Bottomline survey: fintech gaining favor
A survey conducted for business payment automation provider Bottomline Technologies of Portsmouth, has found that a majority of bank and a growing number of other businesses will be partnering with financial technology firms when it comes to business-to-business payments processing.
According to the 2019 B2B Payments and Working Capital Management Strategies Survey, 76% of banks are either looking to leverage fintech solutions as much as possible for payment-related services and solutions, or are doing so to deliver select niche capabilities to specific customer segments. In addition, 28% of corporations surveyed indicate that they use a non-bank provider for payments, and 32% say they plan to expand their use of fintech payment solutions within the next three years.
Additional findings from the survey:
• Nearly half of corporates are using
or interested in using new payment
services with the top focus being real-time payments (55%), followed by
same-day automated clearing house (44%) and blockchain-based networks (35%).
According to the survey, there is variation in which aspect of B2B payments businesses focus on depending on their size. Small companies are twice as likely to focus on accounts receivable initiatives compared to their larger peers, which are more likely to focus on payables. For organizations of all sizes, top areas of remaining inefficiency across treasury,
accounts payable and accounts receivable include cash forecasting, invoice processing, and payment receipt and reconciliation.
The survey also found that faster and emerging payments are gaining traction, as nearly half of corporates are using or interested in using new payment services. Among these new payment services, the top focus is real-time payments (55%), followed by same-day automated clearing house (44%) and block chain based networks (35%).
The survey, the third annual report from Bottomline, polled more than 300 financial professionals from companies of all sizes and industries in North America and Europe.
