Global businesses are facing a growing “volatility gap” as cross-border payment technology becomes faster and more efficient while companies continue to struggle to manage currency risk.
A new report from Convera highlights a widening disconnect between the speed at which money moves internationally and the ability of businesses to protect margins, forecasts and cash flows from foreign-exchange volatility.
The scale of the challenge is significant. Global foreign-exchange turnover reached $9.5 trillion a day in April 2025, up 27% from 2022, according to the Bank for International Settlements. At the same time, 44% of importers and exporters reported that currency movements had eroded their profit margins, according to the 2026 International Trade Report from Bibby Financial Services.
Payment infrastructure has improved considerably. Up to 75% of payments on the Swift network now reach the beneficiary’s bank within 10 minutes. However, faster settlement does not remove currency exposure because the exchange rate applied to a transaction can still change between payment cycles.
The growth of stablecoins presents a similar issue. Their market capitalisation exceeded $300 billion in 2026, but faster settlement does not eliminate the underlying relationship between different currencies or the risks created by exchange-rate movements.
The report argues that businesses need to treat payments, foreign exchange and risk management as an integrated discipline rather than managing currency exposure separately from everyday payment activity.
This can involve aligning hedging strategies with actual payment dates, establishing currency-risk frameworks based on individual exposures and incorporating foreign-exchange decisions directly into payment workflows.
The issue is particularly relevant to companies expanding into international markets. More overseas suppliers, customers and operating locations create additional currency corridors and increase the complexity of managing foreign-exchange exposure.
The B2B cross-border payments market is projected to reach $51.2 trillion by 2033, according to FXC Intelligence. Continued growth at this scale could significantly increase the number and complexity of currency exposures businesses need to manage.
For CFOs and treasury teams, the development highlights an important distinction: payment efficiency and financial risk management are not the same thing. A transaction can be completed within seconds while the underlying currency exposure may have remained unmanaged for weeks or months.
Effective foreign-exchange risk management therefore requires greater integration between treasury, finance and payment operations.
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