Mastercard: The ePayables Opportunity

In the quest to streamline B2B processes, and to move beyond the way things have always been done – especially when it comes to managing payments and cash flow – ePayables are gaining traction with financial professionals.

As noted in a recent Optimization and ePayables Playbook, more than one-third of businesses are “enthusiastic” about adopting that innovation, with an eye on improving day-to-day operations.

In a PYMNTS video interview with Karen Webster, Andrea Gilman, senior vice president of product management, new payments at Mastercard, said that headline number shows increasing awareness on the part of organizations large and small of ePayables as a viable option as they seek to cut their reliance on cutting checks. Among the data points uncovered in the study, which queried 400 financial decision-makers across 12 different industries, 35 percent of firms said they intend to reduce their reliance on paper checks through the next few years.

Gilman remarked that “ePayables are making companies much more efficient by helping them get rid of paper and manual processes. Among those processes: trying to reconcile and match invoices with payments.”

Time seems to be on respondents’ minds, as in the Playbook, many of those executives surveyed – 59 percent of them – cited accelerated speed as a benefit of ePayables. And 70 percent noted that such offerings offer better optimization in the drive to eliminate paper.

Among the most important benefits for firms that adopt ePayables, said Gilman, are increased safety and security. That sentiment is borne from the fact that a significant number, 43 percent, said ePayables improve data security.

Drilling down a bit, in reference to security features, Gilman noted that ePayables allow for organizations to put controls on payments, customize the merchant segments where ePayables can be used and even set transaction and date limits. She also said that a key feature – the fact that account numbers can be used only one time – limits the impact of any compromises, should they occur, because they can be swiftly discarded.

Gilman also noted that as ePayables take root – indeed, the adoption rate is slated to grow by as much as 37 percent over the next three years – companies are apt to start examining other avenues of innovation.