Amex Study: UK Businesses Seek Payment Upgrades for Growth

A new study from American Express reveals that 78% of UK businesses intend to improve their payment processes in 2025, with 39% viewing these upgrades as integral to their growth strategies.

The Amex Trendex: B2B Payments Edition surveyed 500 UK business decision-makers about their payment processing plans and priorities. 

The research indicates widespread recognition that payment systems directly impact business relationships and performance outcomes.

The survey found that 94% of business decision makers believe that efficient, streamlined and secure payment systems create satisfied customers, while 89% connect these systems to business growth.

Payment Friction Threatens Business Relationships

Payment inefficiencies can damage business partnerships, according to the research. 

Nearly one-third (30%) of respondents cited late or slow payments as a reason they terminated relationships with specific businesses.

Security concerns also feature prominently in payment considerations. 

Four in five respondents indicated that a single fraud incident could harm trust with buyers (79%) and suppliers (80%).

Time management represents another challenge in payment processing. 

Over a quarter (27%) of respondents report spending excessive time managing payments, while 28% stated they would experience reduced stress if payment timeliness and accuracy concerns were eliminated.

Automation Adoption Remains Uneven

Despite recognising potential benefits, UK businesses show varied progress in payment automation implementation. 

The research identified faster payments (49%), reduced errors (34%) and time savings (25%) as the primary advantages of automation.

However, only one in seven businesses surveyed have fully automated their payment processes, with an equal proportion having undertaken no automation at all. 

Cost concerns and security considerations ranked as the main barriers to adoption.

Craig Barclay, Vice President, Commercial at American Express, says: “Optimised payments are key to strong commercial relationships and overall business success. 

“Businesses can gain greater visibility into their cash flow, reduce errors, streamline processes and keep both buyers and suppliers happy. 

“While it can feel like a daunting task to make changes to payment processes, the reality is that the time and cost to automate can be less than expected - and provide benefits both for the short and long term.”

Amex Corporate Solutions Address Payment Challenges

American Express offers multiple solutions to address payment challenges faced by UK businesses. 

The Corporate Card programme enables firms to control employee spending by setting specific parameters for card usage, while providing detailed transaction data to inform financial decision-making.

The Business Travel Account allows companies to consolidate all employee travel expenses without requiring physical cards, streamlining the reconciliation process through a single monthly statement, which enhances visibility of travel expenditure.

For supplier payments, American Express vPayment provides secure transaction capabilities with adjustable payment amounts, date ranges and transaction details, improving payment control and reducing fraud risk.

The Buyer Initiated Payments service offers tools to enhance cash flow management and provide spending insights, while integrating with existing finance systems to minimise disruption.

These solutions align with the research findings that highlight business needs for greater payment efficiency, security and automation. 

Each service addresses specific friction points identified in the Amex Trendex report, from reducing manual processing time to enhancing payment security.

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