CFOs Are Turning Volatility Into Growth — One Dollar of Working Capital at a Time

Cash is moving faster. Risk is rising. The margin for error is shrinking.

This is the world in which middle-market chief financial officers and treasurers now operate. It is also the backdrop for the third annual Growth Corporates Working Capital Index 2025-2026, a Visa report produced by PYMNTS Intelligence. With insights from 1,457 CFOs and treasurers across 23 countries, 10 industries and five global regions, it is the most ambitious study of its kind. And it captures a decisive shift in mentality.

CFOs are no longer treating working capital as the cash cushion they guard for a rainy day. They are using it as fuel for growth in a market defined by volatility. Liquidity has become the lever that separates those who merely survive disruption from those who thrive on it.

Efficiency Becomes Growth Capital

Four in five firms freed an average of $19 million last year by using external working capital solutions. Unlike the defensive playbooks of the past, those dollars didn’t sit idle. They were redeployed to strengthen supplier ties and fund growth without taking on more debt. Efficiency is no longer just about trimming costs. It is the new growth capital.

The Rise of the Adaptive CFO

The most successful CFOs used working capital to move quickly — paying suppliers early, buying inventory before prices shifted and keeping supply chains intact when goods were scarce. These leaders turned speed into strategy, transforming volatility into a competitive advantage.

Cards Become Strategic Levers

Corporate cards, once considered back-office conveniences, are now growth instruments. Fifteen percent of growth corporates used them opportunistically last year, triple the rate of the year before. Faster settlement, fewer manual touches and cleaner audit trails give CFOs the ability to pounce when opportunities appear.

Late Payments Erode More Than Revenue

Growth corporates lost nearly 4% of revenue chasing down late B2B payments. The bigger cost is the distortion it creates — forecasts that can’t be trusted, investments that get pushed off, strategies that stall. That’s why more CFOs are embracing faster-settlement tools, especially commercial and virtual cards, to compress DSO and keep cash moving.

AI Joins the Finance Team

Six in 10 CFOs are already using generative and agentic artificial intelligence (AI) for forecasting, supplier onboarding and workflow automation. They say it sharpens cash flow visibility, speeds supplier decisions and buys back time. As more workflows become autonomous, the advantages will compound — widening visibility, compressing cycles and giving leaders the confidence to move faster.

The Roadmap for What Comes Next

This Index isn’t just another data set. It is a roadmap for how CFOs are adapting — and thriving — in a world where volatility is the norm. It shows how liquidity, powered by the right mix of cards, AI and working capital solutions, has become the growth engine for middle-market firms worldwide.

The Growth Corporates Working Capital Index 2025–2026 launches Monday, Sept. 29. Alongside the report are two tools designed for action:

• The Dynamic Report, an interactive view of industry and regional insights.
• The Working Capital Performance Benchmark, a five-minute personalized assessment that shows CFOs how they stack up against peers.

Liquidity has always been essential. What this year’s Index proves is that it has also become a competitive weapon. And the CFOs who wield it best will be the ones rewriting the growth story in 2026.

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