This article is written by Cobase
Cash visibility is often discussed as a technical challenge. Better systems, faster feeds, more dashboards, more reports. But for treasury professionals, visibility is rarely just about tools. It is about people making decisions under real constraints.
For many treasurers, the challenge is not seeing numbers on a screen. It is trusting those numbers enough to act on them. When data feels uncertain, decisions slow down. When assumptions are unclear, confidence drops. Treasury professionals end up spending more time validating information than using it.
Julia Viktoria, Treasury Accountant at Vianode, experiences this daily. Working in a fast growing environment, she sees cash visibility as a responsibility rather than a feature. It is about making sure the information treasury provides is reliable, accessible, and useful for decision making. Visibility only matters if the treasurer behind it can stand by it.
Most treasury teams are not short on data. Bank statements, ERP outputs, forecasts, and reports are readily available. What is often missing is clarity. Treasurers are expected to connect information across systems, time zones, and departments, often under pressure.
When everything is visible at once, nothing feels clear. Treasury professionals can spend hours reconciling figures that technically exist but do not align. In those moments, visibility becomes work instead of support.
From a treasury perspective, true visibility is not about seeing everything. It is about being able to explain what matters and why it matters to the business.
Julia has seen how too much information can slow treasury down. When visibility turns into noise, every number feels questionable. Every assumption needs to be revisited. Decisions are delayed, not because treasurers are cautious, but because they are unsure which information they can rely on.
In those moments, treasury shifts from leading to defending. Instead of guiding conversations, treasurers are asked to explain discrepancies and timing differences. That dynamic puts pressure on the individual, not just the process.
For Julia, visibility loses its purpose when it stops helping the treasurer do their job with confidence and control.
Julia Viktoria has built her treasury experience across different environments, from more established organizations to fast growing companies. That journey shaped how she approaches cash visibility as a treasurer, not just as a process.
She learned that treasury cannot operate the same way at every stage of growth. What works in a stable environment can slow things down in a scale-up. Visibility needs to evolve with the business and support the treasurer behind it.
In fast growing companies, priorities shift quickly. Cash needs change. Forecasts evolve. Treasury professionals are expected to adapt without losing control. For Julia, visibility only works if it reflects reality as it is today, not as it was last reporting cycle.
As a treasurer, she focuses on making sure the information she works with is timely and accurate enough to support decisions in the moment. That human judgment is what turns visibility into something useful.
For Julia, cash visibility is not about producing reports. It is about being able to make decisions without hesitation. When a treasurer knows where the cash is and trusts that view, decisions become clearer and faster.
That confidence matters most under pressure. When the business moves quickly, treasury needs to respond with control rather than doubt. Visibility supports the treasurer, not the other way around.
Uncertainty is draining for treasury professionals. Without clear visibility, every question triggers a manual check. Every decision feels heavier because it carries unanswered risks.
Good visibility reduces that mental load. It allows treasurers to focus on judgment rather than constant verification. When that pressure is reduced, treasury work becomes more sustainable and more effective.
One of Julia’s strongest beliefs is that visibility improves when treasury processes are simplified. Adding more dashboards rarely helps the person doing the work. It often creates more noise.
From a treasury perspective, simplicity creates focus. Focus makes information easier to trust. And trust allows the treasurer to act.
Julia approaches visibility by prioritizing what truly supports decision making. Not everything needs to be visible all the time. Some information matters daily. Some weekly. Some only in specific situations.
Knowing the difference is part of being a good treasurer. It requires understanding the business, its rhythm, and its risks. That judgment is human, not technical.
Automation plays an important role in Julia’s work, but not because it is impressive. It matters because it removes friction from the treasurer’s day. Manual steps introduce delays and errors that increase pressure and reduce trust in the numbers.
When automation works well, treasury professionals spend less time fixing data and more time thinking about what it means.
Confidence grows when numbers behave as expected. When data arrives on time and aligns with reality, trust builds. Treasury stops questioning the foundation and starts focusing on decisions.
Automation creates consistency, but judgment remains human.
Julia believes forecasting should help treasurers make decisions, not impress stakeholders. Overly complex models can create doubt and hesitation.
Simple, disciplined forecasts that are regularly reviewed are more valuable. They allow treasury professionals to explain assumptions clearly and adjust when reality changes.
Forecasting is not about being perfect. It is about being useful.
When treasury has strong visibility, conversations change. Treasurers are no longer asked to explain the past. They are asked to help shape what comes next.
Clear visibility allows treasury professionals to speak with confidence. That confidence strengthens credibility and changes how treasury is perceived across the organization.
Julia’s experience shows that clarity supports both better decisions and better working conditions for treasury professionals. When visibility is clear and trusted, pressure decreases and confidence increases.
Treasury becomes calmer, more focused, and more effective. Not because everything is easy, but because the treasurer can rely on what they see.
Cash visibility is often framed as a data problem, but for treasury professionals, it is a human one. It is about being able to trust the information you work with and stand behind the decisions you make.
Julia Viktoria’s perspective shows that visibility works best when it supports the treasurer doing the work. When it is simple, accurate, and accessible, treasury can move from reacting to leading.
In the end, visibility is not about seeing everything. It is about giving treasurers the clarity they need to do their job well.
Treasury Masterminds is a community of professionals working in treasury management and those interested in learning more about topics such as cash management, foreign exchange management, and payments. To register and connect with Treasury professionals, click [HERE] or fill out the form below to get more information.
By Alexander von Schirmeister,
CEO at Nomentia
A bank portal still works. The ERP still produces data. A spreadsheet still calculates a forecast. A payment approval workflow still moves from one person to the next. Reports still reach the CFO, even if they arrive later than expected. From the outside, treasury appears to function. Inside the process, finance teams know exactly how much effort is required to keep that appearance of control intact.
Modern treasury cannot rely on disconnected systems because the questions it needs to answer are no longer isolated. Cash visibility depends on bank data, account structures, ERP information, payments in progress, forecast inputs, intercompany flows, financing activities, and exposures. Liquidity planning depends on operational data from the business, but also on treasury assumptions, market conditions, working capital movements, and funding plans. Risk management depends on reliable exposure data, but also on trade execution, hedge documentation, limits, reporting, and accounting. If each part of this picture sits in a different place, the treasury team becomes the integration layer.
That integration work rarely surfaces. It lives in copy-and-paste routines, manual file checks, email reminders, reconciliation notes, spreadsheet tabs, and individual memory. It is also where most treasury management challenges quietly begin.
Disconnected systems create time loss because data has to be gathered before it can be analysed. They create duplicated work because teams maintain local trackers even when central tools exist. They weaken cash visibility because the latest view may depend on which bank file has arrived or which entity has responded. They weaken controls because exceptions are harder to identify when workflows are not connected.
The CFO does not usually see the process friction. The CFO sees the answer. If the answer is late, inconsistent, or hard to explain, confidence falls. Senior leadership needs reliable responses to simple but high-stakes questions: How much liquidity is available? Which cash flows are expected? Where is working capital tied up? Are internal payments efficient? Which exposures are material? Are guarantees, hedges, and commitments under control? These questions cannot be answered well when the data behind them has to be rebuilt every time.
The 2026 Nomentia Treasury and Cash Management report highlights that many treasury teams are in a transitional phase. They have moved beyond purely manual treasury, but still rely on multiple systems and partial automation. The pattern is familiar: the organisation has invested in technology, yet treasury still spends too much time reconciling information and validating reports. The issue is not that systems are missing. The issue is that they are not connected enough to support the pace of decision-making.
Disconnected systems are especially risky in three areas.
The first is visibility. If cash positions, transactions, forecasts, and payment statuses are not consolidated, treasury may see parts of the picture but miss the direction of movement. A balance report can show where cash is today, but it does not explain whether the position is temporary, restricted, exposed, or needed elsewhere in the group. Visibility without context can create false comfort.
The second is control. Treasury policies often look clear on paper, but control depends on how processes actually run. Who can approve a payment? Which entities have followed the forecast process? Which exposures have been validated? Which guarantee is close to expiry? Which hedge relationship needs attention? When workflows are disconnected, control becomes dependent on manual follow-up. That may work when volumes are low, but it becomes unreliable as banks, entities, instruments, and reporting expectations increase.
The third is decision speed. In volatile markets, delayed answers are not neutral. A late forecast can affect funding decisions. A delayed exposure view can affect hedge timing. A slow payment status check can affect supplier confidence. A late view of guarantees or credit line usage can affect working capital decisions. Treasury does not need real-time data for every decision, but it does need enough connected information to avoid making decisions with yesterday’s understanding.
A modern treasury management system should not be judged only by feature breadth. The more important question is how well it reduces the gaps between systems, data, workflow, and reporting. A strong setup connects bank information, ERP data, payment processes, cash forecasting, risk workflows, analytics, and audit trails into a reliable operating model. That does not mean every company needs every module at once. It means the architecture should support growth without forcing the team to rebuild its processes every time complexity increases.
Most people researching a TMS today will start with a web search or ask Copilot, Gemini, or ChatGPT. The answer they get back is usually a feature list. That’s not wrong, but it’s incomplete. A good treasury management system helps finance teams centralise cash, payments, forecasting, risk, controls, and reporting so they can make better liquidity and financial risk decisions with trusted data. Features are how it gets there. That’s the distinction worth keeping in mind when evaluating whether your current setup is still fit for purpose.
The path away from disconnected systems does not always require a large replacement project. In many organisations, the better approach is to identify the most painful manual bridges first. Where does treasury re-enter data? Where does the team wait for local input? Where do reports need manual explanation? Where are approvals outside the system? Where is the same number calculated in different ways? These questions show where fragmentation is creating the most business risk.
Connected systems create reliable answers. They reduce the manual work behind cash visibility, improve the quality of cash flow forecasting, and support stronger controls and compliance. They help the CFO understand not only what the numbers are, but what they mean for liquidity, risk, and action. Disconnected systems may still function. But they make treasury work harder than it should, and confident decisions harder than they need to be.
Treasury Masterminds is a community of professionals working in treasury management or those interested in learning more about various topics related to treasury management, including cash management, foreign exchange management, and payments. To register and connect with Treasury professionals, click the button below.
This article is written by TreasuryCube
In an increasingly complex financial environment, In-House Banks (IHBs) have emerged as a strategic imperative for corporations seeking enhanced cash visibility, optimized liquidity, and streamlined intercompany transactions. Drawing insights from a recent presentation by experts at Citi and seasoned treasurers, let’s explore what makes an IHB not just an option, but a cornerstone of modern treasury management.
An IHB is a centralized internal financial entity that manages cash, investments, foreign exchange exposures, and intercompany lending on behalf of corporate subsidiaries. Acting as a “virtual bank” for the organization, it reduces the volume of external banking transactions and provides critical advantages in cash management, governance, and compliance.
Importantly, an IHB is not a regional treasury center, shared service center, re-invoicing hub, or physical licensed bank. It’s a bespoke solution that integrates deeply with corporate finance operations.
An IHB addresses several core challenges that treasurers face:
Real-world IHB implementations, like those led by Brook Ballard at Oceaneering, showcase the tangible benefits:
Intercompany netting further reduces payment transactions, bank fees, and FX costs by consolidating cross-border intercompany settlements.
While beneficial for many, IHBs are particularly advantageous for:
At TreasuryCube, we recognize that the modern treasury is not just about managing cash, it’s about unlocking strategic value. An effective IHB is a critical tool to help achieve that vision, especially when supported by integrated technology, skilled people, and proactive governance.
Treasury Masterminds is a community of professionals working in treasury management or those interested in learning more about various topics related to treasury management, including cash management, foreign exchange management, and payments. To register and connect with Treasury professionals, click the button below.
This article is written by our partner, FIS
The reality of payment fraud has shifted from a question of whether an attack will occur to a growing likelihood of when and how it will occur.
For finance and treasury leaders, the strategies that provided a sense of security a few years ago may be insufficient against a new breed of sophisticated and relentless criminals. A 2024 survey from the Association for Financial Professionals underscored this reality, revealing that a staggering 79% of organizations were victims of payment fraud attacks or attempts.
This is not a distant risk: It’s an active, daily threat that demands a fundamental change in an institution’s defensive posture. The traditional, reactive approach – detecting and responding to fraud after it occurs – is, in many cases, no longer a viable strategy. The time has come to build a proactive defense.
Today’s fraudsters are often not lone actors but organized, well-funded operations that use advanced technology and psychological tactics. They study organizational structures, identify process gaps and exploit the path of least resistance.
Business email compromise remains a dominant method, where criminals impersonate executives or vendors with alarming authenticity to redirect funds. We’re also seeing the rise of AI-powered deep fakes, where a trusted voice on a conference call can be convincingly spoofed to authorize a fraudulent transfer.
These criminals understand that the entire payment lifecycle, from the initial onboarding of a vendor to the final reconciliation, presents a landscape of opportunity. They target the seams in your processes, exploiting the very human desire for efficiency and speed. This “disharmony,” a term coined by a FIS® and Oxford Economics study, captures the friction between the drive for growth and the drag of persistent security threats.
According to the study, 75% of C-suite executives identify fraud as a critical challenge.
How can organizations overcome the evolving threat of fraud? The answer lies in shifting from a fragmented, manual and reactive stance to an integrated, automated and proactive one.
A truly effective defense begins by fortifying the most common entry points. The vendor master file, for instance, is the heart of the payables process and a prime target. A single fraudulent change to a supplier’s bank details can lead to catastrophic losses before anyone realizes an error has occurred.
Overcoming this type of threat typically requires more than just diligence: It often demands a standardized, technology-enforced process. It includes implementing out-of-band verification, such as a phone call to a preverified contact, for any change to payment instructions. It means moving beyond trust and implementing strict, automated validation protocols.
As transaction volumes grow, manual reviews can become an impossible bottleneck, creating the very noise that criminals use to hide their illicit activities. This is where modern solutions like AI-assisted anomaly detection become increasingly indispensable.
Unlike static, rule-based systems that can only catch what they are programmed to look for, AI and machine learning establish a baseline of “normal” payment behavior for each vendor and transaction type. These systems operate in real time, analyzing payments for subtle deviations in amount, frequency or timing that would be difficult for the human eye to detect. When an anomaly is detected, the payment is automatically flagged for investigation before it leaves the organization. This preemptive capability is a game changer.
Organizations can achieve a greater level of control by consolidating their payment flows through a centralized payment hub. Instead of managing disparate security protocols across multiple ERPs and bank portals, a payment hub provides a more unified point of visibility and control.
A payment hub enables the consistent application of security policies, approval workflows and fraud detection analytics across the entire enterprise. It standardizes an institution’s defense, creating a fortress rather than a series of disconnected fences. A payment hub integrated with a third-party account validation service provides another critical layer, confirming that a beneficiary’s name matches their account information before a payment is ever initiated.
Reduce fraud risk and strengthen controls with FIS Payment Hub – Enterprise Edition
The path forward for finance and treasury leaders requires a strategic pivot. It means recognizing that fraud prevention is not merely a compliance checkbox but a strategic enabler of business resilience and growth.
Building a proactive defense involves a holistic approach that integrates advanced technology, standardized processes and a culture of vigilant verification. By embracing AI-driven monitoring, centralizing payment operations and empowering employees with specialized training, you can transform your security posture from reactive to preemptive.
This shift does not just mitigate risk: It builds the confidence and operational integrity necessary to thrive in a complex financial world.
Treasury Masterminds is a community of professionals working in treasury management or those interested in learning more about various topics related to treasury management, including cash management, foreign exchange management, and payments. To register and connect with Treasury professionals, click the button below.
