Jeff Feuerstein, Senior Vice President of Paymode Product Management and Market Strategy at Bottomline chats about the evolution of paytech and what end users should be proactive about to avoid being victims of payment fraud in this fintech interview:
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Tell us about yourself and your role at Bottomline?
Thanks for having me! My name is Jeff Feuerstein, and I’m the SVP of Product Management and Market Strategy for Paymode at Bottomline.Â
I lead our team that focuses on the payer side of the Paymode business network, which is all about automating accounts payable. A significant part of my role involves developing strategies and partnerships with banks and other fintech companies to create a better, more streamlined experience for our end-users. I work closely with our overall product team, but my primary focus is always on the payer and leading our vendor and payment-side initiatives.
What does today’s paytech landscape look like, what trends are dominating the space?
The current paytech landscape is incredibly dynamic, driven by a number of powerful forces. The US B2B payments market is a huge opportunity, with Fortune Business Insights estimating around $36 trillion in payment volume. But it’s also incredibly fragmented, with multiple payment types still being used, including checks, which remain a significant, cumbersome part of the ecosystem.
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While their use has declined, checks are not going away. Recent data from the AFP shows that 91% of US businesses still use checks, and they remain the #1 payment fraud vector, impacting 63% of organizations. Organizations, wrestling with the insecurities that come with legacy processes, are focusing on driving efficiencies through digital transformation: The trends I’m seeing are all about that balance. Companies need to focus on:
- Security: This is top of mind. Businesses are looking for ways to reduce the risk of fraud, whether it’s related to checks, ACH, or other payment types.
- Efficiency: Everyone wants to reduce manual work and eliminate unnecessary paper-based processes. Automating those day-to-day tasks not only saves time and money but also helps to improve cash flow.Â
- Cash Flow & Working Capital Management: Businesses are leveraging improved visibility and control over their cash to maximize their working capital. Using virtual cards and monetizing ACH payment with products like Premium ACH, companies can make the most of discounts, payment terms and rebates.
What are some of the top hurdles affecting paytech adoption as well as modern payment norms across global organizations?
One of the biggest hurdles is that many organizations, especially in the back office, are strapped for resources. When they look at a digital transformation project, businesses need to know that a provider will support them through the implementation, integration and ongoing service. It’s about reducing the friction and making it easy to transition from “what I’m doing today” to a best-in-class process. A key step is getting past that initial hurdle and showing them how to maximize the opportunities that technology presents. Organizations need a provider that can act as a payments consultant, helping businesses focus on back-office efficiencies and driving maximum cash flow return.
As fintech and paytech evolves to create better payment experiences, what fraud prevention steps should users and providers be taking to ensure safety?
Fraud prevention in modern payments requires a layered approach. That means understanding your entire vendor onboarding and payment process to ensure you’re monitoring businesses, bank account changes, and transactions. These insights help businesses to flag anomalies and prevent fraud before it happens. When integrated properly, measures like basic sanctions screening, vendor due diligence, and continuous transaction monitoring help businesses keep fraudsters at bay.Â
How is AI playing a key role here in this segment?
AI plays a key role across the P2P cycle. Here are two examples where AI is driving additional improvements: areas. The first is in further reducing the manual, day-to-day processes. AI is great for things like invoice coding and automating tasks in accounts payable and accounts receivable. This frees up staff to focus on more strategic work. AI also improves decision-making, helping organizations get faster insights and act on them more quickly. An example is using AI to help with vendor due diligence and fraud scoring.
The key factor for any organization adopting AI into its payment processes to keep in mind is that AI should be used to improve operations rather than accelerate existing, inefficient processes. The real opportunity for AI in paytech lies in rethinking the workflows that govern how money moves. This requires a deep, analytical look at current processes to pinpoint inefficiencies, followed by a strategic reimagining of how these tasks could be performed in an AI-powered world.
A few thoughts on the future of fintech and paytech before we wrap up?
The key drivers for businesses, i.e security, automation, and improving cash flow, were important five years ago, and they’re still the most important things today. What’s changing is how organizations go about achieving these goals. AI is a great example of this. It’s a new tool that allows us to improve automation, enhance fraud prevention, and leverage the data we have to make better decisions. The future of payments will be shaped by how organizations leverage their data and new technologies and evolve to move better, faster, and cheaper. It’s about reducing costs, eliminating paper, and, importantly, reducing risks for fraud. The B2B payments ecosystem is going to continue to grow, and we want to create the best environment possible for that growth.
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Bottomline helps businesses transform the way they pay and get paid. A global leader in business payments and cash management, Bottomline’s secure, comprehensive solutions modernize payments for businesses and financial institutions globally.Â
Paymode is Bottomline’s business payments network that helps over 600,000 verified businesses cut costs, reduce fraud risk, and enhance efficiency.
With over 35 years of experience, moving more than $10 trillion in payments annually, Bottomline is committed to driving impactful results for customers by reimagining business payments and delivering solutions that add to the bottom line. Bottomline is a portfolio company of Thoma Bravo, one of the largest software private equity firms in the world, with more than $184 billion in assets under management.
Jeff Feuerstein is the Senior Vice President of Paymode Product Management and Market Strategy. In his role, he works across teams to solve B2B payments challenges for customers and create solutions that help AP and AR departments transition away from traditional, paper-heavy back-office processes. With more than 20 years of experience in the space with a particular focus on card payments, Jeff has a deep understanding of the hurdles businesses face in streamlining and securing their payments.
