2022, the Year in Digital Payments

In 2022, digital payments continued to evolve, offering companies more ways to leverage payments to enhance their bottom lines, whether it be creating more value for software platforms or helping businesses get paid faster. As you look to further optimize the return on your payments investment in the new year, here’s what you should know about what happened in the last year in digital payments.

The Rise of Embedded Payments & Embedded Finance

Embedded finance is the integration of a financial service into a non-financial business or platform, and embedded payments are one of the most commonly embedded financial services. For software providers, embedding payments into their platforms creates more value by offering a stickier customer experience that improves retention rates.

According to 451 Research, only 13% of merchants use embedded payment processing services from one of their primary software vendors, but 75% wish they could
Software companies that embed payments into their platforms see up to a 5-time increase in revenue per customer

In Q2 of 2022, BlueSnap launched our Embedded Payments and Payfac-as-a-Service suite of products, including three different solutions to allow businesses to choose the right option for them.

AR Automation Improves Timely Payment of Invoices

Accounts receivable automation allows businesses to streamline and speed up their invoicing and payment processes. Manual AR processes can negatively impact cash flow and reduce the stability of a company’s bottom line, so automation is a crucial tool for protecting the income that keeps a business healthy.

BlueSnap conducted a global survey of executives to find out if and how businesses are adopting AR automation and the impact of doing so. We found that while relatively few businesses have implemented true automated AR, the ones that have realized significant benefits.

53% of companies that automated their AR improved cash flow
67% improved customer satisfaction
56% saw better customer retention

While many businesses have made some effort to automate parts of their accounts receivable process, they can still automate more and reap those rewards.

eCommerce Transformation

eCommerce payments have evolved over the last two years to accommodate shoppers’ changing preferences and the current market. Buy Now, Pay Later has continued to grow in popularity:

According to a survey by the Ascent, 50% of consumers have used Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) services
45% of BNPL purchases would have otherwise been outside of the buyer’s budget
eCommerce retailers that offer BNPL have 2.1% higher conversion rate on average, based on a SimilarWeb analysis

In 2022, BlueSnap further enhanced our partnership with Splitit to strengthen the BNPL options available to merchants and their buyers. Consumers aren’t the only ones to benefit from BNPL. In fact, global B2B payments and invoicing network TreviPay announced its partnership with BlueSnap to release the industry-first global payments solution that offers both trade credit and card payment processing with consolidated reporting.

Global eCommerce Expansion

Many companies continued to expand into new markets to increase their sales.

Cross-border eCommerce now accounts for 22% of purchases (or $3.53 Trillion) in 2022, according to Statista
Invesp’s research finds that 67% of global consumers shop abroad because of lower prices outside their companies

BlueSnap has long helped merchants get the most out of international sales by optimizing their cross-border payments. And, we are always improving those efforts. In 2022, BlueSnap partnered with Dalenys and made multiple appointments to the EU Board of Directors to support growth in the European market. BlueSnap was also chosen as KeyBank’s partner in providing cross-border eCommerce functionality to their middle market and institutional clients in the eCommerce space.

Cryptocurrency Headed Mainstream

Cryptocurrency is a somewhat controversial topic, but for many retailers, it’s part of the future of payments. With new companies allowing businesses to accept crypto payments while eliminating risk for themselves, it became easier than ever to accept crypto payments in 2022.

According to Deloitte, 75% of retailers plan to accept cryptocurrency payments in the next two years
Forrester found that crypto customers spend 2X more than customers paying by card

BlueSnap announced a partnership with BitPay, the world’s largest provider of bitcoin and cryptocurrency payment solutions for businesses. Our customers can now accept and receive payments in all of the leading cryptocurrencies.

2022 has seen a lot of change and innovation for digital payments, and we expect this to continue into 2023 and beyond. At BlueSnap, we are always looking for ways to use these innovations to help you get the most out of your payments.

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