While most of the buzz around the updated EU Payments Services Directive has centred on benefits to retail customers, its role in ushering in open banking will create new opportunities in transaction banking. Joy Macknight reports. 

Negative interest rates and regulatory changes are forcing corporates to rethink their liquidity management strategies, as the old ways of working struggle to cope in such unprecedented times, writes Joy Macknight.

The move to real-time payment systems is gaining momentum across the globe and raises the prospect of instant cross-border payments. New players are also helping to redefine the payments ecosystem, as Joy Macknight reports.

A surge of new entrants in the financial services arena has forced incumbent providers to react. After the initial apprehension has dissipated, how are transaction banks engaging with this disruptive influence? Joy Macknight reports.

The potential of blockchain to transform traditional banking processes has generated much enthusiasm over the past year. Deutsche Bank’s Paula Roels, head of market infrastructure and industry initiatives, and Bradley Lonnen, market management, institutional cash management, look at the current state of play around adoption, and blockchain’s applicability to correspondent banking.

Cybercrime is not a new threat but the attacks and ‘precise targeting’ by fraudulent parties are becoming more sophisticated. Marcus Sehr, global head of client management and sales for institutional cash management at Deutsche Bank, highlights the seriousness of cyberfraud and the need to foster awareness, and outlines the steps the banking community should take to defend the financial system’s integrity.

The retail payments space has witnessed a great deal of innovation over the past few years. To date, this has not been matched on the wholesale side. Christian Westerhaus, global head of product and strategy, institutional cash management, at Deutsche Bank looks at how developments on the domestic retail side are influencing client expectations in wholesale payments and assesses the steps the industry is taking to enhance the cross-border payments experience.

Commercial cards have become so much more than a piece of plastic and 16-digit number that completes a transaction. Not only are they an important payment tool in a treasurer’s kit, but also the cornerstone of a working capital management programme.