Purchasing cards are prevalent in the B2B payment world because they are convenient and they offer cash-back rebates.  They are used by many companies despite there being another, better and more secure option. Because purchasing cards have become somewhat the standard for credit payments, the risks and adverse affects of have been disregarded.

But they shouldn't be.

Virtual cards have been available for use for some time, and the security and rebates they offer far outweigh the perks of using a purchasing card for issuing Accounts Payable payments. 

According to the NAPCP, here is the positive aspect of using a purchasing card for PAYERS: 

• Handling and mailing cost reduction. 

But, MOST of the PROS for P-Cards are on the PAYEE side of the transaction:

• Electronically deposited funds.
• Faster receipt of payments and improved cash flow.
• Increased sales, as many organizations solicit only suppliers that accept P-Cards as payment. 

As you can see, most of these positives, are for the PAYEE and not the PAYER.  In addition, there is the impression that using a purchasing card is as SAFE for PAYERS as the alternative, virtual cards.

Financial technology, or FinTech, has been opening new avenues for electronic payments in business-to-business companies for years. Many companies have moved away from financially (and environmentally) costly paper checks to inexpensive and time-efficient payment automation, saving money in the process. Heavily depended on by investors, consultants, multinationals, startups, and entrepreneurs, FinTech exists to help solve these problems.

The technological revolution, dubbed The Fourth Industrial Revolution, has gained traffic in the corporate world by fundamentally changing the way many businesses interact with consumers. With the rise of digital currency and a surplus of investment options in payment automation technology, is the next Industrial Revolution really upon us?

Original published on May 26th, 2015. Updated on October 3rd, 2019. 

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The world has changed a lot over the last 20 years. In 1998 cellphones were the size of bricks and analysts were making (considered at the time to be crazy) predictions that the internet would one day be accessible from a mobile device. Fast forward to the year 2019 and not only is the internet accessible from a mobile device, nowadays we spend our lives constantly connected to the internet and to each other. We go to sleep scrolling through news feeds and checking email, only to wake up and start the cycle over again. Easy access to the information combined with the speed of communication and data transfer have made the internet an integral part of our personal and professional lives. One of the fastest growing arenas of this new era is Finance. Technological advancements and new software solutions have vastly improved the efficiency of any Accounts Payable department.

According to a recent study only 42% of organizations are using paper checks for payments. That's down by almost 50% from 2004. With the incredible accounts payable software solutions available today and the positive impact these solutions can have on any ap department, experts predict that the number of companies migrating away from paper checks will increase exponentially over the next few years. 

Payments and the way they are made have always had a big impact on the business environment. Starting with a reduction in the labor hours it takes to issue payments, to the amount saved on supplies and materials, to an increased certainty of cash flow; payments processed electronically offer a substantial impact to your bottom line. Eliminating the manual nature of outdated payment processing methods, which put a strain on the efficiency of an organization, creates a significant improvement to the bottom line.

By moving your business away from paper check printing to electronic payments, you will experience many benefits including: freed employee time and much lower costs per transaction. There's even an opportunity for monthly cash rebates through Virtual Cards — creating a new revenue stream for your company. 

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In today's digital world, no one really uses checks regularly for their personal transactions.  Ask anyone outside of the finance industry the last time they saw a paper check, and they'll more than likely tell you it was while binge-watching a 70's sitcom. The steps required to process check files are also very dated.  In business, your advanced ERP may output the file seamlessly; there's just no getting around the folding, stuffing, and mailing unless you outsource that to a department with machinery to handle that for you. 

By converting to ePayments or digital payments, an organization can expect an immediate return on investment (ROI)

Looking into the future, change can be scary, but exciting, it’s uncomfortable yet enduring the process we adapt and change just as our businesses. B2B payments are evolving from paper checks to electronic payment delivery.  This paradigm shift from paper checks to electronic is creating a new timeline for payment delivery.

Many businesses today are leveraging technology to manage finances with accounts payable. You will find that technology can make your process inexpensive, fast, convenient, and provide a high level of security to your company.