The geopolitical shock of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at the end of the awards period has compounded the challenges faced by treasury teams that were emerging from the impact of the Covid pandemic. The ability to assist corporates facing severe stress in their supply chains or in their working-capital requirements quickly, flexibly and effectively is a must under these conditions. UniCredit is again named western Europe’s best bank for transaction services in recognition of the progress that it has made in this regard.
The Italian bank stands out for its commitment to seamless trade finance and working-capital solutions that seek to mitigate risks and uncertainty.
It has broadened out its online trade-finance solution Trade Finance Gate and has incorporated enhanced compliance checks in its Trade Finance OCR tool, which deploys optical character recognition and artificial intelligence to scan trade documents. The Trade Finance Gate platform was due to go live in New York towards the end of the awards period.
UniCredit’s new supply-chain finance platform combines supply-chain finance and dynamic discounting in one application, providing easy access to both products.
An important addition last year was the upgrade of its international payments offering, primarily to its FX tool, PayFX, which is one of only a few in western Europe that offers conversions based on real-time rates on a broad range of currencies.
PayFX now offers 140 currencies, including the Korean won, Taiwan dollar, Philippine peso and the Egyptian pound.
UniCredit has continued to invest in automation – adding a smart onboarding service that incorporates automated know-your-customer related checks – and increased the geographic reach of tools such as DocuSign.
Its e-banking application, which enables clients to manage their bank accounts – including those with other banks – through a single online portal, has been a mainstay of the bank’s offering for years. During the awards period its functionality was improved through the implementation of end-to-end automation for all processes, from account opening to contract signing.
This year, corporates of all sizes have been seeking to maximize liquidity and manage the complexities posed by ongoing economic uncertainty
Luca Corsini
UniCredit’s new multi-year plan is skewed towards the financial institutions side of the transaction banking business. This has increased focus on capital-light business lines such as clearing and FX services, which, unlike traditional lending services, incur no risk-weighted assets. The bank will, therefore, likely boost investment in these areas in future.
The recently launched International Payment Initiative is designed to boost global cross-border payments, payment services, product offerings and market share for both corporates and financial institutions. It includes the roll-out of an enhanced e-banking portal, which will create a seamless front-end solution where transactions can be initiated, monitored and managed in one place.
“This year, corporates of all sizes have been seeking to maximize liquidity and manage the complexities posed by ongoing economic uncertainty,” says Luca Corsini, head of global transaction banking at UniCredit. “We have risen capably to this challenge – bolstering our payments, trade finance and working capital offerings with streamlined digital services that allow our clients to react quickly and decisively.”
