Contents tagged with Payment Industry News

  • Analysts predict B2B online retail industry will be worth $6.7 trillion by 2020

    January 21, 2015
    The B2B online market is expected to grow to a value of $6.7 trillion within the next five years.

    Although already valued at over $1 trillion, the B2B online retail industry is expected to grow by leaps and bounds over the next five years, according to a new report released by Research and Markets.

    The analysis, entitled "Future of B2B Online Retailing," forecasts that the B2B online market will grow to a whopping $6.7 trillion by 2020, spurred predominantly by the transition of "manufacturers and wholesalers from legacy systems to open, online platforms." This migration to new B2B ecommerce solutions is also expected to facilitate a significant spike in transaction volume and wider-net B2B online relationships, with a greater degree of merchant interaction.

    The increasing B2B-friendliness of ecommerce platforms like Amazon and Alibaba will play an influential role in this … more

  • Could cyber thieves target B2B payments in 2015?

    January 12, 2015
    Cyber thieves may be setting their sights on the traditional B2B payments space, according to a new security analysis.

    Last year saw a significant uptick in cybercriminal activity, with hackers and digital thieves successfully and routinely cracking the IT security of several major companies, infiltrating databases and stealing millions of confidential personnel and consumer records. While this jump in identity theft and cybercrime has spurred more businesses into doubling down on their data security efforts, it also raises the question: What's next? Where will cyber thieves be setting their sights in the new year?

    A new article at PYMNTS.com sheds light on that very issue, highlighting the risk that both B2C and B2B payment solutions will likely face from cybercriminals in the months ahead. Analysts from IT security vendor Kaspersky Labs commented on how ATMs, point-of-sale systems in brick- … more

  • GSA calls for more agencies to push SmartPay over charge cards

    January 12, 2015
    The GSA is looking to continue pushing SmartPay 3 over plastic credit cards.

    The federal government currently uses over 265,000 active charge cards for its purchasing needs, but that may change with the General Services Administration (GSA) pushing for more widespread adoption of SmartPay 3.

    Last month, the GSA filed a request to the financial services industry for information on best practices for updating SmartPay — already in use at 350 government agencies — to help facilitate more transactions with greater depths of line item data. This level of detail afforded by GSA purchasing allows agencies to cut down on instances of abuse, fraud and waste in B2G dealings.

    "[SmartPay] is an extremely effective and successful payment solution that has proven to streamline the business of conducting everyday transaction for federal agencies," … more

  • 2 trends you can expect from B2B payments in 2015

    January 09, 2015
    2014 was a major year for B2C ecommerce -- will 2015 yield similar success for B2B payment solutions?

    While 2014 was a great year for B2C ecommerce transactions, B2B payment solutions by and large suffered from many of the usual pitfalls: overly complicated payment gateways, rife with opportunities for errors. Will 2015 be more of the same, or will the next 12 months see a big step forward for the B2B payment gateway space?

    Here are two major trends we can expect to see for B2B ecommerce solutions throughout the new year, according to SAP Business Trends:

    Data breach threats place renewed priority on risk protection: 2014 was, unfortunately, a banner year for data breaches and cyber theft. Businesses throughout the world, both large and small, suffered significant IT security breaches that left corporate, client and consumer records exposed. With more of these … more

  • GSA SmartPay Purchase Cards accounted for $26 billion, 90 million transactions in 2014 government contracts

    January 07, 2015
    Last year the federal government paid for 90 million transactions with SmartPay GSA purchasing cards.

    GSA purchasing cards are becoming an increasingly important element of B2G, particularly as the federal government spends billions of dollars every year in buying goods and services from registered contractors. To that end, more and more government buyers are turning to GSA SmartPay Purchase Cards — one of four certified government credit cards — as the predominant method of garnering funds for services rendered by procurement officers. So much so, in fact, that according to a new press release issued by the General Services Administration (GSA), SmartPay cards — touted as "the largest government payment program in the world" — accounted for approximately $26.4 billion and 90 million transactions in government agency purchases throughout 2014 … more

  • Is Twitter about to set up an eCommerce platform?

    September 04, 2014
    Recent reports suggest that popular social network Twitter could be the next business to build an eCommerce platform.

    We're used to hearing news about the successful eCommerce platforms of online shopping businesses. Just recently, for example, both Amazon and eBay announced that their overall sales have jumped significantly, leading to higher revenue reports. In particular, B2B sales for both companies actually grew faster than retail sales.

    So, it makes sense that other players in the online marketplace will try to build their own B2B eCommerce solution in order to meet growing demand. Recent reports suggest that popular social network Twitter could be the next business to make an entrance.

    According to an article on PYMNTS.com, a number of people have found hints about Twitter's plans for the future of its offerings within its Android app. In one instance, a user found a "payment and shipping" … more

  • How small businesses can win government contracts

    April 17, 2014
    The Federal Government allocated over 23 percent of its spending to small businesses for the first time since 2005.

    The GSA Smartpay program is the largest government payments program in the world. More than 350 government organizations use roughly 3 million cards to make around 100 million transactions each year. This accounts for $30 billion in annual spending — money that's available to merchants who are able to secure these contracts. 

    Now is a great time for small companies to get involved with the government contract business. According to the Small Business Dashboard posted at data.gov, the federal government spent $83.2 billion in contracts with small businesses in the year ended September 2013. This represented 23.4 percent of all government contracts, meaning that for the first time since 2005, the government reached its goal of awarding 23 percent of federal … more

  • Making mobile purchases easier to complete can boost your bottom line

    April 08, 2014
    Making the purchasing process as fast and easy as possible can help B2B merchants close more deals through their eCommerce platform.

    A recent article submitted to Mobile Payments Today by the staff of the Electronic Transactions Association (ETA) looked at the growing importance of mobile commerce and the steps merchants can take to ensure that they are maximizing the potential of this channel.

    Google's Ariel Bardin explained that the increasing ubiquity of smartphones and tablets is "blurring the lines between the online and offline worlds. People are growing to expect the ability to transact instantly using their smartphones—whether they're in cyberspace or standing in your retail space."

    ETA CEO Jason Oxman discussed the problem of shopping cart abandonment, calling it "one of the major issues merchants are facing when it comes to mobile." He said mobile payments need to be made "faster and easier" to … more

  • Department of Defense one of the government's top spenders

    April 02, 2014
    The DoD is one of the top spenders in the government.

    Understanding trends in government spending will allow you to prepare yourself as a merchant to best meet the needs of these customers with adequate payment processing tools. Processing government payments requires the right platform, particularly if you're working with agencies using GSA SmartPay cards.

    The SmartPay program has been in place for roughly 25 years, and recently the Department of Defense has emerged as the top spender on GSA's government-wide contracts. Earlier this month, shortly after the government surpassed $1 billion spent on GSA contracts for the year, it was revealed that Defense components and the military services accounted for just about half of that spending. 

    As this blog mentioned late last year, the Level-3 GSA mandate is being put into … more

  • Reversing the late payment culture

    February 24, 2014
    Reversing the late payment culture is a priority at many organizations.

    As part of the extended efforts to improve economic viability across the corporate landscape, one of the primary objectives of many organizations is to reduce the amount of late payments made by customers. 

    One professional says it's about getting tough and forcing a cultural change. John Newcomb, managing director of the Builders Merchants Federation (BMF), is calling on his country's government to enforce organizations to be more strict with payment timelines. 

    "The trend by some builders and contractors to move to 120 days as a default position has to be confronted," said BMF managing director John Newcomb. "The primary issue is adhering to agreed terms. Late means late, not extended. The secondary issue is whether a supplier is forced to agree a … more