Bank of China Hong Kong and China Duty Free International win Best Cash Management Project in Hong Kong Award for automation of liquidity functions 2020

22 October 2020, Singapore – Bank of China Hong Kong (BOCHK) and China Duty Free International (CDF) received the award for Best Cash Management Project in Hong Kong at the Transaction Finance and Bankers’ Choice Awards Virtual Ceremony 2020 presented by The Asian Banker.

Addressed complex challenges on liquidity and treasury management

China Duty Free International’s (CDF) treasury team faced challenges on account of large incoming multi-currency transactions across multiple retail consumers and 400 suppliers. This evidently caused lack of control and transparency over foreign account funds, further resulting in lower deposit yields. Cumulatively, the group was looking to enhance its liquidity management in the cash conversion period and support for automating its financial management functions and reporting capabilities across China, Hong Kong, and Cambodia markets.

ERP implementation drove automation of financial management functions and cross-border reporting

Software, manpower and technical input support from Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) service provider Yonyou and the bank’s Global e-banking platform provided CDF a single-view of more detailed, accurate account information across Beijing, Hong Kong, and Cambodia offices in a timely manner. The tailor-made payment templates as a part of the ERP platform allows faster payment process and reduces time consumed for each payment. CDF’s teams can now view and further analyse account balance, cash pooling reports, payment templates and transaction counterparty details, reducing manual inputs further.

CDF witnessed significant business impact after implementing BOCHK’s solution

With the cash management and automated local cash concentration pool installed by BOCHK, CDF manages to enhance its liquidity management in the cash conversion period and hence perform cash flow forecasts with higher accuracy. This further deepens the strategic partnership between BOCHK and CDF, bringing higher volumes of settlements into the bank. The regional solution broadens the potential cooperation with CDF as it expands to other regions. Quantitatively, CDF’s number of transactions allowed per month grew by 566% after the implementation. Its monthly transaction volume went up 89% from $169 million before implementation to $320 million after the implementation.