In the dynamic world of finance, CFOs and treasurers are increasingly turning to advanced technologies to streamline and enhance their operations. And, as corporate treasury evolves into a more strategic and data-driven function, technologies – application programming interfaces ( APIs ), real-time payments and artificial intelligence ( AI ), to name a few – are playing pivotal roles in driving efficiency, accuracy and innovation.

These were some of the takeaways gleaned from Asset Benchmark Research ( ABR )’s annual Treasury Review 2024 ( TR 2024 ), which engaged with over 500 treasury management professionals – including CFOs and treasurers – across Asia last year to look at the major trends shaping treasury management, chief among them, technology use.

Overall, there was a drive by treasury management professionals to embrace new forms of technology. For example, there was an increase in the number of treasury management respondents that had integrated with digital wallets – up 33% in 2024 over the previous year. And another 11% of respondents stated that they were planning to connect their treasury function to digital wallets in the next six months.

In 2022, only 11% of treasury management participants had such connectivity. Of those that were currently not connected, they shared that they weren’t necessarily against the technology but rather didn’t see the need for the tool.

There was also a year-on-year increase in the number of respondents that valued the importance of e-commerce transactions in their current business, with 81% ( compared with 73% in 2022 ) stating that e-commerce transactions were important, 36% of whom highlighted that such transactions were very important.

With e-commerce functionality demand on the rise, some respondents cited ongoing challenges, such as integration to various payment systems, followed by balancing fraud prevention with customer experience.

Interestingly, unlike previous years in which the payments and collections function was the one deemed to benefit most from a greater application of technology, treasury management professionals in 2024 felt that the borrowing and lending functions, in addition to those of customer and receivables management, would benefit the most from technology support. This reflects the need to use technology to gain better visibility and awareness around borrowing rates amid uncertain economic conditions.

When choosing a banking partner based on technology, a significant number of respondents cited big data working capital insights, followed by partnerships and fintechs, indicating that respondents were increasingly relying on their banking partners for knowledge into their industry best practices and to outsource fintech partner vetting. In 2023, API connectivity and ability to detect cyberfraud were the top choices.

A sizable number of respondents wanted to hear more about AI and how the technology tool could be used to improve their operations. The need for further education may explain why respondents cited AI has the most challenging emerging technology to deploy in their respective organizations.

Finally, there was an 22% increase in respondents that were operationally ready to accept central bank digital currencies ( CBDCs ) – 34% stated that they were ready, and another 32% mentioned that they were working closely with their service providers to be ready in the near future. Of those respondents not looking at CBDCs, a vast majority said it was too early to seriously look at CBDC developments.   

To view the previous articles on TR 2024 about how respondents addressed their cash management needs, please go here.

To see how CFOs and treasurers choose their trade finance banks, please go here.

Are you a CFO, treasurer or treasury management professional? If so, please take part in our annual TR 2025 where you can share your views on the trends shaping your profession and rate the service providers with whom you work.