FX Hedging for LBBW & Sparkasse
When Landesbank Baden‑Württemberg (LBBW) evaluated how to modernise foreign‑exchange risk management for the Sparkasse network’s corporate and SME clients, the bank faced the classic decision: invest years into building a bespoke portal, or partner with a specialist whose solution was already proven in commercial banking.
LBBW chose the partner route with TreasurUp and compressed time‑to‑value from a multi‑year IT programme to a live rollout in months, unlocking digital hedging journeys that feel intuitive for first‑time users and powerful for frequent traders.
Sparkasse Clients Need Faster and Simpler FX Tools
The Sparkasse network serves hundreds of thousands of German businesses that compete globally yet operate with lean treasury teams, meaning user experience and automation matter as much as pricing when it comes to hedging currency risk reliably.
Sparkasse institutions emphasise accessible, mobile‑ready banking for entrepreneurs and finance managers who work on the move, and any FX front-end had to meet this bar without demanding classroom training or complex onboarding.
Goal: Modernise Digital FX with Bank‑Grade Control and Security
As a central partner to Sparkasse banks, LBBW sought a white‑label front end that would carry each Sparkasse’s brand while preserving LBBW control over pricing, risk, and execution avoiding fragmentation while elevating the client experience.
The programme objective was clear: launch a ready‑to‑go platform with enterprise security, straight‑through processing, and the ability to serve both simple spot/forward needs and more advanced hedging journeys as adoption deepened.
Why Partner, Not Build: The Decisive Factors
The build‑vs‑buy analysis showed that replicating a modern SME‑first FX experience internally would introduce long timelines, ongoing upgrade commitments, and opportunity costs for product teams already at capacity.
Tapping TreasurUp’s white‑label module delivered immediate UX advantages, mobile parity out of the box, continuous releases managed by the vendor, and proven rollout playbooks from other banks dramatically de‑risking delivery.
What TreasurUp Delivers Out of The Box for Banks
TreasurUp’s FX solution is purpose‑built for commercial banks, offering exposure identification, streamlined booking of spot/forwards, rule‑based hedging, and clear dashboards that demystify mark‑to‑market and impact on cash flows, all under the bank’s brand and using the bank’s pricing.
The module integrates with authentication, payments, and trading infrastructure while keeping client relationships squarely with the bank, ensuring compliance with internal policies and regional regulations.
Speed‑to‑Market and Zero‑Training UX
LBBW reports moving from concept to production in months rather than years by adopting a platform that Sparkasse teams could recognise and deploy rapidly, and that SMEs could navigate immediately without manuals.
The emphasis on clarity, “first‑time users can hedge within minutes”, reduced early friction and helped bankers spend more time advising on strategy and less time explaining screen layouts.
Recognition that Signals Product Maturity
TreasurUp’s FX front end has been recognised by industry awards for bringing intelligence and simplicity to small and mid‑market corporate treasury, which further reassured stakeholders that the user journeys and control frameworks were built for bank scale.
Independent validation matters when selecting vendors for regulated environments, and this external recognition supported the business case for partnering.
The Roll‑Out: White‑Label at Sparkasse Scale
Under the white‑label model, TreasurUp hosts the front end while LBBW supplies pricing and execution, and each Sparkasse bank applies its branding and access controls, creating a consistent but locally owned experience.
The phased launch began with pilots, incorporated structured feedback loops, and accelerated to broader availability as KPIs on adoption and digital volumes met pre‑defined gates.
What The Numbers Show After Go‑Live
LBBW’s programme highlights include four outcomes that matter to any commercial bank measuring digital FX: time‑to‑live in months, a strong satisfaction score among bankers, over a thousand hours saved annually from reduced phone trading, and materially higher stickiness among users of the platform.
These operational and relationship metrics point to a channel that complements dealers rather than displacing them, by shifting routine tasks online and reserving human time for higher‑value advice.
“From idea to live in just a few months” is how LBBW’s Rainer Widmann summarised the experience, a line that resonates because it connects strategy to delivery and communicates what matters most to clients: speed without sacrificing quality.
In corporate channels, momentum builds trust, and trust builds usage especially when a solution looks and feels like the bank’s own offering.
Mobile Matters: FX Control Wherever Work Happens
SME finance leaders approve hedges, watch alerts, and check exposures between meetings and site visits, so mobile parity is not a luxury; it is an adoption driver that keeps risk decisions timely.
TreasurUp’s design emphasises clarity on small screens and push notifications that prompt action only when it is relevant, which aligns with Sparkasse clients’ need to stay responsive without being overwhelmed.
How the Architecture Preserves Bank Control
The front end is hosted and continuously updated by TreasurUp, but pricing, limits, and risk remain within LBBW’s domain, aligning with internal governance while speeding up UX improvements.
Authentication and authorisation integrate with Sparkasse identity flows, and connectivity to payments and confirmations ensures straight‑through processing for the most common hedging journeys.
Because Sparkasse banks are known for local service and practical tools for entrepreneurs, adding a modern FX channel under their brands increases the perceived usefulness of the relationship while keeping specialist capabilities centralised through LBBW.
This is particularly important for exporters and importers navigating volatile currency cycles, where fast access to pricing and transparent impact assessment reduces uncertainty.
Implementation Highlights That Reduce Friction
Single sign‑on with Sparkasse identity providers kept the user journey familiar, while templated integration to pricing and confirmation flows limited the number of bespoke components to maintain.
Change management focused on relationship managers and corporate advisers, equipping them to position digital hedging as an upgrade to service rather than a replacement for human support.
European corporates face persistent currency volatility, tighter margins, and increasing expectations for self‑service paired with expert guidance, raising the bar for bank channels that once centred on phone trading alone.
A clear, mobile‑ready hedging experience helps teams react within policy, reduces operational risk from manual workflows, and provides a transparent audit trail for controllers and auditors.
Brand Trust + FinTech Speed is the Winning Formula
LBBW publicly announced the cooperation to underline its commitment to modernising client service while maintaining bank‑grade standards, reinforcing that a white‑label approach can deliver both trust and agility.
That credibility is amplified when the user interface wears Sparkasse colours and fits local relationship models, making digital journeys feel familiar from the first click.
The combined proposition from LBBW and Sparkasse is simple: book straightforward hedges in minutes, get alerts when action matters, and escalate to bankers for advice when strategy questions arise removing friction without removing relationships.
That’s how digital channels become revenue engines rather than cost centres: by letting people focus on decisions while the platform handles the workflow.
“From idea to live in just a few months” is not only a quote; it is a call to rethink how banks deliver value to business clients in cycles measured by quarters, not years, and to choose partners that make that pace normal.
For banks exploring this path, the LBBW and TreasurUp case study offers a practical blueprint, complete with timelines, governance, and KPIs to benchmark against.
Read the LBBW Build‑vs‑Partner case study to explore the architecture, rollout plan, and adoption data behind the programme, and bring those insights into your own bank’s roadmap conversations.
If a proof‑of‑value prototype and a clear 90‑day plan would accelerate alignment, request a live demonstration and map exactly how a white‑label FX channel could launch under your brand.
Where The Partnership Goes Next
TreasurUp’s roadmap, shaped with bank feedback extends beyond FX into liquidity and cash visibility, creating optionality for banks to unify experiences across treasury tasks without standing up multiple portals.
That trajectory aligns with market demand for fewer logins, richer automation, and analytics that connect hedging to working‑capital decision‑making.