In this issue

Global Adoption of BSB, the AFP’s Global Service Codes, and Related Developments
This newsletter is all about bank billing to corporations and other wholesale bank services users: standards, adoption of standards, billing practices and optimizing the billing experience.

Issue headlines

Progress by the industry group CGI-MP in development and adoption of BSB and AFP Global Service Codes.
A first look at a new whitepaper:
Building a Business Case for Bank Services Billing (BSB).
Results of the BSB Bank Survey
Insights on German market bank billing practice:
A BSB Rulebook for the German Market.
A primer on use of BSB:
A BSB File is Finally Available from My Bank…Now What?!?

Introduction

By Robert J. Blair, TWIST Standards, ASC x9, and Vick Consulting Group
Support for the Bank Services Billing standard continues togrow as additional banks support and market practice grow. What’s the incentive? Efficiency, transparency, accuracy.
This issue’s news and articles coverage include:

• Updates to AFP’s Global Service Codes – A new version of AFP’s (the Association for Financial Professionals) Global
• Service Codes is in final draft.
• Building a Business Case – Corporate case studies – Views from corporate practitioners on the value realized fromuse of the Bank services Billing schema.
• German Market Rulebook –Progress by German banks in defining a German domestic market practice for use of the ISO 20022 BSB.
• Bank Survey Results – Global availability of BSB – The survey has been completed. Bank and country coverage of ISO 20022 and TWIST BSB capabilities are reported.
• Vendor Survey Result – Updated results from the previously published Vendor Survey
• A BSB File is Finally Available from My Bank…Now What?!? – Tips and tricks for the corporate practitioner.

BSB News

News from CGI-MP WG5 – (Common Global Implementation—Market Practice Workgroup 5 (BSB) and its member corporations, banks and fintech companies continue work on BSB which includes:

• Publication of the bank survey results;
• Review of AFP’s Global Service Codes (GSC);
• Commitment to adopt GSC for use with BSB;
• Revision of the BSB FAQ.

Members of this group have also developed a whitepaper featuring corporate case studies on use and value of BSB.
The Bank Survey Results Have Been Published – The bank survey is now complete and is discussed in detail later in this issue. Updated vendor survey results are also included in this issue.
Updates to the AFP’s Global Service Codes – A new version of the AFP’s (Association for Financial Professionals) Global Service Codes is in final draft. A task force led by Bridget Meyer and Stephanie Andersson of Redbridge DTA, and composed of CGIMP Workgroup 5 members, has finished its review and submitted recommendations to the AFP.
The task force reviewed each of the 900+ codes before making their recommendations.
The AFP will officially assign code numbers with publication of the new version expected in January 2018. Recommended changes include:

• Enhancement of the services covered to make it more representative of country requirements and billing practices outside of the USA.
• The addition of codes for Merchant (Debit/Credit) Cards, Prepaid Cards, and Corporate Purchasing Cards all under a new product family called CRD for Card Services. While most banks are not billing for card services through BSB, there are a few banks that do have this capability and the committee wanted to have the basic codes covered.
• Similarly, a new product family for Trade services will be added with only a few high level codes to accommodate those banks that are able to connect this type of billing.

Corporate Treasurers, Banks, and Vendors Adopt the AFP Global Service Codes – The CGIMP Workgroup 5 members, including corporate treasurers, major banks, and vendors all agreed to adopt the AFP Global Service Codes as the standard code to be used in all BSB files (TWIST as well as ISO 20022 camt.086). Many banks are already using these codes in their files and those that are not plan to implement them in the very near future.
Whitepaper: Building a Business Case for Bank Services Billing – CGIMP WG5 has developed a whitepaper featuring corporate case studies on the benefits of electronic bank billing and reporting.
Automation is key in today’s treasury practice. Improving processes and transparency is crucial because of the multitude and increasing complexity of operations. The core of the report’s methodology is TESSA:

1. Transparency Know what you pay and what is happening!
2. Efficiency – Get rid of manual/paper based workflows!
3. Simplicity Make things easy! Get fast analysis!
4. Serenity Make your auditors happy!
5. Advice Give strategic input to Management!

This case study aims at fostering a sustainable solution that works both for banks and corporates.
The case study is available on the CGIMP webpage: https://www.swift.com/standards/marketpractice/commonglobalimplementation/workinggroups?tl=en#topictabsmenu
An Updated BSB FAQ is Now Available – A new version of the FAQ was developed earlier this year and has been posted to the TWIST and ISO 20022 sites.
This latest version now addresses both ISO 20022 camt.086 and TWIST versions of the BSB message specifications.
Recent BSB Press Coverage “How to solve the mystery of bank billing” – Treasury & Risk (email and website) , 1st Aug 2017 by Bridget Meyer, Redbridge Debt & Treasury Advisory: http://www.treasuryandrisk.com/2016/11/16/electronic-statements-from-international-banks?slreturn=1483361998
Excerpt: “Corporations should continue to ask the banks for AFP Global or US Service Codes in their bank fee reporting.”

German Banks Develop a Rulebook for the German Market

By Sabine Wenzel, SIZ GmbH, for the Deutsche Kreditwirtschaft

In Germany, a working group of “ Die Deutsche Kreditwirtschaft ” (German Banking Industry Committee) is currently working on a camt.086 format specifica- tion for the German market. The working group consists of representatives from all banking sectors in Germany (private, savings, cooperative and public banks).
The specification is based on and compli- ant to the current ISO 20022 format camt.086.001.02. One aim is to promote the use of camt.086 in Germany by cre- ating standardized field allocation rules taking into account the characteristics of the German banking market.
The use of camt.086 is still optional. But if German banks offer camt.086, they must comply with the rules of the Ger- man specification (“ DFÜ Agreement ”), so that all customers get a uniform format. The work on the specification is near completion and a publication is scheduled for early 2018, valid from Novem- ber 2018, an appropriate decision of the DK – board assumed.

Global Availability of Electronic Bank Billing Formats (BSB): 2017 Bank Survey Results

Facilitated by Redbridge Debt & Treasury Advisory

With special thanks to Bridget Meyers and Emmanuel Lechere as well as the other members of CGI – MP WG5 for their efforts to make this survey a reality

Introduction: Bank Service Billing (BSB) Files for Global Treasury Groups

Note: Excerpts from the survey results report are provided here. For a full version of the report please refer to the URL:
http://www.redbridgedta.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/redbridge-global-availability-electronic-bank-billing-formats-bank-survey-results-2017-BSB.pdf
Within the USA, corporate treasury teams have had access to bank billing information for decades via the EDI 822 statement. This format has become the de – facto method for providing treasury staffs with detailed information on bank services including standardized service codes published by the Association for Financial Professionals (AFP Service Codes©).
The demand for the same information on a global basis has increased in the last years. That need has been met with the TWIST BSB file. This file format came into existence with the help of several large global banks, corporations, and provid ers coming together to lay the founda tion for international bank fee data.
There are two main versions of the BSB file: the TWIST BSB V 3.1 and the newest iteration, the ISO 20022 camt.086.
Of 13 respondents:

Global Snapshot: BSB Files

The main differences between the EDI files traditionally provided in the USA and the international BSB file are the addition of multiple currencies and the reporting of taxes. Corporate treasurers reading the results of this survey should keep in mind that while files may be not ed as available in a certain country, avail ability may be determined by the size and classification of the accounts held.
The European market is driving the adoption of the BSB globally. The availa bility of TWIST BSB or camt.086 files has advanced significantly in recent years in this region. North America, Africa, and Asia Pacific have moderate availability thanks to the participation of the world’s largest banks expanding their capabilities globally. The Middle East and South America have the most limited availabil ity.
The best way to determine if a file is available for a specific company is to ask your account officer.

2017 Bank Survey Results

Summary

Since its inception, the BSB file has been steadily gaining in acceptance and will become an integral part of your interna tional treasury operations. By leveraging this data, corporations can gain fee visi bility into their bank services allowing them to properly purchase services and control and reduce costs across the globe.

As mentioned earlier, coverage is not complete across the globe. Work still needs to take place for the BSB file to match the level of acceptance and state ment detail seen with the EDI822 state ment in the USA. Continued growth of this standard will be driven by banks, corporates and providers working to gether to create awareness and demand within the treasury space.

The full report is available at the follow ing URL:

http://www.redbridgedta.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/redbridge-global-availability-electronic-bank-billing-formats-bank-survey-results-2017-BSB.pdf

If you are a bank and wish to participate in future surveys, please email us at: contact@redbridgedta.com

Vendor Survey Results Are Updated!

By Robert J Blair

The vendor survey was published in the January 2017 issue. Since that time an additional vendor, Kyriba has reported their information. Kyriba has been add ed to the list of fintech companies, now numbering 8, providing applications with BSB related functionality for corpora tions and/or banks.

Vendor table – click to enlarge

A BSB File is Finally Available from My Bank…Now What?!?

By Karen Hendricks, Weiland BRM Product Manager, Fiserv

After much anticipation, your bank has finally made a BSB file available. This is  exciting news whether it’s your first BSB  or the latest addition to your other BSB  banks and/or regions….but now that the  BSB is available, what’s next?

1. Understand the BSB

The Bank Services Billing (BSB) is an elec tronic statement used internationally to  report on corporate financial services  usage.  The BSB includes the service  charges, detailed tax information, and  related currency translations for a speci fied billing period.

The BSB exists because the challenge of analyzing your bank fees manually can  be daunting. Especially for corporates  with multiple banks worldwide  – or who  are looking to analyze both their US and  international fees together  – the sheer  volume of data included in these state ments is more than what any one person  can manage by hand. With hundreds or  thousands of accounts and services, a  spot check on certain accounts or a re view of the relationship summary ac count is the best that can be done.

The BSB file provides the data in an elec tronic format that can be interpreted by  software that provides the treasury de partment with the summary and de tailed information they need to review  fees and help implement more effective  processes. The BSB file contains a  wealth of information that, when used in  conjunction with an effective bank fee  analysis process, can help your treasury  department become a more strategic  partner in the organization.

2. Have A Plan

Now that you understand what the BSB is, have a plan on how to use it.

The BSB exists to help you analyze your  bank fees as part of your global account  analysis process  – a critical task that eve ry treasury or finance department should  complete each month. This account  analysis process ensures that you are  only paying for services you contracted  at the price you negotiated, but can also  help you save money, generate more  revenue, enhance your bank relation ships, optimize your treasury operations,  uncover insights about your business,  and more. It ’ s something every corpo rate should do, no matter their size.

A best practice account analysis process  enables you to:

• Easily identify incorrect charges, such as  non – contracted services, invalid pric es or charges on closed accounts.
• Generate timely and relevant reports for management.
• Understand the services being utilized  and how they are used in the busi ness processes.
• Complete an analysis every month which allows for trends to be identified.

3. Put Your Plan Into Action

With a best practice account analysis  process in place, it’ s time to put the BSB  to use.

The first step is to contact the bank and  request BSB statement delivery.  The BSB  file can be sent in an encrypted email  with password protection, pushed to a  Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) loca tion, or downloaded via the bank portal.   The organization and person receiving or  retrieving the BSB file will depend on  your implementation method and the  bank fee software vendor/consultant.  Traditionally, the BSB file is received by  either the treasury or IT department  within your company or by the bank fee  software vendor/consultant.

On average it takes one or two billing  cycles for a BSB to be generated.  Some  banks generate one file for all regions  while others will generate a file based on  the region or country.  The bank may  activate a new service for BSB genera tion and delivery.  There is a fee to re ceive the BSB file, but it may already be  bundled with one of your existing service  items or it could be offset by discontinu ing paper statements.

When the BSB file is finally received, you  can use bank fee analysis software to  capture and analyze it.  The contracted  prices should be confirmed so that the  price comparison and validation can be  executed on a monthly basis.  Internal  codes and industry codes can be as signed to accounts and services respec tively.  The assignment of codes will al low for in – depth analysis and easy slicing  and dicing of data.  These initial steps  and the ongoing maintenance of prices  and codes are critical to ensure valid  reporting.  Bank fee software vendors  and consultants will help guide you and  can often complete these steps for you.   In addition, they may have options to  maintain your data and provide a month ly analysis on an ongoing outsourcing  basis.

4. But What if I Don’t Have Time to Analyze my Bank Fees?

Even the best laid plans can run into trouble.

Unfortunately, the analysis of bank fees  often falls by the wayside because there  are so many other daily and monthly  responsibilities that fall on the shoulders  of the treasury team. Many treasury  teams understand the importance of  analyzing their bank fees, but they simp ly don ’ t have enough time to do it well  or consistently. Some treasury teams  may have had someone responsible for  account analysis full time, but this per son moved on and the new person was  never fully trained. Others will do an in – depth analysis once a year only to find  the same mistakes appear 12 months ’  later. Because it ’ s always easier to pay  the bank invoice without reviewing it,  account analysis often suffers when  things get busy.

And even though direct debit or cursory  review may be the easiest thing to do, it  is not in the best interest of your compa ny … or your career. So instead of passing  up opportunities to reduce your fees and  capture the insights buried within your  statements, recognize account analysis  for what it is  – a critical treasury task  – and find someone to help.

If you don ’ t have enough internal re sources available to do it yourself, there  are several vendors who can do it for  you. These partners act as an extension  of your team who analyze your BSB, 822,  spreadsheet and paper statements each  month on your behalf. They can provide  an in – depth analysis of your monthly  statements, summarize their findings,  and flag areas of concern so that you can  capture all the benefits of a fully dedicat ed, expert analysis operation without  having to invest all the time. And im portantly, they can monitor your bank  fees each and every month so that sav ings opportunities never go past the  point where the bank would be willing to  provide a credit.

5. What Next?

Now that you’re receiving and pro- cessing a BSB each month, what next?

Find Out if Your Other Banks Offer BSB

The easiest way to see if your banks offer  a BSB file, TWIST 3.1 or camt.086, is here  in the TWIST Newsletter. The list of  banks that offer a BSB has been part of  every publication since 2008. While a  BSB might be available from your bank, it  is best to reach out and confirm if a BSB  is available in the region or countries in  which you operate. Your software ven dor can also serve as a great resource.  If your bank offers a BSB, request it to  start benefiting from it right away. If  not …

Encourage Your Banks to Offer a BSB

Your large banks know it would be im possible for large corporates to analyze  their account analysis statements with out a BSB and have many other clients  just like you. The BSB has been available  for nearly a decade now and your large  bank partners should be able to provide  one. If they can ’ t, encourage them to do  so and make the BSB part of your regular  bank reviews, scorecards, and RFPs.  Team up with your peers from other  corporations via trade groups, vendor  groups and other organizations to speak  with a unified voice. The BSB is a vital  treasury tool that banks, as your trusted  partners, should be able to provide.

Your medium sized banks should be  aware of the BSB and, depending on  their orientation, may or may not serve  other clients with a similar need. If you  are one of only a handful of clients ask ing for a BSB, your bank may have a hard  time justifying the expense of producing  a BSB; but, if you are a key client or they  are interested in expanding their market  share, they would be wise to offer it. As  with your large banks, make the BSB part  of your scorecards and RFPs and find  other bank customers to partner with.

Your smaller sized banks may find it diffi cult to provide a BSB, nevertheless, it  doesn ’ t hurt to ask. Understand their  challenges and encourage them to serve  you as best they can. At the bare mini mum, ask for a machine readable  spreadsheet that you can import into  your bank fee analysis solution if a BSB is  not available.

Leverage Your BSBs Each & Every Month 

A BSB is a like gym membership, it only  works if you use it. And it only works  well if you use it correctly, consistently  and with the right tools. Before you ask  your bank for a BSB, be sure you have a  plan in place that includes the right  tools, people and processes to unlock  the BSB ’ s full potential.

If you need help establishing your ac count analysis process, there are many  consultants, including those from soft ware providers that can help. Think of  them as personal trainers who can help  you make the most of the BSB with a  best practice account analysis approach  designed specifically for you. After all,  whether you analyze your fees yourself  or outsource your analysis to a third – party partner, you need to have a best  practice account analysis process in  place to capture the full value of the  BSB, serve your company and advance  your career .

Editorial Board

Robert J. Blair, ISO 20022 RMG, TWIST Standards, ASC x9.
Edward Court, Deutsche Bank
Andrew W. Griebenow, HSBC, Convenor CGI-MP WG 5
Emmanuel Léchère, Redbridge DTA (ex bfinance)
Sandrine Legoff, BNP Paribas
Bridget Meyer, Redbridge DTA (ex The Montauk Group)
Jacques Molgo, Air Liquide
Duncan Slare, Citi
Martin Postweiler, Hanse Orga

Resources

AFP – The Association for Financial Professionals
The US national treasury practitioners association.   Publisher of the US and global versions of the Electronic Account Analysis (aka BSB) Service Codes – Source of  the billing fees codes list as well as a whitepaper providing details on its history and use. http://www.afponline.org/servicecodes/

CGI-MP – Common Global Implementation – Market Practice
A group of banks, corporate treasury practitioners, financial application vendors, and standardizers working to harmonize use of BSB and other standards.  Work Group 5 addresses BSB.
https://www.swift.com/standards/market-practice/common-global-implementation

ISO 20022  – International Standards Organization
Current version of the standard BSB (ISO 20022, camt.086) and related documentation. including: Message Usage Guide describing  “… the data content requirements of the Bank Services Billing (BSB) standard  as defined by ISO  20022.”   A useful guide for implementers.
A sample file as well as a field by field cross reference document: ISO 20022 to TWIST to ANSI x12.
ISO 20022 Newsletter with periodic coverage of BSB. https://www.iso20022.org/display_news.page?dataitem=en/20120716_bsb_publication

Redbridge DTA  – For the full report of bank survey results go to:
http://www.redbridgedta.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/redbridge-global-availability-electronic-bank-billing-formats-bank-survey-results-2017-BSB.pdf

SWIFT — Co-submitter with TWIST of the ISO 20022 BSB schema.  Secretariat for CGI-MP.

TWIST – Transaction Workflow Innovation Standards TeamAuthor/submitter of the TWIST and ISO 20022 BSB.
AFP presentation on BSB, and this newsletter, FAQ, business process information. http://twiststandards.org/news/iso-bsb-electronic-billing-statement/

Wikipedia
A non-technical introduction to the standard. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank_Services_Billing_Standard

Contacting the Newsletter Staff

To join the mailing list, comment on this edition, or contribute news or articles to a future edition of the newsletter: TWISTBSB@TWISTstandards.org