The South Asia region consists of some of the most complex markets for treasury and trade, so it’s no surprise that treasurers and chief financial officers in the region are strong advocates of using digital technology to spur their drive for efficiency and better control of their finances. That theme resonated with The Asset’s board of editors who spent hours speaking with them and other bank service providers about their projects over the past year.

While tools such as virtual accounts and application programming interface (API) connectivity have been game changers for several institutions when reconciling accounts, there has likewise been a growing need for technology in the fight to curb money laundering and payment fraud.

In India, South Asia’s largest market, competition, as in previous years, has been fierce with several local Indian banks taking important steps towards enhancing their client services, such as introducing new sectors to distributor finance or deploying mobile cheque capture solutions. In some instances, they are now an alternative to the large international banks.

Several banks stood out during The Asset’s review period with their well-rounded approach to  addressing clients’ pain points. BNP Paribas, the winner of  The Asset Triple-A Best Transaction Bank in India, a first for the bank, stood out for its willingness and flexibility to meet its clients’ needs, including embedding itself within clients’ internal systems for better processing of transactions. During the review period, BNP Paribas also successfully executed several key mandates helping companies unlock much-needed liquidity.

Deutsche Bank takes the title as The Asset Triple-A Best Cash Management Bank in India for its work with high-profile clients in pushing for payment automation and customized collections. The bank’s  strategy of targeting new economy companies and equipping them with real-payment support or helping them streamline domestic payments paid off in spades.

In trade finance, Standard Chartered led the way, offering clients on the sub-continent new approaches to processing trade documentation that saw the bank’s clients  going paperless and plugging into third-party platforms, such as Bolero, to form a trade finance ecosystem.

Supply chain finance is increasingly popular in India as it supports companies’ business growth and strengthens their links with distributors and suppliers. Local banks have pivoted their operations to fill the demand. During the review period, the award winner in this category, IndusInd Bank, was proactive in helping their key clients with structuring distributor financing, giving much needed support to these small and medium-sized enterprise distributors.

Other markets like Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan mirrored both the growth and innovation in India. Clients, partnering with banks, moved payments online giving them real-time visibility while reducing the treasury workload.

The overall South Asia sub-region winner is Deutsche Bank, which wins The Asset Triple-A Best in Treasury & Cash Management. This win underscores its consistency at the forefront of digital innovation in helping companies manage their payables and receivables.

Standard Chartered is The Asset Triple-A Best in Working Capital & Trade Finance, South Asia, a testament to its capabilities in the execution of complex transactions, particularly those from Pakistan to Bangladesh.

It was a similar treasury story in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region with both banks and companies jointly playing a role in eliminating manual processes and physical paper from normal everyday commercial transactions.

Over the past year, Standard Chartered, as in previous years, was a standout, providing support to companies optimizing their treasury operations. The bank was also outstandingly successful in offering clients a variety of tools ranging from virtual accounts to distributer ledger technology.

Standard Chartered was also an active participant in several regulatory initiatives in the MENA region, supporting Jordan’s Fawateer and JoMoPay platforms, for instance. The bank retains its title as The Asset Triple-A Best Treasury & Cash Management, MENA, and The Asset Triple-A Best in Working Capital & Trade Finance, MENA.

For the complete list of South Asia/MENA winners, please click here.

To learn more about these awards, please click here.

For more information about receiving the awards, please contact [email protected]