A winning formula

How frictionless payments and risk mitigation could open the door to corporate growth.

Our Premier League Transfer Watch Live event, hosted by Andrea Delay, brought together an esteemed panel of football insiders to share and discuss the complexities, risks and challenges of conducting football transfers.

"Barclays has been an important partner to the Premier League, since 2001/02, initially as the title sponsor and now as the Official Banking Partner."

Andrea Delay

National Head of Mid Corporate, Barclays

Highlights from Transfer Watch Live

The 2023 Premier League summer transfer window saw clubs spend a record £2.36bn on new players¹. And, while completing football transfers can carry plenty of risk, the event highlighted that many of those risks and challenges are similar to those faced every day by businesses.

The panel referenced how navigating issues such as payment structures, currency risk and fraud are just as important to the future success of many organisations, as they are to top football clubs.

Kelly Cates – Sky Sports football presenter
Darren Eales – CEO, Newcastle United Football Club
Liz Ellen – Sports Lawyer and Founder, Livida Sport
Les Ferdinand – Ex-Premier League footballer and England international
David Ornstein – Sports Journalist, The Athletic

Hitting the net with every payment

Ross Jones, Global Head of Corporate Payments, Transaction Banking, Barclays stated that sophisticated, safe and frictionless solutions must be behind every transaction – not just a £100m+ transfer. Every transaction matters just as much as the next, whatever the value and whatever sector you operate in. Regardless of whether you are moving money as part of a football player transfer or a simple product purchase – it is essential that it’s moved in a frictionless way, is protected against fraud, and can be managed taking into account any international considerations.

Payments solutions designed to support your business aspirations

Innovation

Barclays payments services let you and your customers make, receive and track payments domestically and worldwide – swiftly, securely and easily.

Integration

The option to select an integration channel to suit your specific requirements, including online, host-to-host and SWIFT, giving you greater insight of your real-time cash position.

International reach

Access to payment schemes including CHAPS, Bacs, FPS and SEPA, and through SWIFT gpi give you the ability to track your international payments from end-to-end.

Dedicated support

Our dedicated cash specialists aim to optimise your cash management and help you enter new markets with confidence.

Learn more about our payments services.

Defending currency fluctuation risks

Currency fluctuations can be quite high in extreme circumstances, so it’s important to mitigate the risks. Simon Fletcher, Director, FX Sales, Investment Bank Markets, Barclays stressed that corporate payments, particularly those with a foreign currency element or structured over instalments, can deliver risk to any business – especially in more volatile periods where currency fluctuations can be more extreme.

Managing FX risk and preparing for international growth

Expertise

Our FX specialists can help you manage your FX risk, from highlighting risks when trading in new currencies and markets, to a range of hedging solutions designed to mitigate those risks.

Deliver transparent pricing

Get transparent, competitive pricing using live FX rates. Book guaranteed FX rates via our online channel to know your rate upfront.

Achieve global reach

Our FX capabilities and specialist FX teams can support your business goals, with access to secure online FX execution in more than 100 currencies (varies by product and region).

Get a clearer picture

Receive FX rates based on your volumes and payment values to ensure our pricing matches your changing FX requirements.

Learn more about our FX solutions.

Scoring a fit-for-purpose treasury policy

Matt Gallacher, Head of Liquidity Portfolio Management, Transaction Banking, Barclays was keen to state that visibility is key to a successful treasury policy in the current economic environment. Many businesses want to achieve a balance between exploiting short-term opportunities – for which they may need immediate access to cash – and longer-term planning. That means it’s essential to have clear visibility of where the cash is sitting within your business – especially if you operate a multi-faceted and complex treasury structure. Additionally it’s all the more essential in times of market volatility and if you are conducting business overseas and therefore need to understand your true cash picture at any time.

Maximise the potential of your liquidity

Saving time

By reducing manual processes, liquidity management can help you manage and monitor your financial position while freeing up time to focus on your business.

Growing your business

From optimising interest on your balances, to reducing charges and ensuring the right access to your liquidity, our solutions can also enhance your operations and help your business grow.

Maximising cash potential

Our Cash Concentration and Notional Pooling solutions could help to optimise the interest on your accounts through the physical movement or notional offsetting of balances.

Streamlining solutions

Our liquidity products can help to reduce borrowing costs by promoting effective working capital management; streamlining and automating your treasury activities to further reduce direct and in-direct costs.

Learn more about our liquidity solutions.

Strategies for success

Five steps to ensure you have true sight of your international growth goals:

Get a real-time picture of your liquidity

Only if you have a full and real-time picture of your financial situation can you be truly confident in the transactions you are making. Make sure you are deploying liquidity management that helps you manage and monitor your financial position with a true picture of your liquidity.

Protect against risk by getting fraud savvy

The more complex your operations, the more at risk you may be of attempted fraud. And financial fraud is evolving fast. So, while you may think you are on top of the latest trends, the chances of a new or emerging threat is around the corner.

Explore trade solutions that deliver confidence

Our trade services are designed to ease some of the challenges of trading internationally, while providing security and peace of mind when managing risk for your business. For instance, a Performance Bond could provide reassurance to your buyer that you’ll meet your obligations.

Understand your FX position – and mitigate any risk

We know that FX fluctuations can equal risk, especially in more volatile times. But putting an FX strategy in place may even deliver growth opportunities if handled right. Make sure you have an understanding of your FX exposure – especially if you are structuring deals over time.

Deploy payments processes with purpose

Payments are more than just a process for moving money from A to B. Through innovative mobile and electronic solutions that integrate fully with your business, our payments services let you and your customers make, receive and track payments domestically and worldwide – swiftly, securely, and easily.

¹https://www2.deloitte.com/uk/en/pages/press-releases/articles/records-eclipsed-as-premier-league-clubs-spend-over-p2bn-for-the.html^

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