Capital One Survey Reveals Opportunities for Innovation from Commercial Card Providers

Published : 6 years ago, on 23/05/2018

As the commercial card industry matures, a recent survey from Capital One indicates that 40 percent of industry professionals plan to implement new services in the coming year. This represents the lowest percentage of respondents planning to adopt new services in the three-year history of Capital One’s poll of corporate card end-users at the annual NAPCP Commercial Card & Payment Conference. The survey also noted that 85 percent of professionals seeking these new services will turn to their current commercial card providers to explore their options, while only 12 percent plan to switch providers.

However, while many survey respondents may not have plans in place to adopt new services in the next year, 35 percent said that they are still interested in learning about both innovations in electronic payments as well as how to improve vendor acceptance of commercial cards.

“As the payments industry matures, end users are looking for innovative ways to increase efficiency and drive value for their businesses. They rely on their providers to proactively deliver new and pioneering features that better meet their needs,” said Rick Elliott, Senior Vice President and Head of Commercial Card at Capital One. “The interest end users have in exploring new payments technologies is exciting. It provides us with the opportunity to innovate with new tools and features. This not only supports our clients directly but also promotes growth in card acceptance from their suppliers by demonstrating the relative speed and security of payments made using a commercial card in comparison to traditional payments by check.”

Capital One’s survey also reveals that there is opportunity for growth in specific technologies; less than half of respondents (47 percent) said they have access to a mobile application that allows them to view and manage commercial card transactions and/or manage and submit travel expenses remotely. Of this number, only 48 percent have one application that covers both tasks. However, there is also a need for providers to highlight the benefits and drive interest in these advances; those without a mobile application report that their primary barrier to adopting the technology is a belief that their current system is sufficient (26 percent).

“There is clearly an appetite for new technology in commercial card and payments services,” Elliott adds. “The onus is on commercial card providers to work closely with end users to identify their needs and develop solutions that meet those needs. We believe that Capital One is well-positioned to impact payments broadly, by taking a client-centric approach to create efficiencies and add value to the payments landscape.”