Trésorier/Treasurer magazine - N°99 - Nov/Dec/Jan 2018 - 20

"Treasurers should consider how
their organizations plan to run a
direct-to-consumer business," says
Simon Jones, EMEA Head of Treasury
Solutions for J.P. Morgan's Corporate
& Investment Bank. "In today's
digital world where consumers can
order products and services with the
swipe of a phone, careful thought
must be given to infrastructure,

SIMON JONES
EMEA HEAD OF TREASURY SOLUTIONS
CORPORATE & INVESTMENT BANK

J.P. MORGAN

reconciliation technology and the
capacity within a corporate's shared
services organization to handle the
exponentially greater volume of

LE MAGAZINE DU TRESORIER / TREASURER MAGAZINE

N°99

- NOV /

DEC / JAN 2018

payments."

Digital payments eco-system:
A closer look at automotive, insurance
and utilities companies
While this direct-to-consumer trend has reached most
sectors already, the biggest shifts to date have occurred in
technology and media (e.g., Netflix). More recently, risks and
opportunities have linked the automotive, insurance and utilities sectors where entire eco-systems are being built around
digitally-connected business-to-customer relationships.
In the automotive sector, the transformation is manifold.
The growth of shared mobility has supported the emergence
of new companies (e.g., Uber) as well as strategic acquisitions
by traditional OEMs (e.g., Ford's September 2016 purchase
of Chariot, the San Francisco-based commuter ride-sharing
startup). Early studies suggest that consumers may begin
buying fewer cars for personal use, but the fact that cars are
increasingly digital is uncontested.
Indeed, Daimler AG's January acquisition of Luxembourgbased electronic payment services provider PayCash was
a key milestone in the car-maker's launch of a dedicated
electronic payment services provider under the "Mercedes
Pay" brand name. The ability for drivers to use their cars
instead of their physical wallets to pay for parking or fuel will
become the norm, forcing automotive companies to adapt
their business models and integrate these in-vehicle services
to stay relevant.

Digital disruption in the insurance space has already led firms
to take advantage of e-commerce and digital media to deal
directly with their policyholders through personalized mobile
and online channels. Easier access has intensified competition, with insurers seeking to differentiate themselves
through customer experience and lower costs.
The latest wave of digitization has determined the main
battleground: a combination of telematics and enhanced
customer data. As shared mobility gains momentum, drivers
are demanding customized coverage, delivered digitally in
real time. Collecting telematics data through APIs
integrated with the automotive companies that distribute
shared vehicles reduces the guesswork. Insurers armed with
insights are better able to create new policies and implement
usage- and behavior-based pricing, and handle multiple
sign-ups, payments and claims.
Shared mobility is just one manifestation of the growing
sense of environmental responsibility pushing more individuals to reduce their carbon footprints - others include
the rising popularity of electric cars. In the utilities sector,
renewable, off-the-grid energy installations and distributed
power systems have paved the way for the electricity
"prosumer," a consumer of electricity who also produces it
and can sell it back to the grid. Prosumers are blurring the
lines between power generation and consumption and when

Table des matières de la publication Trésorier/Treasurer magazine - N°99 - Nov/Dec/Jan 2018