APAC Treasury Head drives treasury innovation at Flex
Published: Feb 2026
Best in Class Treasury Solution in China
Highly Commended Winner
Flex
Photo of Yvonne Zhou and Flora Zhang, Flex and Stephen Lin, J.P. Morgan.
Vivian Peng, Flora Zhang, Yvione Zhou, Candy Deng, Shirley Lou and Katherine Liu
APAC Treasury Head and the Asia Treasury Team
Headquartered in Austin, Texas, Flex (formerly Flextronics International Ltd.) is a Singaporean American multinational manufacturing services company that provides end-to-end product lifecycle solutions, including design, engineering, manufacturing, supply chain management and post-production services for brands in the automotive, consumer electronics, healthcare and industrial markets.
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The challenge
With hundreds of millions of USD in operating cash spread across over 20 legal entities and multiple banking relationships, Flex supports net sales of US$4.3bn in China, contributing 17% of Flex group’s total net sales of US$25.8bn. By FY25, Flex strived to develop a comprehensive cash and liquidity management system to achieve 24/7 real-time cash centralisation and visibility and facilitate high-efficiency payment processing.
Despite having functional cash pooling, bank accounts are managed traditionally, such as physical account, manual documents signing, cross-border payments processed through paper documents. To enhance operational efficiency, Flex’s legal entities across Chinese cities required an enhanced treasury infrastructure with comprehensive integration and automation capabilities to support Flex’s position as a leading technology manufacturer.
Existing banking relationships across multiple providers created operational complexity, requiring manual reconciliation and monitoring across different systems. Treasury professionals dedicated significant time to account management and transaction processing. Finding solutions to solve these operational complexities will further enable the Flex Asia treasury team to strategically focus on advanced financial planning and business optimisation initiatives. The multi-banking provider approach created opportunities for cost optimisation through highly efficient cash centralisation, reduced idle cash, enhanced deposit rates, streamlined transaction processing through e-channels, improved working capital deployment and efficient account management.
Flex required enhanced capabilities in two key areas: virtual account management (VAM) solutions to reduce physical accounts, maintaining operational flexibility and optimised cross-border payment compliance processes, particularly leveraging new regulatory frameworks to streamline documentation requirements and processing efficiency.
The solution
In November 2024, Flex launched a comprehensive request for proposal (RFP) process. Over three months, the company evaluated banking partners, focusing on innovation capability, China market commitment and the ability to provide customised solutions for Flex’s multi-entity requirements.
J.P. Morgan distinguished itself by demonstrating innovation capability and willingness to develop tailored solutions. The competitive evaluation showed significant differences in systematic automation and comprehensive platform integration through key differentiators:
E-sign capabilities improving document processing efficiency across treasury operations.
E-banking through multi-banking solution (MBS) to provide comprehensive visibility of accounts maintained with other banks.
Advanced RMB liquidity solutions featuring multi-layer cash pooling architecture combining tax-efficient structures with negative position consolidation for optimal overdraft management.
Integrated USD in-house banking incorporating VAM capabilities with X-PAY cross-border payment optimisation for enhanced compliance efficiency in restricted country transactions.
Led by APAC Treasury Head Vivian Peng, who has consistently driven treasury innovation at Flex, the company wanted a holistic transformation of its cash management in China. The solution design centres on integrated cash management through a unified platform, VAM replacing physical account structures and automated cross-border payment processing. The solution addresses operational complexity while positioning Flex’s treasury to provide enhanced strategic support for business growth and innovation capabilities.
Best practice and innovation
The implementation demonstrates unique systematic automation capabilities through real-time payer visibility customisation and multi-tier domestic pooling architecture, representing enhanced functionality compared to standard single-tier market offerings. The platform’s API connectivity enables direct integration with an in-house built database, eliminating manual intervention requirements. VAM combined with an on-behalf-of (OBO) structure enables automated debtor disclosure functionality, addressing Flex’s vendor screening compliance requirements while maintaining operational efficiency through technology integration.
As an early adopter of the J.P. Morgan X-PAY solution following the State Administration of Foreign Exchange’s December 2024 deregulation, Flex leverages cross-border digital payments without supporting document checks, achieving processing time reductions of up to 75% while maintaining regulatory compliance through AI‑powered monitoring.
The comprehensive MBS implementation provides real-time visibility across accounts maintained with multiple banking partners, enabling centralised oversight while maintaining operational flexibility. The solution features customised multi-tier domestic cash pooling combing tax-efficient structures with negative position consolidation, demonstrating advanced solution adaptation to company-specific requirements while optimising efficiency and cost management.
Key benefits
Cost savings.
Process efficiencies.
Increased automation.
Improved visibility.
Increased system connectivity.
Future-proof solution.
Exceptional implementation (budget/time).
Stephen Lin
Head of Subsidiary Payments Sales, China, J.P. Morgan Payments
Flex’s treasury transformation in China redefines operational excellence and innovation. By leveraging advanced solutions from J.P. Morgan Payments, Flex now benefits from automated cash management, virtual accounts, multi-bank integration and seamless cross-border payments. This award highlights Flex’s dedication to efficiency and strategic agility. We are proud to support Flex in building a future-ready treasury platform that drives growth, innovation and global leadership.
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The Adam Smith Awards Asia are the industry benchmark for best practice and innovation in corporate treasury. To find out more please visit treasurytoday.com/adam-smith-awards-asia
