The digitisation of treasury will continue in 2024 on three key fronts – the growth of artificial intelligence (AI), improved awareness of cybercrime, and the increasingly real-time nature of payments.
AI is already attracting a lot of hype. In July, a McKinsey study suggested the tech could benefit businesses globally by around $US4.4 trillion.
Of course, humans will always have a role to play. We’re already seeing the ‘copilot’ model used in the global engineering space, with reported gains of around 30 per cent and 40 per cent.
It’s only a matter of time before the big tech groups start rolling out co-pilot products to businesses. Think about the impact that will have on the global economy.
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The second theme to watch in 2024 is cybercrime. Cyberfraud is the scourge of the internet, impacting Australians to the degree of $A3.1 billion in 2022.
Two of the biggest areas are device takeovers and investment scams, key areas for businesses to be wary of. Education, and collaboration, will be the key to fighting back.
My final theme for 2024 is payments. Expect two big themes in payments to play out during the year.
The first is the rise of PayTo. PayTo will revolutionise the Australian direct-debit scheme, something that hasn’t really changed for 50 years. The tool will create massive opportunities for consumers, allowing them to better control the debits they pay to utilities and other providers.
The second key payment theme is the use of real-time payments to meet payroll obligations. For businesses, being able to transition your payroll into real time and make payments when it's meaningful to you and your employees is going to be a big thing we’ll see over the next 12 months.
Leigh Mahoney is Head of Wholesale Digital at ANZ
