Surveying the Impact of COVID-19 on Treasury and Finance - Week 5 Insights

The Global Crisis Monitor survey, sponsored by Strategic Treasurer and a coalition of finance and financial technology providers, seeks to gauge the impact of COVID-19 on treasury and financial organizations as it occurs, rather than in hindsight.

Week 5 survey responses are compiled from more than 600 treasury and finance professionals around the globe. Results indicate that global lockdowns intended to flatten the spread of COVID-19 are still a top concern. However, for the first time, the estimation by respondents for when the economy will return to financial stability remained at 9 months, breaking a 5-week trend that pushed that stability checkpoint out further and further. Another positive this week focuses on the perception of organizational liquidity and bank credit, both of which ticked positive for the first time.

Historical Results

Here’s a look at historical results for top-of-mind COVID-19 concerns in the industry:

• Week 1, March 26: Staff Safety Protocols
• Week 2, April 02: Staff Safety Protocols
• Week 3, April 09: Working from Home Issues
• Week 4, April 16: Quarantine End Date
• Week 5, April 23: Quarantine End Date

Although these results indicate that there is still concern about how long the quarantine will last, respondents overwhelmingly (by 90%) believe that medical and health indicators should dictate a return to business, as opposed to reopening due to economic concerns.

What does that look like? Respondents would like broader access to testing and increased availability of medication, treatment and personal protective equipment. That coupled with a downward trend in new cases are the factors cited as most important to determine when to lift quarantine restrictions.

The Global Crisis Monitor will continue to offer insight into the impact of COVID-19 on the treasury and financial industries during the pandemic, and how practitioners are viewing the recovery timeline.

View the full results from the 5th week:

• Apr 15-21 survey highlights infographic
• Apr 15-21 full survey report

How You Can Help

To be a meaningful resource, the Treasury Coalition needs consistent participation week-to-week from those in the treasury and finance trenches. To add your voice to the results, take the survey here.

Bookmark the link and visit every Tuesday for a new question set. Check back weekly, as SmartPayments.com continues this series and provides real-time results of the Global Crisis Monitory survey and the impact COVID-19 is having on the industry.

Read the first article in this series, featuring background on the Coalition and an interview with Craig Jeffery, Executive Director, Strategic Treasurer.

Check out previous results here:

• Week 3
• Week 4

Subscribe

For further insights into the payments industry and beyond, subscribe now to SmartPayments.com and stay up-to-date on the latest trends and topics. You can also check out The Payments Podcast, where experts weigh-in on real-time factors impacting the payments industry.