The business of cash: How BDO is redefining treasury management

For today’s large Philippine corporations, managing cash is no longer a simple accounting function.

With multiple subsidiaries, currencies, banking relationships—and a growing mix of physical and digital payments—treasury operations have become increasingly complex, as well as strategic.

“Many large corporations in the Philippines still operate fragmented treasury systems and manual processes,” says Carlo B. Nazareno, senior vice president and head of Cash Management Services of BDO Unibank.

“This makes cash flow management inefficient and challenging, especially when timely and accurate information is critical for managing payables, receivables, and funding requirements.”

As businesses scale, treasury teams are under pressure to move faster, gain better visibility, and maintain tighter control over liquidity.

This is where BDO Cash Management Services comes in.

From fragmented systems to streamlined treasury

At its core, CMS is designed to help large corporations move away from siloed, legacy processes toward integrated, data-driven operations.

“BDO Cash Management Services offers a comprehensive suite of solutions that enable large corporations to efficiently manage high transaction volumes and complex treasury operations,” Nazareno explains.

“Through advanced digital integrations such as APIs and secure host-to-host connectivity, CMS facilitates straight-through processing between the bank and corporate treasury—accelerating reconciliation, forecasting, and decision-making.”

For organizations still in transition, BDO’s Business Online Banking platform provides real-time access to balances and transactions across subsidiaries, enabling centralized monitoring and continuity even when ERP or treasury systems are offline.

A hybrid model for a hybrid economy

Despite rapid digitization, physical cash remains a reality for many Philippine businesses. CMS bridges this gap through BDO’s nationwide infrastructure.

“On the physical cash side, CMS leverages our deposit pick-up services, corporate cash deposit machines, and remote check scanners to seamlessly integrate physical inflows into the digital platform,” Nazareno says.

“These services automatically capture cash and check receipts, update real-time balances, and minimize manual entries and reconciliation delays.”

This hybrid model gives treasury teams a real-time view of actual cash positions: empowering them to optimize liquidity across entities and make informed funding decisions from a centralized hub.

Turning information into strategic advantage

For Nazareno, modern treasury is no longer just about processing payments.

It is about enabling better business decisions.

“Information is key in helping a corporate treasurer and chief financial officer make the right strategic decisions for their company,” he says. “CMS delivers real-time or end-of-day data to identify excess liquidity and optimize its use.”

“With automated sweeping and account management solutions, corporates can streamline transactions and access higher-yield products when needed.”

The result: stronger working capital management, reduced idle funds, lower reliance on external borrowing, and greater financial flexibility.

Scale, security, and long-term growth

Security and governance remain central to CMS.

Encrypted data channels, multi-level authorization workflows, and regulatory compliance aligned with BSP and global standards ensure enterprise-grade protection for high-volume, high-value transactions.

“Our solutions are not one-size-fits-all,” Nazareno emphasizes.

“Through continuous engagement, we partner with clients to design transformation processes tailored to their needs; always keeping the goal of an optimized treasury in mind.”

As Philippine corporations expand locally and across ASEAN, CMS is positioned as a long-term partner for growth.

“As the largest bank in the Philippines with deep expertise in cash management, we aim to deliver scalable solutions that grow with our clients,” Nazareno says.

“As their businesses evolve, we evolve with them—helping build resilient, future-ready treasury operations.”

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