Abstract
While easy to calculate, the benefits of an integrated financial supply chain
can be difficult to obtain. Proponents of the integrated financial supply chain
have often glossed over the technical challenges, social context, and corporate
priority setting when trying to encourage companies to solve this problem. In
addition, many vendors and banks have put efforts into building their own
island solutions, ignoring the fundamental requirement for interconnectivity
between players of all sizes, making greater benefit realization even more
difficult.
To make significant improvements and impact on the financial supply chain,
vendors and banks alike must be willing to develop a common shared platform
akin to the Internet but with security, authentication, and identity
verification as a standard. This level playing field is a prerequisite to
tapping the vast potential benefit identified. Until the reach, ubiquity, and
interconnectedness of offerings improves, investment in the tools and processes
will be limited as CFOs fail to believe the hype surrounding potential benefits.
"The last 15 years have seen the same benefits extolled regarding the potential
savings within the financial supply chain. Very few companies, if any, have
realized these benefits. Some key obstacles remain that vendors and banks are
ignoring. Addressing those can help new projects succeed," said Trevor
LaFleche, senior research analyst, Financial Insights, Banking EMEA.
Table of Contents
- Table of Contents
- Financial Insights Opinion
- In This REPORT
- Situation Overview
- Business Models
- Figure: Generic Order to Cash Cycle
- Figure: Opportunities for Improvement in the Integrated Financial Supply Chain
- Figure: Basic Bilateral Exchange
- Figure: Bilateral Exchange Can Simply Shift Costs in an Ecosystem
- Multiparty Model (Consolidator/Invoice Networks)
- Figure: Islands of Non-Interoperable EBPP
- An "Open" Exchange Model
- Figure: Open Exchange Model
- The Myth of the Electronic Invoice
- The Role of Standards
- Financing the Supply Chain
- Extended Banking Services
- Dematerializing A/R or A/P
- Figure: Banks are Expanding Services Beyond the Electronic Invoice
- Cash Flow Visibility
- A Glimmer of Hope
- Purchasing Cards
- The Emerging Financial Internet
- Status of Notable Financial Supply Chain Projects
- Notable Bank Financial Supply Chain Offerings
- Future OUTLOOK
- Essential Guidance
- Actions for Vendors
- Actions for Banks
- Action for the EU, Standards, and Committees
- Learn More
- Related Research
- Synopsis
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