The transaction banking revolution has only just begun

For decades, transaction banking was a profitable but largely ignored corner of the banking industry. Then Covid happened. Today, bank chiefs see it as critical to everything they do. Given the challenges ahead – collaborating with fintechs and embedding ESG principles in global supply chains – the revolution under way in this business is unstoppable.

Citi chief executive Jane Fraser often cites it as the crown jewel of the bank’s array of global services. For Surendra Rosha, co-chief executive of HSBC Asia Pacific, it is one of three areas of finance that will define the bank’s success in the region. And for Rajesh Mehta, Citi’s Asia Pacific head of treasury and trade solutions, it constitutes the “financial rails on which all commercial activities are conducted.”