Citi Highlights “Treasury 2030” Outlook and Next-Generation Treasury Solutions

Citi highlights global treasury trends at the “Treasury Centralization 2026” seminar, reiterating how businesses are accelerating the transformation of treasury operations toward centralized models while increasingly adopting automation, data analytics, and real-time technologies to enhance liquidity management, strengthen operational resilience, and navigate growing global economic and geopolitical uncertainties. Citi also projected that treasury functions will play a significantly more strategic role in driving organizations by 2030. At the event, Citi showcased its treasury and liquidity management solutions designed to help organizations optimize cash flow, move funds across borders more efficiently, and strengthen financial risk management to support global business operations and growth. Carol Mah, Director of Client Advisory, Citi, said that businesses worldwide are placing greater emphasis on treasury management amid rising cost pressures, supply chain disruptions, and ongoing global economic and geopolitical uncertainty. Citi has identified four key trends shaping corporate treasury management globally, including treasury transformation through centralization to improve liquidity management, strengthen risk governance, and enhance agility in financial decision-making, particularly across strategic industries such as healthcare, technology, energy, and manufacturing; the increased use of data analytics and AI to improve cash flow forecasting accuracy; a stronger focus on resiliency and governance to navigate market volatility; and working capital optimization alongside risk management to preserve financial stability and support long-term growth. In parallel, companies are increasingly adopting automation as part of treasury centralization initiatives to reduce reliance on manual processes and improve enterprise-wide liquidity management efficiency. However, the transition toward automated centralized treasury structures requires significant technology infrastructure and data connectivity capabilities. As a result, large multinational corporations with more complex treasury requirements have emerged as the primary adopters of these systems. Findings from Citi® Treasury Diagnostics (taken from June 2000- June 2005), which surveyed more than 1,400 organizations globally, showed that over 80% of large corporations have implemented high levels of automation in liquidity centralization, while 38% of smaller organizations still rely on manual processes for parts of their treasury operations. “Looking ahead over the next four years, Citi expects treasury functions to play a much more strategic role in business decision-making and organizational growth by 2030,” added Ms. Mah . “This is consistent with Citi GPS report: Treasury 2030: Modernize or Risk Irrelevance , which found that 93% of senior executives expect treasury functions to become materially more advanced within the next three to five years. Organizations will need to accelerate the transformation of treasury systems toward more connected and real-time operating models, while leveraging AI, automation, and data insights to support predictive decision-making, improve global liquidity and risk management agility, and adapt to increasingly complex and fast-changing business environments.” Rupa Mankad, Head of Liquidity Management Solutions, Asia South and Singapore, Citi, added, “As a banking partner for institutional and corporate clients, Citi continues to enhance its treasury and liquidity management solutions to address evolving business needs. These include CitiConnect API for automated financial connectivity and transaction visibility, Instant Payments & Real-Time Funding for 24/7 real-time payments and inter-account liquidity management, and Citi Token Services, a blockchain-enabled cross-border liquidity solution. These solutions are designed to help organizations scale globally with greater agility and operational efficiency amid today’s rapidly evolving business landscape.”