According to McKinsey, the market potential of Corporate Treasury, B2B Payments and cash flows is $135 Trillion globally. That's because organizations across the globe are moving a step forward with accurate measurement of risk as well as incorporating automation as an inherent process in treasury management.
There are 6,200+ companies only in India with turnover greater than USD 74 million, which are dependent on Excel sheets for treasury management; and these amount to 75% of the pie.
The data points clearly reflect that there is tremendous scope for adoption of technology in treasury management, extending support to treasurers beyond end-to-end usage of TMS (Tresaury Management Solution) across the organization, and also including interfaces with other financial systems as well as disparate data sources within the organization.
IBSFINtech a software product company established by technopreneurs, believes it has an advantage over competitors in the Treasury Management Solution market. Its founders have strong domain experience in Banking, Finance, Treasury and IT.
CM Grover, Founder and Executive Director, IBSFINtech tells BW CIO why he is so confident of beating even multinational brands like SAP -- and the value proposition he is offering.
Q. You have bagged a major share of the corporate Treasury Management Solution (TMS) market in India. Why do Indian companies prefer your TMS solution over those of global players? And why is there so little local competition?The treasury function continues to be central to the successful management of financial risk.The Corporate Treasurers’ role has expanded considerably in the years evolving from a cost centre to a strategic role. One of the reasons behind this evolution is the volatile markets and realization from CXOs about the critical role Treasury Department can play in an organization.
Owing to the volatile forex market conditions, the need for an end-to-end solution to enable effective management of exposure and mitigate market risk has become inevitable. We have experienced a huge momentum in the last few years and we are definitely seeing a positive outlook amongst our prospects. Large corporates and MNCs are exploring our holistic solutions to effectively mitigate their forex risks.
There is a huge void in the current treasury software market. Either there are globally established big players or small companies offering software in silos. None of which address the needs of a corporate completely. Also these products are very expensive, and they rank low in adaptation with the existing technology environment. Also these do not offer much customisation as per India centric processes and corporate needs
Corporate treasury is a niche area, growing into more strategic role with each passing year.
Q. What is the value proposition that you are offering?Firstly, we offer customisation and localisation of the product. IBSFINtech’s products are designed to function efficiently across geographies, currencies and markets across the globe.
Existing customers tell us that ease of use is at the highest level in our software. With competing products you have to deal with multiple screens to enter data. We offer a single screen/window experience. So it is ease of use at the lowest level, which is highest. There are real-time dashboards which enable single moment of truth for the Treasurers or the CFO.
Another key pain area for corporate treasury is processes and functionalities. We help by automating those things. With few customisation and configurations during each implementation the IBSFINtech product adapts to the company processes and country specific compliance requirements.
Another proposition is that we offer the lowest implementation period. Our average implementation time is 2 - 4 months. We even did an implementation in a record 30 days for one of our clients.
In comparison, the large companies selling Corporate Treasury take more than a year to complete the implementation.
Another critical aspect of our product is integration with third-party systems, legacy systems, ERPs etc. We customise and integrate our solution with the existing environment in an organisation without affecting the current system in the organisation.
A good TMS should be easy to use, simple to integrate and capable of scaling up with new regulatory frameworks -- to effectively mitigate all types of risks an organization faces in today’s volatile environment.
Q. Despite all this, you have low visibility in the market. Why do you maintain a low profile?We do not intend to maintain a low profile but being in this niche domain, it takes time to establish the need and reputation in the market.
The initial few years saw evolution and stability of the product. Turning point for the company was when we won the project for Bennett & Coleman Group, the leading publishers of the country. Although we were the smallest (in terms of company size) competitor bidding, their head of Treasury was impressed with our solution asit addressed all their requirements. We continue to cater to Bennett & Coleman Group even today.
Next breakthrough was in the retail industry when we baggedSnapdeal and the Future Group in the subsequent years, and then there was no looking back. Last year we added Indofil and NEFM to our prestigious list of clients.
Q. Despite all this, you have low visibility in the market. Why do you maintain a low profile?We do not intend to maintain a low profile but being in this niche domain, it takes time to establish the need and reputation in the market.
The initial few years saw evolution and stability of the product. Turning point for the company was when we won the project for Bennett & Coleman Group, the leading publishers of the country. Although we were the smallest (in terms of company size) competitor bidding, their head of Treasury was impressed with our solution as it addressed all their requirements. We continue to cater to Bennett & Coleman Group even today.
Next breakthrough was in the retail industry when we bagged Snapdeal and the Future Group in the subsequent years, and then there was no looking back. Last year we added Indofil and NEFM to our prestigious list of clients.
Q. Why are you so optimistic about the opportunities in the domestic market and what are your plans?We are sitting on a very strong pipeline that includes 90+ large corporates in the country.
In India, as per data collated by Indiabudget.nic.in, there are 6,400+ companies with turnover greater than USD 74 million (Rs 500 crore), which are dependent on Excel sheets for treasury management; and these amount to 75 per cent of the pie.
This data points clearly reflects that there is tremendous scope for adoption of technology in treasury management, extending support to treasurers beyond end-to-end usage of TMS across the organization, and also including interfaces with other financial systems as well as disparate data sources within the organization.
Regarding our plan, we are continuously working towards achieving our vision, which is to become the most trusted IT solution partner for Treasury and Risk Management, globally across Industries.
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