A recent whitepaper issued by The Payments Association shows how virtual cards offer strategic opportunities for companies. It also explores how the payment method can empower businesses to adapt to fast-changing market conditions, take control of expenditure, and uncover unique business intelligence insights that will elevate them above their competitors.
 
As Virtual Cards: How companies can unlock the €5 trillion bionic B2B opportunity highlights, the emergence of virtual cards as an extension of commercial credit, debit and prepaid cards is transforming B2B payments. They are unlocking vast revenue, data and operational strengths for the companies that use them.
 
The global value of virtual card transactions is expected to soar from €1.8 trillion (£1.6 trillion) in 2021 to an astronomical €6.7 trillion (£5.7 trillion) by 2026. With 70% (nearly €5 trillion) of all value coming from B2B transactions, fuelled by the urgent need for companies to optimise back-office processes, speed up payment flows and supplier onboarding, minimise risk and reduce fraud.
 

Andrew Auden, Senior Director of B2B Payments at FIS, comments: “The use of virtual cards has remained frustratingly slow outside of specific verticals or geographies. However, that is now changing quickly. Virtual cards can be embedded seamlessly in payment journeys, delivering working capital benefits for both buyers and suppliers, as well as finely tuned controls to avoid misuse or fraud while supporting rich integrated data to help reporting, accounting and reconciliation processes.”
 

The whitepaper outlines how companies are currently managing their B2B payment processes, and where virtual cards can be introduced to create game-changing efficiencies through faster-guaranteed settlements, increased control and security, and enriched transaction data that enable accurate reporting and reconciliation. Taking expert insights and case studies from some of the industry’s leading minds, including, Kris Carrera, Head of UK & EU Payments at FIS Card Solutions, Thomas Dunn, Chairman of Orbian and Simon Kelly, Director of Sales at Conferma Pay, this paper harnesses the tactics that companies need to tap into the readily available benefits on offer with virtual cards.
 

Tony Craddock, Director General at The Payments Association, adds: “This is a key piece of research that we’re releasing to our members. As companies across more sectors see the tangible benefits of digitising payment and operational processes, virtual cards will help them to unlock more competitive strengths, infuse more agility and speed throughout their operations, and tap into a goldmine of data analytics. With these powerful, bionic advantages, small and large businesses can make quantum leaps forward.”
 

To download a copy of the report, please visit: https://thepaymentsassociation.org/whitepaper/virtual-cards-how-companies-can-unlock-the-5-trillion-bionic-b2b-opportunity