Fifth Third Launches Enhanced Payment Solutions For Commercial Card Customers

Fifth Third Bank announced this week it is rolling out enhancements to its electronic accounts payable offering, Card Payables, for commercial card customers.

Card Payables is designed to allow commercial customers to streamline accounts payable processes, improve reporting capabilities, enable easier and faster payments to their vendors, and reduce the amount of checks being issued, the bank said. With the new enhancements, companies can now send individual Virtual Card Numbers (VCNs) to vendors in real-time. The VCN is created to process a payment request which settles against a funding account. The requests for VCNs are established on Fifth Third’s Card Payables online platform and are designed to replace checks.

Further, the enhancements now allow for buyer-initiated push payments, which are payment files are sent to the bank that are then pushed directly into a supplier’s direct deposit account without making the card number visible to the business or its supplier, the bank said.

"These offerings provide businesses with greater flexibility in how they pay suppliers and help to convert paper check-based payment methods to a more streamlined, electronic program," said Jeff Siekman, SVP and director of wholesale bank strategic initiatives for Fifth Third, in a statement.

[See Also: Fifth Third Expanding Remote Currency Manager Services]

Bryan Yurcan is associate editor for Bank Systems and Technology. He has worked in various editorial capacities for newspapers and magazines for the past 8 years. After beginning his career as a municipal and courts reporter for daily newspapers in upstate New York, Bryan has ... View Full Bio