[July 12, 2018] |
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WEX Survey Unveils Senior Financial Executives' Thoughts on Future of Payments
WEX
Inc. (NYSE: WEX), a leading provider of corporate payment solutions,
released the results of a third-party survey to gauge views of the
payments-processing ecosystem from chief financial officers and senior
financial executives across the globe.
The survey of more than 900 CFOs and senior financial executives from
the U.S., Europe and Asia/Oceana revealed that strong faith in the cloud
prevails in this group. Large majorities of surveyed executives (the
lowest is Asia, with 76 percent) trust cloud-based systems more than
locally hosted ERP/AP systems to keep account payables secure. A vast
majority of surveyed businesses (with Asia again the lowest, at 86
percent) are currently using cloud-based payments platforms.
Safety, in fact, came up as a primary concern, with 53 percent of
American executives and 49 percent of European financial executives
likely to be very concerned about information security as it relates to
payments, compared to just 26 percent of their Asian counterparts. But
overall, between 58 percent and 68 percent of respondents from all
regions rated security of transactions as the most important attribute
of a payments solution.
The data uncovered six additional key trends:
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Not going entirely paperless just yet: Companies are still writing
checks for business payments. Checks are the most common form of
payments in both the U.S. and Asia. In the U.S., it's checks first (76
percent), then mobile payments (75 percent), virtual cards and
accounts (73 percent) and traditional ACH (73 percent). In Asia,
checks (80 percent) and mobile payments (71 percent) also dominate. In
Europe, virtual cards and accounts, and BACS/CHAPS are tied for first
place, with 57 percent each.
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E-pay on the way up: Half of businesses have an electronic payables
initiative already in place; another third has one in the works.
Just about half (50 percent in U.S., 56 percent in Europe and 43
percent in Asia/Oceania) of surveyed businesses have already
implemented an electronic payables initiative, and more than one-third
(37 percent in U.S., 38 percent in Europe and 42 percent in
Asia/Oceania) have one underway. Almost all (89 percent in U.S., 91
percent in Europe and 85 percent in Asia/Oceania) of those who say
they have a payables initiative in the works are planning to launch it
in the next six to 12 months.
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Suppliers engagement is critical: Financial executives believe
maintaining positive relationships with suppliers is as important as
introducing new technologies. Overwhelming majorities-95 percent
in the U.S. and Europe, 94 percent in Asia/Oceania-of those surveyed
agree. Additionally, across the board, more than 85 percent of
executives surveyed told us that they have been at least somewhat
successful in brokering suppliers' adoption/engagement with electronic
payments; more than half (51 percent) of U.S. executives we polled
rated their supplier adoption as very successful. From the other side
of the table, suppliers across markets value security and speed of
settlement, as well as cost of acceptance as the most important
aspects of an accounts payable solution.
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Hungry for more: Appetite is strong for further innovation and
disruption in payments. Most surveyed executives agree that
payments providers should offer more innovative technology (81 percent
at least somewhat agree) and that consumer behaviors strongly
influence their business's use of payments technology innovations (80
percent).
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Leaders of the pack: The finance/banking industry is seen as a
pioneer in the payments and the new technology space. Survey
respondents see finance/banking as an overwhelming favorite (54
percent) to be the first industry to successfully implement blockchain
and is seen as the most innovative industry with respect to payments.
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Best on the block: Executives are very optimistic about the effect
of blockchain on their businesses. Large majorities of surveyed
executives (over 80 percent everywhere) feel at least somewhat
confident in their understanding of the function and capabilities of
blockchain and distributed ledger technologies. American executives
are particularly confident in this regard, with over half being
"extremely confident."
"We at WEX recognize the importance of maintaining a forward-looking
perspective on what's happening on the payments landscape," said Jay
Dearborn, President, WEX Corporate Payments, WEX Inc. "The survey
findings support our belief that the e-Payables industry and trend is
showing no signs of deceleration, and new technologies are key to
delivering faster, more secure payments and settlements to companies. We
continue to innovate in terms of product development in order to provide
our customers with the service they expect, as well as the nimble
product innovation capabilities and payments security they deserve."
Methodology WEX Inc. commissioned Zogby Analytics to conduct
an online survey of CFOs and senior financial executives in the U.S.,
Europe and Asia/Oceania. From April 13 to April 24, 2018, 501 CFOs and
senior financial executives from the U.S., 206 from Singapore, Hong Kong
and Australia (combined), and 207 from France, Germany, Italy, Spain and
the U.K. (combined) completed the survey. Based on a confidence interval
of 95%, the margin of error (MOE) is ± 4.4 percentage points for the
U.S., ± 6.8 percentage points for Europe and ± 6.8 percentage points for
Asia/Oceana.
About WEX Inc. Powered by the belief that complex
payment systems can be made simple, WEX Inc. (NYSE: WEX) is a leading
provider of payment processing and business solutions across a wide
spectrum of sectors, including fleet, travel and healthcare. WEX
operates in more than 10 countries and in more than 20 currencies
through more than 3,300 associates around the world. WEX fleet cards
offer 11.5 million vehicles exceptional payment security and control;
purchase volume in its travel and corporate solutions grew to $30.3
billion in 2017; and the WEX Health financial technology platform helps
300,000 employers and more than 25 million consumers better manage
healthcare expenses. For more information, visit www.wexinc.com.
About Zogby Analytics Zogby Analytics is respected
nationally and internationally for its opinion research capabilities.
Since 1984, Zogby has empowered clients with powerful information and
knowledge critical for making informed strategic decisions. The firm
conducts multiphased opinion research engagements for banking and
financial services institutions, insurance companies, hospitals and
medical centers, retailers and developers, religious institutions,
cultural organizations, colleges and universities, IT companies, and
federal agencies. Zogby's dedication and commitment to excellence and
accuracy are reflected in its state-of-the-art opinion research
capabilities and objective analysis and consultation.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180712005134/en/
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