Billtrust CEO Flint Lane projected that B2B modernization would take time and would be supported by a worldwide standard — a language of data if you will — that directly connects buyers and suppliers, as well as AR and AP departments.
“There are just too many individuals who would have to modify their ways of doing things,” he said, “and nobody wants to go first.”
Another thing that will not happen: is the elimination of checks – at least, not very soon.
“They’ll continue to fall, and as better systems for delivering electronic payments become available, that reduction will accelerate,” Lane said. “Paper checks will not go away completely unless the post office begins charging much more for mailing.”
Some behaviors are simply too ingrained to be completely eradicated. There are far too many unbanked people in the country, as well as far too many companies that prefer checks to electronic transactions for whatever reason.
Another reason checks have grown so sticky, as Webster observed, is because they have become simpler to deal with. Despite their reputation as a fraud magnet, there are enough processes, technology, and software in place to make them easier to use – mostly through automation.
Indeed, when paying via check, it’s a matter of “out of sight, out of mind” for firms who insist on using them, according to Lane.
“They’re a horribly inefficient method to automate things,” he remarked, referring to the process through which firms send invoices to clients. The portals will be preferred by smaller businesses that still operate like consumers when it comes to moving payments online, but they will not be ideal for larger businesses with thousands of suppliers to pay.
Account payable (AP) teams, for example, invest time and money in developing what are basically robots that process thousands of payments through such e-portals.
According to Lane, there’s something better than automating elements of the B2B payments flow piecemeal: not needing to automate in the first place.
