Most FIs Say They Could Do More to Ease Corporate Clients’ Payment, Cash Management Pain

Growth in new cross-border ventures has made it more critical than ever for financial institutions (FIs) and corporations to streamline business-to-business (B2B) payments. As digital technology makes global businesses easier to launch and manage, FIs are beginning to recognize the urgency in offering corporate customers more mobile, digital-first ways to pay trading partners.

Many FIs and corporations are being pressed to meet this growing demand — especially among middle-market and enterprise clients — and they are aware that the payments ecosystem is in dire need of modernization. Despite their best efforts to limit clients’ payments and cash management frictions, just 30% of FIs state they have been highly successful in doing so.

This is just one of the findings uncovered in The Innovation Gap: Meeting The Challenge Of Corporate Payments Modernization, a PYMNTS collaboration with FIS. This report examines FIs and corporations biggest challenges in facilitating frictionless B2B payments. It also provides actionable insights into how FIs and corporations could identify innovation gaps in their modernization strategies and whether partnering with appropriate technology solution partners could help.

More key findings from the report include:

• FIs have made efforts to meet their corporate clients’ ever-increasing needs for fast, secure and seamless B2B transactions during the past year. Sixty percent of FIs believe that B2B digital payments solutions are “very” or “extremely” important, with 90% of those serving large enterprises and 83% serving middle-market companies saying so. As a result, 64% of FIs say they are “very” or “extremely” willing to adopt new technologies to facilitate the consumerization of B2B payments, while 88% of those serving large enterprises and 78% serving middle-market companies say the same.

• Businesses are like consumers in that they increasingly require streamlined and secure payment methods better tailored to their needs. Seventy-nine percent of FIs are currently working to find solutions that will offer their clients a single view of cash for real-time cash flow management. As the lack of dedicated supplier portals is another key payment friction for corporate clients, 65% of FIs actively seek solutions for this or plan to do so.

• Willingness to partner with FinTechs on payments digitization is seen by FIs as a top characteristic needed to address B2B payments friction. Thirty-one percent of FIs say this characteristic is very helpful, while 14% believe it is the most helpful. Knowing about new B2B payment solutions and possessing up-to-date technological infrastructure are also considered helpful characteristics for 32% and 28% of FIs, respectively.

To learn more about how FIs are working to streamline B2B payments for their corporate clients, download the report.