In today's cross-border expansion race, finance teams sprint to keep up, but their feet are often tied. As companies scale into new markets, fragmented banking relationships emerge not as a side effect, but as a systemic threat. What begins as prudent diversification (opening accounts in local jurisdictions to facilitate payments) evolves into an unmanageable web of connections that erodes visibility, slows decision-making, and shackles working capital.  

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This isn't just an operational glitch for investors: it's a growing structural liability. When treasury lacks a clear view of global cash, it's not just a CFO problem; it's a risk to enterprise value. 

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According to PwC's 2025 Global Treasury Survey, more than half of mid-cap companies with annual revenues between USD 1 billion and USD 10 billion still rely on spreadsheet-based cash forecasting, and only 35% feel confident in the accuracy of their forecasts. Among the top three reasons cited for this weak confidence are poor data quality (76%), ineffective tools (53%), and lack of engagement from subsidiaries (46%), each a symptom of disjointed banking architectures that make holistic visibility nearly impossible. 

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Deloitte's 2024 Global Corporate Treasury Survey reinforces this fragility, with 64% of corporate treasurers reporting that limited visibility into global cash positions is their biggest operational challenge. Even more striking, 83% of respondents say they cannot reliably forecast FX exposures, putting at risk not only hedging effectiveness but broader capital allocation decisions. In fragmented treasury environments, cash becomes marooned across dozens or hundreds of siloed bank accounts, each requiring reconciliation, which contributes to lag, and none delivers actual real-time oversight. 

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The implication for investors is profound. A company may report strong topline growth and headline profitability yet remain operationally constrained if its working capital is spread across disconnected banking silos. Forecasts become less trustworthy, liquidity buffers harder to monitor, and compliance risks multiply. In volatile market environments, where FX rates shift rapidly, supply chains contract overnight, and rates spike, fragmented treasury infrastructure slows responsiveness precisely when it matters most. 

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Fragmentation also limits scalability. As companies expand into new markets or product lines, their ability to centralize treasury or even track where cash is located becomes a gating factor. Investors should scrutinize not just balance sheet strength but also treasury architecture. Does the company operate from a single pane of glass or from a patchwork of PDFs, CSVs, and emailed balance statements? 

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The most progressive firms are moving decisively toward centralization. Some adopt virtual account structures, allowing for jurisdictional flexibility without requiring additional physical accounts. Others consolidate core banking relationships with a handful of strategic providers, layered with middleware APIs that unify data access. These are not technical upgrades: they are governance investments that enable better capital deployment and stronger investor communication. 

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In sum, fragmented banking relationships are a silent threat. They may not appear on the P&L, but they echo through every layer of the organization, from strained forecasting models to cash that can't be mobilized when needed. For growth-stage companies, especially those crossing into multi-market scale, banking infrastructure should be viewed with the same seriousness as cybersecurity or ERP integrity. For investors, questions about banking concentration, cash visibility, and forecasting governance should be routine parts of due diligence. In a world where liquidity agility is a strategic advantage, fragmentation is not just friction: it's risk. 

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At COMO, we operate to solve this very problem. Our treasury infrastructure platform is built for companies scaling across borders, consolidating fragmented banking relationships into a unified control layer. Through a single API and dashboard, COMO gives finance teams real-time cash visibility, automated reconciliation, and intelligent liquidity routing across global accounts. Whether you're managing 15 or 500 banking relationships, COMO turns complexity into clarity, empowering CFOs and investors alike with the transparency and agility needed for strategic execution.