June 05, 2017

Bottomline Technologies Launches 2nd Edition of its Annual Report, The UK Business Payments Barometer

Over half of UK financial decision-makers are unaware
if they have been impacted by fraud

This year’s report finds a 138 percent relative year-on-year increase in the concern over insider fraud

The need for greater security measures remains the single largest driver of change in the payments industry in the next 12 months

 

READING, UK (5th JUNE 2017)– Bottomline Technologies (NASDAQ:EPAY), a leading provider of financial technology which helps businesses pay and get paid, has today launched the 2nd edition of its annual report, the UK Business Payments Barometer: Payments for a new economy, which reveals that fraud and the need for greater cyber-security measures remain high on the agenda for financial decision-makers.

The UK Business Payments Barometer: Payments for a new economy is an annual report which surveys over 400 financial decision makers including business owners and CFOs – from small businesses to enterprises employing over 10,000 employees. The comprehensive report found a dramatic shift in the level of concern around different types of financial fraud, compared to last year’s results.

The worry over internal fraud has experienced a significant 138 percent relative year-on-year increase. Over 30 percent of financial decision-makers expressed concern over fraud committed by internal staff, compared with just 13 percent in 2016.

But external fraud remains a bigger concern for financial decision-makers this year, with 56 percent of respondents naming external cyber fraud as a concern – compared to 37 percent in 2016.

The report also found that of those financial decision-makers that were certain they had been impacted by fraud (12 percent), 17 percent estimated that 10 percent or more of their company’s revenue had been affected – down from 36 percent from 2016.

While the number of companies experiencing over 10 percent of revenue impacted by fraud is on decline, the report suggests that more businesses could be falling victim to smaller, parasitic scams. 68 percent of respondents claimed that up to 10 percent of their company’s revenue had been affected – a 28 percent increase from last year.

Most concerning is that 56 percent of respondents simply did not know whether they had been impacted by finance fraud or not. “It is important for organisations to have robust measures to prevent loss due to error and fraud, in particular, ensuring payments are being made to correct suppliers – not fraudsters”, says Ed Adshead-Grant, general manager, payments at Bottomline Technologies.

The report found that one in four corporates are using blacklists for anti-money laundering sanction filtering, which potentially leaves three in four firms subject to significant penalties and sanctions.

Adshead-Grant continued, “Account validation and verification measures are easy to plug in and use on the vendor database, rather than at the point of payment submission, to help identify errors and international frauds earlier in the process.” Bottomline Technologies warns that companies need to ensure they have the correct security measures and awareness in place to protect them as much as possible against all types of internal and external payment fraud. “No-one can be complacent. Companies have a duty of care for customers and suppliers that they have the correct security measures to protect their payments and financial processes”, adds Ed Adshead-Grant. 

About the Research
In its second year, the Bottomline Technologies’ UK Business Payments barometer provides key insights into business trends and risks. Topics include the UK payments landscape, cash management and visibility, accounts efficiency and fraud prevention.

The barometer surveys 400 financial decision makers across small to medium enterprises (SMEs) employing less than 250 people; large companies employing between 250 and 999 people; corporates employing between 1,000 and 9,000 people; and enterprises employing over 10,000 people.

The survey was in the field between February 2017 and March 2017.

Contact for Media:
Marta Guasch
Edelman for Bottomline Technologies
+44 (0)203 047 4198
marta.guasch@edelman.com

About Bottomline Technologies

Bottomline Technologies (NASDAQ: EPAY) helps make complex business payments simple, smart, and secure. Corporations and banks rely on Bottomline for domestic and international payments, efficient cash management, automated workflows for payment processing and bill review, and state of the art fraud detection, behavioural analytics and regulatory compliance solutions. Thousands of corporations around the world benefit from Bottomline solutions. Headquartered in Portsmouth, NH, Bottomline delights customers through offices across the U.S., Europe, and Asia-Pacific. For more information visit www.bottomline.com

Contact for media

Amy Brownrigg
VP, Investor Relations
Bottomline

603-501-4899 Investors@bottomline.com
footer curve