Redefining treasury: modernising payments to unlock strategic growth

Payments have moved from being a back-office utility to becoming a strategic capability that shapes client experience, working capital, resilience and growth.

We see four forces defining the next phase of the industry:

1. Client expectations are rising. Treasurers and business leaders increasingly want payments that are real-time, embedded, data-rich and integrated into their operating models.
2. Market disruption is intensifying, as fintechs, platforms and new infrastructure providers push the industry to innovate faster – and that is very welcome.
3. Emerging technologies, particularly AI, tokenisation, digital currencies and distributed ledger technology, are changing not just how money moves, but also what money can do.
4. Regulation is becoming an increasingly active force, creating both guardrails that safeguard the industry and market conditions for responsible innovation.

The most important conclusion in our report is that payments are becoming a source of competitive advantage. The companies that will win will not simply be the ones that move money efficiently, but those that connect payments, data, liquidity and digital channels into one intelligent, always-on payments ecosystem.

There are four key takeaways that stood out in our report:

1. Treasury has become central to growth. Our research shows that 96% of senior decision-makers see international growth as important, expecting increasing revenues to come from overseas markets over the next five years.
2. Digital commerce is becoming a major volume engine. As commerce becomes more digital and more embedded, payment choice, speed, transparency and reconciliation will directly affect conversion, client retention and working capital.
3. Treasurers need to prepare for a real-time, AI-enabled and increasingly programmable environment.
4. Digital currencies and tokenised deposits are no longer theoretical. More than 140 markets today are exploring or piloting central bank digital currencies.

I believe the treasury teams that are best positioned for the future will be those that treat payments not just as execution, but as a strategic lever for growth, resilience and competitive differentiation.

HSBC’s strategic response is anchored around three strands that we frequently call the three “I”s: we’re international, innovative and insight-led.

Payments sit at the heart of HSBC’s 160-year history. The first part of our response is helping clients operate internationally with confidence. Our payments network covers markets representing more than 90% of global GDP. We’re expanding solutions for real-time payment access, strengthening cross-border transparency and building digital collection capabilities. The second part is innovation at scale. We’re investing in real-time payments, liquidity management, APIs, AI-enabled servicing and tokenised deposits, amongst others. And finally, the third part is insights and advice. Through our Treasury Solutions Group, we completed more than 200 client engagements in 2025 and supported nearly 50 treasury maturity assessments, or what I like to call deep health checks.

That advisory capability helps clients understand where to modernise, where to prioritise investment and how to build treasury functions that are fit for a real-time, data-rich and increasingly digital economy.

While many payment innovations improve how money moves, digital currencies and tokenised assets actually go further. They change how money and assets are represented, how they settle and how they interact with business processes.

Trust, safety, resilience and regulation are absolutely essential. I believe our role at HSBC is to bring institutional discipline to that conversation, connecting innovation with controls, commercial value and responsible adoption.

Our strategy for digital assets and currencies is deliberately very focused and very client-led. For digital currencies, this means three things:

1. We’re scaling tokenised deposits: as a regulated bank money solution for real-time, programmable treasury and payments.
2. We are engaging selectively with central bank digital currencies,where they are relevant for our clients, the markets in which we operate and our regulatory relationships.
3. We are building connectivity with the wider digital money ecosystem, including stablecoin-related services where there is a clear client need, appropriate regulatory clarity and robust risk controls.

The strategy is simple. We want to lead where we have a right to win. We want to partner where the ecosystem is still forming. And we want to maintain discipline and avoid areas that do not meet the standards for client value, regulation or risk management.

Digital currencies will not replace traditional payments overnight. I see them as complementary capabilities that will sit alongside today’s payment rails.

The biggest opportunity for clients is control. This is particularly powerful for companies operating across multiple markets, time zones and counterparties.

The biggest challenge is interoperability. For digital money to really scale, tokenised deposits, stablecoins, central bank digital currencies and traditional fiat rails need to connect safely and efficiently.

I also believe our clients need to be very thoughtful about risk. Different forms of digital money have different issuers, legal structures, backing, settlement characteristics and regulatory treatment.

Our responsibility is to help clients understand these distinctions and adopt solutions that are secure, regulated, operationally robust and commercially useful.

Our mission is about helping clients move from education, to experimentation, to live implementation, with the confidence that the solutions are backed by HSBC’s balance sheet strength, our regulatory discipline and our global payments expertise.