© 2021 Money 20/20 | Money 20/20

It’s great to be back on the road. Like many professionals, I experienced a halt in business travel over the last 20 months. From both a professional and personal perspective, I looked forward to that face-to-face contact that’s critical to the sales and networking experience. 

Last week I attended Money 20/20, the world’s leading platform for the global money ecosystem in Las Vegas, Nevada from October 24-27. The conference featured numerous networking opportunities and exhibits to learn about the future of payments, FinTech, and financial services. Throughout the four-day event, my colleagues and I networked with banks and corporations to discuss the benefits of automation and business-to-business (B2B) electronic payments to solve the various problems that plague traditional AP processing.  

While consumer payments have advanced over the years, businesses have been left in the dust. Compared to electronic payment methods, paper checks cost more, take longer to process, result in more errors, and provide less visibility. AP staff lose time printing checks and preparing remittance documents, tracking down approvals, stuffing checks into envelopes, making special trips to the post office, responding to calls and e-mails from suppliers about the status of checks, dealing with their bank to replace lost checks, and reconciling bank statements. 

In a world where a steady and reliable supply chain is crucial to customer and vendor satisfaction, digital transformation is no longer a desired feature of a financial program – it’s a necessity. Our conversations at Money 20/20 confirmed this sentiment and revealed that entities are interested in AP and payments automation.  

Who wouldn’t be? The benefits speak for themselves: 

• B2B electronic payments help businesses of all sizes optimize their working capital by freeing up cash, capturing more early payment discounts, extending DPO, and improving visibility. The time and money saved by paying suppliers electronically can be reinvested into growth-generating activities.  
• B2B electronic payments can be made as soon as the same day and some electronic payment solutions offer supply chain financing – a way to pay suppliers early without using cash on the buyer’s balance sheet. 
• B2B electronic payments put smart insights at the fingertips of CFOs and other decision-makers. 
• Sophisticated digital payment providers can deliver electronic payments using various payment methods globally with accuracy and speed while improving compliance and mitigating the risk of fraud. 
• With a digital payment process, finance teams can control who to pay, when to pay, and how to pay. Seeing the big picture and knowing where your money is coming from and going to will help you make wise decisions.  
• B2B electronic payments help ensure that suppliers are paid on time, thus improving vendor relationships while preventing supply chain disruptions and delays.  

B2B electronic payments are a powerful tool and now more than ever, businesses must consider innovating through automation and optimizing their payments process.  

Last week in Las Vegas was filled with productive conversations and new ideas for the future. It was great to be out in front of people after a long time away, and the excitement continues as we venture to AFP 2021 in Washington, D.C. on Sunday. 

To learn how ActiveWorx can help automate your business, contact one of our representatives today.