Some of the strongest growth inside big banks is coming from the services that companies use every day to move, hold and manage money.
Second-quarter results from the likes of Citi and Wells Fargo offered evidence that corporate banking growth is extending beyond conventional lending. Payments, treasury management, liquidity services and custody cement the relationships between banks and corporate finance departments, producing fee revenue while helping banks attract the deposits generated by their clients’ daily operations.
The comparison with lending requires some qualification. Loan balances also grew at several banks, particularly in corporate businesses, so the quarter did not establish that cash management has displaced lending as the industry’s primary growth source. It did show that transaction-oriented services can grow alongside lending and give banks another route to broaden corporate relationships.
The demand side of the equation can be seen in PYMNTS Intelligence research. By way of example, the “2025-2026 Growth Corporates Working Capital Index,” produced with Visa, surveyed 1,457 chief financial officers and treasurers at companies across 23 countries. The growth corporates, often described as middle-market companies, typically generate $50 million to $1 billion in annual revenue.
Finance executives are seeking more predictable cash flow and using working capital to support capital investment, inventory purchases, expansion and faster payments to strategic suppliers, according to the report. Companies using external working capital tools proactively also reported better cash flow visibility and operating flexibility, while artificial intelligence-supported forecasting and workflow tools can give finance teams a clearer view of liquidity.
The demands create an opening for banks that can connect payments, receivables, liquidity and financing rather than sell each service as a separate product.
In Citigroup’s latest earnings results, the company said its Services business generated $6.4 billion in second-quarter revenue, up 18% from a year earlier, including $4.7 billion from Treasury and Trade Solutions, also up 18%. Securities Services revenue rose to $1.6 billion from $1.4 billion. The performance made Services one of Citi’s faster-growing major businesses during a quarter in which companywide revenue increased 14%.
Asked specifically about TTS growth, Citi CEO Jane Fraser pointed to a 120-basis-point gain in institutional market share and said client wins were up 36% year over year.
“A lot of the growth beyond the movements in rates has come from the innovation that we’ve been making in the product suite,” Fraser said, adding that Citi is seeing “continued momentum in fees” and “continued momentum in volumes,” separating at least part of the Services growth story from the direction of interest rates.
The underlying activity helps explain why the business carries significance beyond its revenue contribution. Payments, cash management, trade services and custody put banks inside the continuing flow of corporate money.
Treasury Moves Closer to the Center of Corporate Banking
Wells Fargo’s earnings results showed that combined treasury management and payments revenue across Commercial Banking and Corporate and Investment Banking rose 5% year over year. Commercial Banking revenue rose 6%, while Corporate and Investment Banking revenue increased 16%. Treasury management and payments generated $661 million of quarterly revenue within CIB, $50 million more than a year earlier.
The earnings call also provided context for the economics behind expanding these relationships. Discussing Wells Fargo’s growth strategy, CEO Charlie Scharf said the bank is focused on businesses that could broaden client relationships, including treasury management.
The earnings results also line up with a problem identified by PYMNTS Intelligence among middle-market companies. Finance departments want faster money movement, stronger cash flow visibility, better forecasting and access to working capital when business conditions change. As these functions move onto digital platforms, banks have an opportunity to connect transaction services with liquidity and financing rather than address each corporate requirement separately.
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