Technology review: Freeing treasury to add real value
Payment systems review: Innovation pulses through the lifeblood of commerce
New technologies can save the corporate treasury department time and money and can also, some experts suggest, help in the battle against global warming, but only if they are used sensibly and effectively. The focus of new technologies, systems and services is continually changing.
Gartner Research estimates that 75% of a treasury department’s time is spent on collecting data. Bellin Treasury Services, the treasury management system supplier, suggests, "Stop collecting data and get back to the business of treasury". Bellin positions its product, TRDB Treasury Database, as a platform to benefit the entire group, not just the corporate treasury department. The emphasis of new technologies, systems and services is on freeing up the corporate treasury department to focus on adding real value and improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the organization as a whole.
Global warming and travel expenditure
Global warming could, according to the Stern Review on the economics of climate change prepared for the UK government in 2006, derail the global economy. The annual cost of climate change, the report estimates, could be more than 20% of global GDP yet the cost of reducing carbon emissions could be only around 1% of global GDP.