Financial Technology Solutions

SAP BRIM Convergent Invoicing (CI): BITS Configuration & End-to-End Process SAP Convergent Invoicing (CI) streamlines billing and invoicing by integrating data from multiple sources. Here’s a concise guide to configure CI in SPRO and execute an end-to-end process to generate Billable Items (BITs) and post invoices in FI-CA. 1. Key SPRO Configuration Steps Define Billable Item Classes: Navigate to Contract Accounts Receivable and Payable → Convergent Invoicing → Billing Processes → Define Item Classes. Categorize items (e.g., goods, services) and assign tax codes. Configure Billing Plans: Set up recurring/non-recurring billing cycles under Billing Plans for customer-specific needs. Purpose: Define the attributes and structure for Billable Items. Create BIT Categories Path: SPRO → Billing and Revenue Innovation Management → Convergent Invoicing → Billable Items → Define Billable Item Categories. Purpose: Assign classes to specific BIT Categories for billing scenarios. Configure BIT Processing Path: SPRO → Billing and Revenue Innovation Management → Convergent Invoicing → Billable Items → Processing of Billable Items. Purpose: Set processing rules, filters, and validation checks. Define Invoicing Document Types Path: SPRO → Billing and Revenue Innovation Management → Convergent Invoicing → Invoicing → Define Invoicing Document Types. Purpose: Define document types for invoice creation and posting. Set Account Determination for FI-CA Path: SPRO → Financial Accounting → Contract Accounts Receivable and Payable → Business Transactions → Postings → Account Determination. Purpose: Map G/L accounts for invoice posting. Assign Grouping Variants: Define aggregation rules for billable items in Billing Processes → Assign Billing Item Type. Tax Configuration: Maintain tax codes and rates under Financial Accounting → Tax on Sales/Purchases. 2. End-to-End Steps Step 1: Create and Transfer Billable Items Use FKKBIXBIT_SAMPLE to create test BITs. Transfer raw data via FKKBIXBIT02_TRANS or mass transfer using FKKBIXBIT02_TRANS_MA5. Step 2: Perform Billing Execute individual billing using FKKBIX_S or mass billing with FKKBIX_MA5. Step 3: Generate Invoicing Documents Create invoices via FKKINV_S or execute mass invoicing using FKKINV_MA5. View generated invoices using FKKINVDOC_DISP. Step 4: Post to FI-CA Posting occurs automatically during invoicing, updating customer accounts in FI-CA27. Additional Tips Use parallel processing (_MA TCodes) for high-volume data. SAP CI ensures seamless billing-to-invoicing integration—empowering businesses with scalable and efficient revenue management! #SAPBRIM #ConvergentInvoicing #FICA #BillingAutomation #SAPExpert #BRIM #BITS

This goes far beyond the headlines. Why would major financial players, including Morgan Stanley, pour $104 million into a crypto startup? If you want to buy Bitcoin or stablecoins today, most people go to a crypto exchange like Coinbase or Binance. That’s where they open an account, move money over, and trade or hold their digital assets. In other words, exchanges are the on-ramp into the digital asset economy — the entry point where everyday users first gain access to buying, selling, and holding crypto. But here’s the problem: for end-users, it means opening and maintaining a separate account outside their trusted bank, broker, or payments app. For financial institutions, it means watching value (and customer relationships) flow out of their ecosystem. Zerohash raised $104 mn exactly because it solves this problem. It gives institutions a new model for delivering digital assets. Founded in 2017, it builds the invisible infrastructure that lets banks, brokerages, fintechs, and payments companies offer crypto and stablecoin services inside their own platforms. • A brokerage can let clients buy and hold Bitcoin without sending them to Coinbase. • A payments company can settle transactions instantly in stablecoins. • An asset manager can tokenize funds and distribute them globally. Zerohash manages the critical components — custody, compliance, settlement, licensing — via APIs, enabling institutions to launch faster without taking on the full regulatory and operational weight of an exchange build. This is about infrastructure — building the layer that brings digital assets into the mainstream of finance. By embedding crypto, stablecoins, and tokenized assets directly into banks, brokers, and payments apps, customers can stay within the platforms they already trust. For end-users, it means seamless access to digital assets without opening new accounts. For institutions, it means retaining relationships while delivering the next generation of financial products. 𝗦𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗱 𝗻𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗿𝘂𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝗱𝗶𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘁𝘀. In that context, the $104 mn might actually be a bargain. Opinions: my own, Graphic source: CBNC Subscribe to my newsletter: https://lnkd.in/dkqhnxdg

Recharge, a provider of prepaid payment solutions, has partnered with Tink and Adyen to introduce the Pay by Bank payment method for customers in Germany 🇩🇪 This initiative enables a simple, secure, and convenient way for consumers to transfer money directly from their bank accounts during checkout. Pay by Bank is an Open Banking-powered payment solution that facilitates direct account-to-account transfers. This payment method eliminates the need for credit cards or third-party services, offering users a faster and more secure checkout experience. Germany stands out as a key market for digital payments in Europe, driven by its strong banking infrastructure and consumer openness to cashless solutions. Data from the Budensbank reveals even though cash is still very popular, most people now prefer cashless means of payment. When asked about their preferences, 44% of respondents prefer to pay cashless, 28% prefer cash, and 28% are indifferent. Additionally, Statista projects that the German digital payments market will reach EUR 281 billion in transaction value by the end of 2025, growing at an annual rate of 19.62%. Source/more info: The Paypers - https://lnkd.in/d3djpgFu Find this helpful? [ 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁 ] Anything to add about this subject? [𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁] Nice story, Marcel. Next! [ 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 ] #openbanking #openfinance #paytech #payments #digitalpayments #fintech #digitalbanking #financialtechnology #fintechindustry #fintechnews

Visa just launched Pay by Bank here in the UK, an A2A payment option that lets customers pay businesses straight from their bank accounts, with no card involved. How does it work? At checkout, the customer selects Pay by Bank, approves the payment in their banking app, and the money moves instantly via Faster Payments. For merchants — funds are settled straight away. What’s different? Visa is adding something A2A payments have been missing: clear consumer protections and the trust of a big brand. Until now, Open Banking payments have grown steadily, but lacked consistent refund processes and didn’t always feel as safe as using a card. Now that’s changing — and with Visa’s merchant reach, this could scale fast. What does this mean? → Merchants may adopt Pay by Bank more confidently, knowing Visa’s protections are behind it. → Other A2A players will need to match this level of trust and user experience. → Basic A2A payments will become a commodity — the real opportunity lies in value-added services: ecommerce, B2B, cross-border, smarter data. This is a smart move by Visa — and a sign of where Open Banking is headed. Expect to see similar innovation across Europe next, especially with SEPA Instant. #payments #banking #openbanking #regulations

📢 E-Rupee Rise In India | #CBDC Reliance Jio Integrates Digital Rupee Payments, Pushing India’s CBDC Into the Mainstream 📌 One of the first major telecom operators in India to integrate RBI's CBDC. Reliance Jio has added yet another feather to its cap by becoming one of the first major telecom operators in India to accept payments via the Digital Rupee, the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). This quiet yet significant integration marks a milestone in India’s journey toward a cashless, digitally empowered economy. 🚀 A New Way to Pay When Reliance Jio users head to the payment checkout page for bill settlement or recharge, they now see (Digital Rupee) listed as one of the payment options alongside conventional choices like credit/debit cards, wallets, net banking, and UPI-linked methods. This addition means that millions of Jio subscribers can now directly use the RBI-issued digital currency for everyday telecom transactions. 💡 Why it is Important? ➟ The move is not just about adding one more payment channel. It signals the beginning of mainstream CBDC adoption in India, where a large private sector player like Jio has created a direct on-ramp for customers to use Digital Rupee seamlessly. ➟ For Reliance Jio, adopting Digital Rupee fits neatly into its broader digital-first strategy. The company has consistently positioned itself as a technology leader from pioneering affordable 4G, to driving 5G rollouts, to integrating cutting-edge payment options. The Digital Rupee acceptance further reinforces this positioning. 🎯 Bottomline - For the RBI and the Indian government, this is a crucial step in validating the real-world usability of CBDC. If Jio’s rollout sees traction, it could accelerate Digital Rupee adoption across utilities, retail chains, and even government services. As India continues to explore the future of money, Reliance Jio’s latest move is not just about telecom payments. It’s about putting CBDC directly into the hands and smartphones of millions of Indians, making the Digital Rupee not a concept of tomorrow, but a currency of today. #Payments

There’s a cold, hard truth about AR. Automation alone can't collect cash. Smart AR teams, empowered by AI, do. Over the years, I’ve spoken to many #finance leaders across markets and industries. Every one of them had the same problem - thousands of overdue invoices and only a handful of human resources compounding manual busywork and inefficiencies. In my opinion, AR teams are accelerating the wrong playbook. So what’s the best play in this economic climate? Capture and respond to the smallest of micro-signals that predict the health of your cash flows for the next 12 months. 💭 Slower response rates, missed early-pay discounts, drifts in payment methods, increase in bounced payments, and credit limit utilization spikes might indicate a cash-flow squeeze 💭 Credit score dips within the same quarter, industry lay-offs, funding freezes, sudden requests for higher credit might indicate a red flag for the entire customer cohort Similarly, there may be other signals which indicate workflow blockage, rationing of cash, relationship fractures, or supply chain stresses. These directly threaten cash flows - but seldom surface in any aging report. They live in emails, portal activity, social signals, and other places where traditional automation would never look. When #AI connects the dots, finance teams can: 🔶 Segment by real-time risk, not static buckets 🔶 Intervene before any missed payments  🔶 Adjust credit terms dynamically and limit their risk exposure 🔶 Forecast with over 90% accuracy TL;DR: #Automation does half the work. The other half depends on how quickly you can leverage AI to make more proactive decisions. The sooner you do that, the sooner you can ring-fence your cash position and customer relationships. #AccountsReceivable #CFO

I’ve spoken a lot before about the massive uplift in capital investment in infrastructure coming down the track. Nowhere is this more true than in electricity grids. European transmission system operators (TSOs) are entering a period of unprecedented capital deployment as they support the continent’s accelerating energy transition.   Some great new analysis from my colleagues Maurice Berns, Tom Brijs, Ben Gottesdiener, CFA, Rebecca Fitz, Jonas Geerinck, Bas Sudmeijer, and Sam Vandezande shows that the 15 largest European TSOs are projected to invest €345 billion from 2025 to 2029, nearly tripling the amount deployed in the preceding five years. This uplift is driven by the urgent need to modernise grids, integrate renewables at scale, and meet growing demand from electrification and AI deployment – to name just a few.   However, the current financial model is under strain as policy ambitions collide with funding realities. Capex plans outstrip cash flow by ~300%, leaving a €250 billion capital gap that must be filled through debt, equity, or asset sales. Without stronger financial foundations, TSOs may struggle to achieve their ambitions and policy goals.   Given this, it is vital that Governments and regulators must also evolve their frameworks to support this wave of investment: 👉 Resolve the 'Who Pays’ question: Determine what share of the cost should be borne by ratepayers vs. taxpayers, and how to allocate costs among different ratepayer classes. 👉 Adapt regulatory frameworks: Align investor returns with rising risks and policy mandates to keep capital flowing, while maintaining affordability; assess adequacy of existing regulatory constructs for this 'build the assets' phase. 👉 Deepen trust and collaboration: Engage early and consistently with TSOs to align goals and investment plans, de-risk planning, and shape frameworks that reward achieving shared objectives.   🔗 Read the full report for more insights: https://lnkd.in/eixeHR8Q #EuropeanTSOs #EnergyTransition #EUEnergy

🔐 #DORA UPDATE! #RTS on ICT #Subcontracting published The European Commission has adopted Regulation (EU) 2025/532, specifying how financial entities must assess and manage ICT subcontracting arrangements that support critical or important functions under DORA. Here’s what matters: 🚨 1. Full Accountability Even when #ICT services are subcontracted, financial entities remain fully responsible for risk management and regulatory compliance. 🔍 2. Visibility Through the #SupplyChain Firms must identify and assess the entire chain of ICT #subcontractors — including intra-group ones — with attention to the length, complexity, and geography of the chain. 🛡️ 3. Pre-Contract #DueDiligence Before entering into contracts, firms must ensure: • Subcontractors have sufficient technical, financial, and security capabilities. • They can grant audit, access, and inspection rights. • They don’t introduce concentration or geopolitical #risks. 📄 4. Mandatory Contractual Clauses All ICT contracts must: • Detail which services may be subcontracted. • Impose reporting, monitoring, and continuity obligations. • Include the right to terminate the contract under specific risk conditions. ⚠️ 5. Change Management is Crucial Financial entities must be notified in advance of material changes in subcontracting and may object or terminate if risk thresholds are breached. 🏛️ 6. Group-Level Application Parent undertakings must ensure consistent application of subcontracting policies across their group. 💬 This regulation adds a new layer of operational and contractual scrutiny. Now is the time to review your ICT outsourcing governance #DORA #ICTRisk #Subcontracting #OperationalResilience #EUCompliance #FinancialRegulation #CyberSecurity #ThirdPartyRisk #FinTech #RegTech

Here is the summary of my conversation with the President of the African Development Bank Group , Dr. Akin Adesina . “The African Development Bank Group Development Bank (AfDB) can play a transformative role in developing Africa’s critical minerals for the energy transition by addressing key barriers such as access to capital, infrastructure, and governance. It can provide direct financing, equity investments, and risk mitigation instruments like credit guarantees to attract private sector investments while leveraging partnerships with global institutions for co-financing and blended finance solutions. By funding critical infrastructure such as roads, railways, ports, and energy systems, the AfDB can reduce operational costs and improve project viability. It can also facilitate regional integration through resource hubs and cross-border trade agreements to optimize value chains. Additionally, the AfDB can offer technical assistance to governments and companies to improve project preparation and regulatory frameworks, while promoting local value addition through investments in refining and processing industries. To ensure sustainability, it can tie funding to Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) standards, support community development, and advocate for equitable participation in global mineral supply chains. Through knowledge sharing and advocacy, the AfDB can highlight Africa’s potential and foster strategic partnerships that unlock its mineral wealth, drive sustainable development, and position the continent as a critical player in the global energy transition” Femi Salami, Ph.D, PE Mining and Energy Expert Advisor MinePro and Energy