One in five corporate treasuries finds bank accounts they didn't know they had

20% of treasury groups have discovered previously-unknown active bank accounts in the past two years, according to new research from GTreasury and Strategic Treasurer. More than a third of respondents discovered five or more accounts that they hadn't been aware of.

The finding highlights the demand for bank account management solutions, as demonstrated in this year's Treasury Dragons Pitch Session on BAM which saw four rival providers pitch their solutions.

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Other findings from the report included:

• Treasurers want global cash positions updated on a real-time or intraday basis, but most don't get them. Only seven percent of survey respondents currently get a real-time cash position.

 

• Generating cash positions is three times harder without a TMS. Only 10% of treasurers using a treasury management system report difficulty generating their cash position, compared to 33% of those who use other methods.

 

• The use of AI and ML in cash forecasting is in its infancy, but is growing. While just 6% of respondents are currently using AI/ML for forecasting, the research suggests that number should swell to 27% of organisations within the next two years.

 

• More budget is being allotted for treasury and forecasting technology. Over the next year, more than 35% of companies plan “extremely heavy spending” on treasury systems and forecasting.

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• Generating cash forecasts is difficult for half of all treasurers. Just 23% of treasurers report that building cash forecasts is a simple process within their organisation, compared to the 48% of respondents indicating difficulty with this task.

 

• Excel forecasters are more dissatisfied than their peers using Treasury Management Systems (TMS) or Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems. Compared to treasurers relying on TMS/ERP technologies, treasurers using Excel spreadsheets for forecasts are more than three times as likely to be dissatisfied with their forecasting output.

The survey spoke to 250 corporate respondents between August and September 2021.