Two-Thirds of U.S. Businesses Surveyed Turning from Checks to More Efficient Commercial Payment Methods

Results from a survey released today by Visa USA indicate that 68 percent of the financial executives and cash managers surveyed plan to reduce their reliance on checks for commercial payments. At the same time, the survey shows that 63 percent plan to increase their use of corporate payment cards which executives view as a more efficient payment method due to enhanced transaction data reporting and visibility into cash position.

The results reveal many key trends regarding the use of checks versus corporate payment cards within the cash management process, including:

• 53 percent of respondents report using corporate payment cards to make payments, up from 41 percent in 2005.
• 40 percent said checks make up more than half of their company’s transactions when making payments, down from 66 percent a year ago.
• 44 percent said they utilize cards for receiving commercial payments, up from 27 percent last year.
• 92 percent of respondents said reduction of back office payment processing costs is influential in encouraging their company to make greater use of corporate payment cards.

“By removing checks and other costly paper-based elements from the cash management process, businesses are realizing a higher level of efficiency resulting in measurable cost savings,” said Darren Parslow, senior vice president, commercial solutions, Visa USA. “The marked decline in the use of checks, for both making and receiving commercial payments, indicates that today’s businesses are making greater use of electronic payment methods for a more streamlined cash management process.”

Growing Awareness of Cash Management Inefficiencies

The survey identified lack of streamlined operational processes as a key challenge to cash management efficiency. The percentage of respondents recognizing the following key contributors to process inefficiency has increased significantly when compared with 2005.

• Lack of streamlined operational processes (50 percent, up from 44 percent)
• Poor visibility into cash position (43 percent, up from 27 percent)
• Sluggish cash flow movement (40 percent, up from 29 percent)
• Difficulty managing cash position (31 percent, up from 23 percent)

Importance of Payment Card Integration Cited

The survey also measured the opinions and practices of financial executives toward the integration of corporate payment cards with e-procurement and enterprise resource planning (ERP) processes. Achieving more streamlined processes and cost savings were the primary reasons cited for payment card integration. Key findings in this area include:

• 76 percent of executives surveyed said utilizing both e-procurement and ERP was important to their business.
• 93 percent have integrated corporate payment cards with their e- procurement and ERP processes, with 71 percent using cards for at least 25 percent of their total transactions.
• The top three reasons for integrating corporate payment cards with e-procurement and ERP processes were:
  • Process streamlining leading to cost reduction
  • Automating expense reconciliation processes
  • Availability of transaction data for spend analysis

Additional Key Findings and Trends

The survey found that a growing number of financial executives recognize the contribution of corporate payment cards to process improvement. When comparing 2006 versus 2005 survey results, an increasing number of respondents identified key areas where payment cards have helped improve efficiency.

— Help with collections: +17 percentage points to 52 percent
— Providing new levels of data: +9 percentage points to 53 percent
— Giving more visibility into: +10 percentage points to 46 percent cash position

“This annual survey is important to Visa and our member financial institutions to help strengthen our leadership as commercial payment providers,” added Parslow. “It helps us to track trends in the attitudes of corporate financial executives regarding their cash management processes and to aid our members in better meeting the needs of the commercial payments marketplace.”

About the Visa Cash Management Survey

The Visa Cash Management Survey was conducted by Survey.com over 10 days in August 2006 and involved the responses of 400 financial executives and cash managers from across more than 20 industries. The majority of respondents (85 percent) had annual sales of more than $50 million, of which 56 percent represented companies with sales of more than $500 million annually.