ChildFund International Wins 2014 AFP Pinnacle Award Grand Prize

Annual AFP Prize Salutes Innovative Solutions that Improve Treasury and Finance Operations

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Association for Financial Professionals

Nov 02, 2014, 06:00 ET

WASHINGTON, Nov. 2, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- ChildFund International outscored dozens of competitors to win the Association for Financial Professionals 2014 Pinnacle Grand Prize, which recognizes excellence in treasury and finance. The Pinnacle Grand Prize, sponsored by Wells Fargo & Co., was presented Sunday at the Opening General Session of the AFP Annual Conference in Washington, DC.

ChildFund International operates in some of the most remote and dangerous regions of the world, where consumers have no access to banks and payroll has to be delivered by armored car. To surmount these challenges, ChildFund's treasury team rolled out a custom mobile payment program, procuring the phones and training consumers to use them, and it partnered with banks to release mobile-money payments. Today, ChildFund remits 2,500 monthly mobile payments, speeding payments while dramatically reducing risk and cost.

Wells Fargo donated $10,000 to ChildFund International's charity of choice, Operation Shoestring, whose mission is to educate, inspire and empower children and families in Central Jackson, Mississippi. David Trotter, executive vice president and head of treasury management sales and marketing for Wells Fargo Treasury Management, and Jim Kaitz, AFP President & CEO, hosted the ceremony.

ChildFund International was chosen from among two other finalists—Toyota Financial Services and Theorem Clinical Research. ChildFund International, Toyota Financial Services and Theorem Clinical Research were selected as the three Pinnacle Finalists because their innovative solutions helped treasury and finance operations run more effectively at their respective organizations.

"AFP is extremely proud to honor the 2014 Pinnacle Award Grand Prize winner," Kaitz said. "The solutions presented by ChildFund International are technically innovative, forward-looking and protect against the types of risks that many global organizations in developing markets now face."

ABOUT AFP®
Headquartered outside Washington, D.C., the Association for Financial Professionals (AFP) is the professional society that represents finance executives globally. AFP established and administers the Certified Treasury Professional and Certified Corporate FP&A Professional credentials, which set standards of excellence in finance. The quarterly AFP Corporate Cash Indicators serve as a bellwether of economic growth. The AFP Annual Conference is the largest networking event for corporate finance professionals in the world.

SOURCE Association for Financial Professionals