Multibank Relationship Management in Middle East and Africa

11 Multibank Relationship Management in Middle East and Africa Leveraging technology and digital tools Implementing a centralised TMS allows MNCs to monitor andmanage cash flows across multiple banking relationship efficiently. These systems provide real-time visibility into account balances, transaction tracking, and liquidity management thereby enhancing operational efficiency. Banks’ ability to connect with TMS via SWIFT is the key enabler of this functionality. Standardisation across banking partners or at least across all countries with a single banking relationship can reduce complexity and improve consistency. This approach facilitates easier reconciliation and streamlines communication between the corporations and its banks. This need has been often visible across emerging MNCs that were initially focused on business growth and not as much on treasury optimisation. Role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) inMulti-banking governance: AI has potential to enhance efficiency, visibility and risk management in treasury operations across multiple banks inMEA. However, its real- world adoption faces significant hurdles, fromdata fragmentation, regulatory barriers, manual processes to technology limitations and organisational resistance. We have not seenmany MNCs operating across MEA adapting AI for multibank relationshipmanagement, but AI tools are being gradually and directly embedded in platforms of selected banks and TMS providers which are subsequently consumed by MNCs in a fairly seamless way (ie. for cash forecasting, reconciliation, FXmanagement, user activity, payments or fee optimisation efforts). Implementing AI-driven solutions in treasury require significant investments in infrastructure, talent and system integration – having said that AI will not replace human decisionmaking for treasury management Bank and account rationalization Cost and efficiency Counterparty and risk management Cash and liquidity management • No. of bank accounts • No. of dormant bank accounts (or accounts with low activity) • No. of tier 1 bank accounts vs. other • No. of banking partners per region or geography • Aggregate bank fees • Total cost of bank account • FX transaction costs and spread analysis • % of transactions initiated via automated channels vs manual • % of transactions processed through preferred banks • % electronic to paper instruments • % of bank account statements integrated into TMS / ERP • % daily visibility of bank account balances • % liquidity pooled or swept by currency or entity • % trapped cash by currency or entity • Interest expense • Credit rating of banking partners or weighted average of credit rating • % of deposits and exposures held with tier 1 banks Examples of Treasury KPIs for effective multibank relationship management