Capital One released its third annual commercial card survey on Tuesday (May 22), and, according to the results, the industry is in need of an innovative push.
The company found that 40 percent of commercial card industry professionals plan to implement new services this year — the lowest percentage in the survey’s history.
Conducted at the NAPCP Commercial Card & Payment Conference held last month, the survey of 102 professionals also found that 85 percent of commercial card users will turn to their existing card providers when searching for new services, while only 12 percent plan to switch commercial card providers.
Analysts pointed to demand among end users for heightened services, representing an opportunity for the commercial card industry. More than a third of professionals surveyed said that, even if they don’t plan on adopting new services, they are at least interested in learning about innovations in electronic payments as well as how to improve vendor acceptance of commercial cards, Capital One found.
“As the payments industry matures, end users are looking for innovative ways to increase efficiency and drive value for their businesses,” said Capital One Senior Vice President and Head of Commercial Card Rick Elliott in a statement. “They rely on their providers to proactively deliver new and pioneering features that better meet their needs.”
He added that it is “exciting” to see so many professionals at least interested in commercial card innovations.
“It provides us with the opportunity to innovate with new tools and features,” Elliott continued. “This not only supports our clients directly but also promotes growth in card acceptance from their suppliers by demonstrating the relative speed and security of payments made using a commercial card in comparison to traditional payments by check.”
Research also explored how professionals are reacting to other emerging financial technologies for the enterprise.
For example, less than half of survey respondents said they have access to a mobile app that offers insight into commercial card transactions or an app that enables them to submit travel expenses via a mobile device.
Of that figure, only half said they have a single application that can handle both functionalities.
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