meed-logo

line1 line2 line3
SIGN IN / REGISTER

Liquidity constraints force corporate banking shift

5 February 2025

Corporate lenders face a liquidity crunch as businesses struggle to maintain cash flow amid rising costs and tighter credit conditions. Credit constraints have worsened, with 5% of middle-market borrowers now heavily leveraged and unable to refinance, according to credit rating firm KBRA. At the same time, rising fraud and outdated payment infrastructures are compounding the liquidity challenge.

Payment fraud losses are expected to reach $26.4bn by 2028, according to GlobalData, making cash flow forecasting even more unpredictable. Increasing cyber threats, unauthorised fund transfers and fraudulent transactions directly impact liquidity buffers, forcing businesses to enhance treasury functions.

Slow settlement cycles and outdated infrastructure continue to choke liquidity, restricting businesses’ ability to manage cash flow. To stay competitive, lenders must rethink their support for corporate clients by ensuring faster access to funds, smarter risk controls and seamless financial integration.

The pressure to deliver faster, more secure and smarter financial solutions is increasing. Innovations such as real-time payments (RTPs), artificial intelligence (AI)-driven risk models and embedded finance address these needs by enhancing liquidity management, improving credit allocation and streamlining cross-border transactions. Lenders that fail to adapt risk losing corporate clients to more agile competitors.

ENTRIES CLOSING SOON: MENA Banking Excellence Awards 2025: Corporate & Investment

AI reshapes liquidity strategy

AI is transforming liquidity management, shifting from a compliance and fraud detection tool to a key driver of treasury optimisation. Lenders are using AI-powered forecasting to improve treasury operations, helping businesses anticipate cash flow needs, automate funding decisions and optimise capital allocation.

HSBC’s AI-driven treasury solutions have improved forecasting accuracy by 92%, reducing liquidity risk for businesses operating across multiple markets. JP Morgan has also adopted AI-driven liquidity forecasting, enabling clients to optimise cash reserves and enhance working capital efficiency.

AI optimises liquidity management while strengthening security, helping lenders counter fraud and financial crime in an increasingly digital landscape. Lenders are leveraging AI’s predictive power to detect anomalies and security threats before they escalate.

Fraud detection remains a key priority as financial crime becomes more sophisticated. Many lenders are deploying AI to enhance fraud detection and risk mitigation. For instance, Mastercard and Stripe use AI-driven risk models, analysing over 1,000 transaction data points per second to detect fraud in real time.

Integrating AI into treasury services not only enhances operational efficiency but also positions lenders as strategic partners, offering data-driven insights that strengthen corporate client relationships.

Real-time payments drive liquidity optimisation

RTPs are now central to working capital strategies, not just a speed upgrade. Corporate clients increasingly expect instant settlements and real-time liquidity visibility as standard banking features.

The global RTP market is projected to surpass $700tn by 2028, according to GlobalData, as demand grows for seamless cross-border transactions, reduced credit dependency and faster cash conversion cycles. This shift is critical for treasury and finance teams, which require greater control over cash positions to navigate fluctuating market conditions.

Payment infrastructure providers such as Swift GPI and Visa B2B Connect have already streamlined high-value international transactions, reducing settlement times from days to minutes. These advancements are reshaping corporate banking priorities, with lenders expected to embed real-time payment capabilities within their broader treasury services.

ENTRIES CLOSING SOON: MENA Banking Excellence Awards 2025: Corporate & Investment

Embed finance or lose relevance

Corporate banking is shifting away from traditional, bank-led services as embedded finance transforms how businesses access payments, liquidity and credit directly within their operational platforms. By integrating financial products within enterprise platforms and enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, companies reduce dependence on external bank portals.

GlobalData forecasts that corporate embedded finance will exceed $7tn by 2030, driven by demand for frictionless cash flow management, instant access to financing and automated treasury functions. Businesses are embedding banking services within their digital ecosystems, integrating payments, lending and cash management into their core platforms.

Major banks are already adapting. Goldman Sachs and Citi have developed embedded lending and treasury tools that integrate directly into ERP systems, enabling businesses to initiate payments, access credit and manage liquidity without switching platforms.

Banks that fail to embed financial solutions risk losing visibility over corporate transactions. Institutions that successfully integrate embedded finance into their offerings will strengthen corporate relationships and secure long-term revenue streams. Conversely, delaying digital integration may result in businesses managing financial operations independently within their own platforms, reducing banks’ role in liquidity management.

How lenders must adapt to the liquidity shift

The future of corporate banking is being shaped by AI-driven treasury solutions, real-time payments and embedded finance—all of which are rapidly transitioning from competitive advantages to industry standards.

For banking leaders, this shift demands immediate action.

Corporate clients are no longer just looking for lenders – they need strategic partners who can provide seamless liquidity management, intelligent forecasting and embedded financial solutions.

Banks that embrace these innovations will strengthen corporate relationships, drive new revenue models and maintain relevance in a shifting financial landscape. Those that hesitate risk being replaced by more agile, tech-driven competitors offering faster, smarter and more integrated financial services.

https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/13365421/main0951.jpg
Sarah Rizvi

Register for MEED's guest program now to access this article.

Click here to register
Exclusive from Meed
Related Articles
  • Saudi Arabia seeks firms for food testing labs PPP project

    2 April 2026

    Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Municipalities & Housing, in collaboration with the National Centre for Privatisation & PPP (NCP), has issued an expression of interest (EOI) notice for a contract to develop and operate municipal food safety laboratories under a public-private partnership (PPP) framework.

    The project will be delivered on an equip, operate, maintain and transfer basis, with a contract duration of five years.

    The EOI was issued on 1 April, with a submission deadline of 15 April.

    The project scope covers the equipping, operation and maintenance of municipal food safety laboratories across five municipalities: Hafr Al-Batin, Northern Borders, Tabuk, Qassim and Al-Ahsa.

    Key objectives include upgrading laboratory equipment, expanding chemical and microbiological testing capacity for food and water products, and enhancing testing accuracy to support laboratory compliance across the value chain. The project also aims to ensure effective knowledge transfer and a structured handover to the relevant municipalities at the end of the contract term.

    NCP said in a statement: “The project is intended to strengthen public health and safety standards for citizens and residents of the kingdom in alignment with Saudi Vision 2030, while developing the municipal monitoring ecosystem, optimising food and water testing services, and enabling private sector participation in accordance with global best practices.”

    In October last year, NCP highlighted the scale and diversity of opportunities in the kingdom’s PPP pipeline.

    “At the moment, we have around 200 projects in the pipeline with a total value of roughly $190bn,” said Salman Badr, executive vice president – infrastructure advisory, NCP, during a MEED webinar.

    The projects are spread across 17 sectors. “We have a very sizable programme, and it reflects the breadth of the kingdom’s transformation agenda,” he said.

    NCP was established in 2017. It serves as the central authority and catalyst for designing and implementing privatisation and PPP projects across the kingdom.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/16236864/main.gif
    Yasir Iqbal
  • Parsons to project manage Al-Ittihad Sports Village in Jeddah

    2 April 2026

    US-based engineering firm Parsons Corporation has been awarded a contract by Saudi Arabia’s Al-Ittihad Club Company to act as project management consultant for the Al-Ittihad Sports Village in Jeddah.

    Under the contract, Parsons will support the project during the design stage.

    The sports village will be developed near King Abdullah Sports City and will include Al-Ittihad’s headquarters, academy training pitches and supporting facilities, performance development centres, administrative offices and a range of commercial components.

    The development is being designed in line with Fifa requirements and international best practices, with the aim of strengthening high-performance sports infrastructure in Saudi Arabia.

    The latest award follows Parsons’ recent appointment to a 60-month contract by the Public Investment Fund-backed New Murabba Development Company to provide design and construction technical support.

    As part of that role, Parsons will support the development of the project’s downtown area, which will span 14 million square metres of residential, workplace and entertainment space.

    In October last year, Parsons announced it had secured a SR210m ($56m) contract from Diriyah Company. Its scope includes the design and construction supervision of infrastructure works in phase two of the Diriyah project, covering streets, footpaths, open spaces, and civic buildings and facilities.

    In May last year, Parsons also confirmed its appointment as delivery partner for the airside and landside packages at King Salman International airport in Riyadh.

    In a statement, Parsons said it had signed two contracts with King Salman International Airport Development Company. The first covers airfield assets, including runways, taxiways, aircraft parking areas and air traffic control towers.

    The second contract relates to landside infrastructure, including roads, utilities, tunnels, bridges, rail networks and landscaping.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/16233673/main.jpg
    Yasir Iqbal
  • Read the April 2026 MEED Business Review

    2 April 2026

    Download / Subscribe / 14-day trial access

    When the first missiles and drones were fired at the GCC on 28 February, the region’s economic story pivoted abruptly, from long-term vision-building to near-term resilience.

    The conflict is now the Gulf’s most consequential economic stress test in a generation. It is challenging the safe haven premium that underpins capital inflows, while disrupting the physical networks that keep the region’s economies running, from energy exports and shipping lanes to airports and tourism.

    MEED editor Colin Foreman asks whether the GCC can sustain investor confidence as energy assets, trade routes, airports and banks absorb the shock. Read more here.

    April’s market focus is on Saudi Arabia, where the Iran war is compounding the logic behind the kingdom’s strategic pivot in its investment plans.

    This edition also includes MEED’s 2026 GCC contractor ranking, in which Chinese firms have surged to the top as Saudi spending cuts and geopolitical risks weigh on GCC construction activity.

    In the latest issue, we explore the region’s evolving arbitration landscape; present exclusive leadership insight from Jacobs on the future of passenger rail in the Middle East; and talk to Leyla Abdimomunova, head of real estate and construction at the Public Investment Fund’s National Development Division, about remaking Saudi construction.

    We hope our valued subscribers enjoy the April 2026 issue of MEED Business Review. 

     

    Must-read sections in the April 2026 issue of MEED Business Review include:

    > AGENDA: Gulf economies under fire

    INDUSTRY REPORT:
    GCC contractor ranking
    > Construction guard undergoes a shift

    > LEGAL: Redefining the region’s arbitration landscape

    > QATAR LNG: Qatar’s new $8bn investment heats up global LNG race  

    > INTERVIEW: Leyla Abdimomunova, National Development Division, PIF

    > LEADERSHIP: Shaping the future of passenger rail in the Middle East 

    > SAUDI MARKET FOCUS: 
    > COMMENT: Risk accelerates Saudi spending shift
    > GVT &: ECONOMY: Riyadh navigates a changed landscape
    > BANKING: Testing times for Saudi banks
    > UPSTREAM: Offshore oil and gas projects to dominate Aramco capex in 2026
    > DOWNSTREAM: Saudi downstream projects market enters lean period
    > POWER: Wind power gathers pace in Saudi Arabia
    > WATER: Sharakat plan signals next phase of Saudi water expansion
    > CONSTRUCTION: Saudi construction enters a period of strategic readjustment
    > TRANSPORT: Rail expansion powers Saudi Arabia’s infrastructure push

    > MEED COMMENTS: 
    >     Iran war erodes LNG’s image of reliability
    > Dubai's real estate faces a hard test
    > Energy resilience matters as much as capacity
    > Drawn-out conflict may shift planning priorities

    > GULF PROJECTS INDEX: Gulf index rises amid tensions

    > FEBRUARY 2025 CONTRACTS: Middle East contract awards

    > ECONOMIC DATA: Data drives regional projects

    > OPINION: The end of the republic and the end of times

    > BUSINESS OUTLOOK: Finance, oil and gas, construction, power and water contracts

    To see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click here
    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/16222272/main.gif
    MEED Editorial
  • Consultants submit bids for Al-Maktoum airport metro link

    2 April 2026

     

    French firm Egis has emerged as the lowest bidder for the design contract for the Route 2020 extension, which will start from the Expo 2020 metro station and connect with Al-Maktoum International airport’s West Terminal.

    Egis submitted the lowest bid, priced at AED232.6m ($63.3m).

    The other bidders are:

    • Halcrow International (UK): $66.4m
    • Parsons (US): $71.3m
    • Aecom (US): $82.6m
    • Surbana Jurong (Singapore): $106m

    The extension to the line will run for about 3 kilometres (km) and will feature two stations.

    MEED understands that the invitation to bid was issued in January with a submission deadline of mid-March.

    The existing Route 2020 metro link is a 15km-long line that branches off the Red Line at Jebel Ali metro station. The line comprises 11.8km of elevated tracks and 3.2km of tunnels, and has five elevated stations and two underground stations.

    The Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) awarded the AED10.6bn ($2.9bn) design-and-build contract for the project to a consortium of Spain’s Acciona, Turkiye’s Gulermak and France’s Alstom in 2016.

    Dubai’s plans for its metro network do not stop with connecting the extension of the Route 2020 metro line to Al-Maktoum International airport. There are long-term plans for further extensions.

    Other metro projects

    In October last year, MEED exclusively reported that the RTA had selected US-based engineering firm Aecom to provide consultancy services for the upcoming Dubai Metro Gold Line project, also known as Metro Line 4.

    The Gold Line will start at Al-Ghubaiba in Bur Dubai. It will run parallel to – and alleviate pressure on – the existing Red Line, before heading inland to Business Bay, Meydan, Global Village and residential developments in Dubailand.

    The other metro lines in the pipeline are the Purple Line and the Pink Line, both of which are in the early stages of development.

    Firms are also bidding to update the emirate’s rail masterplan. In October 2025, MEED reported that 10 firms had submitted offers to undertake the project.

    The rail masterplan study will update and modify the RTA’s rail network, which includes the Dubai Metro and Dubai Tram. These plans will support Dubai’s 2040 urban masterplan, which aims for all residents to be within a 30-minute metro or light-rail trip to their place of work. 

    The existing network includes the Red and Green lines of the Dubai Metro and the Dubai Tram, which connects Al-Sufouh and Dubai Marina to the metro network. The last rail project to start operations in Dubai was the Red Line extension that opened for Expo 2020.

    There are also existing and planned rail lines connecting Dubai to other emirates that are being developed and operated by Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Rail. These include passenger and freight services as well as a high-speed rail connection.

    In December 2024, the RTA awarded a AED20.5bn main contract for the Dubai Metro Blue Line project to a consortium of Turkish firms Limak Holding and Mapa Group and the Hong Kong office of China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation.

    The Blue Line consists of 14 stations, including three interchange stations at Al-Jaddaf, Al-Rashidiya and International City 1, as well as a station in Dubai Creek Harbour. By 2040, daily ridership on the Blue Line is projected to reach 320,000 passengers. It will be the first Dubai Metro line to cross Dubai Creek, doing so on a 1,300-metre viaduct.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/16233295/main.jpg
    Yasir Iqbal
  • Chevron to drill two gas wells in Egypt before 2027

    2 April 2026

    Chevron is planning to drill two new gas wells this year, one in the Narges field and another in the Western Mediterranean, according to Clay Neff, the president of exploration operations at the company.

    The well in the Western Mediterranean area is due to be drilled in partnership with the London-headquartered oil and gas company Shell.

    Egypt and the broader East Mediterranean region will be core pillars of Chevron’s investment roadmap over the coming years, Neff said.

    He also said that the investments in Egypt reflected the Eastern Mediterranean’s growing strategic importance within Chevron’s global portfolio

    According to Neff, Chevron is aiming to increase its operational production capacity in the region by as much as 50% over the next five years, something that is expected to strengthen cash generation and enhance profitability from its regional operations.

    Chevron’s presence in Egypt dates back nearly nine decades, beginning in 1937 with the distribution of petroleum products before expanding into exploration and production activities in recent years.

    The company currently produces more than 2 billion cubic feet of gas a day across the Eastern Mediterranean.

    Chevron is advancing broader expansion initiatives in the Eastern Mediterranean region that include modernising existing facilities and increasing production capacity, alongside ongoing engineering and design work on the Aphrodite gas field in Cyprus.

    A recently signed government agreement enables the construction of a subsea pipeline connecting Cyprus directly to Egypt.

    Neff said the company is targeting an early final investment decision on the project next year, expressing confidence that close cooperation between Cairo and Nicosia will support timely progress.

    He emphasised that meeting domestic and regional energy demand remains the company’s top priority before directing additional supplies toward export markets in Europe or elsewhere.

    Neff said that Egypt’s well-developed energy infrastructure, particularly its pipeline network and liquefaction plants, provided a strategic edge, adding that new discoveries and capacity expansions will gradually support higher export volumes while safeguarding local supply needs.

    The comments from Neff come shortly after it was announced that the UK oil and gas company BP was making progress with its campaign to drill five wells in Egypt’s portion of the Mediterranean.

    BP’s Fayoum 4 well is scheduled to start production in July, with an estimated output of around 100 million cubic feet of gas a day.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/16226687/main.jpg
    Wil Crisp