EML Payments is integrating its virtual payment capabilities into the accounts payable solutions offered by Mize Houser as the two look to help companies replace paper checks in B2B payments with virtual or ACH.
Mize Houser provides accounting and AP solutions to franchisee owners; according to an announcement Tuesday (July 25), the company will begin offering those clients virtual payment capabilities to pay suppliers using EML Payments technology.
“Mize Houser will realize greater operational efficiency and lower printing and labor costs,” said EML CEO Eric Mettemeyer in a statement. “Plus, Mize Houser’s clients will benefit from the cost savings generated from the program.
“Costly, time-consuming and fraud-prone paper checks are still a common payment method in the North American accounts payable industry,” the executive continued. “EML is focusing on establishing more accounts payable outsourcing partnerships that help organizations like Mize Houser switch from paper checks to virtual payments.”
According to Mize Houser, it counts more than 250 franchisee owners as existing customers, which themselves operate 1,600 restaurants across the U.S. The company also provides AP management and CPA services to those clients.
Checks remain the most popular way companies pay their suppliers in the U.S., according to the latest data from NACHA. But NACHA’s report also found that in only a few years AR professionals expect ACH payments to overtake paper checks when they receive payments from their business customers.
Virtual payments, on the other hand, remain elusive in the B2B payments world. While the corporate travel industry has promoted the use of virtual payments for business travel booking, they otherwise remain just a small fraction of B2B payments volume today.