More Surveys Show Less Checks

A survey conducted by the Association for Financial Professionals (AFP) further shows a trend in businesses ditching paper checks in lieu of new electronic payment methods.

According to the survey, checks now make up 50 percent of all B2B payment methods. While still the top way to pay, this marks an overall decline of seven percent from 2010 and an impressive 31 percent from 2004.

Similarly, checks are used for collection 50 percent of the time as well, with a dip of 4 percent since 2010 and 25 percent since 2004.

Currently, 19 percent of the almost 500 companies surveyed by AFP say they are making the majority of their payments via something other than a check—an increase of 6 percent since 2010. And it seems more adoption is on the way with companies saying they are very likely and somewhat likely to convert to electronic payments at about 50 percent and 25 percent respectively.

57 percent of companies using electronic payments cite lower costs as the number one incentive.

While 75 percent of businesses saying they are looking to go paperless sounds promising for the electronic payments industry, there are still some issues holding companies back.

As far as B2B electronic payment adoption goes, sub-par IT skills and, as we’ve discussed before, the inability to integrate accounting software are among the top five reasons companies are hesitant to move beyond the paper check.

From what companies are saying, it seems that the ball is in the developers’ court. The desire to move to electronic payments is there, it’s just a matter of who is going to provide the easiest route.