Aug. 10, 2020—With the need for everything socially distanced, whether it’s standing six feet apart, working from home, or making everything contactless, all industries have had to adapt to a changing world where technology is king.
While most industries have made the leap from paper business-to-business payments to paperless, the amount of businesses that still thrive on the old ways of the world is more than half. In fact, John Cyphers, president of Nvoicepay, a payment technology developer, says in most recent years, the amount of companies utilizing paper payments has gone from a whopping 70 percent to over 50 percent. And when the pandemic hit, the need for contactless payments in every aspect under lockdown has been more of a need than ever. Cyphers says at Nvoicepay, they’ve seen volumes double in terms of new customer acquisitions since the pandemic took over. But why?
Cyphers says while most everyone has had to adapt their ways of business, accounts payable teams in businesses never even conceived they could work remotely, as everything for years has been all paper based right next to their desk. With an electronic payment system, they’ve now been able to manage this business-to-business transactions right from their homes, making it accessible anywhere at any time. The best part? No one touches a single sheet of paper.
When it comes to switching over to electronic business-to-business payments, Cyphers says businesses should find a provider to work with.
“Don’t try to do it on your own or with a bank,” Cyphers says. “It’s very cumbersome and fraud-heavy.”
In other words, he says the banks will only help you set it up. They won’t help you manage the payments (and will charge you more if you do need help managing) and will not take responsibility for any payments; if you have a payment that went to the wrong vendor or was misplaced, it’s out of the bank’s hands. Most, if not all, enterprise payment automation providers should offer assistance from start to finish.
