KYC delays push corporates to breaking point

Corporate frustration with bank KYC processes has reached near-universal levels, with 95% of treasury professionals dissatisfied and 99% saying their organisation has lost revenue because of the length or complexity of onboarding, according to Encompass Corporation’s latest Corporate Treasurers Report.

The 2026 survey marks the third year of worsening sentiment. Encompass said dissatisfaction with banks’ know-your-customer processes has risen from 73% in 2024 to 84% in 2025 and 95% this year, suggesting that what was once an operational irritation has become a broader relationship issue between banks and corporate clients.

Commercial consequences are also becoming harder to ignore. Some 97% of respondents said they had considered switching banks because of their KYC experience, up from 83% in 2025. A further 96% said the onboarding experience directly shapes how their organisation views a bank as a long-term partner.

Delays are one of the clearest sources of strain. Encompass said 96% of organisations globally have abandoned a banking application because of the time it was taking, up from 86% last year. The report also found that most corporates have been asked to provide the same information multiple times by their banks for a third consecutive year.

Financial impact is also central to the findings. The share of respondents reporting lost revenue due to slow or complex onboarding reached 99%, a 16-point increase from 2024. For treasury teams, that means KYC friction is no longer just a documentation problem. It can delay account opening, financing access, cash management arrangements and business expansion.

Security concerns are also rising. Some 92% of treasury professionals reported concerns when sharing sensitive KYC information, compared with 83% in 2025. Those worries are likely to become more acute as banks seek to use AI in client onboarding and compliance, raising fresh questions over how corporate data is handled, stored and protected.

Fragmentation remains another weakness. Encompass found that 95% of organisations store KYC information across multiple systems and teams, while the same share said they lack adequate visibility and control over KYC information requests. In addition, 96% said they are sharing KYC information simultaneously with multiple banks and business partners. That creates a heavy internal workload. Some 97% of respondents said time spent managing KYC requests diverts their team from growth-focused activity. The finding is striking because it frames KYC as a drag on treasury productivity as well as a source of banking friction.

Wayne Johnson, CEO of Encompass Corporation, said corporates are “frustrated by manual processes, walking away from banking relationships, losing revenue, and questioning the security of their most sensitive data”.

The report makes it clear that while banks are under growing pressure to modernise onboarding, corporates also need cleaner ownership of their own KYC data. As digital identity becomes more important, the ability to manage documentation consistently and securely is becoming part of treasury’s operating model rather than an occasional compliance task.

 

CFOs chase AI margin gains

CFOs that take a more strategic approach to AI and finance technology deployment could unlock an additional 10 points of margin growth by 2029, according to research from Gartner. The finding is based on a survey of 314 organisations worldwide, conducted between September and October 2025, which looked at finance technology portfolios and investment strategies. Gartner said the margin opportunity depends less on isolated AI pilots and more on how finance leaders allocate resources across a broader technology portfolio.

“Three quarters of CFOs are raising their tech budgets for 2026, with nearly half by 10% or more, as AI is reshaping core finance, process automation and analytics,” said Mike Helsel, senior director analyst in the Gartner Finance practice. “However, CFOs will not unlock margin gains from AI by chasing isolated pilots: the biggest returns will come from managing finance technology as a portfolio, strengthening proven applications, accelerating high-value automation and scaling AI where governance and integration are maturing.”

Generative AI ranked as the highest future investment priority among finance leaders. AI agents also showed strong investment intent, despite still being at an early stage of adoption. Embedded AI is gaining traction too, particularly across cloud enterprise resource planning systems and finance point solutions, where companies are looking for more practical tools that improve existing workflows rather than create entirely separate processes.

“To capture the margin upside, CFOs need to align AI and technology investments to business outcomes, supported by strong governance, explainability and data readiness,” added Helsel. “However, CFOs should not allow AI to cause them to overlook valuable core finance technologies if not already implemented.”

That point is likely to resonate with finance teams under pressure to show returns from AI spending. The survey suggests CFOs are moving beyond experimentation and into a phase where AI investment has to be tied to measurable performance, governance standards and integration with core finance systems.

Established finance technology still matters. Gartner said cloud ERP remains the highest-performing technology across the finance technology landscape, with adoption up 7% year on year. Reporting automation was also identified as one of the most valuable technologies, helping finance teams reduce manual work, strengthen compliance and improve decision quality.

 

African supply chains get US$300m finance facility

IFC and Standard Chartered have launched a risk-sharing facility covering up to US$300m in supply chain and trade finance assets, aimed at widening access to working capital for companies and suppliers across Africa. The programme will cover assets originated by Standard Chartered in eight markets: Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia. It will focus on sectors including agriculture, healthcare and manufacturing, where supplier liquidity can have a direct effect on production, wage payments and hiring.

IFC will provide guarantees for up to US$150m from its own account, with US$100m committed as the first tranche. The facility will support transactions in US dollars and selected local currencies, helping reduce risk for short-term supply chain and trade finance portfolios.

Over the next three years, the partnership is expected to enable about US$1.9bn in supply chain finance transactions. It aims to support more than 500 suppliers, including small and medium-sized enterprises in domestic and global value chains, with the potential to indirectly benefit more than 1m farmers.

The financing will include instruments such as payables finance, receivables discounting and pre-shipment finance. These structures can allow suppliers to access cash earlier, reduce working capital pressure and improve their ability to fulfil orders.

Global supply chain finance volumes reached about US$2.7 trillion in 2025, up 8% year on year, according to the release. Access remains more limited in emerging markets, particularly in lower-income and fragile settings, where commercial banks have been less active.

The facility is IFC’s first project under its Global Supply Chain Finance Program and the Africa Trade and Supply Chain Recovery Initiative, supported by the International Development Association Private Sector Window Blended Finance Facility.

 

UK CFO confidence hits six-year low

Confidence among UK finance leaders has fallen to its lowest level in six years, as geopolitical risk, rising energy prices and renewed concern over interest rates push large companies towards more defensive financial strategies, according to Deloitte’s latest CFO survey. The quarterly survey of chief financial officers and group finance directors at major UK companies, conducted between 16 and 30 March, found that confidence dropped to a net -57%, down from -13% in the previous quarter. A negative reading means a larger share of CFOs were less optimistic about their company’s financial prospects than more optimistic.

Geopolitics remains the dominant external risk for a third consecutive year. Deloitte said the weighted average risk rating for geopolitical developments rose to 79, from 65 in the previous quarter, marking a record level of concern. Higher energy prices or disruption to energy supplies ranked second, with a rating of 70, up from 47 in December. The prospect of further rate rises and tighter monetary conditions ranked third, rising to 65 from 44.

“The conflict in the Middle East is reshaping business sentiment: it’s created a shock to CFO confidence, lowering optimism to levels we haven’t seen since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Ian Stewart, chief economist at Deloitte UK.

A separate set of questions on geopolitical risk showed how the pressure is expected to feed through to companies over the next three years. Finance leaders cited energy costs and inflation and interest rates as the joint top consequences of adverse geopolitical developments, each at 61%. Cyber-attacks followed closely at 60%, up from 44% last year.

Financial priorities have shifted accordingly. Cost control ranked as the strongest priority for the next 12 months, cited by 68% of CFOs, up from 51% in the previous quarter. Building cash was the second-highest priority, named by 43%, up from 36%.

Investment and hiring expectations have weakened sharply. A net 46% of CFOs expect UK corporates to reduce capital expenditure, while a net 72% expect discretionary spending to fall. Hiring plans also look subdued, with a net 79% expecting a decline.

The survey shows how geopolitical shocks are moving quickly from boardroom risk registers into cash, cost and investment decisions. Finance leaders are no longer just monitoring the Middle East conflict as an external threat; they are adjusting balance sheets, spending plans and hiring assumptions around the possibility of higher energy costs, tighter financing conditions and weaker confidence.

 

Kyriba links stablecoins, liquidity and FX tools

Kyriba has added stablecoin, liquidity investment and treasury education capabilities to its platform, as corporate treasury teams face pressure to manage faster payments, idle cash and digital asset questions within existing controls. The treasury technology provider is integrating USDC into its enterprise treasury platform through a collaboration with Circle, allowing treasury teams to use digital dollars within Kyriba’s existing workflows. Kyriba said the capability is intended to support near real-time cross-border settlement, compared with traditional payment timelines of one to three business days.

The move comes as stablecoin adoption becomes more relevant to corporate treasury following the GENIUS Act, which Kyriba said removed a major source of regulatory uncertainty. The company cited research showing that 73% of executives had previously identified regulatory uncertainty as their top concern around stablecoins.

Liquidity investment is another focus. Kyriba is embedding Morgan Money, J.P. Morgan Asset Management’s institutional liquidity platform, into its treasury management system. The integration is designed to surface suggested actions based on cash horizon, yield objectives, liquidity needs and policy constraints, while leaving treasury teams to review, adjust and execute decisions.

Kyriba is also working with the Association for Financial Professionals on a Stablecoins & On-Chain Liquidity in Treasury Certificate. The certificate will be available from June 2026 to Kyriba customers through Kyriba Elevate and could earn about 7.8 Certified Treasury Professional credits. Kyriba said complimentary access will be offered to 500 customers enrolling through the platform.

Alongside those collaborations, Kyriba has introduced Advanced Liquidity Planning and Advanced FX. The liquidity tool is aimed at replacing spreadsheet-based planning with scenario modelling, automated data consolidation and real-time visibility across entities. Kyriba said existing customers have reduced liquidity planning time from 10 hours a week to 1.3 hours, while improving annual cash yield by up to US$2.07m.

Advanced FX is designed to automate exposure validation, hedge application and workflow controls for companies running daily hedging programmes. Kyriba said customers have already seen up to US$3.1m in reduced FX volatility impact.

“By integrating automated FX data into our decision-making process, we have significantly reduced the manual tracking and reporting,” commented Jaemin Kim, director, treasury at Uber. “Also, we have been able to optimise our hedging strategy, tailoring it to market conditions with much greater accuracy.”

 

Corpay targets manual spend workflows with AI

Corpay has added AI capabilities to its Corpay Complete platform, with tools aimed at reducing manual work across accounts payable, expense management and commercial card workflows. The corporate payments company said the new features include an AI virtual assistant that can provide real-time answers on transactions and accounts, automated receipt matching and reconciliation, real-time reporting, and AI-driven workflow automation for approvals and expense processes.

The tools span Corpay Complete’s commercial card products, including purchasing cards, travel and expense cards and virtual cards, as well as expense management and accounts payable automation. Corpay said its enhanced API platform also allows customers and partners to embed Corpay Complete into existing systems and automate spend processes more directly.

Supporting research commissioned by Corpay among 300 UK CFOs suggests the launch is aimed at a persistent operational problem. Some 83% of respondents said spend management in their organisation is more manual than it should be, while 84% said their business has been too slow to modernise supplier payments and expense management.

Manual processes are absorbing significant finance capacity. The research found that 86% of CFOs say their finance teams spend more than six hours per person each week on expense, invoice and supplier payment administration. More than a quarter put the figure at between 11 and 15 hours.

CFOs also appear to see automation as a way to redirect finance capacity rather than simply reduce cost. Asked how they would use 25% to 50% of reclaimed finance time, respondents cited business partnering, cash flow forecasting and strategic planning as their top three priorities.

Card-led payments remain part of that shift. Corpay’s research found that 81% of CFOs view card-led payments as a competitive advantage, while 91% are concerned that competitors are ahead in adopting automated, card-led payment processes.

Working capital is another driver. Improving working capital management, strengthening spend controls and increasing real-time visibility were ranked as the top three CFO priorities for 2026. Almost all respondents, at 99%, said additional working capital flexibility would be at least somewhat valuable, suggesting that AI-led spend management tools are being positioned around control, visibility and cash flow, not just process efficiency.

 

Crypto adoption rises across Europe

Almost one-third of Europeans surveyed are actively investing in cryptocurrencies, according to a new report from Ari10, in findings that suggest digital assets are becoming more embedded in household financial behaviour even as regulatory uncertainty remains a constraint.

Ari10’s Cryptocurrency Adoption in Europe 2026 report is based on more than 100,000 individual responses from over 11,000 respondents across 11 countries: Poland, France, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, the UK, Norway, Sweden, Hungary, Romania and Spain.

The study found that almost 40% of respondents had some exposure to cryptocurrencies, while about 31% said they were actively investing. Long-term value appreciation was the main reason for engagement, cited by nearly half of active investors.

Confidence also appears to be rising. More than 60% of active investors described cryptocurrencies as relatively safe, suggesting that the asset class is gaining acceptance among parts of the retail investor base. Even so, regulatory clarity remains a major barrier, with more than 56% of respondents citing the lack of clear and consistent rules as an obstacle to further adoption.

Poland stood out as the most active market in the survey. Some 47.1% of Polish respondents said they had engaged with cryptocurrencies, the highest share among the 11 countries covered. The report also said Poland recorded the highest awareness of the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets framework and had a notable base of early adopters who entered the market before 2017.

Greater consumer familiarity with digital assets may also influence the next stage of financial product development. Banks, payment providers and consumer-facing companies are likely to watch whether that comfort extends beyond investment into stablecoin payments, tokenised assets and other regulated digital finance products.

“The findings of this report reflect that digital assets are no longer a niche concept, they are becoming part of everyday financial life across Europe,” commented Mateusz Kara, CEO of Morphic Financial Group. “Adoption is already at a meaningful scale, but the opportunity ahead is even greater. Unlocking that potential will depend on two things: improving education to build confidence, and delivering simple, practical solutions that integrate seamlessly into how people and businesses already operate.”

 

Mastercard expands startup programme for corporate payments

Mastercard has expanded its Start Path startup engagement programme with a dedicated corporate solutions focus, as commercial payments become more embedded in industry-specific workflows. The first cohort under the expanded programme includes six fintechs working across expense management, reconciliation, insurance claims, fleet payments, travel and hospitality, and public sector procurement. Mastercard said the aim is to connect those companies with its network, technology and customers to support development of corporate payment tools.

Commercial payments volumes are estimated at around US$100 trillion a year, according to Mastercard, but many sectors still rely on fragmented or manual processes. The company pointed to fleet and logistics, travel and hospitality, healthcare, insurance and public institutions as areas where payment flows remain operationally inefficient.

The cohort reflects those pressure points. Masraff is focused on AI-led expense management and policy compliance for companies operating across multiple markets. Simetrik works on no-code, AI-driven transaction reconciliation for banks, fintechs and platforms. MediConCen applies agentic AI and blockchain to insurance claims.

Fleet payments are represented by Fleevo, which works on fuel, charging, maintenance and fraud detection. Zatlas targets automated payment flows in travel and hospitality, including hotel and online travel agency ecosystems. Glass focuses on digitising public procurement and payments for governments and public institutions.

PNC expands treasury tools for claims payments

PNC Bank has expanded its treasury management insurance payments offering to support property and casualty claims, extending a platform previously used for healthcare-related insurance payments into a broader claims market. The service builds on PNC’s Claim Payments & Remittances platform, which has supported healthcare insurance payments since 2018. Through its collaboration with ECHO Health, PNC is now adapting the platform for property and casualty insurers, where claims payments often involve multiple parties and different payment requirements.

Property and casualty claims can require payments to policyholders, repair shops, contractors, medical providers and other recipients, often with separate remittance needs. PNC said the expanded solution will allow insurers to deliver payments to both businesses and individuals, support multiple electronic payment methods including instant payment options, and provide remittance information in formats tailored to different recipients.

The platform will also allow insurers to manage medical and non-medical claims payments through a single system. That is likely to be the central operational appeal for larger insurers managing high claims volumes and complex vendor networks.

The move reflects a wider push to modernise insurance payments, where claims processes can still involve fragmented systems, slower disbursement and inconsistent remittance data. Faster electronic payment options may help insurers reduce friction after claims are approved, while more structured remittance information can improve reconciliation for both payers and recipients.

PNC said the property and casualty payments solution is aimed at large national and regional insurers. The launch gives those firms another bank-backed option in a market where specialist claims payment providers have traditionally played a significant role.

 

KeyBank adds virtual cards to treasury platform

KeyBank has launched a virtual commercial card programme through an expanded partnership with Qolo, allowing commercial clients to create and manage virtual cards inside the bank’s existing treasury and cash management platform. The Key Virtual Card programme is being integrated into KeyBank’s Virtual Account Management platform, known as KeyVAM, which launched in 2024. Qolo provides the underlying technology for issuing and processing the virtual cards, including support for fraud monitoring, disputes and chargebacks.

The move is aimed at giving businesses a more controlled way to pay suppliers without forcing finance teams to manage card activity through separate systems. By embedding virtual cards into KeyVAM, KeyBank is looking to bring payment execution, reporting and reconciliation into the same environment clients already use for treasury activity.

Virtual cards are increasingly used in accounts payable to improve payment tracking, apply spend controls and reduce reliance on less efficient payment methods. They can also support better reconciliation by generating card numbers for specific suppliers, transactions or payment events. The programme will be available to KeyBank clients across its middle market and institutional banking segments.