(28 April 2026 – Global) The latest Global Analyst Meeting Insights summary highlights key commercial banking developments East & Partners global analyst team are exploring with financial services clients.
Untangling FX & Cross Border Payments – Unique Corporate Perspective
While banks clearly delineate between FX and cross border payments functions distinctly, do corporates also interpret it this way?
How does this differ by business size and how much do small businesses differ from larger sized corporates?
Do Australian and New Zealand importers and exporters view cross border payments and associated FX risk management and costing as one combined function or as two distinct functions?
Is there a preference for home or recipient currencies?
What are their current and forecast cross border payment methods with an important emphasis on new and developing mediums such as stablecoins from a treasury management perspective.
East & Partners directly interviewed 3,694 CFOs and treasurers across Australia and New Zealand as part of the long running Business FX services regarding the following:
- Within your organisation are cross border payments and associated FX managed and costed as one combined function or as two distinct functions?
- When making cross border payment, which approach best describes your typical approach?
- What is your main method for transacting across border payments now and forecast in two months’ time?
As major currency pairs becoming increasingly polarised and wallet share continues to come under immense pressure in FX as competition intensifies, upcoming results briefings for East’s bank and non-bank clients will incorporate the fascinating results that provide a detail breakdown of how Micro and SMEs view these linked functions in comparison to larger sized Commercial enterprises managing higher value and more complex global payments operations.
Gulf War Response – Keep Calm and Carry On
As corporates look to their bank for guidance and support navigating the latest existential threat to their treasury and risk management, which institutions stand out as leaders?
Recent hard lessons learnt from the pandemic, subsequent supply chain disruptions and tariff uncertainty suggest “short termism” in fact presents as the greatest threat to effective liquidity management, requiring a longer term mindset and considered strategic response encompassing the “big picture” as highlighted by Citi’s GPS Supply Chain Finance report.
The analysis examines the shifting dynamics of global trade that endures against a backdrop of volatility, forcing CFOs to assess real outcomes of tariff policy and the rapid proliferation of AI.
“Disruption is no longer a bug in global trade – it’s a feature. The global trade landscape of 2026 is based on the new norm of trade incentives and barriers, geopolitical shocks and policy uncertainty that have created a markedly different environment” stated Citi Global Head of Trade and Working Capital Solutions, Adoniro Cestari.
Getting Ahead of Rising FX Volatility
How are corporates managing mounting currency risks associated with USD weakness, uncertain GDP growth under threat and heightened FX volatility?
Australian enterprises are demonstrating high rates of hedging as they seek to manage business and investment risks amid elevated uncertainty, according to the inaugural CommBank FX Barometer.
The data highlights elevated hedging activity by corporates, brought on by the uncertainty the conflict has provoked. Based on direct interviews of 1,000 Australian-based corporates and superannuation funds exposed to foreign currency markets in their operations, the report reveals importers are hedging around 80 per cent of their currency exposures. Exporters that hedge cover 86 per cent, indicating a selective approach to lock in dips in the Australian dollar amid heightened global uncertainty. By contrast, businesses that both import and export are hedging around two-thirds of exposures, reflecting partial natural offsets.
March Analyst Meeting Insights Summary
The March 2026 analyst meeting insights presented key emerging thematics influencing strategic decision making including:
- Risk Management Capability as a Key Competitive Differentiator
- Correspondent Banking in Focus
- Zero-Trust Supply Chains to Connect a Fractured World
- New Business Investment Helping Lift Productivity – Asset Finance Proprietary Insight
Risk management is a critical competitive differentiator as geopolitical risks, AI-driven cyber threats and stablecoin payments evolutions reshape treasury, correspondent banking, and supply chain strategies for corporates worldwide.
Top Into the Voice of the Treasurer – East on Demand
Generate turnkey solutions for these evolving, difficult to quantify thematics with the East on Demand platform.
Monthly fieldwork enables clients to directly interrogate CFOs and treasurers on any question, in any market with rapid voice of the customer insights generated within two weeks.
Clients utilise the platform for quickfire thought leadership and marketing campaign proof points and support, product and service development, defining a new business case, driving sales pipelines, forecast customer needs and much, much more.
Get in touch to find out what we would ask if we were in your shoes – East analysts compile a quarterly list of questions inspired by our unique understanding of the market, driven by client conversations, corporate interviews and market movements.
