(11 June 2025 – United States) For multinational corporations (MNCs) managing complex supply chains, overseas payrolls, or high-volume trading, FX settlement isn’t just a back-office function – it’s a real-time driver of liquidity and risk yet many enterprises are still grappling with foreign exchange (FX) settlements that take two or more business days to execute.
When settlement times stretch to 48 hours or more, the knock-on effects can show up in disrupted operations, strained supplier relationships, and tighter working capital. Despite a surge in digitisation across finance, many companies are still tethered to outdated FX settlement cycles often relying on fragmented networks of correspondent banks, manual approvals, or region-specific constraints.
As a result payments can get trapped in slow-moving processes, increasing the chance of errors and exposing businesses to shifting FX rates.
“That’s more than an administrative issue. For CFOs and treasurers, settlement delays create genuine risk. When a company agrees to pay a supplier in euros, yen, or pounds, it needs certainty on when that payment will land and at what cost. A two-day lag can mean missing out on favourable FX pricing, or misaligning with the timing of critical inventory delivery. For businesses operating on tight margins or fast-moving cycles, that can’t be ignored” comments HSBC Regional Head of North America Global Payment Solutions, Tom Halpin for Traders Magazine.
East & Partners long running USA Business FX Markets service, based on direct interviews with 2,217 CFOs and treasurers reveals record high customer churn intent among importers and exporters with an active FX need as they seek to enhance their risk management and settlement capability, increasing from 20 percent of Microbusinesses, SMEs and Lower Commercials in 2017 planning to switch primary Spot FX providers in the next six months to 29 percent currently.
What impact has a rising churn impulse had on leading major banks including Citi, JPMorgan, BofA, Wells Fargo and Goldman Sachs?
How successful have non-bank rivals such as Wise, Convera and OFX been in building greater primary relationship share in a market dominated by banks at a time of heightened uncertainty stemming from the US-China trade war?