Nearly 9 in 10 large international companies are adopting or testing stablecoins and other tokenized financial instruments to manage liquidity, process payments, and expand their businesses.
Singapore-based financial group DBS published the findings of its study, The Great Rewiring: Money in a New Order, examining the transformation of corporate finance and treasury operations. According to the report, 88% of surveyed companies already use or test tokenized money applications, while most executives expect to see benefits from adoption within the next 2 years.
The survey included 422 corporate executives, chief financial officers, and senior treasury executives across 11 markets, including the U.S., the U.K., Germany, China, India, and Singapore. Each participating company generates more than $500 million in annual revenue.
Stablecoins are the most widely adopted tokenized financial instruments, used by 63% of respondents. Tokenized bank deposits are used by 53% of companies, while 52% use tokenized money market funds.
Over the next 2 years, survey participants expect tokenized money to help them:
Improve transaction auditing and traceability (72%);
Enable real-time cross-border payments (71%);
Strengthen internal controls and corporate governance (66%);
Optimize treasury liquidity management (65%).
Companies are also reassessing their currency strategies amid shifting international trade routes and increased market volatility. Over the past 12 months, more than three-quarters of respondents had to adapt their operations and enter new markets as supply chains were restructured. Southeast Asia emerged as the most popular destination for international expansion.
A similar share of respondents experienced increased volatility in exchange rates and energy prices, along with reduced predictability in settlement operations. In response, 78% of companies diversified their use of traditional settlement instruments, expanding their use of multiple currencies to support new trade routes. Only 2% of respondents aren’t considering the use of additional currencies.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is another area driving the transformation of corporate finance. About 75% of survey participants already report improvements or expect to see them within the next 2 years from adopting AI technologies for cash flow and liquidity forecasting, payment reconciliation and exception detection, and identifying and resolving payment-related issues, errors, or discrepancies.
Despite strong interest in new technologies, businesses face several obstacles. The main challenges include:
Regulatory uncertainty and compliance requirements;
Cybersecurity and operational risks;
A lack of internal expertise;
Difficulties integrating new solutions with existing infrastructure.
Survey participants also expect banks to take on a broader technological role. According to the study, 64% of respondents want banks to serve as a single point of access to the tokenized money ecosystem. Another 63% are interested in bank support for pilot projects, proof-of-concept testing, and integration of new solutions. The same share of companies expects access to banking technology platforms and infrastructure to scale AI services.
Lim Soon Chong, Head of Global Transaction Services at DBS, said the future of cross-border finance will depend on payment speed and cost, as well as the ability to securely manage the movement of funds across different networks. According to Lim, the parallel development of new settlement infrastructures creates additional integration and regulatory compliance challenges for companies.
DBS previously tested cross-border payments using tokenized deposits through SWIFT infrastructure in collaboration with Citi. Meanwhile, corporate B2B payments are becoming the primary use case for stablecoins, while banks are increasingly adopting tokenized deposits to improve settlement efficiency and liquidity management.
