Santhosh Srinivasan, Nium: FX and Fintech Treasury: Moving From Risk Center to Revenue Driver
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In this episode of the 360T Podcast Series, Galen Stops interviews Santhosh Srinivasan, Group Treasurer at Nium, about the evolving role of treasury in fast-growing fintechs, particularly in managing FX risk amid volatility and 24/7 operations. Srinivasan emphasizes that fintech treasuries are no longer just risk centers but strategic revenue drivers, responsible for enabling product innovation, competitive pricing, and cost efficiency. He highlights the challenges of managing exposure across 190 countries and exotic currencies, especially when markets are closed but risk remains. Technology plays a critical role in providing visibility, analytics, and scalable execution systems, with treasury teams needing to anticipate growth and build infrastructure early. The conversation then shifts to stablecoins, where Srinivasan argues they offer tangible benefits in capital efficiency and FX risk reduction by enabling just-in-time liquidity, despite current friction points like adoption, conversion, and operational familiarity. He notes a growing shift in mindset among corporate treasurers, moving from skepticism to serious consideration of stablecoins as a viable tool. Key takeaways include: 1) Treasury must be proactive and forward-looking in fintechs to support growth; 2) Technology enables scalable, transparent, and efficient FX execution; 3) Stablecoins improve capital efficiency and reduce FX risk by enabling on-demand liquidity; 4) Treasurers should pilot stablecoin use cases incrementally; 5) The perception of digital assets as inherently risky is a barrier, but stablecoins are better understood as issuer risk rather than asset volatility. Overall, the episode underscores the strategic importance of treasury in fintechs and the transformative potential of emerging technologies like stablecoins.
Treasury in fintechs is evolving from a risk center to a revenue driver, enabling innovation and competitive pricing.
Technology is essential for visibility, risk management, and scalable execution, especially as fintechs grow rapidly.
Stablecoins improve capital efficiency by reducing pre-funded liquidity needs and lowering FX risk exposure.
Treasury teams should adopt stablecoins incrementally, starting with small use cases to build expertise and measure impact.
The perception of digital assets as high-risk is a major barrier, but stablecoins are fundamentally different and more predictable.
Introduction to Nium and the Evolving Role of Treasury
“The role of treasury becomes more prominent because they not only support revenue growth by managing risks and driving new products... but also drive down costs.”
FX Risk Management in a 24/7 Fintech Environment
“You don't move pricing like at your women wish... because either you're supporting retail customers who will not be happy with the instant pricing change.”
Scaling FX Operations and the Need for Proactive Treasury Planning
Srinivasan discusses how rapid growth forces fintechs to rethink their treasury infrastructure. As volume scales from $100M to $10B, legacy partnerships and systems become inadequate. Treasury must anticipate future needs, ensuring systems are scalable and capable of supporting new products and markets without becoming a bottleneck.
The Role of Technology in Modern Treasury Function
“You're not just doing like a BAU way... but you're always thinking ahead to say, okay, what more do I need to do to support the company growth?”
Measuring Treasury Success: Key Performance Metrics
Srinivasan outlines three core metrics for evaluating treasury performance: FX P&L (realized and unrealized), hedging and execution costs, and liquidity cost. He stresses the importance of benchmarking these metrics over time to demonstrate tangible business impact to stakeholders.
“You don't need to fund that entire $100 million. You can give space for that error term... you can fund, let's say, 70% of your expectation.”
“Stablecoins are more of an issuer risk rather than the coin risk itself.”
“The role of treasury becomes more prominent because they not only support revenue growth by managing risks and driving new products... but also drive down costs.”
Host
Guest
Stablecoins
other
Nium
organization
Santhosh Srinivasan
person
Galen Stops
person
Exotic Currencies
other
360T Podcast Series
media
FX P&L
other
NDF
other
SWIFT
other
Bitcoin
other
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