion. Larger banks have a wider scale of operations, due to their broader footprint,
client mix and extensive offering of products and services and therefore are impacted more by
regulations in various countries.
Greatest Barriers to Bank Growth (Percent of Banking Services Providers)
Revenue Revenue Less Than Between Revenue $500 $500 Million- At Least Asia North Western
All Million 4.9 Billion $5 Billion Pacific America Europe
Regulations in existing countries 59% 44% 49% 69% 70% 69% 70%
Regulation complexity in new countries 45 41 30 53 63 47 56
Systems limitations/scalability of current infrastructure 44 51 46 45 39 44 36
Fragmentation/silo of technology solutions and platforms 38 39 43 45 36 40 36
Providing a seamless customer experience omni channel 34 38 41 39 31 37 31
Multiplicity of legacy channels 30 30 41 31 41 27 33
Discretionary funding/investment 27 23 21 33 30 29 22
Sales capability (availability, skills, training, tools) 23 31 25 23 17 22 15
Cross selling in existing client base 23 20 28 23 20 20 21
Entry costs to new countries 20 20 23 21 26 18 22
28 www.AFPonline.org ©2015 Association for Financial Professionals, Inc. All Rights Reserved
2015 AFP Transaction Banking Survey
Conclusion The 2015 AFP Transaction Banking Services Survey highlights the multifaceted relationships
between corporate practitioners and their banking partners. As companies expand their
business operations and grow increasingly competitive, they also aim to contain their risks
and minimize exposure by maintaining relationships with providers that understand the
complexity of their businesses.
Organizations around the globe continue to be satisfied with services their banking part-
ners are providing them. Similar to last year, organizations with operations primarily in North
America are more satisfied with the services their banking providers deliver than are those in
Asia Pacific and Western Europe. There are some discrepancies with satisfaction among the
individual services offered by banking providers; payments and cash management are the
two most highly rated services by a majority of survey respondents; forecasting continues to
score the lowest score (as it did last year).
Although a slight majority of corporate practitioners indicates their organizations do not
plan to renegotiate banking contracts with their current partners or plan to seek out new
partners, slightly less than half report their companies are leaning towards doing so. For
those that are planning on a reassessment of their banking services, the majority plan to
focus on cash management and payments. This finding reiterates the crucial role these two
services play in a transaction banking relationship.
Financial stability of banks and selecting a bank that provides strategic support are of
paramount importance to corporate clients when establishing a relationship with a banking
partner. Banks also recognize that these are the top concerns of their corporate clients.
Even though a majority of corporate practitioners are satisfied with their banking partners’
services, they do believe there is scope for banks to improve their offerings by implementing
greater harmonization of standards between banks and offering more timely information
and a more streamlined “know your customer” (KYC) process. Such improvements would
lead to greater efficiencies at companies. Additionally, banks could focus on improving their
forecasting function which is clearly not up to their clients’ standards.
Virtually all corporate practitioners indicate that having their banking providers
understand their business and operations would be very valuable. Many indicate they would
like their banking service providers act as strategic partners and work together with them on
longer-term solutions.
Similar to results in previous surveys, a vast majority of organizations work with multiple
banking partners; three-fourths maintain more than 10 accounts with their banks. Finance
professionals use a variety of channels to access their banking services, with the single
integrated bank portal being most common. Despite that, the use of a multi-bank portal—
one portal providing shared access to multiple banks—is often cited as a preferred form
of access.
While corporate practitioners are generally satisfied with the services their banking
partners provide, it is clear there are opportunities for banks to do more to deliver on those
products and services in order to gain a competitive advantage. By considering and taking
into account the feedback provided by their clients, banks can gain an edge in the tightly
competitive banking services arena.
©2015 Association for Financial Professionals, Inc. All Rights Reserved www.AFPonline.org 29
2015 AFP Transaction Banking Survey
Key takeaways from the survey results:
• Two-thirds of finance professionals indicate they are satisfied with the services their
organizations’ banks provide.
• Among the services bank partners provide, payments and cash management are the
ones most highly rated; 78 percent of respondents ranked payments service a “4” or “5”
(on a 5-point scale); 71 percent ranked cash management a “4” or “5”.
• A vast majority of corporate practitioners believes that having their banking service
providers understand their business and operations is very valuable. Indeed, many
indicate that they would like their banking service providers to play a more strategic role
in their business (90 percent).
• Treasury professionals cite financial stability of the bank (92 percent) and strategic
support (91 percent) as factors they consider when establishing a banking relationship.
• Areas for improvements in banks include harmonization of banks (cited by 58 percent of
corporate practitioners), timelier information (54 percent) and a streamlined KYC process
(51 percent).
• A typical organization works with six to ten banks and 92 percent of organizations have
relationships with multiple banking providers.
• While a single integrated bank portal is the most commonly used one, the use of a
multi-bank portal—one portal providing shared access to multiple banks—is often cited
as a preferred form of access.
• About one out of three corporate practitioners is open to new non-bank
payment alternatives.
• Just under half of corporate respondents are planning to review their banking strategy
with their banking partners.
30 www.AFPonline.org ©2015 Association for Financial Professionals, Inc. All Rights Reserved
2015 AFP Transaction Banking Survey
About the SurveyIn June 2015, the research department of the Association for Financial Professionals® (AFP)
conducted the 2015 AFP Transaction Banking Survey. The survey was sent to AFP corporate
practitioner subscribers and banking services members. The primary purpose of this survey
was to better understand attitudes and emerging trends in banking services and also identify
how banking services are meeting the needs of finance professionals.
A total of 784 responses were received, 269 of which were from corporate practitioners and
515 from banking services providers. Due to the sample size obtained, regional analysis was
limited to responses from the Asia Pacific, North America and Western Europe regions.
AFP thanks CGI for its underwriting support of the 2015 AFP Transaction Banking Survey.
Both questionnaire design and the final report along with its all content and conclusions are
the sole responsibility of the Association for Financial Professionals®.
The following tables present the demographic profile of survey respondents.
Type of Organization(Percentage Distribution of Organizations)
Corporate practitioner working in my organization’s treasury/finance function 34%
Banking services provider 66
Ownership Type (Percentage Distribution of Corporate Practitioners)
Publicly traded 41%
Privately held 42
Non-profit 5
Government (or government-owned entity) 12
Annual Revenue (USD) (Percentage Distribution of Organizations)
Corporate Banking All Practitioners Service Providers
Under $50 million 9% 11% 7%
$50-99.9 million 6 9 3
$100-249.9 million 6 7 5
$250-499.9 million 7 9 6
$500-999.9 million 10 15 7
$1-4.9 billion 17 21 15
$5-9.9 billion 9 8 10
$10-20 billion 12 8 14
Over $20 billion 24 12 32
©2015 Association for Financial Professionals, Inc. All Rights Reserved www.AFPonline.org 31
2015 AFP Transaction Banking Survey
Scope of Organization’s Operations(Percentage Distribution of Organizations)
Corporate Banking All Practitioners Service Providers
Our business operates globally (across multiple regions) 63% 58% 66%
Our business operates within a single country 20 27 15
We primarily operate within one geographic region 17 14 19
Primary Geographic Region (Percentage Distribution of Organizations)
Corporate Banking All Practitioners Service Providers
Asia Pacific 23% 17% 27%
Central & Eastern Europe 6 5 7
Latin & South America 3 5 3
Middle East & Africa 12 14 11
North America 35 40 33
Western Europe 20 20 20
Industry Sector (Percentage Distribution of Corporate Practitioners)
Banking/Financial services 13%
Business services/Consulting 5
Construction 4
Energy (including utilities) 10
Government 6
Health services 5
Hospitality/Travel 1
Insurance 3
Manufacturing 25
Non-profit (including education) 3
Real estate 3
Retail (including wholesale/distribution) 6
Software/Technology 4
Telecommunications/Media 7
Transportation 4
AFP ResearchAFP Research provides financial professionals with proprietary and timely research that
drives business performance. AFP Research draws on the knowledge of the Association’s
members and its subject matter experts in areas that include bank relationship management,
risk management, payments, and financial accounting and reporting. Studies report on
a variety of topics, including AFP’s annual compensation survey, are available online at
www.AFPonline.org/research.
About the Association for Financial ProfessionalsHeadquartered outside Washington, D.C., the Association for Financial Professionals (AFP)
is the professional society that represents finance executives globally. AFP established and
administers the Certified Treasury ProfessionalTM and Certified Corporate FP&A ProfessionalTM
credentials, which set standards of excellence in finance. The quarterly AFP Corporate
Cash IndicatorsTM serve as a bellwether of economic growth. The AFP Annual Conference
is the largest networking event for corporate finance professionals in the world.
AFP, Association for Financial Professionals, Certified Treasury Professional, and
Certified Corporate Financial Planning & Analysis Professional are registered trademarks
of the Association for Financial Professionals. © 2015 Association for Financial
Professionals, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
General Inquiries AFP@AFPonline.org
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Phone 301.907.2862
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