Ramp has added a treasury solution to its financial operations platform.
The new Ramp Treasury allows businesses to earn 35 times more on their operating cash in a Ramp Business Account than the national average, or potentially earn higher yields in an investment account, the company said in a Wednesday (Jan. 22) press release.
The solution also enables businesses to get around three extra days of working capital and incremental earning by paying bills the day they’re due, and to receive artificial intelligence-powered automated balance alerts and liquidity forecasting, according to the release.
“The old treasury playbook meant either constant micromanaging of cash positions and payment dates … or just accepting you’ll lose out on interest,” Ramp CEO Eric Glyman said in the release. “The new playbook is refreshingly simple: let technology do the heavy lifting, so you don’t have to.”
Ramp Treasury is designed to enable businesses to avoid the trade-off they typically make between either having quick access to their cash or maximizing their earnings, according to the release.
With unlimited, free same-day payments, it also prevents the loss of around three days of working capital and incremental earning potential businesses incur when waiting for transferred funds to settle with their vendors, the release said.
In addition, by applying intelligence to operating funds, the platform automatically calculates how much operating cash businesses need to pay their upcoming bills and card statements, ensures they have the funds to meet their obligations on time, and leaves the rest to continue earning, per the release.
“We’re entering the age of self-driving finance: expenses that will do themselves, books that will close themselves, and money that will move itself,” Glyman said in the release.
Ramp said in April that it reached a valuation of $7.6 billion as it wound down a $150 million Series D-2 funding round.
Glyman said at the time in a blog post that the new funding would “allow us to triple down on the next wave of innovation to deliver much more value for our customers.”
“We’re just getting started as we help our customers create the finance function of the future,” Glyman wrote in the post.
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We get a lot of press releases here at PYMNTS. We consider all of them, and some are more newsworthy than others. But this one really got our attention. This past week, Diebold Nixdorf made headlines with its announcement of successfully installing two new automated teller machines (ATMs) at the U.S. National Science Foundation’s McMurdo Station in Antarctica. This achievement marks a significant milestone in banking accessibility, to be sure. We would like to meet the crew that installed them. We’d also like to know why they needed two. Was there a line at the first one? More to come on that.
According to Diebold, McMurdo Station is Antarctica’s largest research and logistics hub, supporting a fluctuating population that ranges from fewer than 200 residents during the winter months to up to 1,100 individuals during the summer (October through February). The presence of these ATMs is crucial, it says, as the next closest banking facilities are thousands of miles away, making them the only ATMs on the entire continent. How’s that for a value proposition?
The DN Series ATMs are designed for always-on availability. And why do they need two? One ATM is actively in use, while the second serves as a backup for spare parts, ensuring uninterrupted service in this isolated area. These machines are connected to the DN AllConnect Data Engine, which leverages Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity, machine learning, and artificial intelligence (AI) to monitor their performance. A dedicated team continuously aggregates and analyzes technical data to identify potential issues, enabling remote diagnostics and repairs. The ATM can be maintained by trained staff at NSF McMurdo Station, or the Diebold Nixdorf service team can remotely guide them through the repair process.
Anyway, it got us thinking. Are there other surprising ATMs in extreme locations? Well, of course, there are. Here’s a sampling of what we found.
At an altitude of about 5,364 meters (17,600 feet), the Mount Everest Base Camp in Nepal is another unexpected place to find an ATM. Although it’s not a permanent fixture and is often set up seasonally, it caters to climbers and trekkers who need cash for local transactions. This temporary ATM service underscores the adaptability of banking services in extreme environments.
In some parts of the Amazon rainforest, particularly in Brazil and Peru, ATMs can be found in small villages and towns. These machines are vital for local communities, providing access to cash in areas where digital payment options might be limited. The presence of ATMs here demonstrates how banking services can reach even the most remote communities.
Located in the Tibet Autonomous Region, Nagqu is home to one of the highest ATMs in the world. This region is very remote, with limited infrastructure, making the presence of an ATM a notable example of banking accessibility in extreme environments.
In the Thousand Islands (Kepulauan Seribu) off the coast of Jakarta, Indonesia, there’s a floating ATM. This unique ATM serves the local community and tourists on the islands, demonstrating how banking services can adapt to isolated marine environments.
Longyearbyen, the administrative center of the Svalbard archipelago in Norway, boasts the most northerly ATM. This location is one of the most remote inhabited places on Earth, with limited access to mainland Norway, making the ATM a vital service for residents and visitors.
On a more serious note, the installation of ATMs in places like Antarctica and other remote locations highlights the evolving nature of banking technology. With advancements in IoT, AI and remote diagnostics, it’s becoming increasingly feasible to provide banking services in areas previously considered inaccessible. As we look to the future, it will be interesting to see where else ATMs might appear. Whether it’s on a remote island, at the top of a mountain or even in space, the ability to access cash is becoming more universal than ever. And who knows? Maybe one day, we’ll see an ATM on Mars, serving the first interplanetary travelers.
For now, the presence of ATMs in unexpected places reminds us that banking is not just about transactions; it’s about connecting people and communities across the globe, no matter how remote they might be.
