Anne Massardier (PwC) and Jonathan Prince (Finologee): from idle cash to strategy
Anne Massardier, Finance & Treasury Advisory at PwC, and Jonathan Prince, co-founder and CSO of Finologee, discuss idle cash optimisation with François Masquelier, Chair of ATEL
Why did you decide to talk about idle cash optimisation?
PwC: We initially questioned whether idle cash optimisation was innovative enough as a topic. Yet it addresses a very real concern for treasurers: where is my cash, and how should I invest it? The recent oversubscribed IPO activity in the US shows how this market is active and dynamic, while European treasurers still hold significant long cash positions often managed in a passive and conservative mode. Additionally, strategic and active cash management is no longer driven solely by economic attractiveness. With PSD3, T+1 settlement and increasing cash velocity, the pressure around visibility, monitoring and controls is not even only about generating returns, but also for treasurers about remaining compliant, agile and in control. This requires two aligned pillars: an operational foundation covering data, governance, processes and traceability, and technical readiness. Today, treasurers still spend too much time concentrating, reconciling and collecting data. Our ambition is to reverse that 20/80 balance, freeing time for strategic and ambitious cash management.
“The concentration is not the destination, it’s the prerequisite.”
What makes you different from some competitors?
Finologee: Finologee operates under a Support PFS licence, supervised by the CSSF, and holds its own BIC on the SWIFT network as a supervised entity, with around 150 banks pre-configured on the platform. That status matters because cash optimisation starts with visibility: treasurers need to know exactly where cash sits before they can act on it. Practices typically range from manual transfers, to rule-based movements that partially automate execution, to continuous, orchestrated concentration. Our platform handles cash concentration and sweeping across multiple banks, with four-eyes principles, a complete audit trail and the ability to pause and resume rules. Treasurers watch the rules run, piloting the process rather than manually pushing each transfer. Once cash is concentrated, it can be extended into automated reinvestment, into money market funds, term deposits or reverse repurchase agreements. These features were built in co-creation with clients, also guided by the PwC team.
What is the advantage of using your licence and your BIC code?
Finologee: The advantage is direct: clients avoid the weight of building their own compliance controls, through the mutualisation of costs. We monitor connectivity with all banks, so when a connection goes down, every client is informed immediately. We call it plumbing: clients outsource the plumbing to the plumber. Alternatives include EBICS, SFTP or any channel that works with the bank in question. Agreements with some banks allow direct account activation through the platform, a significant time gain. No minimum size applies: as soon as an organisation runs cross-border, multi-bank activities, the model becomes relevant.