Executives expect more than basic lending or routine treasury services; they look to their banking partners as strategic allies who can deliver fast, integrated solutions and insight into their industries.
Lauren Hewings, head of Working Capital Solutioning at Visa Commercial Solutions, told PYMNTS CEO Karen Webster that CFOs have embraced an “act and gain” mindset.
“They’re leveraging working capital in a way that works for them,” Hewings said. “They’re taking opportunities, they are taking advantage of unplanned growth initiatives,” buying inventory to meet anticipated demand, or looking to expand into new markets.
Banks, in turn, are facing pressure to modernize while coping with what Hewings termed “very rapidly changing technology and AI, which I think is really driving people’s expectations in terms of the speed of change.” The tension between those legacy constraints and the real-time needs of corporate finance teams defines much of today’s CFO-bank conversation.
Addressing the Expectations Gap
There’s a gap between what CFOs want and what their providers deliver. The latest edition of the Growth Corporates Working Capital Index offers guideposts for banks to serve the changing needs of their corporate clients. The latest report, which is a joint effort between Visa and PYMNTS Intelligence, found that CFOs and treasurers surveyed are 64% more likely than in 2023 to use these tools for unplanned growth, including accelerating payments to strategic suppliers for time-sensitive business needs and buying just-in-time inventory.
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The latest report covered the responses of more than 1,450 CFOs and treasurers, up from the 2023 inaugural report’s 850 executives. The latest study, covering 23 countries, five regions and 12 industry sectors, offers a comprehensive look at the challenges faced by fast-scaling companies with annual revenues between $50 million and $1 billion.
There’s been a “mismatch of the requirements of the CFOs and treasurers in terms of loan amount or working capital credit amount, and what the banks were willing to extend,” Webster said. That disconnect is especially frustrating for finance leaders who have moved beyond cautious planning and now need immediate access to liquidity, as represented in the latest findings.
Hewings said this new mentality makes those rejections all the more painful because the companies involved are ready to act and need banks that can move at the same pace.
Embracing Digital-First Solutions
The solution begins with technology, Hewings said.
“Offering digital-first solutions, this is table stakes at this point,” she said. “This is not new news to anybody.”
CFOs expect instant access to working capital tools and seamless integration with their internal systems. However, many banks still grapple with a complex web of legacy systems that need to be updated or replaced, she said.
Technology alone, however, is not enough to win loyalty. Webster highlighted another persistent theme: industry fluency. CFOs increasingly want bankers who can speak directly to the challenges and opportunities in, say, retail or travel. Visa, Hewings added, works closely with banking partners to deliver industry vertical-specific solutions.
Artificial intelligence is also moving from buzzword to balance-sheet impact.
“We are looking at ways that we can embed AI into payments processes to remove some of that friction,” Hewings said.
Top-performing CFOs are already using AI to automate repetitive financing tasks and to model cash flow scenarios, helping them respond to sudden opportunities or threats. The data shows that deploying AI to improve forecasting, automate routine tasks and integrate suppliers pays dividends. The advanced technologies have helped triple cash flow visibility since 2023 and boost supplier integration by 7% for growth corporates.
The Value of Virtual Cards
Virtual cards have emerged as another underappreciated lever. Hewings said “all buyers are suppliers,” and that accepting card payments can cut late payment losses that average around $18 million per organization annually. She reframed cards as “a strategic liquidity tool, not just for the buyers, but also for the suppliers,” adding that CFOs who use cards for payables and financing are more likely to be top performers.
Even companies at the bottom of the index are improving, as measured by Visa and PYMNTS Intelligence’s joint efforts. Webster pointed out that the bottom performers increased their scores by 25% over the last three years. Hewings credited that progress to greater cash visibility and the willingness to adopt new tools. For banks, these gains are encouraging because they show that CFOs who embrace data-driven strategies and digital tools quickly become better, more creditworthy clients.
The broader takeaway is that growth corporates no longer view working capital as a narrowly defined financing mechanism. They see it as a dynamic platform for opportunity, one that depends on rapid execution and deep understanding of their industries. Banks that continue to rely on a slow “we’re working on it” response, as Webster warned, will find that CFOs have limited patience and abundant alternatives.
Summarizing the challenge, Hewings said: “Their customers are looking for solutions that enable them to meet this moment and work in an agile way and enable them to deliver on their growth initiatives, even in the face of volatility.”
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PYMNTS CEO Karen Webster is one of the world’s leading experts in payments innovation and the digital economy, advising multinational companies and sitting on boards of emerging AI, HealthTech and real-time payments firms. In 2009, she founded PYMNTS.com, a top media platform covering innovation in payments, commerce and the digital economy. Webster is also the author of the NEXT newsletter and a co-founder of Market Platform Dynamics, specializing in driving and monetizing innovation across industries.
Lauren Hewings is the head of Working Capital Solutioning at Visa Commercial Solutions, which partners with financial institutions and FinTechs to support businesses of all sizes across a variety of verticals.
