Failing payment systems are negatively impacting staff workloads, according to LexisNexis Risk Solutions.
The finding, which was included in LexisNexis Risk Solutions' True Impact of Failed Payments Report, outlined that 64 per cent of 400 payment executives interviewed said they are negatively impacted by a broken payment system.
Rapid digital acceleration in the payments space raises customer and supplier expectations for payments experiences. Therefore, balancing speed, accuracy and safety is essential to improve the aforementioned statistic, LexisNexis Risk Solutions says.
Problems with bank beneficiary name and address details are the most common source of payment delay or failure (21 per cent), the report found. These details are also the single largest data payment element to be manually checked by humans, which can lead to more errors being made.
Companies that have the highest levels of straight-through processing (STP) payments and automation are very sensitive to failed and delayed payments, and estimate they lose a significant number of customers due to these factors.
LexisNexis Risk Solutions found that companies with more than 10,000 staff lose a higher percentage of customers than small companies. The average payment team size for the largest companies is around 1 per cent of the total workforce, with similar results in all regions.
Other than in APAC, banks tend to have smaller payment teams than corporates, due to a higher level of automation, LexisNexis Risk Solutions outlines.
The True Cost of Failed Payments study was independently conducted in the autumn of 2022 by Capgemini Invent on behalf of LexisNexis RS. Capgemini Invent did not identify LexisNexis Risk Solutions as the research sponsor to participants.
The study surveyed 400 payment executives representing leading corporations, financial institutions, banks and non-financial corporations across the APAC, EMEA, LATAM and North America regions.
Dalbir Sahota, senior director, payments at LexisNexis Risk Solutions, comments: "Our report shows that failed payments are detrimental to customer retention, increase staff workloads and create additional costs. Businesses must keep up with the competition at a time when technology and real-time payment initiatives are rapidly changing the marketplace.”
He adds: "STP offers an automated way for companies to offer customers a smooth payment process and the report illustrates the value of investing in this area. Free tools may sound attractive, but the financial reality is unappealing, with our report showing low STP rates among those that use the most basic of searches. Sophisticated payment data solutions enhance service levels and reduce costs associated with failed and repaired payments.”
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