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With the explosion in online and mobile banking, consumers are moving away from��paper-based payments (cash and checks) and using a variety of electronic payment methods that are faster, more secure and more convenient.

The same thing is happening in B2B payments.��Goldman Sachs released a report called “The Future of Finance: Redefining the Way We Pay.”

In the report, it stated that��50��percent��of payments by U.S. businesses are still made by paper check. That’s still a lot, but it’s down from 81��percent��in��2004, and is expected to continue to decline at about 3 percent per year.

What’s taking the place of paper for business payments? ACH, wire, p-card and virtual card payments. Each of these has a place in the payments mix, but��virtual cards, or single-use ghost accounts (SUGAs), may represent the biggest untapped opportunity.

Ghost accounts have been around for about 10 to 15 years, but they haven’t gained widespread adoption either because companies don’t know about them, or they have misconceptions about how to work with them. It’s actually pretty easy and there are a lot of benefits, especially for smaller suppliers.

P-cards vs. V-cards

In its report, Goldman lumps purchasing cards and virtual cards together, but they’re actually two��different animals.��P-cards��are similar to consumer credit cards, but for business. You can use them to pay invoices—and a lot of companies do that—but there are issues with security and accuracy. Accounts payable has to read the 16-digit number from the plastic card over the phone and trust that the supplier will keep that information secure.

Calling people on the phone is also a cumbersome, error-prone way to pay invoices.��There’s a lot of time and manual effort that has to go into reconciliation and dealing with discrepancies. P-cards should really only be used for giving employees easy access to buy low cost items.

Ghost in the cloud

Single-use card numbers are specifically designed for paying invoices. These “cards” exist only in��electronic form. The buyer sends their payments provider a file and all the invoices are matched with card numbers that can be used by the corresponding supplier one time only for that specific amount.

SUGAs lend themselves much more readily to electronic payments than p-cards, and��they offer the same kinds of rebates that p-cards and consumer cards do. They can��even be structured so that they don’t need underwriting, so they don’t impact the��company’s credit.

Low IT impact

With today’s cloud technology, putting a single-use ghost account program in place is pretty easy. Integration isn’t required, just the ability to pull a��payment file. Getting the program setup usually takes an hour or less of IT time.

The bigger misconception of buyers is that��suppliers won’t accept virtual cards. In��reality, in a well-run electronic payments program, buyers find they can make about 20 to 25��percent��of payments by virtual card.

Suppliers want it

There are suppliers of all sizes that are willing to pay for the convenience of virtual card��payments. They also work well for smaller suppliers that want immediate cash, but don’t��have the people and AP processes in place to manage ACH payments. Those vendors usually just take checks. SUGAs give them another electronic option.

Ghost card transactions can help buyers streamline processing and dramatically reduce the costs associated with paper processing. According to the Goldman report, the cost to process a card payment is under $3, before subtracting the revenue that the card rebate generates for the buyer.��

The key to getting the most out of virtual cards is to make them part of a comprehensive electronic payments program that brings together all payment types including card, ACH and print checks within a single service, supported by��continual supplier enablement.

Have no fear

Many companies haven’t adopted virtual cards because they fear that they will disrupt their current accounts payable process, or because they have been through a failed bank card program. New fintech companies are stepping in to provide complete payment solutions that are easy to set up and will do one payment and reconciliation file with virtual card payments alongside the others.

Checks are slowly dying��in the B2B world. For now, most suppliers accept them, but��that doesn’t mean they prefer them. For many, SUGAs are the most desirable way to��pay due to security, accuracy, efficiency and rebates. Given their advantages to buyers,��optimizing the “ghost in the cloud” should be a key part of any electronic payments��program.

**This article originally appeared on��Spend Matters.

Mike Fortmann

Mike is Vice President of Regional Sales at 91�����, a FLEETCOR company. His experience in the financial industry spans 16 years, with 9 years in B2B Payments.

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