Top Trends in Corporate Payments: 2014 Edition

This report presents the top six corporate payments issues that Celent analysts dealt with in 2013 and expect to see develop in 2014.

The trends listed in this report are not necessarily the most important issues in any given country globally, or even for any given institution. However, they represent a reasonably accurate portrayal of important topics in the developed markets.

Some of them have been covered in more detail in other reports published by Celent throughout the year, but others are discussed in writing here for the first time.

In addition to the six trends, we capture some developments that we think are interesting and relevant, but can be discussed in a few paragraphs rather than a few pages.

The trends covered in this report are:

1. Real Time Payments
2. Payment Services Directive II
3. Regulation of Payments
4. Payment Services Hubs: The Second Act
5. Connectivity and Alternative Networks
6. SEPA. Still.

Briefly discussed trends include:

7. E-Invoicing — with a Twist
8. FX
9. Corporate Cards
10. The Growing Gap Between Regulation and Innovation

“For many corporate bankers and their clients, 2013 felt like a return to business as usual. However, for corporate payments it’s been business as usual all along. They continued to operate seamlessly and at increasing volume throughout the crisis. Yet there were also changes in expectations from clients and ever-advancing technology,” notes Gareth Lodge, Senior Analyst in Celent’s Banking group and author of this report.

“As a result, there is pent-up demand for change. For example, real time payments are firmly on the agenda in multiple countries, but the challenge is balancing innovation with the very real pressures of run-the-bank issues such as payments regulation. The banks that can execute on both effectively will be the most successful for sure,” he adds.