Fifth Third Loops AP Into Corporate Cards

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Fifth Third Bank is adding new features to its commercial card services.

An announcement Tuesday (Oct. 18) said the bank is integrating an electronic accounts payable feature for its commercial card users, dubbed Fifth Third ePay, developed for supplier payments and cash management needs.

In a statement, the bank’s director of wholesale payments, Bridgit Chayt, said that corporate clients are already using its electronic accounts payable capabilities for about a quarter of supplier payment spend. Launching a new platform, the executive added, “makes the solution more convenient and secure for our business clients.”

The ePay solution adds cash management capabilities to the electronic AP tool, with real-time visibility into payment, payment scheduling capabilities, spend data analytics and reporting, heightened security features and other additions to the offering. According to the bank, ePay will help businesses transition to electronic payments at greater volumes by supporting supplier payments either by commercial card or by generating a one-time-use virtual card number for B2B payments.

Fifth Third Bank cited research by RPMG Research Corporation, whose 2015 Electronic Accounts Payable Survey found that electronic AP spend increased 33 percent between 2014 and 2015. Nearly three-quarters of survey respondents said they expect  that number to grow.

The effort to digitize accounts payable seems to be an uphill battle as research continues to find AP plagued by manual processes. Most recently, Tipalti released a report that found the majority of processes in the accounts payable department are manual, from data entry to payment issue resolution.

The struggle to involve commercial card solutions in accounts payable is also a barrier to electronic payments adoption, with suppliers reluctant to take on the cost burden associated with cards.