According to its findings, almost 46% of North American companies involved with international commerce expect to utilise international payments more in 2016 than in 2015. That is why 29% are planning to start using, or plan to upgrade their online automated international payments tools in the next 12 months to increase operational efficiency, mitigate risk and reduce costs.
AFEX’s first annual State of International Payments Report, which polled more than 500 financial decision makers at SMEs and corporations from across the globe who engage in an estimated USD 230 million worth of international transactions per month, reveals that despite uncertainty in global markets, these firms anticipate faster growth in international markets than domestic.
The data supports the findings in Digital Globalization: The New Era of Global Flow from the McKinsey Global Institute, which asserts that almost all cross-border commerce now entails a digital component. Increased data flow, expected to rise nine-fold over the next several years according to the report, will enable more rapid movement of goods, services and financial transactions.
52% of the 29% of the North American firms that plan to introduce or enhance their automated payment technologies said reducing the amount of time they spend processing payments was a key reason for turning to automation. 43% are seeking the ability to make and receive payments in real-time. 27% are adopting automated payments technologies to drive down the costs associated with making international payments.
Over the last 12 months, nearly 24% of those North American businesses have experienced FX volatility when making or receiving international payments and 22% experienced a delay in receiving payment. Around 9% had an international payment fail or get lost while transferring, while 5% experienced fraudulent activity. Of those that experienced issues when transacting business internationally, 22% saw their profitability hit while 4% lost business as a result.
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