In our latest conversation, we spoke with Dory Malouf, Global Value Practice Lead at Kyriba, to discuss how regulation, technology, and innovation are shaping the future of treasury and payments. With over a decade of experience helping organizations enhance liquidity visibility and risk management, Dory shares his insights on the trends defining 2026, from AI adoption and real-time payments to regulatory agility and cross-border efficiency.
He also explores how treasury teams can balance automation and human oversight to strengthen trust, compliance, and fraud prevention. Read on for expert insights, real-world examples, and practical guidance to help your organization stay ahead in the evolving world of payments. For more insights, download the full Kyriba & Trustpair payment report!
Payment trends key takeaways:
- Regulation, AI, and real-time payments are reshaping treasury, making agility, compliance, and data integrity essential.
- AI strengthens fraud prevention by detecting anomalies early, critical as fraudsters use deepfakes and social engineering.
- Real-time payments raise both speed and risk, requiring stronger validation, monitoring, and modern payment infrastructure.
- Treasury leaders must stay proactive, adopting technologies and tools that support global compliance, visibility, and secure payment operations.
1. Please introduce yourself and explain how your role aligns with treasury?
I’m Dory Malouf, and I run the Global Value Practice here at Kyriba. I’ve been at Kyriba for about eight years. My organization works alongside prospective as well as established customers to document the challenges they face today, the outcomes they can expect, and how we can help mitigate those challenges. We focus on business impact, ROI, and productivity, tangible bottom-line results but also on qualitative factors such as reputational or financial risks tied to current practices and how Kyriba can help reduce them. As for my background, I come from treasury. My entire career has been in treasury, from my internship days all the way to what I’m doing today.
2. The payment landscape is changing fast. What major trends are you seeing that will shape treasury operations in 2026?
There are many factors driving this transformation, especially economic and geopolitical volatility. That volatility has increased the need for CFOs, boards, and CEOs to gain real-time insights into liquidity, whether that means full working capital visibility or enhanced risk and cash flow management.
They want to be able to model multiple scenarios and instantly see their impact on the organization’s liquidity profile. Having a tech stack that supports this level of analysis is now absolutely critical.
Another trend is the growing role of AI in treasury. Treasury functions tend to be conservative when it comes to adopting new technology, they like to fully understand it before diving in. But now, that understanding and curiosity about AI are accelerating. I expect we’ll see much more adoption next year, driven by the demand from executives for timely, reliable, and high-integrity data. There’s no better way to achieve that than with AI.
3. How do you think artificial intelligence and automation will reshape payment processes in the next two years?
It’s all about the trust gap. Trust has to be earned, you earn it by demonstrating that data is protected and reliable. Customers need proof that their data is secure, encrypted, and stored in an environment specific to them.
They also need to trust that the data generated by AI is accurate. Otherwise, it’s “garbage in, garbage out.” When you demonstrate those proof points, that’s when trust is built and adoption can really take hold.
In the payments world, one major use case is the ability to detect anomalies in payment workflows. AI and machine learning can identify banking detail changes, policy non-adherence, or even when a file is transmitted in an unusual way. These alerts strengthen the four-eye principle. You’ll never fully remove human checkpoints, they’re too important but AI acts as an additional layer of control, flagging transactions that deserve a second look before money leaves the organization.
That’s crucial in a world where AI isn’t only used to prevent fraud, it’s also being used by fraudsters. We’re seeing AI deepfake videos and voice impersonations that are hard to catch manually. That’s why you need technology sophisticated enough to identify and stop these new types of threats.
4. Are there any use cases or are there any examples that you have recently come across or noticed that the companies have faced because of AI?
Yes, one example involved a customer whose fraudster had sifted through LinkedIn profiles to map out the organization and identify who handled vendor banking changes. By analyzing titles and connections, they figured out who to contact and who had final approval authority.
They even created a fake email chain between supposed company representatives to make the request look legitimate. The fraudster sent the fabricated thread to the real employee, who then sent them the official documentation to complete the banking change.
The fraud was detected through our platform, which flagged an anomaly: it was the first time a payment was being sent to this vendor under those banking instructions. When reviewing the documentation, the approver noticed that the supposed company email address contained an “I” instead of an “L” – a subtle difference that exposed the fraud.
They called the vendor to confirm, and the vendor denied requesting any banking changes. The fraud was stopped before the payment went out. It was about $32,000 – not a massive amount, but it could have escalated since this vendor received millions monthly.
This case showed how AI can detect anomalies early, while the human four-eye control provides the final safeguard. Technology and human judgment together make a strong defense.
5. Real-time payments are becoming the norm worldwide. How are companies adapting to this, and what challenges does it create behind the scenes?
The adoption of real-time payments has been sporadic across industries. Not every organization or industry profile requires them. Where we’ve seen the strongest adoption so far is in the real estate and financial services sectors. But if you look at manufacturing, consumer services, or retail, it hasn’t really taken off yet. That doesn’t mean there isn’t potential or a use case there, it just hasn’t reached the same level of adoption as those other industries.
The main challenge, once you start implementing real-time payments, is that the money moves incredibly fast. If you don’t have the right technology stack in place to monitor payments, it becomes very difficult to catch problems in time. A payment can reach the receiving account with full reference information almost instantly, which means the ability to recall or stop it has to be just as quick, especially if a fraudulent transaction is identified.
That’s the key issue: protecting your organization while meeting customer expectations. Real-time payments are something customers increasingly demand, so companies don’t really have a choice and if you don’t provide that capability, they’ll find someone who does. But at the same time, you need a tech stack that safeguards every transaction through validations such as bank and account checks before execution.
The callback process, when something does go wrong, can take time, sometimes up to 30 days before the money is returned. In some cases it’s two weeks, in others ten days, but it can easily stretch to a month. During that time, you could have anything from $5,000 to $1 million tied up while the bank investigates and processes the recall. That’s why it’s so important, if you adopt real-time payments (and you should, because your customers expect it), to have strong validation and monitoring in place before any payment is sent.
6. How do you think the organization should rethink their tools and operating models for the same and kind of to stay ahead as well?
The adoption of real-time payments has been sporadic across industries. Not every organization or industry profile requires real-time payments. Where adoption has been strong is in sectors like real estate and financial services. In areas such as manufacturing, consumer services, and retail, it hasn’t really taken off yet, though there’s certainly potential for that to change.
The challenge, as we discussed earlier, is that payments now move extremely fast. Once a transaction is executed, it reaches the receiving account almost instantly, which means that if something goes wrong, the ability to recall or stop it has to be just as quick. If you identify a fraudulent transaction, the callback process can take anywhere from 10 to 30 days — that’s a long time for money to be tied up.
That’s why it’s critical for organizations to have the right tech stack in place, one that performs validations such as bank and account checks before execution. Companies that want to stay ahead need to rethink their operating models to make sure their infrastructure can support real-time payments securely and efficiently.
7. Cross-border transactions are still complex. Do you see progress toward smoother, more connected systems by 2026, and what could that mean for treasury teams?
Cross-border payments can be what I call “nuisance payments.” These are transactions in currencies that a company doesn’t typically deal with or only uses occasionally. They tend to be expensive, banks charge higher fees, the receiving countries apply their own costs, and the spread on the transaction is often wider than on regular payments.
The question now is what the future holds, especially as we start hearing more about stablecoins and digital assets. Could these innovations help reduce the cost and friction of cross-border payments? I believe that’s where the next wave of discussion will focus.
We’re beginning to explore how digital assets could enable smoother, more efficient transactions that satisfy both payer and receiver. I don’t doubt that it will work eventually, the potential is there but adoption will take time. Treasury teams tend to be conservative, so they’ll need proof points and a clear level of trust before these solutions reach mainstream adoption.
8. Regulations are evolving quickly, with new frameworks like VOP, NACA, and ECCTA reshaping the landscape. How can companies prepare?
The responsibility ultimately lies with the company because change is happening fast, not only from payment regulatory agencies but also from governments. This is a very timely topic. Just recently, for example, the U.S. government imposed sanctions on Russian oil. That kind of action directly impacts payment channels, so your technology needs to be agile enough to adapt immediately. Otherwise, organizations risk penalties, lawsuits, or even being unable to transact.
You can’t simply rely on the bank to protect you and block transactions. Ultimately, the payment goes through the bank, and they’ll protect themselves first, as they could face penalties for processing restricted payments. Many companies assume that if a payment is sanctioned or blocked, the bank will handle it, alert them, and return the funds but that’s not always the case. Banks aren’t responsible for ensuring your compliance; they’re responsible for their own. Companies need to maintain and enforce their own compliance policies rather than shifting that responsibility to their banking partners.
When evaluating your payment infrastructure, it’s crucial to consider whether your provider offers tools for maintaining, monitoring, and adopting regulatory changes directly within their platform. That way, you don’t need to manually stay on top of every regulatory update. This capability is often included in the provider’s service-level agreements, so make sure to ask specific questions during evaluation:
- What type of regulatory monitoring does your platform provide?
- How are regulatory changes implemented within my payment infrastructure?
- How will I be notified about countries, transactions, or entities that have been sanctioned and are no longer eligible for payment execution?
Understanding how your provider supports compliance will help you stay ahead of these rapidly evolving requirements.
9. Finally, what advice would you give to leaders preparing for the future of payments?
Stay aware and open to the changes happening across the payment landscape. Ask questions, vet your providers carefully, and understand their innovation strategies.
Technologies like stablecoins, crypto, and real-time payments require forward thinking and preparation. Treasury leaders should assess how these innovations fit their organization’s needs and build a solid case for modernization. The world of payments is evolving quickly and being proactive today will determine who leads tomorrow.