The road to better payments isn’t one to travel alone.

That’s what one mutual Bottomline and  U.S. Bank client, a major U.S. trucking company, found when they sought to revamp their payments process. Heavily reliant on checks because their supplier base prefers them, the business was looking to modernize to save time and money but was hard-pressed to do it with their existing systems and processes.

Some companies might shy away from that challenge. This one did not.

Instead, they used their existing partnership with U.S. Bank to forge a new one with Bottomline and stepped on the gas on their payments modernization. While the journey is not over, the business-to-business (B2B) payments progress here has made it a journey worth taking.

 

Embracing Strategic Partnerships

The migration to digital payments didn’t happen overnight. First, this trucking company had to get a handle on the changes they wanted to make and identify the right solution, and they leaned on the expertise of their trusted partners at U.S. Bank to get there. Bottomline then worked to ensure they could overcome challenges particular to their business and industry.

The trio of partners also needed to ensure that vendors in both the U.S. and Canada adapted to receiving Premium ACH and virtual card digital payments instead of checks.

These are not small roadblocks. What made change possible was the drive to keep trucking right through them, which U.S. Bank credits to the company and the partnerships.

“What has made this program a real success (for the company) is that it’s a capital P-partnership,” said Michael Watercott, Vice President and Working Capital Consultant for U.S. Bank. “At every step, we've enjoyed alignment across our teams in a way that’s beneficial for the client, and they’ve been able to make real headway on their digitization and modernization goals because of that.”

Key to that has been embracing the Bottomline campaign method, where we use multi-touch, benefits-focused outreach to vendors to enroll them in Paymode, our secure B2B payments network. Because company policy prevents the business from automatically enrolling these suppliers, the finance team regularly shares vendor information for targeted enrollment campaigns. Monthly check-ins help ensure the company knows which vendors to message to nudge them to work with Bottomline and sign up for preferred payment types.

This level of engagement and partnership is essential, but not always easy to foster. It requires open lines of communication and a sense of purpose, requiring an accounts payable team to work with U.S. Bank and Bottomline toward one common goal. The fact that this company has done so tells you everything about how important modernization is to them, while U.S. Bank and Bottomline work to make all these tasks easier and more seamless.

 

The Big Why

It’s worth remembering why digital payments and automation have become so critical. A few eye-opening statistics help to tell that particular tale:

The snapshot provided by these statistics and more like them is of businesses weary of making and receiving slow, manual payments and becoming victims of fraud. For this trucking company, bringing their payments processes into an automated and digitized era was about preventing fraud and gaining efficiency that used to elude them. Partnerships like the one they’ve forged with Bottomline and U.S. Bank make that possible.

 

Challenges Remain, But the Road Is Clear

This isn’t the end of the story for the business, which is expecting further success and still needs to steer around obstacles. Until they reduce their check stack down to the bare minimum in favor of Premium ACH and virtual card, they won’t be fully satisfied, and they have to work around Canadian vendors who do not have domiciled U.S. bank accounts to receive ACH payments.

In the interim, though, they’re able to work with partners to streamline their check printing and processing, and there’s a clear runway to keep enrolling suppliers in digital payments as time goes on. The efficiencies have been measurable, as Watercott notes, and will only grow over time.

“We’ve been extremely pleased to see the results for a great customer, and there’s no reason to believe those gains are going to slacken with the level of dedication from all three parties here. U.S. Bank looks forward to finding greater efficiencies, cost savings, and time savings as the program rolls on,” Watercott said.

With a drive to succeed and everyone moving in one direction, one thing is clear—this company has found an avenue to success that Bottomline and U.S. Bank are proud to support. If your company is still struggling with check-heavy payments, remember that this isn’t a road you have to travel alone, either.