Demystifying straight-through payments and how they can help your organization, especially when accounts payable team members are working from home
Read more4 Reasons Organizations Resist Virtual Cards
There are at least four reasons why some organizations have not yet adopted Virtual Cards or, more broadly, an electronic accounts payable (EAP) solution. Do any of the following pertain to your organization? Revisit the reasons for their decision and ensure they had the right information first. You might be able to reopen the case.
1. Few Regularly Used Suppliers
A common target for Virtual Card usage is regularly used suppliers. This list might be short for some organizations, thereby a Virtual Card program may not be the best fit. For example, one end-user told me they do not use Virtual Cards because, as a research laboratory, their suppliers were always changing due to their always evolving purchasing needs. They found that traditional Purchasing Cards worked best. This is a valid reason. However, for other organizations, there are few regularly used suppliers because no one has pursued strategic sourcing. Besides not gaining the benefits of a Virtual Card program, they are potentially losing out on cost reductions that can be obtained through negotiated pricing.
2. Too Hard to Convert Suppliers
Your organization might be under the impression—without concrete evidence to support it—that your suppliers will not accept Virtual Cards. Before casting Virtual Cards and other ePayables aside, work with your current Commercial Card provider (or even a provider who is trying to gain your business) to do a “supplier match.” You might be surprised at how many of your suppliers are already accepting Virtual Card payments from other customers. In addition, many providers offer supplier on-boarding services, with or without an extra fee, to make the process easier for you. It pays to explore provider options.
3. The ERP System Cannot Support It
In response to this excuse, I have to ask, “Are you sure?” ERP systems are more robust today than ever before and include many different payment choices (or you might be able to add one). Further, you might be able to apply a default payment type by supplier. To accommodate Virtual Cards, the “payment release” step of the accounts payable process may simply generate another output. Instead of just checks and an ACH file, there would be a Virtual Card file to upload to the provider. Talk with your ERP system vendor to learn more about the capabilities.
4. Organization Resistance to Change
This is the catch-all reason that, unfortunately, often prevails above logic. If decision makers reject a sound, factual business case for Virtual Cards, then there is not a lot you can do until there is a leadership change or shift in organization priorities. Wait for the right time to bring this up again and ensure your business case includes the fraud protection aspects of Virtual Cards/EAP.
Separate the facts from the myths to ensure you are making a sound decision about Virtual Cards and other EAP solutions.
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About the Author
Blog post author Lynn Larson, CPCP, is the founder of Recharged Education. With 20 years of Commercial Card experience, her mission is to make industry education readily accessible to all. Learn more…
Virtual Card acceptance made easy.
Do suppliers resist or refuse to accept your Virtual Card payments? If so, you are not alone. There are also suppliers who initially agree to Virtual Card acceptance, but later change their mind. A big underlying problem is a manual acceptance process. In addition, a growing list of Virtual Card-using customers can mean dozens of different systems for a supplier to access. The good news is you can expand your playbook for on-boarding suppliers by introducing them to a solution. Keep reading to learn more about supplier challenges and an available remedy.
Supplier Challenges
I recently spoke with Nick Babinsky, Director, Business Development, with Billtrust, a provider of accounts receivable (AR) technology. He elaborated on the manual acceptance process that causes pain for many suppliers. A typical scenario starts with the supplier receiving an email notification about the Virtual Card payment. In some cases, a supplier’s AR staff has to click multiple URLs before reaching the applicable card account number. Then, to process the charge, AR manually keys the card account information. It does not end there, as AR needs to close the related invoices in their ERP system, which can also involve manual keying of remittance data. This type of process does not help a supplier in terms of card acceptance fees either.
Nick summed it up by relaying three common supplier objections to Virtual Card acceptance:
- We don’t have staff available to key any more Virtual Cards or P-Cards that come by email.
- We’re concerned about the security of manually handling credit card numbers.
- The cost of accepting card payments is too high.
A Solution
Billtrust’s Virtual Card Capture solution addresses the pain points noted above. Nick conveyed that it:
- eliminates the need to enter a card number into a terminal
- can automatically apply remittance information in the supplier’s ERP system (the solution also supports remittance pertaining to straight-through payments/push payments)
- helps a supplier qualify for Level 3 and Large Ticket interchange rates
Of course, my immediate question was, “How does it work with the emails a supplier receives (pertaining to Virtual Card payments)?” The answer: Through the utilization of robotic process automation (RPA). The emails are re-routed to the Billtrust solution and RPA takes over.
According to the Institute for Robotic Process Automation and Artificial Intelligence (IRPA AI), “Robotic process automation (RPA) is the application of technology that allows employees in a company to configure computer software or a ‘robot’ to capture and interpret existing applications for processing a transaction, manipulating data, triggering responses and communicating with other digital systems.”
Overall, between the technology and a Billtrust team who handles exceptions, a supplier’s pain is alleviated.
Case Study
Download a two-page case study that offers additional insight and/or access more information from the Billtrust website.
Offering suppliers a potential solution to address their pain points can motivate them to accept card payments.
How the Solution Affects You
As an end-user/buying organization, you can feel confident that your Virtual Card payments to suppliers who use the Billtrust solution will be processed in a timely manner (specifically, on the same business day they are sent). No more calls or emails about the Virtual Card not working because the supplier waited too long.
Final Thoughts: What You Can Do
To strengthen your partnership with suppliers:
- Talk with them about their challenges related to Virtual Card acceptance.
- Consider sharing the Billtrust case study.
- Contact your provider for any suggestions they have about easing supplier challenges.
- Ensure that, at a minimum, you are initiating payments to suppliers quickly, ideally less than 30 days (e.g, within 10 days of invoice receipt).
About the Author
Blog post author Lynn Larson, CPCP, is the founder of Recharged Education. With more than 15 years of Commercial Card experience, her mission is to make industry education readily accessible to all. Learn more…
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