To weather the credit constraints, corporations have been leveraging the combined effects of payments and cash. Corporate transaction banking is a three-legged stool, and banks have to excel in building all three strategic legs to achieve full convergence: processes, people, and technology.

The credit shortage has affected corporate treasurers in many ways. Treasurers are now questioning the consolidation of their banking relationships. Counterparty risk has become an industrywide issue, with clients no longer just looking at product pricing and service levels, but also at the financial health of their banking service providers. Trust and confidence are a must in building a healthy bank-customer relationship. As a result of the crisis, there is an increased expectation that corporate treasurers have solutions provided by their financial institutions that are more integrated with their own systems.

In this report, Processes, People, and Technology in Global Transaction Banking, Celent finds that the blend of cash management and trade finance as corporate disciplines has become increasingly important for financial institutions. There is a clear trend toward the convergence of cash and trade in banks, strongly correlated with the need to build a tighter relationship with clients.

From banks’ strategic perspective, cash management services are offered to ensure customer "stickiness" (i.e., loyalty and retention). The provision of trade finance products and services leads to better managing banks’ customer relationship strategy.


“Excellence in transaction banking has turned into a necessity for long-term success in corporate banking,” says Enrico Camerinelli, senior analyst with Celent’s Banking group and author of the report. “The importance for banks to converge their cash and trade offerings resides in the need to better generate, grow, and maintain customer relationships.”