More efficiency for Ford PartsPlus with Intesa Sanpaolo's virtual accounts
Intesa Sanpaolo and Ford PartsPlus have developed a treasury system that allows to optimally manage financial transactions with our customers, as well as improve the efficiency, traceability and transparency of payment flows.
Partsplus Italia Director
THE BACKGROUND
Designed to offer an efficient, reliable and comprehensive spare parts sale and distribution service to authorised and independent repairers, body shops, spare parts dealers and fleets, Ford PartsPlus is a business model already well established in the UK and spreading to other European markets.
This spare parts sale and distribution system has now also been adopted in Italy with a network of 21 distribution centres throughout the country; in just a few months, almost 25,000 car repairers have become affiliated, choosing Ford for their spare parts procurement.
The success of this model can be attributed to the provision of a service with high standards and modern technology, which can rely on in-depth industry know-how and the experience of strategic partners, including Intesa Sanpaolo for financial solutions.
OBJECTIVES
Ford Italia, with the aim of enhancing and standardising its after-sale service, has decided to expand its market share in a highly competitive sector by implementing new distribution channels to reach B2B operators directly and end users indirectly. These services reduce vehicle stoppages in repair shops and speed up repairs.
During the programme development phase, clear volume targets were defined, in order to achieve significant and exponential targets over the years.
Ford Italia was thus able to simplify the treasury activities of the PartsPlus business by reorganising and homologating the collection activities in the various point of sales dedicating a virtual account to each of the 21 Ford PartsPlus locations.
THE PROJECT
The IMI Corporate & Investment Banking Division of Intesa Sanpaolo has taken part immediately in the Ford Italia project and once again proved to be a strategic partner in the management of cash flows in terms of simplification and optimisation, offering customers the best technological solutions available on the market.
In particular, the possibility of linking each distribution centre with a virtual current account to facilitate the reconciliation of all payments was presented to Ford.
Thanks to the completion of this project, Ford PartsPlus customers can choose between different payment methods - ordinary and instant bank transfer, RIBA, SDD, POS - and the possibility of delays or oustandings is minimised.
KEY ELEMENTS OF SUCCESS
- Separation of finances: virtual accounts permit to keep the collections of the different spare parts centres separate without the need for Ford Italia to open multiple bank accounts; traceability and transparency allow to manage specific budgets of individual projects or departments.
- Easy management: multiple virtual accounts can be assigned to a single physical one simplifying monitoring and management of financial transactions. In addition, virtual accounts can be used to facilitate payment and collection processes; as a matter of fact, assigning a virtual IBAN to each customer or project improves efficiency and reduces errors.
- Less costs, more flexibility: virtual accounts have lower fees than traditional bank accounts, and they can be created and modified quickly, offering a great operational flexibility.
- Automation and integration: virtual accounts can be integrated with financial management softwares and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), automating reconciliation of transactions and generation of financial reports.