Despite the rise of real-time technology, many treasurers still operate with significant liquidity blind spots. This piece breaks down the current issues with global cash visibility and the strategic tools from VAM to Agentic AI needed to bridge the gap in 2026
For years, the promise of “real-time global cash visibility” has been the centerpiece of every treasury conference and fintech whitepaper. Yet, as we navigate a landscape of fragmented banking networks, geopolitical friction, and shifting interest rate environments in 2026, many multinational treasurers find themselves still operating with significant blind spots.
The “Visibility Gap” isn’t just a technical inconvenience it’s a strategic liability. In an era where liquidity can be trapped by overnight regulatory changes or devalued by sudden currency swings, what you can’t see can undoubtedly hurt your bottom line.
The primary obstacle remains the sheer complexity of the global banking ecosystem. Multinationals often juggle dozens of banking partners across various jurisdictions, each with their own reporting standards and latency issues. This fragmentation leads to two critical issues:
Trapped and Idle Cash: Without a unified view, significant pools of capital sit dormant in local accounts, missing out on yield opportunities in a higher-rate environment.
Forecasting Friction: Roughly 65% of treasurers still struggle to produce accurate long-term forecasts. When data is siloed and inconsistent, even the most advanced automation tools can end up generating “perfectly calculated” errors.
To reclaim control, treasury leaders are moving beyond traditional batch-processed reporting. The focus has shifted toward value-timing aligning liquidity movements with real-time business needs rather than banking cycles.
Key tactical shifts include:
API-Driven Insights: Leading teams are bypassing traditional portals in favor of API-first connectivity, enabling intraday positioning and eliminating the “end-of-day” wait.
Virtual Account Management (VAM): By centralizing flows through virtual structures, treasurers can reduce physical account bloat while maintaining granular tracking of sub-entity liquidity.
Agentic AI Integration: We are seeing a move toward AI “agents” that don’t just flag data but proactively identify the root cause of liquidity variances, such as shifting customer payment behaviors or supply chain disruptions.
Achieving 100% visibility in 2026 requires more than just a software upgrade; it requires a cultural shift toward data transparency across the entire organization. Treasurers must act as the strategic “connective tissue” between finance, tax, and operations to ensure that cash is not just visible, but mobile.
The technology to eliminate the “liquidity lockdown” is now mature. For the forward-thinking treasurer, the goal is no longer just to see the cash, but to ensure it is working at the speed of the business.