•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Visa’s Growth Corporates Working Capital Index (WCI) for 2025–2026 highlights a widening gap between the working capital needs of mid-size businesses across Asia-Pacific and the flexibility of the financial tools currently available. Against a backdrop of rising inflation, higher interest rates, and liquidity pressure, growth-oriented companies in APAC—defined as having annual revenues between $50 million and $1 billion—are increasingly treating cash flow management as essential to growth and resilience. Yet nearly half of potential businesses in the region have not adopted any working-capital solutions, even as demand for more flexible funding continues to rise.
The WCI identifies three key themes for APAC. First, there is a misalignment between financial products and operational realities. Mid-market companies report cash flow challenges including long delinquency cycles, rising late payments, and pressure to move funds cross-border. However, many existing solutions are described as too rigid and slow to adapt to fast-changing markets, widening the gap between traditional products and actual needs. As a result, CFOs are increasingly favoring faster, more flexible, digitized solutions that better match business pace.
Second, the report points to adoption barriers tied to fit and usability. It states that 47% of businesses do not use working-capital tools because they do not fit their operating models. Among non-users, 41% want simpler digital tools to manage credit and accounts, while 38% say they need flexible financing aligned with cash-flow cycles. The report suggests that financiers who design products around real business cycles—and streamline underwriting, speed approvals, and improve flexibility—may gain an advantage.
While many firms lack suitable tools, senior finance executives in APAC increasingly view working capital as a strategic lever rather than a temporary fix. The report describes the use of early payments to suppliers, virtual cards, and flexible financing to strengthen liquidity and respond quickly to market opportunities. It also notes that card-based solutions are shifting from purely transactional use toward working-capital management.
The WCI provides several quantified impacts:
The report links these outcomes to improved cash tracking and faster receivables, enabling businesses to unlock additional capital within the operating cycle and turning liquidity management into a competitive advantage.
Globally, CFOs prioritize faster, demand-driven access to capital and simpler digitized credit-management tools, with APAC showing the strongest need due to volatility and risk. The index states that 61% of APAC growth companies have already adopted AI or ML to optimize working capital, including forecasting, risk scoring, and automated approvals.
CFOs expect agile liquidity access through digital tools such as virtual cards, automated approvals, and digital-finance platforms to capture opportunities in real time. The report also says finance leaders prefer partnerships with banks that offer sector-specific expertise and relationship-management teams familiar with business cycles, supplier networks, and investment needs.
Overall, the WCI describes a shift in CFO expectations for liquidity management. As demand grows for faster, more flexible, digitized solutions, banks are encouraged to move beyond standard products by integrating AI, accelerating approvals, and combining digital capabilities with sector-specific knowledge.
“CFOs across APAC are seeking tools that are flexible and tailored to each sector and aligned with their operating realities,” said Chavi Jafa, Director of Commercial Solutions and Working Capital, APAC at Visa. “Through this report, flexible strategies, a focus on digitization, and intelligent forecasting are helping enterprises increase resilience and reinvest capital for growth. At Visa, we collaborate with ecosystem partners to provide a commercial solutions suite designed with digitization in mind—such as virtual cards integrated into ERP systems and digital-support platforms—to help businesses optimize working capital, speed up approvals, and turn liquidity into a strategic growth lever.”
Premium gym chains are entering a “golden era” that is ending or already in decline, as rising operating costs collide with shifting consumer preferences toward more flexible, community-based ways to exercise. Long-term memberships are shrinking, margins are pressured by higher rents and facility expenses, and competition from smaller, more personalized…
