How is technology transforming the optimisation of idle cash?

Quick Insights:

• Fintechs are democratising market access: Digital platforms now enable smaller and mid-sized companies to access institutional-grade, Tier-1 money market funds.
• Automation drives efficiency: AI, APIs, and TMS platforms are enabling dynamic allocations, faster decisions, and reduced operational burden.
• Strategic liquidity management: Technology has become a strategic lever, turning idle cash into an active performance driver - optimising liquidity, reducing risk and enhancing transparency.
• MillTech advantage: Express onboarding, Tier-1 MMF access, and trade-life automation - all on one zero-fee platform designed to deliver best execution and effective liquidity management.

 

For too long, holding idle cash has been a quiet inefficiency, with inflation continuing to persist. Inflation has steadily remained above 2% in the UK and US since April 2021, well above central bank targets. Yet, technology is reshaping how corporates and fund managers deploy liquidity.

Digital tools, such as institutional-grade fintech platforms, have given smaller firms and funds access to products that were once the preserve of larger ones. A new wave of fintech innovation is now enabling even the largest players to rethink and refine how cash is managed.

 

Cash management for all

Historically, cash management relied on manual, outdated processes. Small firms and funds tend to lack the infrastructure, scale or relationships to optimise returns, leaving surplus cash in low-interest accounts or relying on a single counterparty.

Consider a company with £100 million in idle cash. With inflation at 3.8% and a typical low-interest account yielding just 3.5%, the business is effectively losing around £300,000 in purchasing power each year.

Meanwhile, overreliance on a single counterparty may create overconcentration, limit diversification, or cause unnecessary exposure to avoidable counterparty risks.

But technology has changed that. Investors can now access institutional-grade, tier-one money market funds in fintech wrappers, all in one interface. Fintechs are here to democratise market access – erasing operational burden while delivering compliance, transparency and performance, all in a single workflow.

 

The digital treasury toolkit

It’s no longer just about access. For larger investors, innovation is about ensuring the strategic optimisation of cash, particularly given market fragmentation and big data. Managing liquidity across multiple geographies, currencies, and counterparties has introduced new layers of complexity, and new opportunities for technology to solve them.

Innovation has gone beyond trading, portfolio and operation management systems. AI and machine learning can scrape information from various data sources and documents, providing intelligent recommendations. This wealth of data can be utilised to improve short-term cash forecasts. Meanwhile, bank APIs can allow for automated rules-based allocations that instantly respond to market changes. Rules-based trading, for example, provides full audit trails and built-in regulatory compliance, helping meet internal governance standards and external reporting requirements without adding complexity. These rules can adapt dynamically to market conditions, providing more agility and control over liquidity, leaving investors to focus on strategy while the engine handles routine allocations.

Meanwhile, basic and binary tools, such as single counterparty bank sweeps, have been replaced by Treasury Management Systems (TMS), providing consolidated access to cash deposits, money market funds, tokenised assets, and T-bills, all in one interface. This enables faster, more informed decisions and reduces the friction of managing fragmented systems or relying on outdated workflows.

 

Optimisation at scale

For corporates and fund managers alike, technology has become a strategic lever. Cash management solutions are bringing together advanced financial technology, institutional-grade connectivity and seamless automation.

Yet more can still be done. Although systems have consolidated cross-product access, execution, oversight and reporting remain largely siloed. Further innovation in automation and allocation tools can remove the remaining manual processes treasurers have. 

In an era where leaving cash idle is costly, institutional investors now have the chance to use technology not only to protect capital, but to make it work harder, optimising liquidity, reducing risk, and simplifying operations.

That’s exactly where MillTech’s advanced cash management solution delivers. By combining a network of multi-currency AAA-rated money market funds with highly competitive rates, best execution, and a zero-fee service model, MillTech enables investors to enhance cash returns without adding complexity. 

Our solution delivers:

• Enhanced returns - Earn more from your cash without increasing your operational burden. Customisable rules, automated best execution and optimised liquidity – all built in.
• Time saving - Express onboarding with multiple Tier-1 Money Market fund providers and trade-life automation. Navigate the best available rate and streamline cash operations via a single platform
• Risk reduction - Spread your counterparty risk across multiple AAA-rated funds and get enhanced control through customisable allocation rules. As an independent specialist, we help clients achieve optimal outcomes with intelligent tools for risk identification and informed decision-making.

Find out more here: https://milltech.com/product/cash-management