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On March 19 BAFT’s Board Chair, Mark Garfield, published his monthly communication to the wider BAFT membership.

Tomorrow, March 20, is recognized as the first day of spring in the Northern Hemisphere. Spring is a time of change, and the world is facing changes apart from the change of seasons. In our unique professional discipline, we are often expected to explain and instruct our corporate boards, at conference tables, albeit virtually, and to others about the changing world of trade finance.

It can be difficult to keep up with the latest conventions and standards in finance. Where is a trusted source to go to for those standards? BAFT’s Library of Documents is a great resource to keep you prepared and your expertise up to date.

Supply chain finance has received a substantial amount of press coverage over the last few weeks. It is a finance structure that I needed to understand better, and BAFT’s CEO, Tod Burwell, directed me to several informational resources at baft.org. Within the Library of Documents, under the homepage’s Policy header, if you navigate to the Industry Definitions and Guidelines section there is a BAFT guidance document “Payables Finance Principles,” a cogent and complete summary of supply chain finance. Under the same Industry Definitions and Guidelines section are additional supply chain finance informational resources and pieces.

BAFT’s Library of Documents is a wonderful source for the latest whitepapers, comment letters, practices, procedures, and policies on a variety of topics important to transaction banking. Take advantage of this current and valuable resource for yourself and your organization.

Speaking of spring, this time a year ago, the pandemic began to raise its ugly head resulting in challenges, disruptions, and loss of life. A poet once said, “I rejoice in each new Spring for it’s as if it has never been before.” My hope is just that, that this new season of vaccines will bring renewal and life to our world. After all, the United Nations designated March 20 as the “International Day of Happiness”. May it be for you and yours.

Mark Garfield
BAFT Chair
Head of Global Financial Institutions
Zions Bancorporation

On February 18 BAFT’s Board Chair, Mark Garfield, published his monthly communication to the wider BAFT membership.

The advance notification for BAFT’s 2021 Virtual Global Payments Conference mentions “the unrelenting pace of change in payments” and “the realities of a continuous 7x24x365 day.” These statements emphasize that payments tomorrow will be substantially different than payments today. It also reminds me how payments today are significantly different from payments yesterday.

I faintly recall the process to send cross-border payments at the beginning of my career. The steps to calculate a series of codes and numbers were complicated and time-consuming. First, one would input the numerical code for the receiving test bank, add the remitting bank’s unique number, and then add digits corresponding to the month, day of the week, currency, amount, and settlement date. The sum of these numbers would then be sent by Telex and confirmed by the receiving bank. If the key was aligned and accepted, the payment went out. The Telex machine itself seems to be an artifact from a previous era. Yet at the time, communicating throughout the world with codes and messages was new and exciting. It reminded me of learning Morse code as a Boy Scout, sending and decoding messages using flags and mirrors from mountain tops to fellow Scouts below. Fun, but not very effective. As usual, the erroneously decoded message meant the scout troop followed bad coordinates and got lost somewhere!

While there may be some romanticism in sending overseas payments this old-fashioned way, I am glad those days are gone. The efficiency, safety, and management of payments are much better today than they were yesterday. And, I certainly don’t miss the rows of file cabinets holding paper documentation, microfiche, microfilm, and signatures lists. No one wants those old metal cabinets back.

Real-time payments, cloud adoption, ISO 20022, digital currencies…so much to discuss and learn. There is a payment revolution and evolution taking place in transaction banking today. Join me next week for BAFT’s Crystal Ball Series: Revolutionary Banking, and BAFT’s 2021 Virtual Global Payment Conference March 2 – 4 for more timely insights. To my banking friends, if we ever have a chance to go on a hike in the mountains together (which I have done with some of you, loads of fun); I promise you that you will not get lost. Why? Technology…a GPS device!  But just in case I’ll bring my trusty old scout compass with me.

Happy trails and happy payment rails,

Mark Garfield
BAFT Chair
Head of Global Financial Institutions

On January 21 BAFT’s Board Chair, Mark Garfield, published his monthly communication to the wider BAFT membership.

After eating far too many treats and goodies each holiday season, I tend to make a New Year’s resolve to abstain from sweets for a defined amount of time. No ice cream, candy, cookies for one month. Well, I made it until January 5th this year when a neighbor brought over some chocolate-covered macadamia nuts from Hawaii. Who can resist that?

I have to laugh at my many failed attempts to change. What I’ve come to realize, though, is that change inevitably happens, whether I’ve planned for it or not. My first memories of using a bank as a youth are of standing in very long lines in a bank lobby waiting to deposit cash. The teller would use a typewriter to record the transaction in a passbook. I remember sitting in a non-air-conditioned car on a hot summer day waiting in what seemed like a big traffic jam to finally cash a check at the bank drive-through window. Now I shout hurray for the convenience of making a deposit on my mobile phone and I never ever write a check…hurray! Think of all the changes that have happened in the financial services industry in the past year alone, such as the increase of contactless payments and the shift to remote work.

The next two events in the Around the Globe: The Crystal Ball Series will give us key insight into what the future may hold for the financial services industry. During this month’s event, ‘View From The Top‘, on January 26, three banking CEO’s will share their insight from different geographic perspectives: MENA, Europe, and the U.S. In February, the ‘Revolutionary Banking’ event will address topics that may be…revolutionary, such as central banks’ use of cryptocurrency.

I appreciate how BAFT provides us with webinars, conferences, briefings, industry papers and best practices that give a vision of what the future may become. Through BAFT, we glean insight into how banking is evolving in different geographies. Each year, participants in the BAFT Future Leaders Program review and assess current developments and potential opportunities in the transaction banking industry. We then become prepared to not just react to changes but to become agents of change and innovation.

I expect to celebrate all the future transaction banking innovations (paperless bills of lading!) that have yet to be developed…and if I happen to receive your gift of Turkish Delight next January, I’m certain that once again I’ll break my yearly resolution and eat it (yum)……hurray!

Mark Garfield
BAFT Chair
Head of Global Financial Institutions
Zions Bancorporation

On December 17 BAFT’s Board Chair, Mark Garfield, published his monthly communication to the wider BAFT membership.

Each year at this time, my wife and I send out seasonal holiday cards to former work colleagues, old high school chums, family, and friends. For some, we’ve had no contact for 40 years other than the giving and receiving of our annual holiday greeting. It’s a joy to receive a card from a long-ago acquaintance with an updated family photo and a simple note. Over time some of my cherished connections were lost. Thus, the address list is of the utmost value. Well, last year, I lost the address list. My wife did not lose it; I did…oops. We tried our best to reconstruct the addresses. But, alas, we lost some connections that we may never recover.

This reminded me of another prized list: my bank’s RMA list. And like my seasonal greeting card, over the years we’ve lost a few RMAs, which also caused some difficulties. The RMA exchange is the lifeblood for a regional bank like mine to connect with the larger global banking community. It is how a Main Street bank assists a Main Street company in moving products or buying products overseas. The RMA challenge is not unique to my bank. Regional banks in MENA, Africa, Latin America, Asia, and the Caribbean have all informed me of this significant challenge.

At BAFT, the RMA issue is a key priority. The association created a working group to identify the challenges and determine possible solutions. Amy Sahm from Fulton Bank, a BAFT Board member and a key leader in this RMA working group, presented some findings from the group at the 2020 Virtual Regional Bank Conference in October. The working group identified current tools that may be useful in our efforts to maintain and grow RMA permissions. There is more to be done and your input or suggestions are welcome as we look at the broader global effect. This winter, BAFT plans to hold an all-member collaborative webinar in partnership with SWIFT to address and assist in this RMA effort.

I believe that with the help of BAFT, our industry can find ways to keep the RMA exchange as complete and vibrant as possible, allowing for all of us to maintain our valued connections. More to come. And if you didn’t get my holiday card this year, I need your address!

May your holiday season be full of joy.

Mark Garfield
BAFT Chair
Head of Global Financial Institutions
Zions Bancorporation

On November 24 BAFT’s Board Chair, Mark Garfield, published his monthly communication to the wider BAFT membership.

Like many of you, I just attended the 2020 Virtual International Convention.  Wow.  What a powerful conference with excellent content, outstanding panelists and speakers and a format that provided access to experts and colleagues around the world. The event was the largest ever hosted by BAFT…750 attendees from 120 institutions across 30 countries engaged with 55 sessions and 120 panelists, speakers, and moderators. At one point, the programming went for 24 straight hours with a specific emphasis on geographic-oriented sessions that moved around the globe. More exciting than the 24 hours of the Le Mans race. Vroom!

(Don’t forget you can continue to access the plenary sessions and selected workshops on-demand until December 4)

This week in the U.S we will celebrate one of our most popular and historic holidays, Thanksgiving. It centers around a meal with family, friends, food, and faith with a focus on thankfulness and gratitude. A few years ago, I was fortunate to be in Istanbul during Ramadan. Each evening, family and friends gathered to share a wonderful meal with the express purpose of thankfulness. I reflected that it was like a Thanksgiving at home, but better as the evening meal occurred over multiple days!

In that spirit, I would like to express my deep gratitude to the BAFT staff for their tireless effort in managing the International Convention. I would also like to thank the planning committee, moderators, and subject matter experts who make it worthwhile and valuable.

I am grateful to be a part of the global banking community. Thankful, for the role that each of you play in our crucial responsibility in connecting societies, delivering goods and services, and facilitating trade. We may have to meet virtually rather than in person, but thanks to BAFT we can connect frequently, more easily, and in greater numbers.

I am most thankful for the friendship and associations I have with many of you around the globe. As I reflect upon the unique obstacles we face today, I continue to marvel at how my banking colleagues have the talent, optimism, and determination to navigate and overcome these challenges.

Mark Garfield
BAFT Chair
Head of Global Financial Institutions
Zions Bancorporation

On October 23, BAFT’s Board Chair, Mark Garfield, published his monthly communication to the wider BAFT membership.

In my history classes in school much of the study of countries and societies centered around the trade of commodities; nutmeg, silk, coffee. In my finance classes, the most popular commodity mentioned in studying market prices was pork bellies. I enjoyed learning about transportation developments from the creation of the Erie, Suez, and Panama canals to move commodities more efficiently.

Maybe that is why I chose to pursue international banking which supports, finances and transacts the trade of commodities from agricultural products such as grains, nuts, and meat products to hard commodities like essential minerals, oil and gas, and the daily trading of currencies. It has kept every day interesting and fast-paced. Plus, from working with a trading company a few years back I learned that from pork bellies we get bacon!

This summer brought with it unusual circumstances in the commodities and logistics markets. The spot market in oil was in the negative. Cargo vessels were unable to unload commodities as ports were closed. There were storage shortages and disrupted supply chains.

This disruption as well as the rapid pace of technological change raises many questions. What are the immediate issues commodity industries are facing? Which commodities will be in the greatest demand in the future? How will they be delivered most efficiently? Where does sustainability fit in? Will there be virtual commodities in virtual currencies? How will our banking industry change to continue to support the exchange of commodities globally? Where are our clients looking to us to lead?

On Tuesday, October 27, we will have the opportunity to listen to three commodity companies in the second series of The BAFT Crystal Ball Series. It is an excellent chance to hear industry leaders discuss the future of the commodity markets in our ever-changing world. Thinking back to my high school science classes where I used a slide ruler to solve equations in my first year but by my third year, thankfully, I had an electronic calculator…today is moving even faster.

While this session is hosted in a European and Asian friendly time zone, our members based in North America, like me, can register to receive access to the on-demand recording.

See you soon virtually!

Mark Garfield
BAFT Chair
Head of Global Financial Institutions
Zions Bancorporation