Worryingly, 96% of SME payments decision makers lack understanding of the payment process, according to a report from Cashflows, which helps merchants accept payments.
It conducted a survey of 250 payment decision makers within SMEs to see if they understood the UK payment industry.
Nearly three quarters (72%) of respondents were confident in their knowledge. However, when asked to place different parts of the payment value chain in order, to show how a transaction is handled, 96% answered incorrectly.
Furthermore, 43% of respondents said they are thinking about moving jobs in the next 12 months, significantly higher than the national average of 25%.
Cashflows explained that the level of complexity within the payments industry has increased over the past decade. But, as the cost of doing business continues to ramp up, ensuring the payment process is as efficient as possible could help businesses to minimise spend and maximise profit.
The report also found out that one in 20 payment decision makers said they do not enjoy managing payment acceptance – rising to almost 1 in 8 of those in operations roles.
When asked why, 46% said it was due to an inability to directly compare different payments providers.
Cashflows CEO Hannah Fitzsimons said, “The findings of our research into the people behind payments are a cause for concern. SMBs are the backbone of the British economy, and its vital that their payments partners are actively supporting them, as well as providing unbiased, educational resources that demystify our increasingly complex industry. Our research makes it very clear that the PSR is right in its ambitions to increase transparency and make it easier to directly compare payment service providers and their solutions.”
The findings were published in the first of the People Behind Payments series.
A recent report from Juniper Research found that global spend for OTT (over-the-top) based conversational commerce is expected to rise from $13.3bn in 2022 to $25.1bn in 2023.
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