“My Bank Card Program is a Failure”
We have talked to hundreds of large enterprises over the past year. A significant challenge for our sponsors in securing buy-in from their peers is the past failure of bank card programs. No surprise to us, that’s why we started Lucrotec. We are disrupting the B2B payments industry.
Disruptors of any industry need to explain how they are different, solve the obstacles of the old solution, and help potential customers understand the new value proposition.
This post is a short, high-level explanation of why the old-fashioned bank card programs fail and why enterprises are turning to Lucrotec for managed payment solutions.
Reason #1 – Bank programs are too much work
This statement applies to both the payer (AP staff) and the payee (AR staff). Typical bank programs usually require full-time accounts payable headcount to generate meaningful acceptance and benefits. The overhead required and the results achieved often create the impression that the programs are barely worth it. The real challenge, however, is that of your supplier’s AR staff.
Imagine you have hundreds of customers that are using bank card programs to pay you. Almost all of the programs require the supplier to receive an email, do some manual work to get card information, then manually enter that in their card processing system. This reason alone stops many suppliers from accepting your bank card program (even the ones that normally accept credit card payment).
“We take cards, but not from you.” Ouch. This is not so with Lucrotec. Our solution greatly decreases the work for both the AP and AR staff. Our managed payment service is powered by automation and intelligent payment routing that meets your suppliers where they are today. No process changes.
Reason #2 – Bank programs have low acceptance
On average, bank programs have acceptance rates of below 10%. It’s no wonder that enterprises are not impressed. Not only are bank programs notoriously hard to implement and require more work to operate, the results are almost always below expectations.
The main reasons for supplier acceptance rates being low are:
- Banks require process changes at the supplier payment receipt end
- Most suppliers need to add manual processes to receive bank program payments
- Suppliers prefer to receive cards only through their automated portals and banks are not set up to deliver this way
- Suppliers require more data to receive a payment, bank programs are not good at managing extra data requirements
- Caps or fees associated with card payments that the banks can’t navigate
There are more, but the above reasons are enough to account for the lack of success. This is not the case with Lucrotec. Our solution is supplier friendly. We pay suppliers through their preferred routes, intelligently managing and navigating information requirements, fees & caps, automated portals and routes – all with ZERO supplier process change.
Request a full briefing on how you can succeed with Lucrotec vs. a bank card program.