How HSBC’s ‘payments factory’ took flight

Managing finances for a global company with operations across diverse regions is no small feat. With sprawling networks and complex, often disconnected financial systems, aligning every financial detail requires meticulous attention and co-ordination.

For large corporates operating on multiple platforms across various countries, the challenge is continuous. It demands a relentless commitment of time and resources to ensure seamless financial integrations instead of a business manually logging into different systems to track money or make payments. Maintaining a clear financial picture globally is a full-time endeavour – and one that, when done right, powers the company’s agility and growth on the world stage.

A reliable banking partner that offers unwavering assurance is crucial, especially for companies eyeing growth and expansion into new markets. As these businesses chart their path forward, one of the key factors under scrutiny is how effectively payments are managed.

The need for a payments factory

As part of HSBC’s Global Payment Solutions business, client coverage director Katie Lee works with companies that have as many as 20 online banking platforms. She suggests that those companies leverage banking partners and invest the time into creating a payments factory.

Simply put, a payments factory is a centralised solution that streamlines and manages a company’s payments in a single location, boosting control and efficiency across the board.

This can mean aligning:

• Payment and collection schedules
• Balance and transaction reporting
• Bank interactions
• Relationship management

A payments factory gives a global company a single, streamlined platform to efficiently oversee and control its entire payment process.

Katie said: “My remit is to sit down with a company and say: ‘Let's look at this holistically - where are your accounts? What do you want to do? How do we make this work for you via the technology journey at that point in time.’”

Why is a payments factory important?

A payments factory is powerful because it transforms how a company manages its finances on multiple levels, including:

• Enhanced visibility and control: By centralising bank account and payment practices, it provides clear oversight and control, reducing risks and improving compliance with regards to centralised processes and controls.
• Cost efficiency through scale: With consolidated payment volumes, companies can leverage economies. This could help secure better pricing and reduce transaction costs.
• Streamlines technology and automation: A payments factory enables greater automation, simplifying processes and reducing manual effort, which could boost efficiency and reduces errors.
• Optimised payment practices: It regularly reviews payment methods to ensure the most cost-effective options are used, refining practices to align with the company’s financial goals.

How Flight Centre centralised its global payments

Businesses benefit from the approach of a global bank’s international network, which helps streamline and support the payments factory model.

A real-life example is the strong partnership we have with Flight Centre globally.

Katie said: “Flight Centre is a company that banks with us in 20-plus geographies currently and that’s expanding. One key focus was reviewing how the group simplifies bank accounts, lower payment costs with one provider, and enable the use of a single banking portal with automated payments.”

Flight Centre’s global treasurer Richard Humphries found that the company needed to streamline its payments, replacing the complex integrations it had before.

“It’s basically building one hub for us to be able to control all of our payments and that has changed how we approach payments, collections, and transactional banking, and how we run our business. HSBC has been involved in all of those aspects as we bounce ideas off each other and we work through what those solutions are.

“HSBC is a really trusted advisor in that space.”