Powering Payments Podcast
30 June 2020
Karen Rudich our CEO sits down virtually with Andrew Frost from Form3 to talk MME business, Banks and Covid 19. Covering why SMEs and midsize business are often overlooked when it comes to servicing by some financial institutions, and how COVID-19 has highlighted the need for real-time access to solutions and data from businesses.
Rather than being all things to all customers, banks have had to make some difficult choices. As a consequence they may not have the infrastructure or relationship managers to reliably serve the MME segment, so business owners often end up adopting a self-service model. The danger with this approach is that MMEs may not know which products they can access, or even how to ask for them. Because of legacy constraints, it is almost impossible for banks to deliver a holistic picture of where you are, your cash position, and which options are available to you. and currently Fintechs are focussing on lending products instead of transactional banking.
“Emergency funding through banks
has come up a little short”
In times of strife, a traditional flight to safety is to the big banks. As they are the big money holders, so far during the Covid crisis they have dealt with the majority of Government emergency funding programs in the UK. Yet the big banks have come up a little short. Some where asking for collateral for non-collateral loans, others still charging exorbitant fees for such things as FX. At times when margins are slimmer and every little counts, “it is those things CEOs are going to look back and notice when the banks didn’t help out. So it’s about the value of that relationship going forward”. As more viable and tailored options appear, is this type of activity that could effect MME businesses perception of banks into the future.
In these uncertain times, more than ever, MME’s need to be able to assess their situation beyond just financial management, to include trade and supply chain risk, international currency payments and exposures across multiple currencies. They need to understand what their international market options are, and be able to optimise their business model through stressful situations.
“the future is bright – competition is brighter.
The people that benefit from the competition, are consumers”
Karen talks about how helping organisations with more than just financial management and quality service is where the real value is at. Providing them with good data so they can also keep track of performance and risk factors, and then surface insights with a model forward looking approach. She says “the future is bright”, doing away with paper based systems, and extended approval process.
And of course Karen is quick to point out that at Eb, we are embracing new tech, where the needs of the customer is at the heart of everything we do. Not only will they understand their world better, but they will have access to a market place of products and solutions that are suitable to them, alongside a regulatory framework that is designed to protect them going forward.
As MMEs move forward through the Covid crisis and stake out their claim in the new economy, ELLEMETARYb intends to be there for them, to help them optimise their business, make the most of new opportunities and bake in resilience and robustness, so they can lead the way, lifting the British economy.
Powering Payments – Podcast Form3 – Released on June 30 2020