Digital Treasury Summit, #DTRS2022

Following three digital webcasts in the last two years, this year's Digital Treasury Summit could finally be held as a face-to-face event again, addressing highly topical issues such as treasury transformation, predictive analytics in cash flow and working capital management, digital payments, automation in foreign currency risk management, connectivity and energy price risks. More than 70 people from the treasury community assembled at KPMG's offices in Frankfurt/Main to exchange ideas on both theoretical and practical matters in person.

Nils Bothe, Partner in Finance and Treasury Management and Head of Corporate Treasury Advisory, kicked off the event by expressing his delight at welcoming such a large audience for the first in-person Digital Treasury Summit since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Frank Wetter, Head of Treasury Europe at Mercedes-Benz Group, opened the event with an exciting insight into the ongoing transformation of Treasury at Mercedes-Benz since the spin-off of the truck and bus divisions. Disentangling both divisions' treasury operations and setting it up for the future of Mercedes-Benz AG is a challenging task that requires careful planning before it can be implemented.

Just as exciting was Olaf Schreckenberg's presentation on the implementation and further development of predictive analysis in cash flow & working capital management at the DKV Mobility Group. The mobility services group, with nearly 500 million in revenue, has had little exposure to automated forecasting models and cash flow & working capital management. When the emergence of the pandemic forced the company to rethink its strategy, it launched the "ZenIT" (Central Intelligent Treasury) program to build an automation-assisted liquidity planning system. In conclusion, Mr. Schreckenberg used his experience to urge the audience not to underestimate the time and precision required in the preparation process. Reliable results can only be generated with meticulous testing and training of the AI. There is no ready-made solution, so there is always a lot of customization work required.

During the coffee break, visitors were able to visit the booths of eight software vendors in the foyer. Then, Michael Gerhards of KPMG, and Thomas Tittelbach of technology consultant aye4fin gave an insight into the results of the study "Digital Payment Study 2022" jointly conducted by KPMG Germany and KPMG Switzerland, moderated by Sven Warnke, KPMG. A total of 76 companies from 16 different sectors took part in the survey, 69% of which have a turnover of more than 5 million euros. Among other things, the companies' responses show that while most of them expect payment methods to change, very few are actively preparing for it. These survey results suggest that with the continuing development of new technologies, the treasury's role will also have to adapt to a new reality.

During the subsequent lunch break, there were once again lively discussions between participants, exhibitors and hosts. Afterwards, breakout sessions were held alongside exhibitor presentations: 

Valli McAdam of London-based ION presented the benefits and emerging opportunities of automating foreign currency management with state-of-the-art treasury technology. These technologies, in addition to providing support in the STP chain, can assist the risk management strategy in a very effective way, particularly in the present uncertain times, by means of scenario analyses or KPIs such as CFaR.

Jörg Wiemer, CFO of TIS, discussed connectivity as a strategic tool in payments. The need for increasingly up-to-date data is faced with the challenge of reconciling different banking systems, country specifics and payment types. This is where appropriate systems can help increase transparency while also saving costs and simplifying the process through standardization.

The closing panel discussion, moderated by Börries Többens of KPMG, tied together the current state of energy price risks with a broader look at what modern treasury management systems can do to tackle today's challenges. On the topic of energy price risks, Dr. Jürgen Drebes, Vice President Corporate Treasury at Adidas, and Dr. Edmund Menge, Head of Risk Management at BayWa r.e., both provided valuable insights into the present, highly volatile situation. Representatives from four TMS vendors outlined where they believe automation can deliver the most value to corporates in meeting current and upcoming requirements: Martin Bechtold of FIS Global, Christoph Budde of Trinity Management Systems, Christopher Lapp of COPS and Sebastian Niemeyer of Coupa. Be it in liquidity management, reporting or supply chain management, the challenge remains to reconcile customer requirements with diligence in implementation, which is often underestimated when it comes to introducing new systems.

This year's Digital Treasury Summit came to a close with coffee, cake and technical discussions. We extend our thanks to all participants, speakers and exhibitors for participating and for their interest. We look forward to seeing you again next year!