September 13, 2021 – Bethesda, Md. – Bechtel, Health Care Service Corporation (HCSC), and Micron are finalists for the Association for Financial Professionals’ 2021 Pinnacle Award. Sponsored by MUFG (Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group NYSE: MUFG), the Pinnacle Award was established in 1997 to recognize excellence in treasury and finance.

Finalists were selected by a jury of treasury and finance professional peers. Decisions were based on innovative solutions that progress the efficiency and effectiveness of their organization’s treasury and financial operations. Voting is currently open for the submissions, and the Grand Prize winner will be announced during AFP 2021. MUFG will make a $10,000 donation to a charity of the winner’s choice.

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“AFP is proud to recognize the 2021 Pinnacle Award finalists, as they set the global standard for excellence in treasury and finance,” said Jim Kaitz, president and CEO of AFP. “These teams at Bechtel, HCSC and Micron demonstrate innovative solutions that advance not only their organizations but also the treasury and finance profession as a whole.”

“MUFG is honored to sponsor the Pinnacle Award to highlight the results-oriented innovations of treasury and finance professionals, and their impact on the industry,” said Ranjana Clark, Head of Global & Americas Transaction Banking, and Bay Area President at MUFG. “We are proud to support the AFP in its commitment to provide education and to acknowledge accomplishments in treasury and finance that these Pinnacle Award finalists exhibit.”

About the submissions:

Bechtel’s entry focused on using a robotic process automation (RPA) tool to query Human Resource (HR) Management System database daily and compare against Treasury Management System data to identify if signatories had terminated or changed positions. When the solution ran for the first time, it generated 280 tickets that impacted 390 bank accounts where the signer had some type of HR position change or termination. The tool is now used daily to identify position changes in real-time to enable timely update of bank records, comply with long-standing audit recommendation, and prevent fraud/financial loss.

HCSC’s submission centered on treasury becoming more data-driven, which meant upgrading skills, process efficiencies, automation, technology, and digital visualization techniques to better capture treasury data. In response, HCSC’s treasury team underwent a complete digital transformation. New teams were created, including a dedicated treasury systems solutions team, expanded forecast teams, and created enterprise banking service solutions function. Technology platforms were optimized, while data was centrally organized to make better decisions.

Micron’s entry focused on optimizing fund allocation. The treasury and automation teams developed an artificial intelligence tool designed to pull data from treasury systems that were already being aggregated into a single daily file. The first week it was implemented, the tool advised a reallocation of cash investments that increased the portfolio yield by low single digits of basis points. The treasury staff now runs the model daily to search for further opportunities to increase revenues through more optimal allocation.

About AFP®

As the certifying body in treasury and finance, the Association for Financial Professionals (AFP) established and administers the Certified Treasury Professional (CTP) and Certified Corporate Financial Planning and Analysis Professional (FPAC) credentials, setting the standard of excellence in the profession globally. AFP’s mission is to drive the future of finance and treasury and develop the leaders of tomorrow through certification, training, and the premier event for corporate treasury and finance. Learn more at afponline.org.