The Asia Cash Management Poll is an annual survey-based analysis of the views of corporate treasury, finance, payments and trade-finance decision-makers in Asia.
This is a concise, data-led report focused on five core findings:
- The leading corporate treasury priority.
- The biggest operational cash-management pain point.
- Where liquidity sits—domestically, regionally and globally.
- The gap between current cash visibility/forecasting capability and desired automation.
- Which criteria determine whether corporates consolidate, retain or switch their transaction-banking partners.
Editorial Output:
- Results are expressed as a percentage of respondents in each market.
- Certain multiple-response questions may total more than 100%.
- Percentages may not total 100% in single-answer questions because of rounding.
- Questions 1, 6B, 8 and 9 allow multiple selections; results show the percentage selecting each response.
- Respondents were surveyed in December of each year regarding priorities and intended actions for the following 12 to 24 months.
To preserve response rates, we have kept the main questionnaire to 9 questions, using mostly tick-box answers, and making the cash-balance item optional but highly visible.
| # | Respondent | Titles |
| 1 | Multinational corporate treasury leaders | Group Treasurer, Regional Treasurer, Head of Treasury, Treasury Director, Assistant Treasurer |
| 2 | Large local and regional corporates | Treasurer, Head of Finance, Finance Director, Corporate Finance Director |
| 3 | CFOs and finance heads at SMEs and mid-market companies | CFO, Finance Director, Head of Finance, Financial Controller |
| 4 | Treasury operations and cash-management practitioners | Treasury Manager, Cash Manager, Treasury Operations Manager, Payments Manager |
| 5 | Accounts payable, accounts receivable and shared-services leaders | Head of AP, Head of AR, Order-to-Cash Lead, Procure-to-Pay Lead, Shared Services Director |
| 6 | Trade-finance and supply-chain-finance decision-makers | Head of Trade Finance, Trade Finance Manager, Supply Chain Finance Head, Procurement Finance Lead |
| 7 | Regional finance leaders of fast-growing companies | VP Finance, Regional Finance Director, Head of Payments, Head of Financial Operations |
| 8 | PE/VC-backed companies and private-equity operating partners | CFO, Treasurer, Operating Partner, Portfolio Finance Director |
| 9 | Family-owned groups and conglomerates | Group CFO, Group Treasurer, Finance Controller, Family Office Finance Head |
| 10 | Institutional and alternative-investment treasury teams | Head of Treasury, Finance Director, Chief Operating Officer, Fund Finance Head |
Editorial findings:
1. Forecasting remained the core corporate problem: Cash-flow forecasting is either the leading or second-leading priority in every market and every year. The theme is strongest in Indonesia and the Philippines, where corporate finance teams are more likely to report limited automation, more domestic concentration of liquidity and a greater reliance on manual processes. This result aligns with wider professional treasury evidence: cash and liquidity forecasting is often seen as the most challenging treasury activity, even as AI and automation is rising in strategic importance.
2. Singapore led regional treasury sophistication: Singapore consistently has:
- The largest concentration of respondents managing more than US$250 million in liquidity.
- The most international liquidity footprint.
- The highest adoption of treasury-management systems, APIs, virtual accounts and cash pooling.
- The strongest demand for multi-currency liquidity structures, cross-border payment reach, advanced FX execution and data connectivity.
By December 2025, only 9% of Singapore respondents hold more than 75% of their liquidity solely in Singapore, compared with 43% in Indonesia, 46% in the Philippines and 37% in Thailand. That highlights Singapore’s role as a regional treasury-centre location rather than merely a domestic corporate-cash market.
3. Malaysia emerged as a regional connectivity market: Malaysia’s results move materially towards cross-border liquidity, API connectivity and surplus-cash optimisation between 2023 and 2025. This fits with a stronger economic and export backdrop in 2024 and the region’s expanding technology, manufacturing and supply-chain investment activity. Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore were among the ASEAN markets that increasingly concentrated regional FDI flows.
4. Security became more prominent: Payment fraud, cybersecurity, approval controls and resilience is becoming more important as the years go by, especially in the Philippines and Indonesia. In the December 2025 modelled Philippines poll, 68% select security and fraud controls as one of the three key criteria for choosing or retaining a bank, making it the highest-ranking selection factor.For transaction banks, the implication is straightforward: fraud protection should not be marketed only as a compliance feature. It should be integrated into the core cash-management proposition, including payment controls, user governance, transaction monitoring, confirmation tools, API security and client education.
5. AI was an emerging, not dominant, purchase theme: AI adoption rose sharply in the 2025 polls, particularly among Singapore and Malaysian respondents, but it remains behind foundational priorities: cash visibility, forecast accuracy, system connectivity, security and FX risk. That is an important editorial distinction.
The 2025 finding should therefore be framed as:Corporates do not want AI in isolation. They want bank-grade data connectivity, reliable cash positions, better forecasting and controls—then selective AI applications for forecasting, reconciliation, exception handling and treasury analytics.
6. Trade finance remained most strategically relevant in Thailand and Malaysia: Trade-related demand is strongest in Thailand and Malaysia, where digital trade documentation, trade-finance workflow improvement, supplier payment capability and FX management rank highly throughout the period. Indonesia also shows a growing need for cross-border payment speed and trade digitisation. For the 2025 survey narrative, it appears regional corporates remain interested in trade digitalisation and supply-chain finance, but are likely to choose banks based on the quality of integration with payments, FX, liquidity management and enterprise systems—not on documentary trade solutions alone.
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To participate in the 2027 poll, please click here