This session of Accounts Payable Technology Week focuses on payments, specifically, payments that can be used in lieu of paper checks. Since the payment issue is so critical it is being used to launch AP Technology Week. It is one of five parts of a limited series focused on fraud in the #accountspayable function.

#Accountspayabletechnologyweek was designed to present information to the accounts payable community about a number of important issues related to technology. Clearly #payments is an important one and getting rid of as many inefficient, costly paper checks is at the top of the list. Checks remain the most commonly used payment tool, although ACH, or electronic payments have clearly been growing. Use of p-cards or company credit cards has also been expanding. In fact, it is generally considered an accounts payable best practice to try and eliminate as many paper checks as possible, with #ACH at the top of the list. #pcards #companycreditcards

Industry thought leaders, Recharged Education’s Lynn Larson and Nacha’s Rob Unger are the guests on this panel as each has specialized expertise of interest to our audience. You can learn more about their organizations using the links below:

Learn more about Nacha: https://www.nacha.org/

Learn more about Recharged Education: https://www.recharged-education.com/

There was also a brief discussion of fraud and more specifically accounts payable fraud throughout the session. Payment fraud has become a huge issue.

Another area that has come under some scrutiny are the accounts payable portals, which some refer to as vendor portals or automation portals. These AP automation and invoice automation solutions are often quite popular with the accounts payable community but much less popular with the AR and credit community. The vendors are also sometimes not enthused with vendor master portals when they are of the self-service variety. A discussion of the use of virtual cards was included.

The session included a brief explanation of Nacha’s new Phixius solution. Although both guests claim to not be instant payment experts both had some real insights into how real time payments are likely to impact that payment space. There was a brief explanation towards the end of the consulting services offered by Nacha Consulting and Recharged Education Consulting. Payment efficiency and payment innovation were the themes of this AP Now podcast.

This is Episode 101 of the AP Now podcast.

Learn more about AP Now: https://www.ap-now.com

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Host: Mary Schaeffer (https://www.ap-now.com/)

Guest: Lynn Larson ( https://www.recharged-education.com/)

Guest: Rob Unger (https://www.recharged-education.com/)

Credit: Music: https://www.purple-planet.com