Liquidity management with clockwork precision Cash management and payments Corporate Banking
Efficient management of accounts and cash flows Professional management of accounts and cash flows is a key factor in the success of every business. Up-to-date information on your financial status, as well as reliable planning of liquidity developments and their targeted management, are indispensable tools and help to minimise risk. Commerzbank offers you innovative solutions to meet all these needs. Starting point for optimising your cash management is always the individual requirements of your business. Whether the focus is on handling cash collected from your points of sale, interbank management of payments or achieving the best returns from local accounts, the range of Commerzbank services offers all the facilities you need. These include reliable cash in and out payments, account information updated several times a day, multibank payment applications and innovative cash management systems for international companies. Our product range is completed by our practical consulting and advisory services, designed to help you with everything from basic questions to obtaining direct access to the SWIFT network. Commerzbank provides these and many other solutions via our convenient and innovative online Corporate Banking Portal (www.commerzbank.com/corporatebanking). We also offer you software-supported electronic banking solutions and a comprehensive personal service. However you prefer to do business, Commerzbank is always there for you as an expert advisor and provider of cash management and payment services.
Contents I 03 Contents Cash and treasury management: Taking control of your cash flows 04 Cash management Cash pooling Payments: Right on target National and international payment transactions SEPA SWIFT Global Transaction & Routing Service Cards Cash 06 Information management: Always up to date Account information Bank information 10 The Commerzbank advantage: Individual solutions Tender & Client Projects 11
04 I Cash and treasury management Cash and treasury management: Taking control of your cash flows The purpose of cash management is to continuously track and manage financial flows within and beyond your company. Ideally, you should have all basic data and analyses available to you at the touch of a button. This is precisely what Commerzbank offers from electronic account information, through web-based cash and treasury management tools, right up to innovative cash pooling solutions. The key objectives of cash management Cash management Cash management: the control center of corporate finance Optimal management of liquidity and cash flows can be a major challenge. You need to precisely track movements on each individual account and identify potential interest costs or income and not just retrospectively. In addition to the fastest possible information on revenue trends, you need to be able to reliably plan incoming and outgoing payments. Only then is financial planning able to maximise your interest income and prevent liquidity gaps occurring before they arise. An enormous amount of information needs to be recorded, processed and consolidated. Rapid provision is essential in ensuring that your reporting is not out of date before it has even been completed. Minimise risk Secure liquidity Increase profitability Commerzbank s cash management solutions provide you with targeted support for managing your liquidity, including: Information procurement and processing Management of current liquidity deployment and planning Management of foreign exchange and money market business To facilitate this process, we also give you access to a web-based, country and crossborder interbank application. Detailed information about this service can be found in the Commerzbank brochure Providing the right impetus. Web-based and software-based banking. Cash pooling : optimising local accounts Cash pooling refers to the consolidation of liquidity within a company. A central financial management system is used to help optimise a company s accounts in terms of interest, investment conditions and deployment potentials of company or group accounts. Commerzbank offers you needs-related cash concentrating solutions for both your domestic and foreign Commerzbank accounts, as well as for accounts held at other banks in other countries.
Cash and treasury management I 05 Cash concentrating Liquidity in national Commerzbank accounts can be consolidated in many currencies, provided that the local and central accounts are both held in the same currency. A highly effective cash concentrating process is also available to you for many countries for cross-border cash concentrating with accounts held at foreign branches of Commerzbank. And even if you work with different banks in foreign markets, you can still benefit from a central liquidity management system. Commerzbank s international cash concentrating process will reliably transfer your cash to the target account you specify. You can also define your own transaction parameters (e.g. transfer to pool only when a certain minimum amount is reached, or keep a given minimum balance in the local account). Margin optimisation This virtual pooling method is an interest rate optimisation without physical cash compensation, which includes cross-border and cross-currency solutions. All participating accounts remain legally and functionally independent and continue to show balances. Cash concentrating Local account branch 1 Local account subsidiary 1 Central account Whether you choose national or international cash concentrating or margin optimisation, Commerzbank ensures optimal use of your liquidity. By offsetting your debit and credit balances, you can also improve your interest position and exploit opportunities for short-term investment and borrowing of liquidity via focused volumes. Local account branch 2 Local account subsidiary 2 Whether branch or subsidiary accounts, all can be included in cash concentrating. Margin optimisation is based on a fixed uniform reference interest rate, plus or minus a variable margin. The respective margins of this interest optimisation method are calculated on the basis of the ratio of balances of all participating accounts. The resulting compensation factor is decisive for the optimisation of your interest income.
06 I Payments Payments: Right on target The contract has been signed and the goods delivered. Now the invoice has to be paid in cash or by credit card, direct debit, cheque or bank transfer. Whether your operations are national or international, successful business requires efficient, reliable and transparent processing of payment transactions beyond bank and national borders. Commerzbank has aligned its portfolio of services precisely to meet these requirements. Many methods of payment Commerzbank offers you a variety of electronic solutions for submitting your payment orders. In addition to national and international payments, we can also via our domestic and foreign branches offer express transfers and bulk payments. Our involvement in many national and international clearing systems ensures a fast and efficient processing and helps you to optimise your payments. We offer you a range of internet-based solutions with a wide variety of functionalities. Among other services, these include a multibank application that can be accessed from any PC with internet access using a USB stick, a facility to optimise your bulk payments, and various conversion options. If you prefer software-supported applications, we have a solution for that as well. You can find more information in our brochure Providing the right impetus. Webbased and software-based banking, which can be requested from your Commerzbank contact person. Electronic solutions have long since become the norm and have almost completely replaced paper-based mandates. Whether you process your payment transactions with electronic banking software, via SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication), or using Commerzbank s Corporate Banking Portal, we always have the right solutions available. You will also benefit from our international presence in more than 50 countries and across a network of about 5,000 correspondent bank connections worldwide. SEPA opens up new opportunities Since early 2008, as a result of the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA), no distinction has been made between foreign and domestic transfers, debits and card payments within the single European market. You can process national and cross-border bulk payments denominated in euros within the SEPA zone in the same way. Because of this, companies are in a better position than ever before to exploit the advantages of the common market not just with cross-border payment transactions. The payment transaction landscape has become further standardised, which is a positive development even for companies whose core business focuses on their respective domestic markets. SEPA enables businesses to tap savings potential and improve efficiency simply by making a few technical and organisational adjustments.
Payments I 07 The complexity of these adjustments depends, among other factors, on whether you use standard software or your own unique solution to process payments. Commerzbank was actively involved in shaping the process of a uniform eurozone payment system, and we are happy to share the knowledge we have gained in this area with you. Our offer includes: Information about SEPA, including all details and background information Recommendations for implementing the new framework conditions for SEPA payments Provision of reliable and efficient SEPA instruments Continued operation of the previous payments systems for a transitional period If you would like more detailed information, your relationship manager or specialist at Commerzbank will be happy to help. You are also welcome to visit our Corporate Banking Portal online (www.commerzbank.com/sepa). A direct line to banks Any company requiring a direct line to banks throughout the world can process its payment transactions with the most diverse of banks using the SWIFT network. Founded over 30 years ago in Belgium as a cooperative between banks with international operations as a way of providing a secure transfer process for cross-border payment transactions, the SWIFT network today covers more than 200 countries and offers far more than just payment data transfer. The company made a name for itself in the credit economy as a standardiser and financial data transfer expert. The SEPA 4-Corners Model Payer Mandate 2 Payee 3 Product conditions Clearing & settlement 4 Product conditions Payer s bank uses bound to 5 1 Uses tied to scheme rules 5 uses bound to Payee s bank Example flow chart of a SEPA direct debit.
08 I Payments Commerzbank can support you in using the global SWIFT network to process your payments. Whether or not connection is advisable in any given case depends primarily on the communication channels your company currently has access to, the requirements you have for payment transactions and whether SWIFT access adds value to your business from a cost/benefit perspective. Commerzbank specialists support you in reaching this decision and, should you decide to take this route, help you with the subsequent implementation of corporate SWIFT access. With the SWIFT Concentrator Service, Commerzbank offers you a simple and costeffective connection into the SWIFT network. You do not need your own SWIFT infrastructure. Instead, you can use our third-partyfriendly White Labelling outsourcing solution. Global transaction & routing service The Commerzbank Global Transaction & Routing Service helps you to use changes in the European payment system to your best advantage and to compete successfully in the market. Our international network offers comprehensive services from a single source and direct access to local and global clearing systems. By using the latest technologies, we are able to offer you innovative products and services for your local and international payment transactions. Using your preferred payment instruments and formats, our customised solutions help to optimise your incoming and outgoing cash flows. We take care of handling your urgent payments, large-value payments and bulk payments both locally and internationally. It is also possible to effect direct debits from accounts held in a number of countries, including timely and standardised information on any direct debit returns. The system checks all incoming mandates and converts them on demand into international or country-specific formats. We combine key modular solutions such as ISO 20022 formats and the recommended CGI standard to create customised SEPA+ packages for our clients which go beyond processing bulk payment transactions in euros and optimise cash flow. Payment transaction files are electronically signed and transferred centrally to Commerzbank ensuring faster availability and greater flexibility for international bulk payment transactions. Your benefits: Single Entry Point: one input channel and one format Run-time optimisations for credit transfers and direct debits Handling of your large-value, express and local bulk payments and direct debits High safety standards thanks to futureoriented platforms and services No conversion software or local electronic banking connection required Uniform and cross-border automated billing Direct access to multiple local and pan- European clearing systems
Payments I 09 Cards welcome Credit card acceptance is a must these days, and offers advantages for you as a retailer and for your customers. It eliminates the need to work with change and process cheques, and also reduces the risk of theft or robbery. Commerzbank s service allows your customers to pay without cash in stores and mobile sales units. The service for retailers includes card terminals for all common payment types, which can be purchased or rented, and end-toend processing of payments. Commerzbank is of course also happy to advise you in choosing appropriate payment methods (electronic cash/girocard online or offline, cash cards, credit cards, Maestro cards and electronic debiting) and solutions for terminals. Flexible and independent business travel With the Commerzbank Corporate Card, you can save time and money when preparing, paying for, billing and evaluating business travel. This service combines credit cardbased payments with access to a state-of-theart online management information system. When you travel on business, you and your employees can pay conveniently and without commission at over 30 million MasterCard partners worldwide. If necessary, you can withdraw cash worldwide at over two million ATMs. You and your employees also benefit from an extensive package of insurance offering optimum protection. From the cashbox to your account For companies that regularly generate substantial cash receipts, it is important that the cash is transported securely to the bank and promptly deposited. If company cash is brought to the bank by your employees, they can use combined deposit and withdrawal machines and cash-in terminals at Commerzbank service locations. These are generally available around the clock, including on Sundays and public holidays. Commerzbank SafeBags make transporting cash even more secure. Once these bags are sealed to transport the counted cash, they cannot be opened without incurring visible damage. In addition, your cash is insured for up to 25,000 euros per transport when you transport it directly to your Commerzbank branch in a SafeBag. Alternatively, you can have your cash proceeds picked up and credited by a cash transport company. Commerzbank s partner for this service is SoltrX Transaction Services GmbH (STS), a wholly owned subsidiary of Commerzbank. With our online management information system, you can also evaluate all spending on your firm s Corporate Card and process the data electronically.
10 I Information management Information management: Always up to date Has your customer s money transfer already arrived? Do you have enough funds in your account to pay your suppliers bills early at a discounted rate? Up-to-date account information gives you answers to questions like these and more. Commerzbank has developed individual solutions for interbank and cross-border transactions that can be accessed through our Corporate Banking Portal or via electronic banking. In addition, Commerzbank s information services are available to you when you want to assess the value of your business relationships. Updated several times a day Commerzbank s electronic SWIFT- and CAMT-format account information is updated several times a day. The electronic banking software gives you full access to transaction information for your Commerzbank accounts in Germany and abroad, as well as to your other accounts with foreign banks. Account information can also be accessed over the internet. Intraday account information shows neartime transactions to give you an up-to-date overview of liquidity, which creates the best conditions for efficient cash management and optimised short-term liquidity planning. Other advantages: Direct processing option in financial accounting systems Prompt automatic balancing of debtor/ creditor accounting Automatic balancing of open positions through separate listing of credit and debit entries Assessing your business partners To accurately assess and value your business relationships, you are well advised to regularly inform yourself about your business partners. As a Commerzbank customer, you benefit from our network and evaluation expertise, and receive fast and reliable banking information about the economic situation of all your debtors, irrespective of the different banks with which these companies hold their accounts. The up-to-date assessment of your business partners creditworthiness and solvency gives you a decisive advantage in the evaluation of your receivables portfolio and also for the assessment of your suppliers, significantly reducing default risks. In addition to banking information, our cooperation with partner companies within the Commerzbank Corporate Banking Portal also provides you with access to economic information and the identification and addresses of debtors.
The Commerzbank advantage I 11 The Commerzbank advantage: Individual solutions Commerzbank s consulting and advisory services extend far beyond product solutions alone. You can also benefit from Commerzbank s recognised comprehensive cash management expertise for implementing individual concepts that are precisely tailored to your needs. Tender & Client Projects: support without borders Your business is active on the world stage and you are looking for a cross-border solution to optimise your cash and treasury management? Commerzbank s Tender & Client Project Team will work with your cash managers to develop concepts that are tailor-made for your business s precise needs. Because we collaborate closely with our international branches and partner banks, we are very familiar with local particulars on markets around the world. Make the most of this expertise: our specialists will show you how cross-border and interbank solutions can be optimised and put these improvements in place for you. Our Tender & Client Project Team will also be on hand to support you during implementation as a central contact point and project coordinator. In this way, we ensure that everything goes smoothly and you receive a high-quality service from day one to the end of your project with us.
Correct as at: 04/2014, VKS05052 For more detailed information concerning cash management and payments, our relationship managers for corporate clients as well as our specialists are at your disposal. They can also provide you with brochures for the following topic: International business Commerzbank AG Corporate Banking www.commerzbank.com/corporatebanking