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).

See more content related to ePayables and Virtual Cards.

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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Fasten your seat belts. Convincing suppliers to accept P-Card or enroll in your Virtual Card program can be turbulent at times. To make the journey smoother, think 3-1-1. Three primary activities—preparation, execution and follow-up per each (one) supplier for the desired (one) type of card program, whether P-Card or Virtual Card. However, before going to the supplier level, your organization needs a clear flight plan in the form of a payment strategy that best fits its business and goals. Refer to the previous blog post on regaining a broad perspective.

Ready for Takeoff?

Take off smoothly and stay out of the turbulence with your supplier enrollment campaign.

Within your enrollment strategy, incorporate education for the supplier about the benefits of P-Cards or Virtual Cards and how, exactly, the purchase-to-pay (P2P) process will work. You do not want to on-board a supplier only to have that supplier drop out of the program later because they didn’t understand what it entails. Re-boarding a supplier can be tougher than the initial on-boarding.

Additional Strategies

At the IFO Fusion conference in May, supplier enrollment strategies were shared by Matthew Dragiff, Vice President, Product Development, AvantGard Payment Services, SunGard. His session pertained to Virtual Cards, but his tips also apply to P-Cards:

Understand the supplier/buyer relationship and determine the best approach or tone to take for each supplier. Will you simply offer, strongly encourage or mandate your card program?
Create customized communications (e.g., campaign letters) for each type of tone.
Once a supplier enrolls, do not keep sending a check payment. This is confusing to the supplier (and keeps your program in a holding pattern!).

If a supplier declines participation, document why. Plan to follow up again with the supplier at a designated time (e.g., in nine months) in case something changes. See more on the related webpage.

A Smooth Landing

Adding to Matthew’s tips, I suggest more follow up efforts with enrolled suppliers:

Adjust your AP system/supplier records accordingly to indicate the preferred payment type.
Monitor spend with enrolled suppliers to verify they remain on track. An air pocket drop in monthly spend with a particular supplier could indicate your organization reverted back to another payment method. I learned this lesson firsthand.

The Value of Monitoring Spend

During my time as a program manager, I discovered, through a P-Card spend-by-supplier report, that P-Card volume with a key supplier went from thousands of dollars per month to none. The cause was employee turnover. The new person started using a different P2P process. Her manager did not notice nor did AP, who processed the check request. It required some work to return the supplier to P-Card payments.

Supplier enrollment does not need to be painful, but you do need to prepare for the trip.