CFOs Identify Key Payments Trends

At WEX, we’re focused on simplifying the complex world of payment systems and unleashing the power behind payments. So we’re always interested to know what business leaders think about the payments processing landscape. That’s why we recently commissioned a third-party survey of 500 CFOs around the United States to unearth trends that are moving the market.

Our Payments Pulse survey results are in, and they revealed that 72% of respondents already have an electronic payables initiative underway, while 26% are considering one with 93% of those respondents indicating that they are working to launch an electronic payables system in the next six to 12 months. Further, 57% are currently outsourcing platforms or technology to perform accounts payable functions.

“It’s interesting to see how top decision makers are thinking about payments in the near future,” said Jim Pratt, SVP and GM Virtual Payments Global, WEX Inc. “The fact that so many CFOs believe payments processing companies will be the true disruptors is a strong vote of confidence and motivation to continue our research and product development. At WEX, we strive to constantly innovate while providing top-notch customer service, new analytics capabilities and unparalleled payments security.”

Five Trends to Watch

The data uncovered five key trends that are shaping the industry:

• It’s not the startups; payment processing companies are most likely to disrupt the industry. When asked which group within the marketplace is most likely to disrupt the payments industry in the next 12 to 24 months, 39% of respondents answered payments processing companies, 32% believe it will be big banks, and only 16% believe it will be FinTech startups.
• Mobile reigns supreme of all the emerging technologies. While respondents overwhelmingly agree that all new technologies will be important to their business in the next two years, the majority are most concerned with mobile payments and mobile capabilities to manage and approve payments (55%), with blockchain a close second (54%), followed by cloud payments (48%) and data mining (46%). Despite the buzz around virtual reality and machine-based learning, these two technologies ranked at the bottom of the list.
• CFOs are confident they understand blockchain. Nearly two-thirds of respondents (61%) are extremely confident in their understanding of the function and capabilities of blockchain or distributed ledger technologies, with 35% citing they are somewhat confident. Half of CFOs expect blockchain to change how their accounts payables operate in the next six to 12 months, and another 44% believe it will allow their business to scale more quickly and internationally.
• Ability to transact in international currencies is increasingly important. Nearly two-thirds of CFOs (64%) believe it’s very important that their business be able to transact in international currencies. Notably, companies with annual revenue more than $51 million put extra weight on foreign currency transactions, with 76% citing this feature as “very important.”
• Customer experience is key when it comes to selecting a payments platform. When asked to check all that apply, 71% of respondents cited overall user experience as the most influential factor when selecting a payments platform, 60% cited speed of reconciliation capabilities, and 60% also selected reporting analytics.

Survey Methodology

In May 2017, WEX commissioned Zogby Analytics to conduct an online survey of 500 chief financial officers nationwide. Based on a confidence interval of 95%, the margin of error is +/- 4.4 percentage points.