Real-time treasury: smarter liquidity, stronger control and quicker decision making

As market dynamics evolve and operational demands intensify, treasurers are rethinking how they manage liquidity, risk and opportunity. Real-time treasury provides the visibility, agility and automation needed to drive efficiency and create strategic advantage.

As companies expand into new markets and adapt to an always-on, on-demand economy, treasury teams face growing pressure to support higher transaction volumes, real-time liquidity needs and more complex operating models. Real-time treasury offers a strategic solution: enhancing visibility, enabling dynamic risk management and supporting growth through faster, data-driven decision-making.

Corporate treasurers are also operating in a rapidly shifting environment, shaped by market volatility and geopolitical developments, such as rising cross-border frictions and ongoing tariff uncertainty. Evolving client expectations, driven by digital-native users seeking seamless service, are accelerating operational change and prompting corporates to centralise treasury, automate routine tasks and adopt in-house bank and on-behalf-of (OBO) structures, freeing up capacity to focus on strategic priorities.

Building a real-time treasury goes beyond technology upgrades: it demands modernised a payments infrastructure, upgrades in bank connectivity, adoption of liquidity tools and an organisational cultural change.

Technology is evolving rapidly. Artificial intelligence is emerging as a powerful force in modern treasury operations. HSBC’s 2024 Corporate Risk Management Survey found that 82% of corporates expect AI to support their treasury functions within five years, especially for forecasting, fraud prevention and market analysis.

Cybercriminals are deploying the same innovations to increase the frequency and sophistication of attacks. In 2024, cybercrime generated USD 1 trillion in revenue , underling the urgency of the cybersecurity threat faced by treasury teams.

In its newest series, HSBC tackles this subject, starting by laying out the fundamentals of real-time treasury.

Real-time treasury is not just about faster payments. It’s a fundamental shift in how treasurers operate, merging always-on insights with timely action and automated execution.

Real time insights offer treasurers a live view of global cash positions, FX exposures and working capital across entities, enabling AI-driven cash flow forecasting, powered by internal and external high-quality data and delivered through APIs. They also include proactive risk alerts, allowing earlier action before issues escalate.

But insights alone are not enough. Treasury must also be able to respond on time. Automated workflows trigger funding decisions, cash concentration movements or hedging without manual intervention. 74% of corporates already invest in automation, an increase of 6% from the previous edition of The Business of Treasury Report published by ACT .

The proliferation of machine-initiated payments and the rise of embedded finance models are accelerating this need for immediacy. Instant payments and migration to ISO 20022 are expecting to enhance data quality, interoperability and automation.

Real-time treasury delivers measurable strategic value. It empowers treasury teams to respond timely to market shifts, by reallocating funds, adjusting hedging strategies and managing positions in real time.

It also unlocks liquidity efficiency through enabling centralised pooling and faster intercompany lending. Just-in-time liquidity tools and automated cash concentration structures minimise idle balances. They reduce payment delays, reliance on financing, while accessing them via self-service platforms offer teams greater control.

Find out more about why real-time treasury matters now, unpacking the market forces, risks and opportunities that makes it a strategic priority.

A digital treasury environment underpins real-time operations. APIs replace batch processing, accelerate reconciliation and provider instant access to balances, FX rates and status of transactions.

Advanced technologies are supporting this transition. AI and machine learning enhance forecasting, fraud detection and prediction capabilities. Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) reduced reconciliation friction, accelerates settlement and enables new liquidity optimisation models.

Real-time liquidity is not just about visibility, it’s about immediate execution. Modern solutions, such as 7-day cash concentration structures, deliver continuous liquidity and allow agile capital movement. These structures paired with self-service portals provide Treasury with the flexibility to amend key parameters in real time.

Transformation is rarely easy, requiring a cultural shift as well. This requires redesigned processes, teams retraining, adopting a dynamic governance model, while uncompromising data and cybersecurity.

The journey to real-time treasury begins with clear objectives, stakeholder buy-in and alignment to business strategy. From there, modernise the technology stack. Prioritise APIs, cloud-native architecture and integrations across your ERP, TMS and banking platforms. Embed AI and machine learning where it adds value, especially for forecasting, anomaly detection and optimisation. Next, update governance frameworks to balance automation with control Finally, test and scale. Identify a high impact use case, run a pilot, measure results and refine. Building internal buy-in is critical and success breeds confidence. Over time, scale the model across regions and treasury functions, embedding continuous learning and cross-functional collaboration.

Learn now more about the implementation roadmap.

Real-time treasury is not an end state - it’s a continuous evolution.

By adopting a real-time mindset, corporates can improve control, unlock liquidity and support smarter decision-making at every level of the organisation. Treasury shifts from a reactive function to a strategic enabler, helping the business scale more efficiently and capture new opportunities with greater confidence.