As the need for digital commercial payments continues to increase, APAC businesses must find ways to mitigate fraud for employees and their business expenses
Traditional Payment Methods Remain Prevalent, APAC Businesses are Increasingly Looking to Digitize Their Commercial Payments.
- Credit cards (61%), ACH/EFT/Wire/Direct debit (54%) and cash (47%) are the most used payment methods for business expenses.
- (61%) of APAC businesses are actively investing or open to investing in commercial payment solutions.
- Over the next 12 months, businesses envision increasing the use of digital payment methods for employee business travel (50%), employee compensation (46%) and payments to suppliers (45%)
“While commercial payments are increasingly adopting digital solutions, the transition is not progressing at the same pace as seen in consumer payments due to the complexities of expense management,” said Chris Winter, head of international markets (APAC) at Discover Global Network. “As technology continues to advance across the industry and region, it is important that businesses seek to improve the security of their commercial payments programs to defend against fraudulent activity of all kinds.”
As Payment Approaches are Modernized, APAC Businesses are Prioritizing Expense Management, Strong Security and Fraud Features
- Expense management tools (47%), providing a greater variety of payment options to business providers (39%), and streamlining account receivable processes (39%) are the most important commercial payment initiatives to APAC businesses.
- Within commercial payments solutions, the most important features are business travel expense management (92%), strong security features (91%), and fraud prevention services (90%).
Digital Transformation of Commercial Payments is Ongoing, but Challenges Remain
- Lack of visibility across expense types (35%), difficulties tracking/managing expenses (34%), and waiting on outstanding receivables to make payments (33%) are APAC businesses greatest pain points when making payments and managing expenses.
- Travel expenses not aligning with in-trip costs (38%), timely reimbursement for employees (38%), and the inability to track, manage, and forecast employee travel (34%) are the most challenging when it comes to managing employee travel expenses.
- Integrating data from a variety of sources (47%), too much time spent on data cleaning/formatting (47%) and integrating relevant business systems (44%) are the most challenging when managing commercial payments data.
Expense management and business travel are some of the top priorities for APAC businesses; however, these areas present significant challenges.
Virtual Card Numbers (VCN) are Poised for Substantial Growth
- 53% of APAC businesses don’t currently offer or use VCN and 66% of APAC businesses don’t use VCN to pay for business expenses.
- VCNs have one of the highest rates of future implementation as (29%) of APAC businesses plan to invest in VCN or are currently in the discovery phase of implementation.
- Businesses that have implemented VCN have benefitted from improved transaction security and reduced risk (65%), greater business efficiencies (64%), and improved expense reconciliation (59%) the most.
“Virtual card numbers provide businesses with opportunities to enhance their payment capabilities and better serve their business needs and employees. It’s great to see so many businesses looking to adopt VCN solutions,” said Winter. “Whether businesses are exploring VCN for increased security or to improve their expense reconciliation capabilities, Discover Global Network can help businesses of all sizes benefit from our solution.”
