Corporate cash management transformed with Virtual Accounts

Background

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A leading Dutch multinational bank and one of Europe’s largest financial institutions is a prominent provider of cash and liquidity management solutions. The bank continually invests in modernising its technology landscape to strengthen its market-leading proposition, enhance operational efficiency, and deliver superior experiences to its corporate clients. 

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As a long-standing SAP Fioneer technology partner, the organisation places strong emphasis on innovation, collaboration and sustainable digital transformation.

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The Challenge

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In late 2020, as part of its “One Cash Management” initiative, the bank began a major modernisation programme to bring greater unity and consistency to its cash management offering.

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At the core of this transformation was an ageing Virtual Account Management (VAM) platform built on a Tieto mainframe system. The legacy solution had reached its technical and functional limits — it could no longer be upgraded, lacked critical features demanded by corporate clients, and increased operational complexity through multiple disparate technologies within the bank’s cash management suite.

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With the system’s contract due to expire in just 14 months, the bank required a future-proof replacement that could be delivered quickly and integrated seamlessly across its global operations.

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After a comprehensive market evaluation, the Global Cash and Liquidity Management product team selected SAP Virtual Account Management (VAM), in combination with SAP Payment Engine, as the foundation for its next-generation virtual account capability.

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The Solution

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The project launched in early 2021, with SAP Netherlands and SAP Innovation Business Solutions engaging Bancon to design and implement a series of product enhancements that would elevate the standard VAM offering and meet the bank’s specific functional and integration requirements.

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Notably, the version of SAP’s Virtual Account Management implemented originated from earlier co-development work between Bancon and SAP for another major UK bank. This made the Dutch bank the first global institution to adopt the productised version of VAM (now part of the official SAP Fioneer portfolio) rather than a custom-built solution.

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Bancon was responsible for the design, build, and integration of the new platform, working within an agile delivery framework throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite remote delivery conditions, collaboration between the bank’s business, product, and engineering teams remained strong, with Bancon achieving high-level design sign-off within just six weeks.

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Key areas of enhancement included:

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• Limit management across account hierarchies – allowing customers to manage and control limits across complex virtual account structures.
• Enhanced integration with SAP Payment Engine – ensuring seamless execution of payments and collections within the virtual account construct.
• Domain APIs for front-end connectivity – introducing new services to integrate with the bank’s proprietary corporate channels, marking a first compared to prior implementations.
• Improved balance and transaction reporting – leveraging SAP Fioneer enhancements for richer and more accurate client insights.
• Integration with the bank’s enterprise reporting platform, Prometheus – enabling reuse of existing reporting functionality across the wider technology landscape.

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The implementation also involved retrofitting specific business processes into the new solution and designing new features to close functional gaps from the legacy system — a complex but successful exercise that showcased Bancon’s deep understanding of SAP’s financial products and the banking domain.

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The Results

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• Successful delivery within timeframe and scope – SAP Virtual Account Management and SAP Payment Engine were implemented on schedule despite the challenges of remote delivery.

• Decommissioning of the legacy mainframe system – avoiding renewal costs and simplifying the cash management technology ecosystem.

• Product innovations introduced – several enhancements developed during the project have since been incorporated into the standard SAP Fioneer VAM solution.

• Enhanced visibility and control – new Group Balance Account and advanced limit management features provide greater transparency across client structures.

• Improved client experience – corporate customers gained stronger liquidity insights and operational efficiency, reinforcing the bank’s cash management proposition.

• Ongoing collaboration – continued partnership with Bancon ensures access to application management support and ongoing product expertise.

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Following the successful delivery of this VAM implementation, the project became the foundation for subsequent joint initiatives between the bank and Bancon, including ICLA and cash-pooling enhancements, extending the bank’s modernisation journey and strengthening its global leadership in cash management.