HSBC survey shows APAC treasury AI integration lag

The findings suggest a market that is moving from experimentation to implementation pain. Nearly one-fifth of respondents have not used any AI tools in treasury work, while most adopters are still relying on generic productivity software rather than bank-integrated tools or AI agents that can automate workflows. In other words, the sector is still stuck at the shallow end of the AI curve, using the technology for repetitive tasks instead of decision-critical functions such as cash-flow forecasting, exception management and liquidity optimisation.

That delay is economically important. Treasury sits at the centre of working-capital efficiency, and companies that can forecast cash more accurately can hold less idle liquidity, improve returns on excess cash and manage foreign-exchange exposure more aggressively. For Asia-Pacific corporates, that advantage is especially valuable because supply-chain volatility, shifting rates and geopolitical friction are making cash visibility harder, not easier. HSBC’s report points to cross-border payments, cash forecasting, reconciliation and FX risk management as the most promising use cases.

Vietnam illustrates both the opportunity and the constraint. Respondents there cited supply-chain disruption, slower receivables collection and rising credit risk as key pressures on cash flow, making AI-powered forecasting more relevant. But 77% said lack of expertise was their biggest barrier, underscoring a broader problem across the region: treasuries want the productivity gains, but many do not yet have the data architecture, skills or controls to capture them.

The same pattern is emerging in digital assets. HSBC found 44% of APAC treasury professionals are likely to use tokenised money or digital currencies within two years, yet 77% view them as high or medium risk and a lack of interoperability remains the main brake. That makes the winners clear: banks, software vendors and infrastructure providers that can connect fragmented ERP, payments and custody systems will capture the first wave of corporate spend, while firms waiting for a plug-and-play platform risk falling further behind.

For investors, this is not just a banking-services story. It is a picks-and-shovels opportunity tied to enterprise software, payments rails, cloud infrastructure, cyber security and treasury automation. The companies that solve integration — not the ones that merely advertise AI features — will own the most durable revenue pools as treasuries move from pilots to production.

HSBC’s own work on tokenised deposits and SWIFT-based blockchain settlement shows the direction of travel: controlled, incremental adoption rather than wholesale reinvention. That is exactly why the market may be underestimating the runway here. Treasury teams are ready to spend, but only on systems that reduce risk, connect cleanly and deliver measurable savings. The next winners in Asia-Pacific finance will be the vendors and banks that turn AI from a concept into a workflow.