Billions of dollars move across borders daily, yet most finance teams operate in the dark without global payments visibility. For CFOs, controllers, and treasurers, the stakes are high: Without real-time visibility into outgoing payments, liquidity blind spots risk and compliance risks derail growth.
Fragmented systems and outdated processes leave finance teams in a reactive mode, but forward-thinking organizations are now adopting real-time, integrated, and automated solutions to regain control, mitigate risk, and optimize working capital.
Eliminating the blind spots: Automation and real-time payments
In 2025, the most transformative trend in cross-border payments is real-time processing. Instant settlement, paired with transparent tracking, is reshaping how enterprises manage global transactions, removing the traditional two- to five-day lag and its associated uncertainty.
AI-powered automation is accelerating outgoing global payments and improving accuracy, minimizing costly errors and smoothing treasury reconciliation cycles. This combination of automation and instant confirmation provides finance leaders with actionable insights — from fraud detection to data validation — into cash positions at any moment.
Cross-border payments involve complex regulatory compliance that requires time and resources. However, AI automation can help reduce processing time by up to 90% while minimizing human errors and cutting operational costs by 30-50%.
From a liquidity risk management perspective, BNY Mellon highlights that real-time infrastructure allows treasury teams to actively manage liquidity buffers, respond to market volatility, and maintain compliance without over-relying on manual checks. Without these capabilities, organizations operate with a “rearview mirror” approach and can only react to issues after they happen rather than proactively steering the outcome.
Agility over legacy: The shift from banks to fintechs
Traditional banks have long been the default for global payments, but they’re struggling to keep up with modern demands. A recent survey from the World Economic Forum found that fintechs — bolstered by revenue growth and profit growth at 40% and 39%, respectively — are now central to the financial ecosystem, offering speed, flexibility, and technology-first solutions.
Challenger banks and specialized payment providers are overtaking legacy institutions with mobile-first platforms and faster transaction capabilities. According to FinTech Weekly, digital-first lenders are reporting revenue gains of up to 40% over the past year, compared to flat or negative growth from their legacy counterparts.
Additionally, the rise of open banking, pay-by-bank solutions, and digital wallets is transforming how finance teams manage enterprise payments control, delivering transparency and efficiency that were previously unavailable through traditional banking channels.
For CFOs and controllers, this shift means rethinking vendor relationships and integrating fintech partners into their payments strategy to eliminate payment system fragmentation.
ERP integration and payments modernization
Disconnected payment systems are a major barrier to global payments visibility. Without integration into core enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, payment data remains siloed, reconciliation slows, and forecasting accuracy suffers.
The global ERP market is projected to reach $40.6 billion by 2033, underscoring how integrating payment systems directly into ERP platforms can reduce reconciliation times, minimize manual errors, and ensure compliance-ready audit trails.
An ERP integration enables the sharing of operational data between systems and processes, helping organizations manage and analyze data as needed. Crucially for scaling operations and expediting decision-making, ERP payments integration centralizes data and automates workflows.
When businesses combine an ERP system with accounts receivable automation, they can accelerate billing processes, track performance, and even predict payments outcomes. The return on investment (ROI) can’t be overstated — it improves cash flow management and frees up treasury resources for strategic planning.
For finance leaders, modernizing the payment stack is a structural shift that enhances cash flow forecasting, strengthens governance, and improves enterprise payments control.
Strategic trends and industry outlook
Looking ahead, the pace of change in payments will only accelerate. According to a recent KPMG survey, 93% of financial institutions are either modernizing their payments infrastructure or are planning to do so soon.
Three key forces are helping organizations shape the future of payments:
- AI provides security, automation, and modeling
- Regulatory evolution demands speed and transparency
- Digital identity frameworks streamline global compliance and onboarding
What does it mean for financial leaders? Their strategic priorities need to change to include innovation, regulatory adherence, and operational resilience — a trifecta vital for thriving in a rapidly shifting global payments environment.
For controllers and treasurers, this means building a roadmap that addresses today’s operational realities while preparing for tomorrow’s technology-driven shifts.
Failing to modernize payments and achieve real-time payment visibility can have significant consequences, including:
- Liquidity blind spots: Without instant insight into outgoing payments, working capital is harder to manage, and unexpected shortfalls can occur.
- Forecasting errors: Delayed or incomplete data leads to inaccurate cash flow forecasting and poor investment decisions.
- Compliance risks: Disjointed systems make it harder to meet audit requirements and comply with evolving regulations.
- Operational inefficiency: Manual reconciliations consume resources that could be allocated to value-added financial analysis.
How to regain visibility
Finance teams that embrace real-time payment visibility, integrated systems, and fintech-driven agility can strengthen liquidity risk management, streamline treasury reconciliation, and unlock new levels of operational efficiency.
CFOs, controllers, and treasurers can take these five steps to invest in visibility now before fragmented systems leave their business at risk and behind their competition:
- Assess the current visibility gap — Map out where payment data originates, how it’s reconciled, and where delays occur.
- Adopt real-time payment solutions — Integrate instant settlement capabilities to eliminate uncertainty in cross-border transactions.
- Leverage fintech partners — Use agile, tech-driven providers like Convera to reduce payment system fragmentation and improve global reach.
- Integrate with ERP systems — Centralize payment data for faster reconciliation and more accurate treasury forecasting.
- Prioritize compliance and resilience — Build processes that can adapt to regulatory change without sacrificing speed.
With a global commercial payments provider like Convera, real-time dashboards, transaction alerts, and automated reconciliation pave the way to greater visibility. By monitoring the exact status of a payment across its entire journey, Convera can help financial teams regain control, reduce costs, and improve compliance.
