Versapay CPO Discusses Payment Trends with Global Fintech Series
- 3 min read
Versapay's Chief Product Officer, Christy Johnson, was interviewed by Global Fintech Series, focusing on AR and B2B payment trends, our product roadmap, and the transformative impact of AI on payments.
![Leadership Christy square](https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/learned-skunk/production/Leadership-Christy-square.png?w=768&h=763&auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=crop&dm=1719343989&s=7d06a5f84dbe0dc83af606382a797445)
From the article:
"What are some of the top AR and B2B payment trends from the global fintech market that have piqued your interest of late?
Business resiliency and the ability to accelerate the Invoice-to-Cash process has never as critical as now. COVID-19 was a real-life example of this: cash didn’t flow through the ‘system’ with checks literally sitting on desks in empty offices waiting to be cashed. Yet, the move from offline to online payments in business-to-business is still check-heavy due to several reasons ranging from inertia to cost. I am interested to see how customers’ demand for choice and options that they are used to in daily consumer life extends to business context and how that accelerates further digital payment adoption – virtual cards, mobile point of sale, and eWallets are all on my mind. Virtual cards are a good example of this because adoption has been slower than expected; 80% of buyers favor virtual cards but use them for just 2% of their AP transactions. Willingness of supplier acceptance and the understanding of the value proposition are hurdles to overcome as well as the perception of fees being higher than ACH/check fees (because they are not).
In getting to know Versapay’s customers, I’ve become very aware of the desire for more efficiencies and collaboration in the collections process to improve customer relationships and protect their businesses. Collections teams constantly need to know who to chase and when, often relying on complicated manual processes and spreadsheets to enable their workflows. Poor collections processes drive up Days Sales Outstanding (DSO) and put constant pressure on working capital. Other areas of fintech, and frankly outside of fintech—like CRM—have examined similar workflows and successfully solved for infusing data-driven automation to move away from traditional manual, multi-tool processes to unburden time in knowing who to call first and what to do when. The future of collections is enabling teams to be more efficient, tailoring and customizing dunning strategies for each customer, optimizing their propensity to pay and improving overall financial performance.
One more force driving what’s next in AR and B2B payments that’s on my mind is Generation Z. Gen Z employees and customers will shape the products they use and what they expect from them. We saw this in consumer banking, and I expect this to play a role in business-to-business payments. Gen Z-ers were born into a digital world with smartphones and expect fast, seamless experiences. When encountering friction, they have the highest checkout abandonment rate, which is significant for Versapay because Gen Z will comprise 32% of the workforce within the next couple of years. With this will come expectations of a fast, completely digital, and frictionless experience that will extend beyond their consumer experiences into business-to-business payments."
Read the full interview in Global Fintech Series.
About Versapay
For growing businesses that need to accomplish more with less, Versapay’s Accounts Receivable Efficiency Suite simplifies the invoice-to-cash process by automating invoicing, facilitating B2B payments, and streamlining cash application with AI. Versapay integrates natively with top ERPs, while allowing businesses to collect with a self-serve payment portal and collaborate with customers and teammates to resolve what automation alone can’t. Owned by Great Hill Partners, Versapay’s employee base spans the U.S. and Canada with offices in Atlanta and Miami. With 10,000 customers and 5M+ companies transacting, Versapay facilitates 110M+ transactions and processes $170B+ in payments volume annually.
Join the conversation at linkedin.com/company/versapay and x.com/Versapay. To learn more about how Versapay unlocks accounts receivable efficiency, visit: versapay.com.