PROVIDENCE – Security is a top concern among business leaders who are increasingly reliant on digital software to manage their finances during the pandemic, according to a new survey by Citizens Commercial Banking published on Wednesday.
Keeping data secure was a concern among one-third of those surveyed, with 21% naming secure authentication and payment authorization as necessary features for treasury management platforms, the survey stated.
The pandemic was among reasons why business leaders have become increasingly reliant on such platforms, with the number who reported using treasury management software for 30 or more hours weekly, an increase of 12% compared to a similar survey a year ago. Productivity and efficiency were also named as factors in increasing use of treasury management platforms.
Michael Cummins, Citizens’ head of treasury solutions, said the increasing reliance on digital financial software was unsurprising as clients looked to keep tabs on expected payments and to monitor for potential fraud.
“When people are distracted, and COVID was a big distraction…that’s when fraudsters are at their best,” Cummins said. “Customers were spending a lot of time making sure their accounts were clean and that there was no suspicious activity.”
Despite reports of an uptick in fraud since the pandemic, electronic transactions continue to offer a safe and more secure way to do business than their paper counterparts, expediting the already declining reliance on paper, Cummins said.
“To mitigate that risk, you need to push clients to get paper out of their processing system and move to electronic alternatives,” he said. “There’s nothing that a customer can do via paper instrument that we can’t do electronically more safely and securely.”
Other key findings from the survey included
- An increasing emphasis on work-life balance, with 64% of those surveyed saying they would choose to spend any “wasted” time during the week on work-life balance, compared with 40% in the year prior;
- A majority were satisfied with Accounts Payable (87%) and Accounts Receivables (88%) payment options, with wire transfer the preferred payment option in both, followed by paper checks, then Automated Clearinghouse and cash.
The survey reflects answers from 252 business leaders representing a range of sectors and with annual revenues from $1 million to over $100 million.
Nancy Lavin is a PBN staff writer. You may reach her at Lavin@PBN.com.
