The Case for Cashless Commerce

Despite the hindrances posed by cash, 60 percent of payments between businesses will be made with via check. Such technologies only hold firms back, and distance them from the promise of digital payments.

How do digital B2B payments help?

Digital payment systems enable businesses of all sizes to reduce payment friction and inefficiencies across multiple markets, giving them the potential to grow and scale their business. B2B payment solutions, like a virtual card network, ensure businesses have a frictionless and quick payment collection processes from customers no matter where they are.

Mastercard recently partnered with a leading card issuer in Australia and New Zealand to provide seamless and secure B2B payment solutions via a virtual card network for a local supply packing service firm. As one of the first adopters of the technology in Australia, the company had wanted a solution that would enable it to eliminate opportunities for fraud from its payments process.

It was able to achieve its objective with Mastercard’s In Control technology. Further perks of the collaboration included a broad level of acceptance of cards amongst the supply firm’s suppliers, supported by Mastercard in partnership with the issuer, providing a specialist onboarding team to help the suppliers become familiar with the tool. It was also multi-market friendly, enabling the supply packing service firm to deliver seamlessly in and across markets it operated in.

Success has been clear for all stakeholders, especially for the supply packing service firm who has seen an extension of supplier terms of 30 days on average. The company also reported improved supplier relations and tighter security around payment processes across the network, resulting in cost savings in time and resources.

How can companies start the digitization process?

There’s no better time to begin digitizing a business’s payments process than now. However, for payments digitization to have a long term strategic impact on business, it must be accompanied by a sound implementation plan with clear goals and objectives for the business to reap the benefits. Businesses looking to begin the digitization process can start by reaching out to their respective acquiring bank to explore the variety of products and solutions available.

The continuous advent of new innovations and solutions has opened up a world of possibilities in commerce and technology. Even a mom-and-pop shop has the potential to operate globally thanks to electronic payments. Harnessing the power of digital payments is a key step forward to future-proofing business.