Why CFOs Demand Transparency for Themselves, Customers, Vendors

Companies that have gotten ahead of the curve in digitizing payments operations have gained a decisive competitive advantage against rivals that have been slower to innovate. 

One of the benefits these forward-looking companies expect is greater transparency for themselves, their customers and their vendors. 

In fact, half of the companies that plan to digitize their payments operations over the next year said making payment processes more transparent is an important outcome, according to “Business Payments Digitization,” a PYMNTS and Corcentric collaboration based on a survey of 400 chief financial officers (CFOs) from companies with $400 million to $2 billion in annual revenues. 

Get the report: Business Payments Digitization 

The survey found that 56% of CFO said improved transparency is an important outcome of the digitization projects they plan to implement this year, with 13% of them saying it’s the most important outcome and another 43% saying it’s important, but not the most important. 

Making the Invisible Visible 

An important strategy in improving payments lies with making the invisible visible — uncovering and spotlighting the interdependency of payments and communications across various verticals, Corcentric CEO Matt Clark told PYMNTS in a March interview. 

Read more: Tackling Transparency Problems Improves B2B Payments in Healthcare, Insurance 

Transparency is especially important in the healthcare, insurance and financial services verticals, for example, where there can be several entities involved involved in a transaction — and payments can be split among different senders and recipients, Clark said. 

Without transparency, there can be friction surrounding payments and communication between providers, between firms and with end customers. 

“When is party A going to pay party B?” Clark said. “Is that transaction required for party C to get paid?” 

Enjoying Greater Transparency, Better Supplier Relationships 

PYMNTS’ research found that 35% of CFOs whose firms have accelerated the digitization of their payments processes and systems did so to provide their customers and their vendors with a transparent process. 

The survey also found that among the firms whose digitization projects have been completed, 60% said those projects have had a positive impact on supplier relationships. 

Now, the companies that were slower to invest in digitized payments platforms can learn from others’ experiences. If these companies can apply these lessons learned by faster adopters to their own digitization efforts, they will put themselves in a position to improve their own operations. 

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