As corporates face new and continual challenges due to the sluggish global economy, their banking needs are evolving – and so are their expectations as to what banks should deliver in order to support their business. Much of this expectation is also driven by rapid technological innovation.

For Anne Coghlan there are two levels to the bank interface. Firstly, there is the “bread and butter” of day-to-day treasury transactions, such as payments and cash management. She voices her surprise that many banks do not offer a “health checklist” to assess how a corporate is functioning in the basic areas. Secondly, there are the new tools, or “sexy bits”, such as helping corporates achieve better market penetration with their goods. She believes that these two levels need to be intertwined for a qualitatively better corporate experience, but that banks “haven’t quite got it right”.