What’s Preventing Electronic Payment Adoption?
Blog
More and more Real Estate companies wish to pay their suppliers electronically.
But there are four major barriers that stand in the way of this digital evolution.
- Supplier resistance: 74 percent of businesses cite difficulty convincing suppliers to accept electronic payments as a barrier to electronic payments adoption, according to the Association for Financial Professionals (AFP). Small businesses, in particular, are seen as being unable or unwilling to receive electronic payments, the Remittance Coalition reports.
- Lack of IT resources: 71 percent of businesses say a shortage of technology resources is their biggest barrier to implementing electronic payments, according to AFP research. In fact, competing technology initiatives is the number one obstacle to getting payables automation projects approved, according to IFO’s AP Automation Study. 38 percent of suppliers surveyed by the Remittance Coalition said their organization does not have adequate IT resources to support automating more of its remittance processing.
- Lack of remittance standards: 70 percent of businesses say the lack of a standard format for remittance information is a barrier to electronic payments adoption, according to AFP’s Electronic Payments Study. The lack of remittance standards makes it difficult to readily exchange and automate electronic remittance information. For instance, businesses report that remittance data is frequently missing key fields or contains incorrect information. 33 percent of businesses surveyed by the Remittance Coalition said their suppliers cannot apply electronic remittance information. With 88 percent of businesses expressing a high (51 percent) or moderate (37 percent) interest in automating the exchange and reconciliation of remittances, Real Estate companies must find a way to get their suppliers the remittance information they need to drive electronic payments adoption.
- Integration issues: 66 percent of businesses say a lack of integration between electronic payments and accounting systems is a barrier to electronic payments adoption, according to AFP’s Electronic Payments Study. For instance, 22 percent of businesses surveyed by the Remittance Coalition said that difficulty verifying the receipt of correct payments is a barrier to electronic payments adoption. Real Estate companies must ensure connectivity between electronic payments and their enterprise resource planning (ERP), accounting, and other back-office financial systems, as well as their financial institution.