More than half of financial executives across 20 industries said they will be reducing their organizations' reliance on checks as a form of commercial payment. The findings are part of Visa USA's second annual cash management survey, which additionally found that of the 51% who plan to use fewer checks, 40% of that group said they will do so by increasing usage of commercial payment cards.
The responses indicate that a significant and growing perception among financial executives is that commercial payment cards play a very important role in almost every aspect of the cash management process, Visa said.
"Some key activities companies hope will reduce costs and boost operating efficiency include the increased use of electronic payments through cards and the elimination of paper checks and invoices," it added.
Visa's analysis said that while few corporate CFOs, treasurers and controllers find their current cash flow and cash management processes to be highly efficient, the survey findings indicated some improvement in achieving greater process efficiency. Nine percent of respondents in 2003 rated their cash flow management process as "very efficient," increasing to 13% this year.
