The supply chain issues that surfaced during the pandemic are part of a much deeper problem that also stems from a lack of payment automation. Business payment technology typically lags what banks offer to consumers, largely because both a supplier and client must be able to use the same methods — consistently and reliably — to move money.
“The corporate entities have different procurement and payment processes, and they may not always follow best practices,” said Marco Salazar, director of payments for Javelin Strategy & Research in Chicago. “That makes it hard for banks or payment companies to offer a system that is configurable to meet the needs for a bunch of companies that want to do things their own way.”
To streamline business-to-business payments, banks and fintechs are deploying open technology development and blockchain, the distributed ledger technology behind cryptocurrency, to address specific pain points such as currency conversion, compliance, and invoicing.
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