Security Takes Top Of Mind For Treasury Professionals

The movement to digital is not without its challenges. There’s the technological aspect, of course, and there’s also the ever-evolving threat of hacking and lost data, time and money.

And financial professionals are taking note of the danger that lurks — and is growing — with fraud.

In the latest TD Bank Treasury Management Survey, which delved into the key concerns faced by more than 350 treasury and finance professionals, a number of issues remain top of mind headed into the next year and beyond.

As might be expected, the key concerns among these executives center on protecting assets and ensuring that day-to-day data and transaction flows remain safe. Those concerns come against a backdrop where transactions and cash flow management are becoming, inexorably, driven, tracked and managed by technology. Cash flow management is eased by the continued embrace of electronic accounts receivable and payable functions, along with data that comes (albeit slowly in B2B) across less often in paper-based conduits than by bits and bytes. Automation is fine, but what about protecting those processes from prying eyes and data theft?

The study found that technology adoption may not exactly be robust, as only 17 percent of those who responded said that they have transitioned to paper-free receivables. But that transition will accelerate, as another 69 percent of those surveyed said that they are going to move to embrace electronic payments “in the near future.” Treasury will take some time to bring receivables online, as the timeframe stretches out about two years, and yet, the realization of benefits will come with work hours being reduced by as much as 15 percent, a cost savings that might eventually trump the inertia that has been seen as a barrier to tech adoption.

Investment in safeguarding data will become a bit more prevalent in treasury operations in the next year, said TD Bank, which collected more than 530 responses to that line of questioning. For example, 31 percent of the treasury executives said that they expect to see investment in cybersecurity and fraud protection, along with another 21 percent earmarking investments for investment monitoring and investment management systems. Those intentions come in tandem with 26 percent stating that they will look to spur investment in faster and more integrated accounts receivable and payable processes. As many as 34 percent of respondents see risks of payments and cybersecurity threats as among the biggest challenges facing their firms.

Perhaps no surprise, the regulatory environment — which has invited greater scrutiny of firms, their internal workings and monitoring and security — also proved to be a key concern for financial professionals, at 30 percent of those surveyed.