CHERRY HILL, N.J., Dec. 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- As every facet
of the financial services industry faces the imminent shift to
digital platforms, more than one-third of treasury and financial
professionals have heightened awareness of the growing risks of
fraud and cyber-attacks, shows TD Bank's Treasury Management
Survey. Heading into 2017, corporate treasury and finance
professionals cite protecting assets, securing transactions and
cybersecurity as top priorities.
TD Bank surveyed more than 350 financial professionals at the
2016 Association of Financial Professionals conference to learn
more about their concerns and opportunities.
"The transition to electronic receivables and payables can
improve organizational efficiency and reduce costs in financial
departments, but these moves do create additional organizational
risks," said Rick Burke, Head of
Corporate Products and Services, TD Bank. "While there are numerous
benefits to automating these processes, companies need to work with
a trusted partner that will provide tools and insights to help them
to protect their data, transactions and company assets."
The Digital Shift
Financial executives' increasing concerns around cybersecurity
are merited, as more and more organizations are expected to move to
digital transactions. Only 17 percent of respondents said that they
have paper-free receivables today, but this is set to dramatically
change as 69 percent reported they expect their organization to
begin the transition to electronic payments in the near future.
While corporate treasury is undergoing a digital transformation,
it will not happen overnight. Forty-seven percent of respondents
said they expect it will take between one and two years for their
organization to move most receivables from paper to electronic, and
20 percent said it will take three to four years. When the shift
does happen, more than half of executives believe it will save 6-15
percent of their departments' work hours, indicating that
automation of receivables is worth the investment, saving companies
both time and money in the long haul.
Corporate Inertia
The majority of respondents said they expect the implementation
of electronic invoicing systems to save their company a significant
amount of time, so why aren't all organizations migrating to
paperless processes? The results indicate that corporate inertia is
a major obstacle.
Approximately two-fifths (42 percent) of respondents believe the
biggest barrier to adopting paperless receivables is internal
resistance to change as their organization is 'content with the
current process'. Other barriers include:
- The lengthy transition time and required IT resources – 24
percent
- Antiquated company infrastructures – 18 percent
- The expense of implementation – 8 percent
Challenges — and Changes
Although the overarching trend from the survey was growing
anxiety around cybersecurity, these professionals have additional
concerns, including:
- The strict regulatory environment – 30 percent
- The ability of their organization to adapt to faster payments –
20 percent
- Impending interest rate hikes – 15 percent
In response, organizations plan to invest in cyber and fraud
security protections (31 percent) and faster and integrated
accounts payable capabilities (26 percent) in the next year. Other
considerations include investment management and monitoring systems
(21 percent) and mobile/online self-service capabilities (20
percent).
For the full survey results, please visit
https://mediaroom.tdbank.com/TDTreasuryManagementSurveyResults.
Survey Methodology
TD Bank polled finance professionals at the 2016 Association of
Financial Professionals Conference held in Orlando, Florida, in October. A total of 353
responses were collected from industry professionals including
business end-users and financial and technology services
organizations.
About TD Bank, America's Most Convenient Bank®
TD Bank, America's Most Convenient Bank, is one of the 10
largest banks in the U.S., providing more than 8.9 million
customers with a full range of retail, small business and
commercial banking products and services at more than 1,275
convenient locations throughout the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Metro
D.C., the Carolinas and Florida.
In addition, TD Bank and its subsidiaries offer customized private
banking and wealth management services through TD
Wealth®, and vehicle financing and dealer commercial
services through TD Auto Finance. TD Bank is headquartered in
Cherry Hill, N.J. To learn more,
visit www.tdbank.com. Find TD Bank on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/TDBank and on Twitter at
www.twitter.com/TDBank_US.
TD Bank, America's Most Convenient Bank, is a member of TD Bank
Group and a subsidiary of The Toronto-Dominion Bank of Toronto, Canada, a top 10 financial services
company in North America. The
Toronto-Dominion Bank trades on the New
York and Toronto stock
exchanges under the ticker symbol "TD". To learn more, visit
www.td.com.
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SOURCE TD Bank