UK Corporates Leaving £1.12bn Unoptimised as Onboarding Delays Stifle Returns

UK corporates are sitting on an average of £1.12 billion in cash, yet structural inefficiencies in onboarding and account management are preventing treasury teams from capturing optimal returns. With 82% of finance leaders admitting to missing out on potential income, the friction in cash diversification has become a critical bottleneck for institutional liquidity management.

What was announced

MillTech’s inaugural 2026 UK Cash Management Report highlights a significant disconnect between the frequency of corporate cash reviews and the actual execution of yield-optimisation strategies. While the 125 senior finance decision-makers surveyed indicated that their firms formally review excess cash positions an average of 63 times per year—more than once a week—the vast majority remain dissatisfied with the results. Specifically, 82% of respondents believe they are missing out on potential income, and 78% are confident that better returns are achievable than those currently being realised.

The report identifies deep-seated operational barriers as the primary cause of this inertia. Onboarding a new cash management provider or money market fund takes an average of 3.2 months, a timeline driven by lengthy compliance and due diligence processes (cited by 46%) and complex legal documentation requirements (45%). These bottlenecks are so severe that 98% of corporates admit that onboarding complexity actively discourages them from adding new providers. Conversely, the same percentage (98%) stated they would be likely to increase their number of cash investment partners if the onboarding process were streamlined.

Key obstacles cited by treasury teams include the difficulty of opening accounts for money market funds (38%), a general lack of visibility across various accounts (35%), and a shortage of internal resources or time (33%) to manage these transitions effectively. The data suggests that even as cash holdings grow—with nearly a quarter of firms holding more than £1 billion—the infrastructure to manage that liquidity has not kept pace.

"Where cash sits has never been more pertinent. Inflation, interest rates and geopolitical disruption have pushed questions around the returns cash generates and how quickly it can be moved higher up the CFO agenda. With corporates holding significant sums, optimising excess cash has become an essential part of protecting value and improving financial performance."

Neil Gallacher, Co-Head of Cash Management Solutions at MillTech.

The companies involved

MillTech operates as a specialist provider of advanced foreign exchange (FX) and cash management solutions, positioning itself as a technology-driven alternative to traditional banking relationships for corporate and institutional clients. The firm focuses on addressing the transparency and execution gaps that often plague treasury departments when managing multi-currency balances and excess liquidity. By providing tools that centralise visibility and streamline the movement of funds, the company competes in a market where legacy manual processes still dominate much of the back-office workflow.

In the broader fintech ecosystem, MillTech’s role has evolved to bridge the gap between complex institutional requirements and the need for agile financial operations. The firm’s emphasis on reducing onboarding friction and improving account visibility targets the specific pain points identified in its latest research, particularly for firms holding the significant cash reserves typical of large-scale UK corporates. As treasury teams face increasing pressure to justify their cash-holding strategies in a volatile interest rate environment, providers in this space are increasingly positioned as essential infrastructure for modern financial management, moving beyond simple transaction execution to provide comprehensive liquidity oversight.

What FF News has reported before

FF News has extensively tracked the challenges facing corporate treasurers and fund managers in an era of heightened market volatility. We previously covered how New Research: Strong Pound Affects 83% of UK Corporates’ Finances, illustrating the external pressures that necessitate active cash management. Our reporting has also focused on the institutional side of the market, noting that Dollar Turbulence Drives FX Hedging Boom Among North American Fund Managers and how US Policy Uncertainty Stalls Investment for 90% of North American Firms as FX Risk Hits the Boardroom. More recently, we highlighted the financial impact of these trends in North American Fund Managers Hit Record FX Hedging Levels Amid $731,000 Average Losses, underscoring the high stakes involved when firms fail to optimise their currency and cash positions effectively.

What this means

This report highlights a systemic failure in the "last mile" of corporate treasury: the transition from oversight to action. While the fintech sector has solved many problems related to payment speed and FX transparency, the institutional onboarding process remains a relic of the manual era. This creates a massive opportunity cost for the UK’s largest firms. The fact that 98% of corporates are deterred by onboarding complexity suggests that traditional banks are under immense pressure to digitise their compliance stacks or risk losing significant deposits to more agile money market fund providers. The industry must now address whether "KYC as a service" or universal digital identities can finally break this three-month bottleneck.