Originally appeared in PYMNTS.com

The economy’s crawl out of lockdown is inspiring businesses that haven’t digitized their accounts receivable (AR) and accounts payable (AP) operations to follow the trend and begin capitalizing on a surge in business and consumer digital payments.

Chief financial officers (CFOs) of companies that have already digitized payments systems report that the companies have enjoyed several benefits, according to “Business Payments Digitization,” a PYMNTS and Corcentric collaboration based on a survey of CFOs from companies that generate between $400 million and $2 billion in annual revenue.

Get the report: Business Payments Digitization

Digitizing Payments Processes

Most respondents said digitizing their payments processes helped their companies become more efficient, improved their management of working capital, helped reduce costs and improved their data security.

Optimized B2B payments digitization can serve “as a growth enabler — and it fortifies your ecosystem,” Corcentric President and Chief Operating Officer Matt Clark told PYMNTS.

Read more: As Business Payments Go Digital, Buyer-Supplier Relationships Get Stronger

Ninety-one percent of the CFOs who participated in the survey said digitizing their payments processes made operations more efficient, 84% said it helped them improve their working capital management, 62% said it helped them cut costs, 61% said it helped them improve data security, and 60% said it helped them strengthen their relationships with suppliers.

Companies big and small benefit alike. For example, PYMNTS’ data shows that 62% of the largest companies said digitization helped cut costs, as is the case for 60% of midsized companies, 70% of small companies and 57% of the smallest companies. In the total sample — including companies of all sizes — 62% reported digitization cut costs.

Positioned for Success

Many savvy companies of all sizes moved to digitize their payments operations when the pandemic hit. Having looked at the economic landscape and considered their next steps, they supercharged a trend of growth in digitizing payments that had already become noticeable.

The decision to digitize payments processes during the past two years has positioned many companies to profit from the pandemic-influenced economy. Many businesses hope to move forward with more efficient and lower-cost payments operations that also allow them to increase their level of interaction with customers and suppliers.

A great deal of economic uncertainty remains about the future, but one thing is certain: The new economy will continue to follow the trends of the past two years and will be powered by a much greater share of digital payments.

To learn more about how companies from a wide range of industries are using payments digitization to transform their operations, download the report.