Posted by Mark Brousseau
Pre-paid cards are primed for explosive growth in the coming year, according to a survey conducted by Firstsource Solutions.
Fifty percent of payment industry professionals surveyed expect wider adoption of pre-paid cards as more consumers move away from credit cards and cash. Nearly 30 percent of respondents said that more consumers would become “loaders” (i.e. depositing more money to their pre-paid accounts).
“We’re seeing a growing interest in pre-paid cards in consumer segments that weren’t originally drawn to using such a form of payment,” says Tim Smith, senior vice president, Banking Financial Services & Insurance, Firstsource. “Our findings support recent research about the upward trend in the pre-paid market which shows that an estimated $37 billion was loaded onto prepaid cards last year, compared to $18 billion in 2009 and $9 billion in 2008.”
Survey respondents indicated that there is a huge opportunity for the pre-paid market to expand its customer base beyond the most likely consumer targets. More than 40 percent indicated that increased scrutiny from regulators regarding loading and set-up fees will pose the greatest risk to the industry. Additionally, 47 percent said educating card holders on the nuances of a pre-paid will be critical to successful adoption and overall growth in the market.
Firstsource’s survey also examined sentiment on the current regulatory climate in the payments industry. While Dodd-Frank was top-of-mind for 45 percent of payments professionals, the Consumer Financial Protection Act has fallen off the radar for most industry executives (only 9 percent of respondents indicated it was currently a priority issue).
What do you think?
Showing posts with label p-cards. Show all posts
Showing posts with label p-cards. Show all posts
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
NAPCP after hours
Posted by Mark Brousseau
A breathtaking view of the Las Vegas strip tonight from the Eiffel Tower Experience at the Paris Hotel after hours at the NAPCP Commercial Card and Payment Conference.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Interest in p-cards still going strong
By Mark Brousseau
Want more proof of the continued strength of purchasing cards (p-cards) as a key component of accounts payable (AP) programs? Look no further than this week’s NAPCP Commercial Card and Payment Conference at the Paris hotel in Las Vegas.
Some 657 people – representing 265 end-user organizations and 85 provider organizations – are in attendance at this year’s NAPCP event, up from 616 attendees last year (although still down from the 850 people that attended NAPCP’s event in 2008). Overall, 54 percent of the attendees are from end-user organizations and 46 percent of the attendees are from provider organizations, such as banks.
Among the end-users in attendance, 51 percent describe their experience level as “advanced,” while another 39 percent say their experience level is “intermediate.” Only 10 percent of attendees at this year’s NAPCP event say they are “beginning” with p-cards – further proof of the growing maturity of p-cards. In terms of the sectors represented, 61 percent are from corporations, while 23 percent are from government or primary education and 16 percent are from higher education.
By far, the hottest topic among attendees is how to grow their existing p-card programs to further reduce costs, increase productivity, and earn rebates. Many attendees also are looking for ways to better integrate p-cards with their purchase-to-pay (P2P) initiatives (it seems many more P2P professionals are in attendance).
Want more proof of the continued strength of purchasing cards (p-cards) as a key component of accounts payable (AP) programs? Look no further than this week’s NAPCP Commercial Card and Payment Conference at the Paris hotel in Las Vegas.
Some 657 people – representing 265 end-user organizations and 85 provider organizations – are in attendance at this year’s NAPCP event, up from 616 attendees last year (although still down from the 850 people that attended NAPCP’s event in 2008). Overall, 54 percent of the attendees are from end-user organizations and 46 percent of the attendees are from provider organizations, such as banks.
Among the end-users in attendance, 51 percent describe their experience level as “advanced,” while another 39 percent say their experience level is “intermediate.” Only 10 percent of attendees at this year’s NAPCP event say they are “beginning” with p-cards – further proof of the growing maturity of p-cards. In terms of the sectors represented, 61 percent are from corporations, while 23 percent are from government or primary education and 16 percent are from higher education.
By far, the hottest topic among attendees is how to grow their existing p-card programs to further reduce costs, increase productivity, and earn rebates. Many attendees also are looking for ways to better integrate p-cards with their purchase-to-pay (P2P) initiatives (it seems many more P2P professionals are in attendance).
Monday, April 4, 2011
High-dollar transactions moving to p-cards
By Mark Brousseau
Purchasing card (p-card) volume growth remains strong, Aaron L. Bills, founder and chief operating officer of 3 Delta Systems said this morning during a wide-ranging interview at NACHA Payments in Austin, Texas. “We never saw a slow down as a result of the recession,” Bills said. 3 Delta Systems expects to build on this growth with the release today of a new scalable platform that can handle any payment.
As evidence of the growth of p-cards, Bills points to a milestone that his company reached last month: for time, 3 Delta Systems processed over 1 million p-card transactions, representing more than $1 billion in value, in a single month.
“Part of this growth is the fact the economy is coming back, but the major driver is the increased use of buyer-initiated payments in accounts payables,” Bills said.
For instance, one 3 Delta Systems customer, a healthcare supplies firm, processed $11 million in p-card payments in March, representing just 11 transactions, he said. “And it would have only been two p-card transactions if the company’s payments processor could handle transactions of more than $1 million each,” Bills added.
“This may be an extreme case, but there are versions of this story unfolding all over the place. P-cards are really starting to step up,” Bills said. “P-cards are picking up a greater share of business-to-business transactions at more organizations.”
Bills said he isn’t surprised by the growth of p-cards, given their maturity. “P-cards are established, they are ubiquitous, there is a financial infrastructure in place, and all of the parties understand the rules,” he said. What’s more, merchants are willing to accept p-cards, “as long as they are not getting a 4 percent haircut,” Bills noted.
“From the point of view of the companies using p-cards, they earn a revenue share for every purchase that they make,” said Daniel L. Miner, CTP, general manager, Treasury Services, 3 Delta Systems. “At a time when money is tight for most companies, p-cards provide an opportunity to turn a cost center into a revenue-generating cost center. We’ve seen a lot of companies jump on this concept.”
Miner notes that financial institutions are helping to drive p-card volume growth. “There’s an incentive for issuing banks to get p-cards out there. They are looking for alternatives to consumer cards,” Miner explained. “We’re seeing more banks talking to their corporate customers about moving p-cards to the next level to earn a greater revenue share, and the corporates are responding.”
What do you think?
Purchasing card (p-card) volume growth remains strong, Aaron L. Bills, founder and chief operating officer of 3 Delta Systems said this morning during a wide-ranging interview at NACHA Payments in Austin, Texas. “We never saw a slow down as a result of the recession,” Bills said. 3 Delta Systems expects to build on this growth with the release today of a new scalable platform that can handle any payment.
As evidence of the growth of p-cards, Bills points to a milestone that his company reached last month: for time, 3 Delta Systems processed over 1 million p-card transactions, representing more than $1 billion in value, in a single month.
“Part of this growth is the fact the economy is coming back, but the major driver is the increased use of buyer-initiated payments in accounts payables,” Bills said.
For instance, one 3 Delta Systems customer, a healthcare supplies firm, processed $11 million in p-card payments in March, representing just 11 transactions, he said. “And it would have only been two p-card transactions if the company’s payments processor could handle transactions of more than $1 million each,” Bills added.
“This may be an extreme case, but there are versions of this story unfolding all over the place. P-cards are really starting to step up,” Bills said. “P-cards are picking up a greater share of business-to-business transactions at more organizations.”
Bills said he isn’t surprised by the growth of p-cards, given their maturity. “P-cards are established, they are ubiquitous, there is a financial infrastructure in place, and all of the parties understand the rules,” he said. What’s more, merchants are willing to accept p-cards, “as long as they are not getting a 4 percent haircut,” Bills noted.
“From the point of view of the companies using p-cards, they earn a revenue share for every purchase that they make,” said Daniel L. Miner, CTP, general manager, Treasury Services, 3 Delta Systems. “At a time when money is tight for most companies, p-cards provide an opportunity to turn a cost center into a revenue-generating cost center. We’ve seen a lot of companies jump on this concept.”
Miner notes that financial institutions are helping to drive p-card volume growth. “There’s an incentive for issuing banks to get p-cards out there. They are looking for alternatives to consumer cards,” Miner explained. “We’re seeing more banks talking to their corporate customers about moving p-cards to the next level to earn a greater revenue share, and the corporates are responding.”
What do you think?
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
The Proper A/P Toolkit
By Bruce Bourdon, CPCP
Vice President, Healthcare Channel Sales Manager
U.S. Bank Corporate Payment Systems
Two key challenges face healthcare accounts payable departments today: Shrinking profit margins due to rising costs, and decreased cash flow due to slower collections and reimbursements.
The cash flow pipeline often plugs up due to an inability of the healthcare provider to extend payment terms with its top suppliers. Operational costs, meantime, have been soaring due to the high cost of printing and mailing paper checks, and often re-issuing and re-mailing checks that get lost. Finally, AP staff spent far too much time researching vendor inquiries about the status of the payment they are owed.
If any industry could stand to benefit from going paperless, it’s healthcare. Yet, a 2010 U.S. Bank/IAPP survey showed that 61 percent of all healthcare payments today are made by paper check. A similar survey, this one by PayStream Advisors in late 2009, found that 68 percent of all invoices are traded by paper, and only about 25 percent of all purchase orders are sent electronically to suppliers.
That’s about to change. The U.S. Bank/IAPP survey that showed such a high rate of paper check payments also predicts a 2/3 reduction in check payments and a three-fold increase in use of purchasing cards over the next three years, based on feedback from respondents.
Some may wonder, what is taking the healthcare industry so long to jump on the technology conversion bandwagon? The answer: it is hampered by many of the same roadblocks being experienced by other industries. Namely, perceived external barriers such as limited willingness or capability of suppliers to handle e-payments, and perceived internal barriers such as the high cost of conversion to e-payments or worries about their own capability to manage the transition.
Such concerns are often overblown. The cost of conversion, for example, is dwarfed by the savings realized over time, according to recent studies. To the extent that it’s measured at all, cost-per-paper-invoice can vary from a dollar to over $15 dollars, says the PayStream Advisors survey. But interestingly enough about half the companies surveyed have no idea what it’s costing them to process each paper invoice.
Electronic processing makes the costs much more transparent and easier to measure, therefore making it easier to spot the cost bottlenecks and act upon them. Aberdeen Group has shown that electronic invoice processing shaves $6 to $7 off the cost or processing each invoice. How? By accelerating the approval cycle, reducing the number of lost and missing invoices, reducing the number of “exceptions” and, ultimately, reducing FTE or allowing redirection of work into more value-added activities.
Annapolis Consulting puts it this way: Automation increases ease of use, ease of use increases adoption, adoption increases on-contract spend, on contract spend enhances visibility and visibility reduces wasteful spend. Just as important, visibility enhances leverage when it comes time to negotiate contracts with suppliers.
Today’s payables toolkit brims with options for the healthcare provider, from Electronic Invoice Presentment and Payment (EIPP) to a wide array of paperless e-payment options including commercial cards, virtual or “ghost” card accounts, wire payments and Automated Clearinghouse (ACH). End-to-end automation is both possible and achievable. It’s easier than ever to establish e-payments as the standard for conducting business with your key suppliers.
Vice President, Healthcare Channel Sales Manager
U.S. Bank Corporate Payment Systems
Two key challenges face healthcare accounts payable departments today: Shrinking profit margins due to rising costs, and decreased cash flow due to slower collections and reimbursements.
The cash flow pipeline often plugs up due to an inability of the healthcare provider to extend payment terms with its top suppliers. Operational costs, meantime, have been soaring due to the high cost of printing and mailing paper checks, and often re-issuing and re-mailing checks that get lost. Finally, AP staff spent far too much time researching vendor inquiries about the status of the payment they are owed.
If any industry could stand to benefit from going paperless, it’s healthcare. Yet, a 2010 U.S. Bank/IAPP survey showed that 61 percent of all healthcare payments today are made by paper check. A similar survey, this one by PayStream Advisors in late 2009, found that 68 percent of all invoices are traded by paper, and only about 25 percent of all purchase orders are sent electronically to suppliers.
That’s about to change. The U.S. Bank/IAPP survey that showed such a high rate of paper check payments also predicts a 2/3 reduction in check payments and a three-fold increase in use of purchasing cards over the next three years, based on feedback from respondents.
Some may wonder, what is taking the healthcare industry so long to jump on the technology conversion bandwagon? The answer: it is hampered by many of the same roadblocks being experienced by other industries. Namely, perceived external barriers such as limited willingness or capability of suppliers to handle e-payments, and perceived internal barriers such as the high cost of conversion to e-payments or worries about their own capability to manage the transition.
Such concerns are often overblown. The cost of conversion, for example, is dwarfed by the savings realized over time, according to recent studies. To the extent that it’s measured at all, cost-per-paper-invoice can vary from a dollar to over $15 dollars, says the PayStream Advisors survey. But interestingly enough about half the companies surveyed have no idea what it’s costing them to process each paper invoice.
Electronic processing makes the costs much more transparent and easier to measure, therefore making it easier to spot the cost bottlenecks and act upon them. Aberdeen Group has shown that electronic invoice processing shaves $6 to $7 off the cost or processing each invoice. How? By accelerating the approval cycle, reducing the number of lost and missing invoices, reducing the number of “exceptions” and, ultimately, reducing FTE or allowing redirection of work into more value-added activities.
Annapolis Consulting puts it this way: Automation increases ease of use, ease of use increases adoption, adoption increases on-contract spend, on contract spend enhances visibility and visibility reduces wasteful spend. Just as important, visibility enhances leverage when it comes time to negotiate contracts with suppliers.
Today’s payables toolkit brims with options for the healthcare provider, from Electronic Invoice Presentment and Payment (EIPP) to a wide array of paperless e-payment options including commercial cards, virtual or “ghost” card accounts, wire payments and Automated Clearinghouse (ACH). End-to-end automation is both possible and achievable. It’s easier than ever to establish e-payments as the standard for conducting business with your key suppliers.
Sunday, May 9, 2010
FUSION 2010
Posted by Mark Brousseau
During an interactive networking luncheon today at FUSION 2010 at the Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center in Grapevine, Texas, attendees shared the best operations tips that they have implemented in the past year. Below are some of the top operations tips shared by attendees:
• Develop an AP Roadshow to visit different departments and operations sites to explain what AP does, what information it needs to do its job effectively, and how departments can work with AP.
• Implement a document imaging and retrieval system for finance documents. Having instant access to document images helped one company eliminate one full-time equivalent.
• Integrate TIN Matching with Oracle.
• Scan your invoices!
• Scan AP documents on the front-end, not the back-end, to achieve more workflow efficiencies.
• Combine your travel and entertainment (T&E) and purchasing card into one card to reduce administration and capture more rebates.
• Leverage remote deposit capture to eliminate trips to the bank.
• Automate, automate, automate!
• Do away with paper checks for T&E. Use debit cards for employees without bank accounts.
• If you have international travelers, educate them on VAT reclamation requirements.
• Trust is not a control! A “trusted employee” could be stealing from your company.
• When choosing a software solution, ask how they initiates upgrades or you might find yourself back at square one. Also understand whether the vendor will convert existing data.
• Eliminate, automate, delegate -- EAD!
• Eliminate as much paper as possible from your workflow.
• Whenever you are implementing new technologies or processes, be sure to get buy-in from line-level staff.
• Strive for open communication with your staff.
• Learn to walk away!
During an interactive networking luncheon today at FUSION 2010 at the Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center in Grapevine, Texas, attendees shared the best operations tips that they have implemented in the past year. Below are some of the top operations tips shared by attendees:
• Develop an AP Roadshow to visit different departments and operations sites to explain what AP does, what information it needs to do its job effectively, and how departments can work with AP.
• Implement a document imaging and retrieval system for finance documents. Having instant access to document images helped one company eliminate one full-time equivalent.
• Integrate TIN Matching with Oracle.
• Scan your invoices!
• Scan AP documents on the front-end, not the back-end, to achieve more workflow efficiencies.
• Combine your travel and entertainment (T&E) and purchasing card into one card to reduce administration and capture more rebates.
• Leverage remote deposit capture to eliminate trips to the bank.
• Automate, automate, automate!
• Do away with paper checks for T&E. Use debit cards for employees without bank accounts.
• If you have international travelers, educate them on VAT reclamation requirements.
• Trust is not a control! A “trusted employee” could be stealing from your company.
• When choosing a software solution, ask how they initiates upgrades or you might find yourself back at square one. Also understand whether the vendor will convert existing data.
• Eliminate, automate, delegate -- EAD!
• Eliminate as much paper as possible from your workflow.
• Whenever you are implementing new technologies or processes, be sure to get buy-in from line-level staff.
• Strive for open communication with your staff.
• Learn to walk away!
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
TAWPI @ NACHA Payments
R. Edwin Pearce (pictured, far left) and Dax French (far right), both of eGistics, Inc., greet employees of SunTrust this afternoon at NACHA's Payments 2010 at the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle.
TAWPI @ NACHA Payments
R. Edwin Pearce, executive vice president of sales and corporate development for eGistics, hands Michele M. Naghoon, AAP, vice president, ACH production manager, SunTrust, the Flip camcorder that she one through eGistics' prize drawing at NACHA's Payments 2010 at the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle.
TAWPI @ NACHA Payments
Ed Bachelder, director of research, BlueFlame Consulting, reads the latest issue of his favorite magazine this afternoon at NACHA's Payments 2010 at the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle.
Monday, April 26, 2010
TAWPI @ NACHA Payments
Posted by Mark Brousseau
The meshing between accounts payable and accounts receivable and different payment types and mechanisms is going to be this decade’s focus when it comes to payments innovation and standards, Aaron Bills, COO and founder, 3Delta Systems, told me this morning at NACHA’s Payments 2010.
“There is an evolution and maturing occurring in purchasing as a strategic function,” Bills said. “We’re finally working back from the manufacturing supply chain to the financial supply chain.”
“The fewer fingerprints we can leave on the transaction, the less costly it is to process,” Bills said. “We’ve had these different tracks where people have tried to solve similar payments problems. What the market needs is a localized, parameterized and database-driven payments infrastructure that supports multiple tenders, multiple nations, multiple parties, and multiple levels of security.”
That’s why 3Delta Systems is expanding beyond its purchasing card (p-card) roots to develop what Bills refers to as a “global payment infrastructure” – a centrally managed solution delivering a high degree of authentication and appropriate levels of control (such as PCI) across all payment types. “By having a platform that we can rapidly extend or adapt for different requirements, we can achieve success in an environment that is churning quickly and where the ‘right path’ hasn’t been defined.”
Bills said to think of it as an ‘intelligence switch.’
“The industry has a last mile wiring problem, where that are a lot of nice applications that need to be connected to a network,” Bill said. “The nightmare scenario for organizations is that they have a deluge of relationships and technologies that they have to manage; many-to-many. Our goal is to make it easier to manage that by providing a technology base where connections are streamlined.”
“There needs to be a consistent payments process that can be applied, regardless of the tender type,” Bills says. “A merchant simply cannot manage eight to 12 different business processes. It upsets the operational balance.”
Bills said his company’s new product will bring him into competition with card processors who are his channel partners today. But he’s up for the task. “The challenge the processors face is that their technology is very old – a lot of it is written in COBOL. The older technologies will make it harder for current channels to adapt to the rapidly changing client requirements, and that will create the opportunity for technology providers like us. Indeed, we may compete with some in the dynamic space, but it is also likely that the channels that relied on us for our B2B services will rely on us again during this wave of innovation.”
What do you think?
The meshing between accounts payable and accounts receivable and different payment types and mechanisms is going to be this decade’s focus when it comes to payments innovation and standards, Aaron Bills, COO and founder, 3Delta Systems, told me this morning at NACHA’s Payments 2010.
“There is an evolution and maturing occurring in purchasing as a strategic function,” Bills said. “We’re finally working back from the manufacturing supply chain to the financial supply chain.”
“The fewer fingerprints we can leave on the transaction, the less costly it is to process,” Bills said. “We’ve had these different tracks where people have tried to solve similar payments problems. What the market needs is a localized, parameterized and database-driven payments infrastructure that supports multiple tenders, multiple nations, multiple parties, and multiple levels of security.”
That’s why 3Delta Systems is expanding beyond its purchasing card (p-card) roots to develop what Bills refers to as a “global payment infrastructure” – a centrally managed solution delivering a high degree of authentication and appropriate levels of control (such as PCI) across all payment types. “By having a platform that we can rapidly extend or adapt for different requirements, we can achieve success in an environment that is churning quickly and where the ‘right path’ hasn’t been defined.”
Bills said to think of it as an ‘intelligence switch.’
“The industry has a last mile wiring problem, where that are a lot of nice applications that need to be connected to a network,” Bill said. “The nightmare scenario for organizations is that they have a deluge of relationships and technologies that they have to manage; many-to-many. Our goal is to make it easier to manage that by providing a technology base where connections are streamlined.”
“There needs to be a consistent payments process that can be applied, regardless of the tender type,” Bills says. “A merchant simply cannot manage eight to 12 different business processes. It upsets the operational balance.”
Bills said his company’s new product will bring him into competition with card processors who are his channel partners today. But he’s up for the task. “The challenge the processors face is that their technology is very old – a lot of it is written in COBOL. The older technologies will make it harder for current channels to adapt to the rapidly changing client requirements, and that will create the opportunity for technology providers like us. Indeed, we may compete with some in the dynamic space, but it is also likely that the channels that relied on us for our B2B services will rely on us again during this wave of innovation.”
What do you think?
TAWPI @ NACHA Payments
Posted by Mark Brousseau
Historically, cash and checks have dominated as the primary means of settlement for person-to-person (P2P) transactions, but that has the potential to change rapidly according to new research released by NACHA and eCom Advisors in partnership with FIS and PayPal. The research was unveiled this morning at a breakfast press conference at NACHA’s PAYMENTS 2010 Conference at the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle.
“Financial institutions and solution providers are increasingly seeking to leverage the ACH Network to enable their retail customers to conduct electronic P2P payments,” stated Janet O. Estep, president and chief executive officer of NACHA—The Electronic Payments Association. “This research adds to our understanding of consumer demand for this payment service.”
The February 2010 survey, completed by 1,180 active online banking consumers in the U.S., was designed to test consumer reaction to two new concepts. The first concept was using a P2P payment service offered within the online bill-payment applications of financial institutions. Nearly half (48 percent) of active online banking consumers are likely to use such a service, according to the research.
The research also investigated consumer interest in several different scenarios for P2P payments offered by financial institutions. Results concluded that:
… 33 percent of consumers are likely to use P2P payments to send money to a son or daughter at college;
… 31 percent are likely use P2P to send money out of the country to a family member, friend, or associate;
… 25 percent are likely to use P2P to split the cost of a gift with co-workers, friends, or family members.
The second concept tested in the research was an ePayment Portal, defined as a service provided by a financial institution allowing consumers to transfer money, pay bills, conduct P2P payments, and track all their money movement from a single place online. Nearly half of consumers (49 percent) expressed interest in the Portal concept. Of this interested population, 70 percent would likely use P2P payment services within the Portal.
Paul McAdam, a Partner at eCom Advisors stated, “We are very encouraged by the results of this research. Nearly half of today’s online banking consumers expressed interest in using a P2P payment service offered by a financial institution, and if the P2P service is integrated with a suite of money movement solutions within the online bill-payment application, consumer interest jumps significantly. This research provides significant evidence of a large pool of pool of likely P2P adopters.”
Another key finding is consumers who have already adopted mobile financial services likely will be the first adopters of financial institutions’ P2P payment solutions. Consumers who used their mobile phones to access their bank account or view or pay a bill within the past 30 days reported a likeliness to use the study’s P2P payment concepts at rates more than two times higher than those reported by the overall sample of active online banking consumers.
“Today’s active mobile banking consumes are clearly attracted to the notion of replacing cash and check transactions with P2P payments via their mobile devices,” stated McAdam. “In addition to targeting marketing communications to encourage this segment to adopt P2P, financial institutions should also integrate P2P payments with their mobile banking services.”
Historically, cash and checks have dominated as the primary means of settlement for person-to-person (P2P) transactions, but that has the potential to change rapidly according to new research released by NACHA and eCom Advisors in partnership with FIS and PayPal. The research was unveiled this morning at a breakfast press conference at NACHA’s PAYMENTS 2010 Conference at the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle.
“Financial institutions and solution providers are increasingly seeking to leverage the ACH Network to enable their retail customers to conduct electronic P2P payments,” stated Janet O. Estep, president and chief executive officer of NACHA—The Electronic Payments Association. “This research adds to our understanding of consumer demand for this payment service.”
The February 2010 survey, completed by 1,180 active online banking consumers in the U.S., was designed to test consumer reaction to two new concepts. The first concept was using a P2P payment service offered within the online bill-payment applications of financial institutions. Nearly half (48 percent) of active online banking consumers are likely to use such a service, according to the research.
The research also investigated consumer interest in several different scenarios for P2P payments offered by financial institutions. Results concluded that:
… 33 percent of consumers are likely to use P2P payments to send money to a son or daughter at college;
… 31 percent are likely use P2P to send money out of the country to a family member, friend, or associate;
… 25 percent are likely to use P2P to split the cost of a gift with co-workers, friends, or family members.
The second concept tested in the research was an ePayment Portal, defined as a service provided by a financial institution allowing consumers to transfer money, pay bills, conduct P2P payments, and track all their money movement from a single place online. Nearly half of consumers (49 percent) expressed interest in the Portal concept. Of this interested population, 70 percent would likely use P2P payment services within the Portal.
Paul McAdam, a Partner at eCom Advisors stated, “We are very encouraged by the results of this research. Nearly half of today’s online banking consumers expressed interest in using a P2P payment service offered by a financial institution, and if the P2P service is integrated with a suite of money movement solutions within the online bill-payment application, consumer interest jumps significantly. This research provides significant evidence of a large pool of pool of likely P2P adopters.”
Another key finding is consumers who have already adopted mobile financial services likely will be the first adopters of financial institutions’ P2P payment solutions. Consumers who used their mobile phones to access their bank account or view or pay a bill within the past 30 days reported a likeliness to use the study’s P2P payment concepts at rates more than two times higher than those reported by the overall sample of active online banking consumers.
“Today’s active mobile banking consumes are clearly attracted to the notion of replacing cash and check transactions with P2P payments via their mobile devices,” stated McAdam. “In addition to targeting marketing communications to encourage this segment to adopt P2P, financial institutions should also integrate P2P payments with their mobile banking services.”
P-Card Conference Wrap-Up
Posted by Mark Brousseau
Steven Putney, a partner with PayTech International, provides his thoughts on the 11th Annual National Association of Purchasing Card Professionals’ (NAPCP) conference held in Orlando:
Over 600 purchasing card payment industry professionals gathered April 18-21, 2010 at the 11th Annual NAPCP Conference in Orlando. Representing a broad span of private and public-sector organizations, they convened to discuss topics that ranged from best practices and technology developments to legislative changes affecting the purchasing card industry.
For purchasing card professionals, staying current on industry changes is critical to playing an effective role in the management of their organizations. The conference provided excellent opportunities for attendees to gain insights on a wide variety of topics and network with peers, industry providers and purchasing program experts.
This year, the program offered five different tracks that focused on important aspects of purchasing card programs:
• Building the foundations of a successful program: What factors and considerations are paramount to ensuring that purchasing card programs achieve their objectives?
• Effective program management: How do you monitor your program, manage strategies and insure compliance?
• Optimization strategies: How can you increase program effectiveness and use new technologies to simplify transaction management?
• Industry overviews: What are the important trends in the technology, economics and legal arenas that are shaping purchasing card programs?
• Professional development: How can you increase your knowledge and effectiveness?
The rapid convergence of purchasing cards with the overall AP strategy at large corporations and public- sector organizations was a theme heard across many sessions. Case studies were shared in breakout sessions on how to increase control over purchases, identify opportunities for savings and ensure corporate compliance--all essential to a successful purchasing and AP strategy.
New enhanced technology platforms (originally developed to support only purchasing card transactions) were demonstrated that have added functionality to integrate deeper into the organization’s workflow processes and accounting systems and support a full range of electronic payment types. These platforms can facilitate a convergence across AP, and potentially help organizations consolidate multiple vendors down to one.
Another topic that received a great deal of attention at the conference was how to successfully expand payment programs internationally. Multi-national corporations and public-sector organizations must identify and address significant variation in key areas across different regions of the world. Areas of consideration for multi-national programs include cultural differences, commercial credit availability, legal & regulatory issues, availability of data and tax compliance challenges.
The conference provided a unique opportunity to mingle with peers and industry experts and gain a perspective on opportunities to improve existing programs and plan for the future.
Steven Putney, a partner with PayTech International, provides his thoughts on the 11th Annual National Association of Purchasing Card Professionals’ (NAPCP) conference held in Orlando:
Over 600 purchasing card payment industry professionals gathered April 18-21, 2010 at the 11th Annual NAPCP Conference in Orlando. Representing a broad span of private and public-sector organizations, they convened to discuss topics that ranged from best practices and technology developments to legislative changes affecting the purchasing card industry.
For purchasing card professionals, staying current on industry changes is critical to playing an effective role in the management of their organizations. The conference provided excellent opportunities for attendees to gain insights on a wide variety of topics and network with peers, industry providers and purchasing program experts.
This year, the program offered five different tracks that focused on important aspects of purchasing card programs:
• Building the foundations of a successful program: What factors and considerations are paramount to ensuring that purchasing card programs achieve their objectives?
• Effective program management: How do you monitor your program, manage strategies and insure compliance?
• Optimization strategies: How can you increase program effectiveness and use new technologies to simplify transaction management?
• Industry overviews: What are the important trends in the technology, economics and legal arenas that are shaping purchasing card programs?
• Professional development: How can you increase your knowledge and effectiveness?
The rapid convergence of purchasing cards with the overall AP strategy at large corporations and public- sector organizations was a theme heard across many sessions. Case studies were shared in breakout sessions on how to increase control over purchases, identify opportunities for savings and ensure corporate compliance--all essential to a successful purchasing and AP strategy.
New enhanced technology platforms (originally developed to support only purchasing card transactions) were demonstrated that have added functionality to integrate deeper into the organization’s workflow processes and accounting systems and support a full range of electronic payment types. These platforms can facilitate a convergence across AP, and potentially help organizations consolidate multiple vendors down to one.
Another topic that received a great deal of attention at the conference was how to successfully expand payment programs internationally. Multi-national corporations and public-sector organizations must identify and address significant variation in key areas across different regions of the world. Areas of consideration for multi-national programs include cultural differences, commercial credit availability, legal & regulatory issues, availability of data and tax compliance challenges.
The conference provided a unique opportunity to mingle with peers and industry experts and gain a perspective on opportunities to improve existing programs and plan for the future.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
More B2B Transactions Go Electronic
By Mark Brousseau
More signs that paper checks are losing their grip on business-to-business transactions. Some 56 percent of treasurers, CFOs and other senior finance executives say they use p-cards and see reducing administrative costs and time as top benefits, according to Treasury & Risk’s annual cash management survey. Meantime, 55 percent of respondents to the survey said they handled more than 80 percent of their business online.
What's happening at your organization?
Post your comments below.
More signs that paper checks are losing their grip on business-to-business transactions. Some 56 percent of treasurers, CFOs and other senior finance executives say they use p-cards and see reducing administrative costs and time as top benefits, according to Treasury & Risk’s annual cash management survey. Meantime, 55 percent of respondents to the survey said they handled more than 80 percent of their business online.
What's happening at your organization?
Post your comments below.
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