Talent Shortage Is a Key Barrier to B2B Payments Innovation

As businesses consider digital payments innovation, one of the key impediments they face is a lack of in-house knowledge about the technologies they’re looking to adopt.

Twenty-eight percent of businesses reported that they have a difficult time obtaining and retaining the key staff they need to effectively implement and manage innovations, according to “Accelerating the Time to Realized Revenue,” a PYMNTS and Mastercard collaboration based on a survey of 409 corporate executives.

Get the report: Accelerating the Time to Realized Revenue

Both large and midmarket firms reported having trouble hiring and retaining the staff they need to create an informed strategy, implement new technologies and manage them. This was cited by 32% of large firms and 25% of midmarket firms as a barrier hampering their innovation agendas.

Building Capabilities in-House Can Be Cost Prohibitive

That was one of several reasons firms cited about why they can’t build the business case to move forward with payments innovation. Other common reasons included higher data management costs, regulatory problems and a lack of understanding of the benefits digital innovations can provide.

Keeping technology platforms that support payments operations current is no simple task, as high data management costs and complex regulatory challenges can overwhelm firms and require more resources than firms can dedicate alone.

Building these capabilities in-house can be cost prohibitive for many organizations.

Partnering With Third-Party Providers Can Eliminate Many Hurdles

While several key challenges prevent firms from seeing the full benefits digital innovation has to offer, third-party providers can help firms overcome many of them.

Leveraging solutions and expertise from third-party providers can help firms eliminate many of the hurdles, preventing them from implementing the technology they need to realize their digital innovation strategies.

Third-party providers can help their clients get the most out of new digital payments technology because they have trained professionals who know about the products and services they provide and how to design and quickly roll out solutions tailored to clients’ needs.

Partnering with such providers can also help firms bring digital innovation solutions to market quickly that would otherwise take much longer to architect and deploy on their own.

Keeping Digital Operation up to Date Is Critical

Keeping digital operations up to date is a critical aspect of staying competitive in the global digital marketplace.

There is significant low hanging fruit in business payments ripe for modernization — no matter if a firm is making a payment or receiving a payment — Chad Wallace, executive vice president of business solutions at Mastercard, told PYMNTS in an interview.

Read more: Mastercard Says to Boost Cash Flow, ‘Peace of Mind,’ B2B Payments Must Be Invisible

Firms whose innovation plans are held back by high data management costs, regulatory barriers and a lack of in-house knowledge are in an uphill battle to maximize operational efficiencies and deliver high levels of client and partner satisfaction in an increasingly competitive marketplace.

Many firms may struggle to overcome these barriers on their own, but working with third-party providers can help mitigate the inherent challenges of quickly implementing and maintaining these crucial digital technologies.