By Modupe Gbadeyanka
A senior banker with Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc, Ms Ojinika Shote, has explained the role cash management plays in the daily operations of a business enterprise.
Ms Shote, who is the Head of Cash Management at Stanbic IBTC Bank, said in an interview that if a business intends to survive for long, it must pay attention to cash management.
She defined cash management as the effective planning, monitoring and management of an organisation’s liquid or near liquid resources.
According to her, being a treasury management function, it entails day to day cash control, ensuring the organisation has enough cash/liquid resources to meet short-term obligations in the applicable currencies, having an efficient bank account structure that facilitates easy and secure payments and quicker collection of receivables.
“When it comes to running any successful business, whether local or international, cash flow is key. An organisation may be profitable but without cash resources available to run its daily operations, it will not survive for long,” the banker said.
Speaking further, Ms Shote said the cash management space continues to evolve and remain a critical aspect of transactional banking with technological and process advancement.
“We have seen a transition from physical cash solutions, use of cheques and automated clearing house solutions to faster and safer cash management solutions using digital channels for delivery of these solutions, for electronic payments and collections, instant payments and automated reconciliation for business purposes.
“This transition has gradually reduced the risk associated with cash which organisations have had to bear over time and while these risks are not eliminated, they are being reduced to more manageable levels,” she said in the interview.
The financial expert noted that organisations require useful information and actionable insights to support cash flow forecasting, business planning and strategic decision making, adding that banks provide useful data points and analytics that equip the firms to identify and take advantage of new business opportunities.
According to her, Stanbic IBTC is committed to supporting sustainable business in Nigeria, noting that the banking principles of the lender provide a framework for ensuring that the future of banking is created by aligning its strategy and business with the vision for a better society.
“This is evident in our partnership with the World Health Organisation (WHO) on the Direct Disbursement Mechanism (DDM), a payment project to support volunteers, mostly indigenes of the rural communities who participate in the implementation of the polio vaccination rounds that take place across the nation.
“Without stipends successfully paid to these volunteers, the DDM project would have been threatened and this amazing milestone of achieving a Polio-Free-Status would have not been met,” she said.
“It is our honour to be the banking partner that supported the WHO and the federal government of Nigeria in achieving this remarkable feat, despite complexities around logistics, planning and managing operations at the grassroots level,” Ms Shote added.
