Choose the right AP payment methods for your business

Every business model is unique, and the number and variety of vendors and customers they work with varies. When choosing which payment methods to offer, businesses must weigh several factors, including affordability, reliability, ability to integrate with existing processes and software as well as vendor and customer requests. Affordability and reliability are often the biggest drivers of business willingness to adopt a payment method. 

Understanding common AP types

The world of payments has moved far beyond the choice of cash or check. With dozens of payment methods now available, vendors expect to have choices. Read on to learn the best use cases for each of these ten common accounts payable (AP) payment methods.

Paper checks

Best use case: Paper checks are an easy choice for businesses that don’t want to worry about collecting, managing and safeguarding sensitive financial information. Additionally, checks are ideal in the event of a one-time payment.

eChecks

Best use case: For businesses looking to replace paper checks, eChecks are a quick and inexpensive way to securely process payments. They are also efficient for one-time payments since all a payer needs is the email address to issue the payment (no need to share sensitive banking information).

Online bill pay

Best use case: Businesses who want to save time and money by paying their bills digitally and have the staff to utilize multiple payment portals are good candidates for online bill pay.

Credit & procurement cards 

Best use case: Businesses needing to make larger transactions, but avoid funding right away, can effectively utilize credit cards. Cards are a good cash flow management tool and can even be used to earn cash back or reward points.

Virtual cards

Best use case: Businesses who want to earn cash back for multiple payments and eliminate the risk of lost or stolen physical cards. Virtual card payments are fast and work great for those times when you can’t wait for a check to arrive in the mail.

Debit (check) cards 

Best use case: Since funds are deducted immediately at the time of payment, debit cards are best used for businesses that are looking for help staying on budget and prevent them from spending money they don’t truly have. 

ACH

Best use case: ACH may be a good choice for businesses making a payment they know about in advance and can plan for one to two days for processing. It is also a common choice for recurring payments like payroll and simple payments where remittance information isn’t required.

Wire transfer

Best use case: An optimal choice for same-day payments, large monetary, high-value and international payments.

Real-time payments

Best use case: When immediate payments are needed and an exchange of banking information can take place, Real-Time Payments are a good option.

Cryptocurrency

Best use case: For businesses who want to provide a secure, cost-effective way to send payments that are more difficult to falsify due to blockchain technology.