As reports–confirmed but not official–circulated at press time that treasury software giant SunGard Treasury Solutions had struck a deal to acquire rival Integrity Treasury Solutions, treasury managers could feel pretty certain about one thing: In the future, they will be dealing with fewer, larger providers of treasury software offering deeper, although perhaps less plentiful, product lines. "Treasury software providers are consolidating in an unusual way," observes Susan Skerritt, New York-based partner of Treasury Strategies Inc. "Providers, not products, are being merged. Over time, there will be fewer, broader products."
But despite market shrinkage, the consolidation trend has so far stimulated price competition, not dampened it. The reason, according to Skerritt, relates to the propensity of richer companies to build their own solutions in an accelerating race to deliver functionality. "This is a good time to buy treasury technology," Skerritt suggests.
Behind the consolidation is a perception that the revenue pie is insufficient to feed so many vendors, prompting some to look for a way to cash out. "It's a difficult market," observes Jeanne Capachin, treasury software analyst at IDC Financial Insights in Framingham, Mass. "It's getting harder for the small providers to remain independent. The truth is that treasurers are not spending a lot of money on software."
Recommended For You
Like Trema's recent acquisition of Alterna, SunGard would buy Integrity to gain customers and market share, says treasury technology consultant Craig A. Jeffery, managing director of Strategic Treasurer LLC. "They're acquiring one of their biggest competitors," he says. "They'd pick up a good product and a strong implementation methodology."
Treasury staffs that build their operations around a workstation have to pick a provider that will continue to enhance and support the product. It's easier to defend a decision to buy from a big player, notes Dan Carmody, president of Chicago-based TreaSolution Inc., which specializes in treasury workstation selection and implementation. "The middle ground is disappearing."
Following Thomson Financial's purchase of Selkirk last summer and the likely SunGard acquisition of Integrity, speculation focuses on the remaining independents: XRT, Trema, Gateway, Kyriba, SimCorp, Richmond Software and Wall Street Systems. They could form alliances with information providers, ? la Thomson; they could merge with each other; or they could try to go it alone. While treasury services banks have not been acquirers, after famously exiting the workstation marketplace in the late 1980s, a bank reentry into the treasury software market remains "an intriguing possibility," Skerritt says. After all, JPMorgan continues to successfully offer Chase Insight.
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
