Cover for the PYMNTS Intelligence and Visa report, The 2025–2026 Growth Corporates Working Capital Index

Why 2026 Will Reward CFOs Who Treat Liquidity as a Living System

2025–2026 Growth Corporates Working Capital Index: How 1,457 Global CFOs and Treasurers Use Working Capital to Grow Their Businesses

Working capital is just about protecting the downside. As volatility reshapes supply chains and access to capital, a widening gap is emerging between finance leaders who can move liquidity in real time and those who cannot. The “2025–2026 Growth Corporates Working Capital Index: How 1,457 Global CFOs and Treasurers Use Working Capital to Grow Their Businesses,” a PYMNTS Intelligence report commissioned by Visa, reveals how CFOs are turning cash, cards and data into a system built to act before opportunity passes them by.

Inside the January Index

  • Working capital has shifted from a safety net to a growth engine as CFOs and treasurers increasingly use it to seize unplanned opportunities, accelerate supplier payments and secure critical inventory.
  • Companies using AI for liquidity forecasting and workflow automation generate materially higher bottom-line benefits, but mismatches in financing products and loan rejections continue to limit the impact.
  • Firms that use commercial and virtual cards as financing tools and accept cards to speed receivables achieve higher efficiency scores, lower revenue losses from late payments and stronger cash-flow resilience.

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    PYMNTS Working Capital Index