Bank Benchmarking Helped Two Global Restaurant Brands Reduce Service Fees by 20%

At a glance

• The main takeaway: You may be overpaying for your banking services. Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s benchmarked their banking fees to negotiate a 20% savings and it took less than 70 minutes of their finance team’s time.
• Impact on your business: Your bank is an important strategic partner. As the volume of transactions grows, fees can add up overtime and you may be able to negotiate lower rates without damaging your banking relationship. The case study in this article shows how Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s realized significant savings.
• Next steps: Contact Aprio’s Treasury Optimization team for help with analyzing your banking statements. Aprio’s bank benchmarking service and our team’s banking experience may be able to help you negotiate a better deal.

Schedule a consultation with our team today.

The full story:

Most finance leaders grumble about banking and service fees, but often overlook the reduction of those fees as a viable source of cash. They are simply too busy to chase these dollars. They don’t understand the process and often fear damaging their banking relationship. But there is good news. The process is easy and it doesn’t take much time to find significant savings.

The first step is to investigate your banking statements to understand your transaction volumes and the services fees you are being charged across your accounts, whether through your own analysis or with the help of a third party like Aprio. Benchmarking your banking fees against similar companies in your industry provides a baseline of how you measure up and a starting point for negotiations.

Aprio’s Treasury Optimization Services practice recently guided two national restaurants through this exercise, using a detailed analysis that allowed both companies to secure a better deal with their existing banks.

In the first installment of our three-part series, we’re taking a deeper dive into this success story to illustrate how businesses can bank better, advocate for their needs and secure the right information to guide their decision-making process.

Meet the clients: Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’

Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s are both run by CKE Restaurants, based in Franklin, Tennessee. Together, Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s have more than 3,800 franchised and company-operated restaurants in 44 states and 43 countries.

The restaurants engaged Aprio’s Treasury Optimization team to review their banking statements and benchmark their service fees against national averages of what similar companies in their industry were paying. Aprio performed a detailed analysis of the restaurants’ bank transactional fees, reviewing their last three statements and the services, transaction volumes and costs charged by the bank.

The results

After thoroughly analyzing their accounts, banking fees, services and the full scope of the banking relationship, Aprio determined that the restaurants’ bank fees exceeded the national average for comparable businesses. Calls were scheduled with the restaurant group and their bank, and Aprio’s Treasury Optimization specialist guided an in-depth discussion.

Aprio was able to negotiate a new rate that reduced CKE’s fees by 20%. Ultimately, Aprio’s Treasury Optimization team was able to save Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s hundreds of thousands in banking fees. From beginning to end, it only took 70 minutes of CKE’s finance teams’ time.

The bottom line

If you think you may be paying too much for banking fees, the cost of doing nothing can be significant. Aprio’s Treasury Optimization team is committed to enhancing the profitability of our clients’ businesses and improving their banking relationships. Our process requires minimal effort on your end — the process takes four to five weeks and less than two hours of your time.

Don’t miss part two of our series, in which we’ll share another client success story focused on transitioning banks to secure greater savings. In the meantime, please don’t hesitate to reach out to Aprio’s Treasury Optimization team to schedule a consultation if you’re interested in getting a second opinion on your fees.