- Precise management of electronic payments can improve the cash cycle through scheduled payments and invoicing. Businesses cite speed as the top reason they want more payments to flow electronically2. Best practice captures 90% of early payment discounts3.
- Accurate visibility into payment and collections movements can improve decision-making with better information, sometimes even reducing working capital needs or freeing cash to be deployed more productively. Sixty-two percent of companies cite accessibility via online reporting as extremely important to them2.
- Simplified payment-related processes reduce fraud risk and prevent compliance issues. Costs for financial staff and processing from invoice generation and disbursement through payment reconciliation and balancing can be slashed by up to 60 percent4.
- Employee spending can be more easily controlled through electronic purchasing or payment cards that can provide accurate individual and spend category controls.
- Payroll with direct deposit or payroll cards offers one of the fastest ways to reduce business checks while getting funds directly into employees' bank accounts, a key step in helping them establish personal financial discipline and control.
- Fraud risk can be greatly reduced. Fraud attempts strike 73% of businesses and in 28% of cases causes financial loss, typically $25,000 or less in damage. Checks remain the most-often targeted payment method5. Most businesses can’t afford the distraction, costs or reputation risk that fraud can bring.
Moving past paper
Payments strategy sits at the core of your financial operation and your cash cycle. Whether you are squeezing your balance sheet to drive growth, controlling financial and administrative costs or doing all you can to protect your business from fraud, making the move to more electronic payments is a great place to start. That financial and capital efficiency along with improved cash management through electronic payments functionality may even help to drive up the value of your business as well.
Make the move to lower cost electronic payments. Talk to your Treasury Sales Officer or Relationship Manager about setting up a payments review for your business.