PaymentsJournal
No Result
View All Result
SIGN UP
  • Commercial
  • Credit
  • Debit
  • Digital Assets & Crypto
  • Digital Banking
  • Emerging Payments
  • Fraud & Security
  • Merchant
  • Prepaid
PaymentsJournal
  • Commercial
  • Credit
  • Debit
  • Digital Assets & Crypto
  • Digital Banking
  • Emerging Payments
  • Fraud & Security
  • Merchant
  • Prepaid
No Result
View All Result
PaymentsJournal
No Result
View All Result

Majority of Finance Professionals Say Difficulty with Collecting Cross-Border Payments Slows Global Expansion

By PaymentsJournal
April 16, 2021
in B2B, Commercial Payments, Cross-border Payments, Fraud & Security, Global Trade, Press Releases, Security
0
0
SHARES
0
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedIn
Citi Launches Their Cross-border B2B Payments Platform

Citi Launches Their Cross-border B2B Payments Platform

As the global economy becomes more “borderless,” one of the hardest things for businesses to do when expanding internationally is getting paid. In fact, a new survey of finance professionals commissioned by Flywire, a global payments enablement and software company, found that complexities with collecting cross-border payments is impacting their ability to scale their business internationally. Furthermore, 9 out of 10 respondents who have a role in handling the inbound payments at their companies said global expansion efforts could accelerate if businesses could deal with foreign exchange rates in an easier way. These same respondents report revenue loss due to operational inefficiencies with receivables processing.

For its new report, Accelerating International Business Growth Through Simplified B2B Payments, Flywire surveyed 301 CFOs, VPs of Finance, Controllers, and other executive-level finance professionals to better understand the challenges and opportunities when it comes to receiving business payments. The respondents work at middle-market organizations with an international footprint across the manufacturing, technology, consumer goods and professional services industries.

“As a global payments company serving B2B businesses, we know that when used effectively, payments can be a key enabler of global expansion. However, the status quo for many international businesses is still legacy infrastructure, old-school payment methods, and complexity with processing incoming payments,” said Ryan Frere, executive vice president and general manager of B2B at Flywire. “Our survey unveils the critical success factors for organizations to overcome the common pitfalls when it comes to transforming payments into an opportunity to achieve operational efficiency and scale.”

Inefficient Receivables Process Costing Companies Time and Money

Businesses are leaving money on the table due to antiquated payments infrastructure. As many as 55% report monthly revenue losses of between 4% and 5% due to operational inefficiencies related to their current payment processing system, and almost a quarter (23%) say they lose 6-10% of revenue.

More specifically, the majority (89%) said they lost money because of time spent on dealing with accounts receivable, with over half (54%) stating they spend 6-10 hours each month managing inbound payments that could be spent on more strategic endeavors.

Having more transparency into the receivables process can enable finance professionals to be more strategic about growing their business. In fact, more than half (51%) say the visibility into the status of incoming payments is critical for budgeting and/or managing working capital.

Concerns for Finance Professionals Span Beyond P&L

Beyond accounting, finance professionals have concerns that span security, dated infrastructure and the impact of the new administration on their business.

Cybersecurity is the leading business concern for respondents with worries around fraud (90%), being hacked (88%) and money laundering (85%) topping the list. Additionally, finance professionals cite problems with the integration of technology (90%), scaling into new regions (88%) and dealing with legacy technology (88%).

Looking ahead, business professionals are alert to the changes in political climate and have perceived notions of how it may affect their company. Eighty percent of respondents believe the Biden Administration will have an overall positive impact on their business. Despite that, respondents have concerns; 86% have regulatory concerns on how it may impact their company, and 83% are concerned about open borders and the free flow of trade.

With concerns spanning well beyond P&L, finance professionals would like to see a shift in their role and responsibilities. Over 9 in 10 finance professionals say their role needs to change from being focused on payments to more strategic activity.

“Finance professionals are increasingly tasked to do more with less; however, they often spend time on the wrong things, such manual reconciliation of payments, shoring up the security of their systems, or dealing with compliance issues,” adds Frere. “By embracing modern technology that automates the payments process with greater visibility into FX rates and receivables, finance professionals can spend more time focusing on optimizing the bottom line and strategically growing their business internationally.”

Flywire’s complete report can be found here.

Survey Methodology

Flywire commissioned Regina Corso Consulting to conduct a survey of finance professionals who work in manufacturing, technology, consumer goods or consulting/professional services to understand how they feel about the payments processes at their companies.

This survey is among 301 finance professionals who are at least a director, work in A/R, A/P, Finance, the Controller’s office or the CFO and work in a company that has between $100 million and $1 billion in revenue. All respondents also say their company has offices or subsidiaries in other countries. This survey was conducted online between February 3 and 11, 2021.

About Flywire

Flywire is a global payments enablement and software company. We combine our proprietary global payments network, next-gen payments platform and vertical-specific software to deliver the most important and complex payments for our clients and their customers.

Flywire leverages its vertical-specific software and payments technology to deeply embed within the existing A/R workflows for its clients across the education, healthcare and travel vertical markets, as well as in key B2B industries. Flywire also integrates with leading ERP systems, such as NetSuite, so organizations can optimize the payment experience for their customers while eliminating operational challenges.

Flywire offers its 2,250+ clients more than 250 payment methods and processes payments in more than 240 countries and territories around the world. The company is headquartered in Boston, MA, USA with global offices. For more information, visit www.flywire.com. Follow Flywire on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.

0
SHARES
0
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedIn
Tags: BusinessCross-Border PaymentsCybersecurityFinanceFlywireGlobal PaymentsPress Release

    Get the Latest News and Insights Delivered Daily

    Subscribe to the PaymentsJournal Newsletter for exclusive insight and data from Javelin Strategy & Research analysts and industry professionals.

    Must Reads

    Banking-as-a-service BaaS

    Remodeling Main Street: How Community Banks Can Leverage the Banking-as-a-Service Paradigm

    June 12, 2025
    How Employee Performance Enhances the Customer Experience

    Three Strategies to Maximize Loyalty in the AI-Driven World 

    June 11, 2025
    PFM tools

    How FIs Are Cutting Through Subscription Clutter with PFM Tools

    June 10, 2025
    child identity theft

    Stranger Danger: Protecting Your Children from Identity Theft

    June 9, 2025
    agentic commerce

    The Agentic Advent: How the Next Iteration of AI is Shaping Commerce

    June 6, 2025
    payments hub, digital banking

    All in One: How a Payments Hub Eliminates the Pain Points

    June 5, 2025
    Vertical SaaS

    From Underdogs to Industry Leaders: How Vertical SaaS Powers Mid-Sized Firms

    June 4, 2025
    credit card surcharging

    A Perfectly Understandable Bad Idea: Why Merchants Should Reconsider Surcharging

    June 3, 2025

    Linkedin-in X-twitter
    • Commercial
    • Credit
    • Debit
    • Digital Assets & Crypto
    • Digital Banking
    • Commercial
    • Credit
    • Debit
    • Digital Assets & Crypto
    • Digital Banking
    • Emerging Payments
    • Fraud & Security
    • Merchant
    • Prepaid
    • Emerging Payments
    • Fraud & Security
    • Merchant
    • Prepaid
    • About Us
    • Advertise With Us
    • Sign Up for Our Newsletter
    • About Us
    • Advertise With Us
    • Sign Up for Our Newsletter

    ©2024 PaymentsJournal.com |  Terms of Use | Privacy Policy

    • Commercial Payments
    • Credit
    • Debit
    • Digital Assets & Crypto
    • Emerging Payments
    • Fraud & Security
    • Merchant
    • Prepaid
    No Result
    View All Result