GCC treasury teams turn disruption into a competitive advantage
As trade routes shift and supply chains grow more complex, the question for GCC treasurers is no longer whether cash and trade functions need to modernise, but how quickly banks and corporates can build the connected infrastructure to support it
For corporate treasury teams across the GCC, the most important question is no longer simply how much cash is available. It is how quickly that cash can be moved, where it is needed, and whether it will still be there when the next disruption hits.
Corporates across the region are growing, but they are also dealing with shifting trade routes, changing geopolitics and more complex supply chains. The numbers still look strong. According to data by global consultancy PwC regional companies grew revenue by around 6.3% last year, with non-oil sectors growing even faster, while trade flows across the GCC reached close to $850bn in exports. Treasury now must fund that growth and manage risk at the same time, and that dual mandate is redefining the function itself.
“The question is no longer how much cash do clients have, it is how long will it last under stress,” says Jagadeshwaran Kothandapani, senior vice president and head of cash management products for global transaction banking at Mashreq.
Malinga Fernando, senior vice president and head of trade product for global transaction banking at Mashreq, sees the same shift.
“Treasury teams are no longer focused solely on cash concentration and funding efficiency,” he says. “Today, they are balancing growth ambitions with supply-chain resilience, working-capital optimisation and risk management.”
Treasury moves from the back office to the boardroom
This change is being driven by a more complex operating environment.
GCC corporates now work across many markets, currencies and banking relationships. They also source goods from Asia, Africa and within the region, as supply chains shift towards new trade routes.
As a result, cash ends up fragmented across multiple currencies and time zones, increasing the need for corporates to bring their liquidity positions into a single, consolidated view. At the same time, payments move instantly and customers expect seamless digital experiences, pushing many treasury teams away from batch processing and end-of-day reconciliation and towards continuous, real-time processes.
“If I had to summarise treasury pressure today, it is trying to manage a 21st-century business with 20th-century infrastructure,” says Kothandapani. This is why treasury is now part of boardroom discussions, rather than something that runs quietly in the background. Kothandapani and Fernando agree on one point: visibility matters as much as capital.
“The biggest risk is not lack of cash; it is lack of visibility and control over it,” says Kothandapani. Building that visibility is now what boards expect treasury to deliver.
Working capital becomes a strategic tool
One clear response to this pressure is a change in how corporates view working capital.
With financing costs remaining elevated, companies are placing greater emphasis on optimizing working capital and unlocking cash tied up in receivables, payables, and inventory. The objective extends beyond operational efficiency to releasing liquidity that can be redeployed to support growth, resilience, and strategic investment.
“Leading corporates are treating working capital as a strategic source of funding for growth,” says Fernando.
Solutions such as supply chain finance, receivables finance and distributor finance are helping companies unlock that liquidity without necessarily raising additional capital.
Supply chain finance platforms sit at the centre of this. These platforms connect buyers, suppliers and banks on one digital system. This lets suppliers, including smaller ones that may not have easy access to financing on their own, receive early payment. At the same time, buyers can extend their own payment terms without harming the relationship.
The benefit builds up across the chain: better financing access for SMEs makes suppliers stronger, which in turn makes the buyer’s position stronger too. Working capital cycles across the region have already shortened from 121 to 108 days, according to a PwC report. That has unlocked billions of dollars in liquidity.
He points to one regional business that cut its external borrowing by 15-20%, simply by better aligning when it received and paid money. “The smartest companies are not raising more capital,” he says. “They are using existing capital better.”
The race for real-time visibility
Technology is becoming a key enabler of this shift. Progress in digital payments and financial infrastructure is raising expectations for speed and transparency in corporate treasury.
According to retail and banking consultancy KAE, GCC digital payments are expected to grow from $227bn to $360bn by 2030, Kothandapani calls this move an “always-on” treasury. Instead of checking cash positions once a day, treasury teams now monitor them continuously, with much of the reconciliation and decision-making becoming automated.
Trade finance is undergoing a parallel transition. Digital onboarding, electronic documentation and API connectivity are helping to simplify processes that were previously paper-based and fragmented. The shift is increasingly affecting the entire trade journey, from onboarding through to settlement, rather than individual stages in isolation.
It is also changing the role of fintechs.
Fintechs are bringing speed, user experience and specialist innovation to areas including API-based payments, data analytics and embedded finance, while banks continue to provide balance sheet strength, regulatory expertise and risk management.
“It is no longer banks versus fintechs, it is banks and fintechs working together to create a more connected and efficient transaction banking ecosystem,” says Fernando. “The best partnerships are those where the complexity stays behind the scenes, while the corporate experiences a simpler, faster and more transparent trade and cash management journey.”
Building risk management for a faster world
As payments and trade become faster and more connected, corporates are applying that same standard to risk management.
This means moving from periodic compliance checks to continuous monitoring, supported by automation and better data.
“Speed without control is risky. Control without speed is irrelevance,” says Kothandapani.
Few topics are discussed as much in treasury circles today as what comes next. “This is probably the most debated topic in treasury today,” says Kothandapani, speaking about digital assets, and the real-world uses for them are becoming more convincing.
Cross-border payments, supplier settlements and remittances, are where stablecoin-based settlement is being piloted the most. “Stablecoins will not replace fiat payments, but they will reshape cross-border flows,” he says.
In 2025 alone commercial banking assets across the GCC rose to over $3.9tn with bank deposits increasing to $2.3tn, according to the GCC Secretary-General Jasem Mohamed Al-Budaiwi. “This is a region actively designing the future of treasury,” says Kothandapani. In the future, he adds, treasury will not just protect value – it is positioned to define competitive advantage.
