Saxo Payments says the UK's exit from the European Union could have a devastating impact of bank-to-corporate relationships, with one-third of companiess surveyed by the bank considering moving their operations out of Britain when Article 50 is triggered.
Anders la Cour, founder and CEO of Saxo Payments presented the findings at the European Payment Summit, in The Hague, as he examined the opportunities for the next generation of cross border payments.
Saxo Payments conducted online research amongst its own customers and prospects and the European Payment Summit database for the study.
While one-third of corporates state their intention to move their business away from the UK, up to a half say they plans to change financial partners in the wake of the Brexit break-up.
The research also revealed that whilst 37% would like to have just one banking relationship to facilitate cross border payments, the reality is that a third currently have five or more.
“Clearly the UK’s exit from the EU is taking considerable thinking time for businesses right across the Union”, says la Cour. “And one area that needs to be addressed is stability in the processes that businesses use for cross border payments. Whatever else might happen, they want to have certainty about cash flow and costs."
The results also showing growing corporate frustration with the effort of maintaining multiple banking relationships and increasing dissatisfaction with the correspondent banking model.
The results chime with a recent Nordea report focusing on the future of the corporate and business-to-business payments landscape, including the changing role of banks and the impact of new technology, which showed that a lack of industry standardisation is a key concern among businesses.
Says la Cour: “There is an appetite for businesses to find a third party one-stop-shop to provide the platform for their cross border payments with nearly 60% advocating this approach, driven by a desire to reduce external costs and improve cash flow.”