Corporate, bank integration needs clean-up

Johannesburg, 02 Sept 2009

Corporate to bank integration must be streamlined to support the delivery of next-generation supply-chain services.

So said Andrea Klein, vice-president of global financial services for Oracle, speaking at the Oracle FSI Executive Summit held at the Westcliff Hotel in Johannesburg, last week.

Integration is vital to smaller suppliers looking to integrate with the last end of the supply chain. Klein explained that the current state of integration between corporations and banks needs cleaning up.

The lesson learnt, she said, is that solutions can not be created in a vacuum and then forced to integrate after the fact. “To succeed a single integration layer is required,” offered Klein.

Klein encouraged industry consolidation to provide enterprise-wide risk management views. The benefits of this consolidation are mutually beneficial to bankers, buyers and suppliers.

Industry consolidation will bring new financing and business opportunities to banks, stated Klein. Other benefits include improved information flow, reduced errors and back office savings, she added.

Buyers will benefit with expedited credit analysis, shared risk information, and improved security and tracking of suppliers. Supplier visibility, that integration will provide, will effectively lower the risk supplier pool, Klein advised.

Suppliers are set to benefit the most from corporate to bank integration, with benefits such as better packaged bank services and pricing, expedited credit approval and payment, and a paperless transaction flow. “Banks have to vet suppliers for credit risk and ability to deliver, they are then in a position to recommend smaller suppliers to big corporations,' explained Klein.

Looking towards the ideal future, Klein concluded by saying, “If we could take struggling small businesses and put them into the global arena to succeed, we could slowly eradicate poverty and crime throughout Africa.”