Taiwan-based firms are increasingly making financial transactions through offshore Chinese Renminbi accounts, in a further sign that China's currency is becoming more prominent globally, according to the latest Bank of America Merrill Lynch - SunGard Asia-Pacific Treasury Management Barometer survey.

The survey comes at a time when the status of the renminbi as a global currency with a potential to rival, or at least compete, with the dollar and euro remains a talking point in the financial industry. Wealth managers, among others, have noted increasing use of RMB-linked products and investments. 

The poll shows that the percentage of Taiwan companies making payments and collecting receipts through an RMB account is ahead of Asia-Pacific's other offshore RMB hubs, Hong Kong (23 per cent) and Singapore (18 per cent). The 24 per cent of Taiwan companies utilising RMB is also higher than the regional average of 16 per cent and ahead of other peers in both China (20 per cent) and Japan (17 per cent).

Similarly, 29 per cent of Taiwan-based treasurers said they are interested in and exploring opening an RMB account for both payments and receivables purposes. Local treasurers point to cash visibility as a primary focus in the next 12 to 24 months, with 72 per cent saying this trend is priority compared to 60 per cent in Asia-Pacific.

In terms of technology adoption, Taiwan treasurers are also ahead of their Asia-Pac peers, with 11 per cent of respondents using hosted or cloud-based solutions for treasury management, compared to the 10 per cent regional average.

"As treasury practices continue to evolve and business connections with Mainland China further solidify, Taiwan treasurers will increasingly embrace CNY as a strategic currency," said Kitty Yen, head of treasury sales for Taiwan, in a statement. 

The results were based on the responses of over 900 treasurers and treasury professionals through a study conducted in the first quarter of 2013. Around 60 per cent were mid-market firms with less than $1 billion in annual sales. Twenty-five per cent of the respondents' companies post revenues in the $1-$10 billion category, while 15 per cent had annual sales above $10 billion.