Finance leaders must embrace intelligent automation now to optimize emerging payment methods, tackle legacy integration challenges, and establish future-proof foundations for long-term efficiency gains.
The pace of digital transformation in finance departments continues to accelerate. From surging data volumes to increasing regulatory pressures, finance teams today face greater complexity than ever before.
Yet recruitment challenges and manual, error-prone processes hamper efforts to harness data insights and drive strategic decisions.
The solution lies in the automation and digitization of payment processes. This promises improved accuracy, faster processing, enhanced compliance monitoring, and more integrated analytics for finance leaders to modernize their business.
2024 brings an equally pivotal revolution in the payments landscape.
As emerging technologies reshape B2B transactions, automation will be key to optimizing new payment methods tailored to modern finance’s needs. What payment innovations lie ahead, and how can pairing them with intelligent automation set finance teams up for success?
“Our research[1] found that seven in 10 (69%) UK businesses say they are either considering or already using automated payments to drive efficiency, reduce administration, and give finance teams the time to be more strategic,” says Stacey Sterbenz, general manager, UK Commercial at American Express.
“[Business] customers are also on board with this trend, too – 40% of UK finance leaders said their customers found digital and automated payment methods to be the most valuable compared to other options, such as bank transfers or cheques.”
Real-time payment networks are bringing visibility, speed, and rich transaction data. When integrated with automated reconciliation and cash flow forecasting tools, real-time rail transforms visibility into predictive insights and superior working capital management.
Embracing these new payment methods brings several advantages, including simplified reconciliation processes, better visibility over cash flow, and a significant reduction in fraud risks.
Virtual payment cards centralized in digital wallets simplify tracking, control, and reconciliation of ad-hoc business expenses. Using virtual cards and automating their management stops unauthorised expense claims, while also helping businesses to centralise the benefits of a card programme, allowing them to earn more rebates and cashback.
These technologies exemplify the innovations emerging in 2024 that automation can help optimize. But how exactly does automation complement and enhance their potential?
The synergy between automation and new payment methods is undeniable. Automation not only supports but amplifies the efficacy of these novel payment mechanisms. It plays a crucial role in optimizing cash management, curtailing manual errors, and enhancing the quality of financial decision-making.
“Of the UK businesses that have already adopted or plan on adopting automated payments, one-third (32%) reported lower operating costs – suggesting that automation leads to a positive return on investment in the long term,” says Sterbenz.
“A quarter (26%) also report it resulting in better customer and supplier relationships – which has a powerful impact on a businesses’ resilience and ability to grow.”
Interestingly, Sterbenz noted that larger companies are leading the charge as early adopters of end-to-end automated payments – 40% of finance leaders at large UK businesses said they had adopted them in the last 24 months, compared to one-fifth (21%) of SME finance leaders.
Realizing the full benefits requires a comprehensive approach that tackles obstacles and lays strong foundations. What specific challenges should finance leaders prepare for?
To extract full value from emerging payments, finance teams should aim to automate intelligently and scalably. This weaves innovation into existing technology stacks and analytics.
With many still relying on legacy ERP systems, bridging modern payments with entrenched platforms remains challenging but necessary. Data security and access protocols must also be enhanced.
Finance leaders must equally emphasize regulatory compliance, while balancing user experience. Evaluating vendor partnerships on integration capabilities and cloud scalability is advised over narrow payments-only tools.
To overcome these obstacles, finance teams must employ strategic planning. As advanced payments scale, so must associated automation, compliance, security and analytics capabilities.
Too narrow of a payments solution risks limiting long-term agility, insights potential, and platform interoperability. “For business leaders who are unsure about investing in payments automation, it’s important to consider the bigger picture,” says Sterbenz.
“In addition to the more obvious day-to-day positive impact on team time, there are other, less outwardly visible benefits, such as lower operating costs and better relationships with customers and suppliers, that can boost the bottom line in the long term which should be factored into that initial investment cost.”
The imperative for finance teams to adopt automation and explore new payment methods has never been more pressing.
By taking an enterprise automation approach, finance teams can establish adaptable foundations for optimized payments integration both now and in the future. The turn of 2024 brings immense payments potential.
Intelligent automation promises smooth, secure, and scalable adoption to set finance departments up for success.
From secure and efficient virtual payments to simple reconciliation processes and much more, American Express® Corporate Solutions keep your business moving. Find out more about how our payment solutions can help.
[1] American Express and Opinium surveyed 750 respondents from UK small, medium, and large companies, split across senior decision makers, senior finance professionals and finance team members who are responsible for payments. Fieldwork was undertaken between 15-23 May 2023.
