Speaking the Same Working Capital Language

Working capital is under pressure from every direction – higher rates, longer supply chains, slower collections and stubborn volatility. In response, treasurers are looking again at how cards, trade and embedded payments can work together, rather than in silos, to release trapped cash and stabilise supplier relationships. But what does a genuinely integrated approach look like in practice?

Liquidity is under strain, yet the mechanisms designed to support it still often feel disjointed, deployed in isolation rather than as part of a coherent strategy. This leaves many teams navigating complexity where simplicity should, and now realistically can, exist. For Arpana Amin, Global Head of Supply Chain Finance, Global Trade Solutions at HSBC, that pressure is driven first and foremost by the macro environment. She points to a “new normal that does not feel normal at all” – a blend of inflation spikes, shifting trade policies, geopolitical friction and regulatory churn that flows straight through into FX volatility and higher funding costs for corporates.

Elevated interest rates have made short-term borrowing materially more expensive, she notes, making treasurers increasingly reluctant to lean on traditional lines when they can see working capital tied up elsewhere. Add in the post- pandemic shift from just-in-time to just-in-case inventory management – with stock sitting on balance sheets for longer – and the picture becomes clear: long supply chains, rising days sales outstanding and liquidity increasingly immobilised as inventory.

“It is not one single factor,” she reflects. “It is the cumulative effect of slower collections, higher funding costs and the decision to carry more stock. All of that converges on the working capital line, and that is where treasurers are now spending a huge amount of time.”

Wayne Docherty, Director, Large & Middle Market Sales Europe, Visa Commercial Solutions, has noticed a distinct shift in tone when meeting treasurers. “Even eighteen months ago, cards and embedded payments were often seen as nice-to-have background tools,” he says. “Now treasurers are actively asking how these tools support working capital. They are moving away from a passive approach towards a far more deliberate effort to shape the cash conversion cycle using every lever they can sensibly pull.”

That does not mean searching for a miracle product. “Cards are not a silver bullet,” Docherty stresses. “They are one tool among several, and the value comes from understanding where cards really fit, how they can be embedded into the systems treasurers already use, and how the data they generate feeds into wider decision-making.”

The story, then, is less about individual instruments and more about orchestration.

That orchestration is increasingly visible on the HSBC side, where Le Grand has seen a marked change in how corporates engage with the bank. Treasurers now invite trade specialists and payments experts into the same room and ask for a joined-up response rather than parallel workstreams.

“This might involve an embedded virtual card facility delivered through a procurement platform, alongside a trade solution for key suppliers. Or it might be using the payments infrastructure itself as the backbone for a trade product, as we do with our Trade Pay offering, where a simple payment file triggers supplier payment and books a loan for the buyer. The key shift is that the collaboration is now genuine.”

One of the practical advantages of treating cards as part of the working capital toolkit is speed. Savas admits she had not fully appreciated just how flexible card-based structures can be.

“Traditional trade instruments remain essential, but they involve careful onboarding and negotiation. By contrast, virtual card facilities can often be implemented quickly and replicated across new markets with minimal friction.

We have seen very large multinationals stand up meaningful programmes in a matter of weeks. When supplier dynamics shift suddenly, that ability to pivot is incredibly valuable.”

Le Grand points to HSBC’s UK B2B Payment Facility as an example. Credit lines can be agreed and solutions deployed within days, providing swift support without the need for prolonged transformation programmes. The point is not that cards replace other working capital tools, but that they create tactical manoeuvrability and enable spend across the entire supply chain to be addressed alongside Supply Chain Finance or Dynamic Discounting offerings.

None of this would be credible without improved data visibility. For years, treasurers struggled to optimise what they could not see – invoices caught between approval and payment, opaque supplier behaviour and fragmented reporting. Here again, Amin sees genuine progress. “Deep integration into ERP systems means clients are finally getting real- time status information. They can see where invoices sit, whether payments have been initiated and how suppliers are behaving That live view supports more nuanced planning and more informed conversations with suppliers.”

Le Grand notes that ERP vendors now provide standardised, one-click reporting that allows granular AP and spend data to be shared quickly. “Every additional data point improves the business case we can help clients build. With the right data, we can quantify the working capital impact more precisely and design solutions that fit their supplier structure and spend profile,” he says.

Where working capital was once treated as an internal optimisation exercise, it is increasingly viewed as a shared resilience issue between buyers and suppliers. “Corporates have realised that their stability is deeply tied to the health of their supply chain,” Amin explains. “That is driving a move away from one-off payment term extensions towards more thoughtful, long-term support. In some cases we even see clients prepared to provide cash collateral for strategic supplier capex, signalling that these partners are expected to grow alongside them.” Financing linked to ESG performance and supplier scorecards is also becoming more prominent, with pricing and access used as incentives for improvement rather than punitive measures.

Docherty senses a deeper shift in mindset: “Businesses have seen what happens when suppliers cannot ship or cannot access credit. That has led to a change in tone. More organisations now treat suppliers almost as customers, recognising they need predictable cash flow and access to funding if they are to keep delivering.”

Savas frames this as a “full-spectrum” approach. “For strategic suppliers, you prioritise structured trade or supply chain finance. For mid-tier suppliers, embedded card facilities can work extremely well. For the long tail, the universal acceptance of cards may be the simplest answer. The art lies in matching the right tool to the right segment.”

Underpinning all of this is culture. Technology can expose data, but it cannot dismantle siloed behaviours on its own. “Culture is often the hidden barrier,” Amin warns. “Without alignment and shared ownership of working capital metrics, programmes will stall. The organisations that make the greatest progress are those that invest in the human side as well as the technology.”

Savas highlights growing cross-pollination between functions, where treasury, procurement and finance teams develop shared understanding through initiatives such as temporary role swaps, helping to sharpen execution and decision-making.

What emerges from this broader picture is a shift away from working capital being managed through isolated, product-specific interventions towards a more considered and integrated approach. Cards, payments and trade are now positioned as complementary mechanics within a single strategic framework, shaped by data, technology and internal collaboration.

“First, invest in integration,” says Docherty. “Ensure your payment and card flows sit natively within core systems. Second, focus relentlessly on data quality and analytics. Third, keep pushing for cross-functional collaboration. Working capital should not sit solely with treasury – it needs wider ownership across finance, procurement and operations.”

On the banking and network side, the direction of travel is clear – towards API-first platforms, embedded payments and intelligent automation, with cards as one important component rather than the whole story.

For treasurers, the opportunity is to reclaim working capital as an active discipline rather than a downstream calculation, using integrated tools and real-time data to stabilise liquidity, support suppliers and create the headroom required for continued investment. Even when the wider macro environment refuses to settle.