The UK’s international payments hub

The Bottomline 2021 Business Payments Barometer is a report that analyzes business payments in the UK. The sixth edition reveals that nearly half of businesses in Britain (47%) have difficulty managing the processing of outbound international payments due to the difficulty of tracking them, while 40% fail to pay international suppliers on time. These are above all problems perceived by small businesses, which are more reluctant to initiate international payments (38% versus 10% of large companies). The report highlights the need to remove barriers and improve the management of international payments to stimulate the economy and increase business confidence. Paul Fannon, Bottomline Managing Director, Global Business Solutions explains: “To foster trade and economic growth, more needs to be done to highlight the opportunity to use modern digital payment tools that can simplify cross-border payments and streamline operations. . It is perfectly reasonable for all companies to pay international invoices or transfer funds with the same degree of security, ease and control as a National payment ”. For businesses of all sizes, priorities are focused on maintaining liquidity and survival rather than business transformation and digital acceleration. Nearly 1 in 2 companies (48%) had to accept new payment methods in 2020, with 30% saying they started receiving mobile payments during the pandemic as a way to overcome the difficulties associated with collecting cash. In contrast, just under half of organizations say their cash flow forecasts are rarely accurate, not least because 37% of small businesses still use manual calculations in Excel. Smaller organizations also appear to be the most clueless about technology: only 32% of small businesses have adopted real-time payments (RTP), compared to 61% of corporate organizations. they affect companies regardless of size, although concerns about them are more heated among larger companies. Large companies feel significantly more likely than smaller companies to be affected by external cyber fraud (69% versus 49%) and on payments (65% versus 41%). The perception of cyber fraud also depends on the new operational circumstances due to the shift towards online and remote working methods and the contraction of confidence associated with the losses accumulated during the pandemic: corporate enterprises have seen their losses increase by 20% in a single year. Fannon concludes by explaining that: “As we move towards hybrid business models, developing a multi-layered security strategy will be critical for organizations of all sizes to ensure that internal fraud does not expand further.”