Millions saved with a best-in-class bank fee program
The challenge
A Fortune 10’s CFO challenged his global treasury team to identify strategies to cut costs, improve operational efficiency, and increase interest income. Treasury knew where to look to accomplish each mandate: its banking service fees.
The company was already using Kyriba’s Bank Fee Analysis (BFA) module, but its bank services and service pricing had fallen out of date. Its banking relationship had also evolved since the initial implementation, and several critical relationships were not established with end-to-end connectivity, services, or pricing. Banking complexity outpaced the company’s ability to manage fees, now billed in over 30 currencies.
As a result, treasury did not have a structured monthly process for reviewing charges. Potential pricing errors, inaccurate volumes, and redundant services could remain undetected because the team lacked the information needed to identify and challenge them.
The company wanted to improve its system, but it also needed a practical fee-management process its own team could self-sustain.
The approach
Clearsulting treated the project as a reset of both the data and the process. Our team redeployed the bank fee analysis module for six global cash management banks. We validated current pricing, completed the service inventory, and improved the configuration so that information from different statement formats could be reviewed more consistently.
Clearsulting also introduced its proprietary bank fee analysis dashboard. The dashboard gave treasury an automated way to see trends, compare fees, and investigate exceptions without working through thousands of lines of raw statement data.
With the environment rebuilt, we conducted a detailed six-month review across banks, entities, and accounts.
The analysis looked for:
- Differences between contracted and actual pricing
- Incorrect or questionable service volumes
- Redundant or low value-added services
- Above-market pricing
- Opportunities specific to individual banks and entities
Each finding was documented as a clear recommendation that treasury could validate, discuss internally, or take to the relevant bank.
Clearsulting did not simply hand over a list of opportunities. We also provided process documentation and training so the company could operate the module, use the dashboard, and continue reviewing fees on its own.
The results
The program delivered substantial first-year savings and established a process that treasury has sustained.
- $1.7 million in realized savings during the first year
- Another $3.4 million in recurring savings opportunities under bank review
- 27 Clearsulting recommendations approved across four bank relationships
- A reliable monthly process for reviewing charges and identifying exceptions
- Training and documentation that enabled the internal team to find additional opportunities independently
The immediate financial return was significant, but the lasting improvement was the company’s ability to manage fees proactively. Treasury gained a clearer understanding of its bank spend, entered negotiations with stronger evidence, and no longer had to rely on occasional manual reviews.
Clearsulting brought together system configuration, detailed fee analysis, proprietary reporting, and knowledge transfer. That combination gave the company a bank fee program it could continue to operate and improve long after the initial savings were identified.
Build a bank fee program that keeps finding value
Global bank fees are difficult to manage when pricing, service codes, currencies, and statement formats vary by institution. Clearsulting helps treasury teams bring that information together and establish a review process that leads to concrete action and quantifiable outcomes.
Connect with our team today to learn how bank fee analysis, targeted advisory, and practical training can turn complex fee data into recurring savings.