What is treasury technology?

According to PwC’s 2025 Global Treasury Survey, in today’s volatile “macroeconomic environment, a ‘cash-first’ operating model is no longer optional. Treasury must lead with forecasting accuracy, real-time visibility and centralised control.”

The only effective means for organisations to achieve these goals – as well as weather the headwinds of stunted economic growth, protracted inflation, and shifting trade policies – is the implementation of treasury technology.

Where the rubber of business strategy meets the road of execution, treasury technology refers to any software and systems deployed by firms and financial institutions (FIs) to manage their financial operations; such as cash management, liquidity, risk, payments, and investments. This can include IT tools for process automation and data management, or even to streamline workflows between in-house staff and external partners.

But treasurers didn’t always have these capabilities to hand. In this instalment of Finextra’s Explainer series, we delve into the history and evolution of treasury technology; its characteristic components; the benefits to business; as well as how it could look in 10 years from now.

A history of treasury technology

As one might expect, the development of treasury technology correlates to the evolution of financial markets. Its role is to serve the shifting demands of industry, and as such, the capabilities of treasurers have expanded greatly in recent decades – particularly given the leaps in computing and user journeys.

Here is an outline of how the digital tools used by treasurers have advanced in the last 50 years:

Pre-1980s: Manual operations

Before the birth of the internet, treasury processes were manually executed. Workflows such as cash management, risk management, and reconciliation were all managed on spreadsheets or paper-based ledgers. Communication was either undertaken in person or over the telephone. Indeed, such lack of efficiency, visibility, and potential for human error feels untenable today – such are the advances in treasury technology.

• The key tools of a treasurer pre-1980s included: Physical ledger books, calculators and typewriters.

The 1980s: Electronic tools emerge

The official birth of the internet is considered 1 January 1983, when ARPANET and the Defence Data Network adopted the TCP/IP protocol – thus standardising communication between different networks. However, it wasn’t until 1989 when the World Wide Web – a way of accessing information over the internet – was invented by Tim Berners-Lee that personal computers (at the desk level) began to be used in offices in a big way.

But PCs were only one of the drivers of digital treasury tools. By the 80s global finance had become a highly complicated landscape, with the dismantling of post-World War II regulations; the explosion of novel financial instruments; and a debt crisis among developing nations. These factors – paired with soaring inflation and interest rates – made for an unpredictable yet interconnected financial space. Treasury technology, for the first time, became not just an add-on, but an essential tool.

• Key tools of the 1980s: Early Treasury Management Systems (TMS), often custom-built – enabling basic automation of cash positioning and bank account management.

The 1990s: TMS and ERP integration

By the 1990s, thanks to the widespread adoption of the World Wide Web, the internet had shifted from a niche research network to a fully-fledged public platform. The 90s saw the birth of dial-up internet access, the emergence of brands such as Amazon, Google, and Yahoo, and the launch of the first commercial internet service providers.

This revolutionised TMS and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems – paving the way for major providers like SAP and Oracle, who began integrating treasury modules into their service. These enabled more accurate cash flow forecasting, debt and investment tracking, and better foreign exchange (FX) risk management.

Despite the benefits of centralised control and improved visibility, PwC’s 2025 Global Treasury Survey reveals that over a third (36%) of respondents still have a manual FX exposure management process. This could be down to the high costs and long implementation times involved in systems updates. Until treasury technology becomes cheaper, this will remain the status quo.

The noughties: Web-based and SaaS solutions

By the turn of the millennium, cloud technology was emerging – as provided by Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2). Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) came hand-in-hand and new players like Kyriba, Reval, and GTreasury emerged – quickly gaining prominence.

These trends had the effect of democratising organisations’ access to treasury technology – circumventing the need to build, store, and maintain costly IT infrastructure in-house. Instead, treasurers simply pull the tools they need from the internet, for relatively low subscription costs. Today, SaaS remains vital to the work of treasurers.

• Key tools of the 2000s: Cloud technology, SaaS, real-time cash visibility, bank connectivity via SWIFT and application programming interfaces (APIs), as well as multi-entity/multi-currency support.

The technology created in the noughties was so transformational that it forever altered the treasury’s function within firms. These next-generation tools served to pull the treasury out of the shadow of the back-office and insert it into important business discussions around financial strategy.

The 2010s: Digitisation and APIs

The 2010s saw the innovations of the noughties further refined. Outsourced or cloud-based treasury operations (dubbed ‘treasury-as-a-service’) became more common; APIs were increasingly adopted to integrate disparate IT systems and datasets; and Swift’s network was upgraded through initiatives like the Global Payments Innovation (GPI) and the phased migration to ISO 20022.

Further catalysing technological advance were post-2008 financial crisis regulations, which drove treasurers to seek out next-generation liquidity and risk management tools.

By 2016, the regulatory space in Europe had produced the second Payments Services Directive (PSD2), which opened up access to payment accounts for third-party providers (TPPs) – spearheading a surge in marketplace competition and product innovation. Underpinning the delivery of PSD2-enabled services – such as open banking and open finance – are APIs, which are still leaned on heavily by treasury departments around the world. According to PwC’s 2025 Global Treasury Survey, 65% of organisations are planning to expand their API use in the next few years, in preparation for PSD3.

The 2020s to present day: AI, RPA, and real-time treasury

While artificial intelligence (AI) as a formal field of study was founded in 1956 at the Dartmouth Summer Research Project on AI, the technology’s practical application exploded in the 2020s, with the launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Since then, numerous providers have emerged, and AI is being embedded into the operations of companies in nigh-on every industry on the planet.

Within financial services and treasury, AI has immense potential – with applications across algorithmic trading, forecasting, anomaly detection, personalisation, regulatory compliance, risk management, and more. As has been the case with every other industrial revolution, AI will lead to both job losses and job creation. The efficiencies to be had are breathtaking.  

Another feature characterising cutting-edge treasury technology is robotic process automation (RPA), which can automate repetitive tasks like reconciliations and payment processing. In this manner, treasury is approaching the much-awaited real-time stance.

Functionality, components and benefits

So what does a modern treasury toolbox look like?

In many cases, the TMS provides a centralised platform upon which all financial activities are tracked and executed. Within this system are specialised tools for cash flow forecasting, payments processing, risk management, and so on.

Here is a more detailed breakdown of the various elements:

• The TMS: This system supports the various treasury functions. Despite the benefits, PwC’s 2025 Global Treasury Survey notes that around 40% of treasurers are not leveraging an in-house banking or payment centralisation model.
• Cash management systems: These IT tools handle cash flow, liquidity, and forecasting. 
• Payment processing: RPA is often deployed here to automate and streamline payment processes like invoicing, authorisation, fund transfers, and reconciliation.
• Risk management: Digital tools serve to identify, assess, and mitigate financial risks. 
• Portals and APIs: These technologies help to connect to systems, external entities, and access financial data vital to service delivery. 

There are numerous benefits to deploying modern treasury technology, including:

1. Data accuracy – treasury technology limits human errors, upscales data analysis capabilities, and produces more reliable financial reports.
2. Enhanced decision making: Real-time, accurate information means more informed financial decisions and strategies.
3. Reduced costs – RPA can drive operational efficiency, streamline resource allocation, and limit running costs.
4. Streamlined compliance: AI can support treasurers with their regulatory compliance by flagging inconsistencies and rationalising approaches to data storage and architecture.
5. Visibility: Treasury technology opens the door to real-time insights into key performance indicators (KPIs), cash positions, and financial risks.

The future of treasury technology

Ever since the birth of the internet, the field of treasury technology has been constantly evolving. Against the backdrop of increasing AI integration, this rate of advancement will become exponential.

As such, the financial services industry must begin preparing for – and investing in – real-time and automated treasury; greater AI innovation; cloud-based solutions to scalability and accessibility; Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG)-powered decisioning to mitigate climate risks; decentralised treasury models, blockchain and distributed ledger technology (DLT) for heightened cybersecurity; as well as central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) and stablecoins, for faster, cheaper, and more convenient transactions.

But the future isn’t only about the technology – it’s about the people who use it. As PwC states in its 2025 Global Treasury Survey, when “AI becomes ingrained into leading practice forecasting, risk management and operations, treasury teams must invest in talent, tools and strategy to move from experimentation to impact.” With this in mind, a whopping 74% of respondents to the survey said they are either expanding or actively using AI – with a specific focus on machine learning (ML) and predictive analysis.

The choice for today’s treasurers is the same as it ever was: innovate or be left behind.