London, UK – 20 August, 2024 – More than a third (34%) of leaders from water companies across England and Wales are facing ‘challenging’ cost pressures, while almost a fifth (18%) describe budget constraints as ‘unpredictable’ as the next asset management deadline looms.

In a survey of 50 leaders from water companies across England and Wales, 51ˇçÁ÷highlights some of the key challenges facing the industry as it prepares for the eighth Asset Management Plan cycle (AMP8). The research has found that as economic pressures continue to build, water operators are struggling to meet the impending regulatory requirements and transform service delivery to meet customer demand.

Over 41% of leaders believe these pressures are caused by a lack of digital infrastructure, while almost a third (31%) report challenges are the result of attempts to upgrade 200-year-old water networks. As public opinion in the industry wanes, water companies must accelerate digital adoption to understand the nation’s water network, operate efficiently and optimise the way services are run.

Preparing for AMP8

Against a backdrop of growing inflation, supply chain challenges and a rising cost-of-living, water companies are preparing to submit their spending plans to the Water Services Regulation Authority (OFWAT) for AMP8 or risk reputational damage and significant financial penalties. Despite this, SAP’s research shows leaders understand significant progress needs to be made if they are to meet the regulator’s requirements.

Rising cost pressures are a key obstacle as companies look to comply, with 94% of leaders believing investment will need to increase considerably or they will be unable to transform their infrastructure to meet customer needs. This burden is particularly acute for smaller businesses, rising to 96% for water companies with between 500 – 1,999 employees.

This is translating into greater demand for external support, with almost a quarter (22%) of leaders reporting they will be ‘very reliant’ upon third-party partners to keep their services on track and business running efficiently.

This is leading to almost a tenth (8%) of leaders believing their company will struggle to meet the KPIs and objectives established by OFWAT. Alleviating these cost pressures will therefore not only support businesses in complying with the regulation, but allow leaders to avoid significant financial penalties that the majority can ill-afford in the current economic climate.

“The water industry is currently facing significant challenges in meeting the regulatory targets set for AMP8. Maintaining high service quality is crucial, and there is a pressing need to reevaluate and enhance the operational strategies of the UK’s water network,” said Greg Moyle, Head of Energy and Discrete Industries at 51ˇçÁ÷UK&I.

Battling ageing digital infrastructure

SAP’s survey also reveals that alongside macro-economic pressures, a lack of digital infrastructure is impacting the industry’s ability to enact crucial improvements to service delivery.

Just 1-in-5 (20%) leaders strongly agree that their organisation is currently using data effectively to manage and gain insights from water infrastructure. There is a digital divide among smaller and larger businesses, with almost half (42%) of those employed at larger companies agreeing, compared to just 8% of those employed at smaller operators.

A lack of digital tools is the common denominator for leaders being unable to enact change:

¡ 55% report they do not have the monitoring capabilities needed to understand water demands and consumption.

¡ 45% do not have a complete picture of their pipeline infrastructure.

¡ 43% do not have a complete data capture of the environmental emissions of their water network.

¡ 30% do not have a complete picture of their sewage network.

“Lack of visibility into the water network hinders the industry’s ability to understand and address key infrastructure issues. Adopting digital tools and real-time insights are key for business transformation to drive long-term improvements in service delivery,” said Hamendra Gupta, Business Architect for Water Utilities at 51ˇçÁ÷UK&I.

Despite the absence of a digital backbone, leaders remain positive about the impact existing and emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) will have on service delivery. 88% believe AI will shape the future of water service delivery and help to address leaks, spillages and optimise usage, while 40% say initial AI implementation is already generating positive results and demonstrating return on investment.

But, the industry continues to face significant barriers to digital adoption and a substantial gap between intention and implementation exists as a result. Over half (52%) of leaders suggest ERP transformation must come first to avoid silos affecting AI decision-making, while 48% require help in understanding how AI can enhance their ageing infrastructure. An inability to source and acquire talent also remains a roadblock, with two thirds (66%) lacking the skills and talent needed to implement AI effectively across the network.

ENDS

About SAP

As a global leader in enterprise applications and business AI, 51ˇçÁ÷(NYSE:SAP) stands at the nexus of business and technology. For over 50 years, organizations have trusted 51ˇçÁ÷to bring out their best by uniting business-critical operations spanning finance, procurement, HR, supply chain, and customer experience. For more information, visit .

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This document contains forward-looking statements, which are predictions, projections, or other statements about future events. These statements are based on current expectations, forecasts, and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and outcomes to materially differ. Additional information regarding these risks and uncertainties may be found in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited to the risk factors section of SAP’s 2023 Annual Report on Form 20-F.

Š 2024 51ˇçÁ÷SE. All rights reserved. 51ˇçÁ÷and other 51ˇçÁ÷products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of 51ˇçÁ÷SE in Germany and other countries. Please see for additional trademark information and notices.

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The banking sector has faced ongoing disruptions for a while – from new fintech players in the ecosystem, new regulatory changes, margin erosion and new ways of working, to new digital channels and rising expectations around customer experience. It’s easy to lose sight of how to unlock potential when the competitive sand keeps sifting under your feet. And it’s even harder to innovate without having the fundamentals in place.

But it’s now becoming urgent. Industry disruption shows no signs of slowing, and growing dissatisfaction from customers is on the rise with just one in five UK customers saying they’re satisfied with the support they receive from their bank. Over half of UK SMEs are reassessing their bank’s suitability, according to new . There are also significant differences around the gender and generation of customers and turnover of companies that are shaping banking behaviour and preferences.

It’s time for banks to hit the reset button – and fast. While the disruptive gap is widening between traditional and digital banks, customer tolerance for over standardised, impersonalised products is wearing thin – all of which tie back to outdated technology architectures. It’s not just a question of brand reputation, but also loss of market share and legacy maintenance costs and restrictions. This isn’t just a functionality fix. It’s a platform rethink.

A helps the bank’s business to run better by bringing together data, analytics, artificial intelligence, application development, automation, and integration in a single environment. It takes you from a closed and complex architecture to an open, opportunistic approach to services, processes and landscapes.

It means you can unlock your organisational potential and functional innovation to easily create new disruptive customer offerings with back-end integrations, real-time connectivity between ERP, procurement and the bank’s core.

That’s way more than just putting the fundamentals in place. It means banks can unleash and accelerate innovative ideas, such as self-service analytics to ensure consistent decision-making across the front and back office with richer reporting and dashboards. They can harness Machine Learning for Know Your Customer and Anti Money Laundering regulations, gain greater insights for workforce analytics, and ensure seamless integration with partner solutions and applications for a better user experience.

When banks know better, they can do better – which means the cumulative and continuous results of insights and intelligence drive more meaningful innovation and better performance.

But results require action – and that action should be now. Banks should start looking at different functions and processes and identify the best use cases that could benefit from technology driven transformation. They should then experiment with proof of concept environments and leverage ‘fail fast’ learning methods, so they can execute rapidly with their vendor partner of choice. Focusing on long-term benefits and identifying value drivers lets banks put innovation into practice through flexible and agile commercial models based on need and usage.

Failing to unlock business potential, has become obvious and urgent. If the technology fundamentals aren’t right, efforts to bridge the gaps around disruption, competition and customer attrition will always fall short. Act now!

Michael Walsh is Head of Financial Services at SAP, UK

The post Undisputable Urgency: Banks Must Unlock Business Potential Now appeared first on 51ˇçÁ÷UK News Center.

While digital transformation makes innovation possible, having an open platform centered architecture with strategic customer insights in place, will prove to be the real game changer.

Recent found that gender, age, business type and turnover determine a variety of customer attitudes and behaviours. Just one in five UK customers are satisfied with the support they receive from their bank. And one in three customers over the age of 55 say they’re open to switching banks based on interest rates and sign up offers – compared with just 16% of Gen Z.

There are also differences around gender relevance, as women are also more likely to check their account after every transaction and almost three times less likely to have moved money from online-only providers to high-street banks. Likewise, the digital literacy of many SMEs with a younger digitally native management, demand real time financial insights to drive their business.

The combination of ongoing industry disruption and widening generational preferences are redefining the challenges banks face and also the necessary response. Banks must act now if they are to do more than just keep pace. And more importantly, as the rate of disruption accelerates, lack of innovation is an expensive form of inaction from both a market share and legacy maintenance perspective.

That’s because it’s hard to innovate with legacy siloed systems. To be truly effective, banks need a single, unified, open platform that supports modern development, vendor agnostic integration and real time insights to truly get the benefit of contextual data intelligence; consequently driving customer centricity.

It’s like the famous quote from renowned MIT professor Alan Kay, “Context is worth 80 IQ points.” Once you know the context, you can remove risk and innovate intelligently.

Opportunities to innovate in the front office are progressively becoming obvious.Ěý Transformation can deliver far richer omnichannel customer experiences including hyper personalisation and bots to push simplification and engagement. Designing customised product offerings and intelligent new product recommendations including making instant loan offerings at point of sale, using real-time data, and leveraging predictive, targeted marketing using Machine Learning and AI are real and executable use cases.

Harnessing seamless integration of bank and partner solutions for better user experience and creating new disruptive customer offerings with back-end integrations will drive the growth agenda.

Now is the time to explore processes across the operating model and identify priority use cases that could benefit from this type of innovation with technology driving the transformation to help monetise investments. By experimenting with new ways or working, leveraging learning and using ‘fail fast’ methods in proof-of-concept environments, banks can now execute rapidly with their vendor partner of choice. By focusing on long-term benefits and identifying value drivers, banks should put innovation into practice through flexible and agile commercial models based on need and usage.

Innovative are here and are disrupting the disruptors. Are you ready to lead the road to innovation?

Anuj Kumar, Industry Strategy and GTM lead for Financial Services at SAP, UK

The post Financial Services: Disrupt the Disruptors appeared first on 51ˇçÁ÷UK News Center.

These market conditions fall into three main areas: Money, Energy and Supply. The cost of capital, energy cost volatility, regulation, and geopolitical disruption have all impacted on business and will continue to change the cost base of a business on short notice. Modern, high performing finance functions recognise that the speed of change has radically increased requiring much higher precision and speed in forecasting and decision-making, to ensure that relying on yesterday’s information won’t sink today’s business.

Finance must be in the driving seat for designing new organisations which can cope with these changes, because no one else has a complete view across the landscape and making decisions in isolation leads to local failure. Only finance has visibility covering everything from input and overhead costs, to consumer preference, to the impact on margin.

We see this review reflected in the priorities of FTSE 40 controllers, who highlight the need for:

• (Affordable) Beneficial technology, getting the most return on investment
• Value from their data assets, to respond to shocks quickly
• Staying ahead of new controls regulations and requirements
• Responding to changes in ESG reporting and compliance

Getting these decisions right will give the business confidence to continue investing in growth platforms like new sales channels, new business models, store modernisation, marketing and developing their people, providing the right platform for the future.

Technology to beat the business trap – What are the ‘pivot’ options?

Businesses are faced right now with either pushing up their prices and hurting customers or cutting their margins and swallowing supplier price increases, neither of which is palatable; technology can offer a third option; using the capabilities we will describe in this article, the CFO can direct resources to help sustainably grow the revenues, margin, and remain competitive. How does this modern technological alchemy work?

The CFO supports the top line and bottom line of the enterprise, traditionally in a relatively passive manner delivering visibility and controls over profitability, liquidity, auditability, and compliance. Technology is giving the CFO the opportunity to become active in the health and growth of their businesses. To make the CFO a ‘star’ contributor to the business, at a time of severe challenge, we would encourage exploring the innovative finance capabilities described in this article.

Reimagine Finance Operations

The CFO has the opportunity to leverage technology, data and insights to model future business options indeed, to critically analyse prior decisions, what worked well and what didn’t. According to Gartner, decisions governing everyday operations often lack financial rigor, which can result in a loss of 3% or more of profits for organisations. This is primarily due to fragmented systems with siloed operations and an inability to access financial information in real time to make proactive decisions. As a result, CFOs recognise the need to modernise finance operations to reduce manual effort and enable their employees to focus on more value-added activities. A case in point is , which faced rapid growth after COVID-19, resulting in high volumes of data and an accelerated need for the company’s digital transformation. The e-commerce and fintech leader in Latin America achieved an 85% automation rate in treasury and cash management by streamlining their finance operations on a unified platform.

Delivering Assurance

It is expected that over the next 6 months the UK will be transferring from the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) to the Audit Reporting and Governance Authority (ARGA). Although recently the government have stepped back from their plans to introduce UK Corporate Governance Code led improvements around Financial Controls and CFO attestation statement on Fraud, the change in regulator is expected to deliver sharper teeth and greater pressure on external auditors to report more accurately. The upcoming changes to the Economic Crime and Transparency Bill, relating to Fraud, will include a new ‘failure to prevent’ offence and is currently moving through parliament, due in the firstquarter of 2024. A recent University of Portsmouth report outlined that Fraud may have cost the UK private sector in the region of £158Billion in 2022. Fraud still represents a 5% revenue loss for many organisations, money which if protected could be reinvested to promote growth. Business resilience is a key area where an integrated controls, risks management and machine learning/AI technologies have proven to deliver significant loss avoidance whilst also enabling businesses to remain on the correct side of regulatory requirements.

Optimise Cash Management

The CFO and the finance team need to have great visibility, effective control and collaborative execution for that finite, and most valuable business resource, cash! The poor understanding of cash flow is the key reason why many businesses fail. Businesses need integrated, intuitive tools that give them instant insights on the complete value chain, including receivables, payables, and associated supply chains. They need actionable information about cash, liquidity, and working capital, and their treasury platform should allow them to predict liquidity, make proactive decisions and mitigate financial risk. Zalando achieved 100% visibility into cash and accounts through redesigning their treasury and risk management and Zalando Payment system built their unique computing and monitoring model to provide deep insights into its factoring related cash flow movements and became compliant for regulatory requirements as a multinational .

Manage Profitability

Finance teams need to be active participants in managing profitability for the business, they may not be responsible solely, but they can best support the business by providing finance data and models in a timely, reliable and enabling fashion. The typical challenges that prevent retailers from proactive steering is the poor visibility to the real economic costs of products, customers and channels. According to Ventana Research, the most commonly mentioned challenge for companies in managing customer profitability is analytics. Using the right technology retailers can understand the real cost dimensions of their business and better control the margin challenges. Brakes – leading food service supplier in UK – achieved 2% improvement in margins through remodelling and digitizing their pricing and .

The CFO and his team have the opportunity to play an even bigger part in the future success of their business. Not only are the Finance team the keepers for financial data, they have the opportunity to proactively consult with the business teams; partnering in agile decision-making, providing business insights, actively supporting investment choices, helping identify success or failure in a rapid manner. Transforming the finance function provides the opportunity for businesses to escape the business trap of higher prices or lower margins, it can help you to pivot to increased competitiveness, revenue growth and success with customers, these are definitely the numbers worth pursuing.

If your organisation would like to know more about how these solutions can support your success, then please contact the authors:

• Shaid Latif, Industry Advisor Expert – Retail & Life Sciences at SAP
• Elif Kuralay, Industry Advisor at SAP
• Blair Robinson, Partner, Business Consulting at EY
• Matt Smith, Alliances Director at EY

The post Using Finance To Manage The Bottom Line And Pivot To Growth” appeared first on 51ˇçÁ÷UK News Center.

LONDON — (NYSE: SAP) today announces that , one of the world’s leading communications services companies, has gone live on to transform its ERP operations in the cloud.

It’s a move that strengthens the existing partnership between the two companies, enabling BT Group to retire 11 legacy finance platforms and benefit from millions of pounds worth of annualised savings. It also showcases the value of , SAP’s tailored-to-fit cloud ERP solution, in delivering business-wide transformation at scale.

The deployment forms part of BT Group’s multi-year digital transformation journey to enhance its operations and build better colleague experiences. A partner since 2019, 51ˇçÁ÷has supported BT Group with its modernisation programme, providing smart, streamlined finance operations under its Making Finance Brilliant initiative. At the same time, 51ˇçÁ÷has enhanced BT Group’s colleague and customer experiences through the creation of a new ‘MyHR’ platform, powered by 51ˇçÁ÷SuccessFactors.

Now, BT Group runs 51ˇçÁ÷S/4HANA to take its Making Finance Brilliant initiative to the next level. It unites its finance data, reports and accounts, and powers its Business, Openreach and group finance operations in the UK.

The partnership also sees BT Group add to its robust 51ˇçÁ÷portfolio, following its onboarding of ĚýĚýas part of its commitment to enhance its workforce experience via the creation of its ‘MyHR’ platform. These deployments form part of the strategic transformation of its digital HR capabilities, transforming learning,ĚýĚýand management of contingent workers. It helps BT attract talent as well as enabling career development and workforce planning.

“The last couple of years have shown the necessity of being able to move fast and be agile to changing circumstances without disrupting either the customer or colleague experience,” said Jay Doshi, MD, Corporate Units, Digital at BT Group. “With our new 51ˇçÁ÷deployment adding to our existing portfolio, we can remove the complexity from our finance processes, allowing simplifying finance operations across the Group, reducing costs, boosting productivity and deepening the insights we can access to inform wider business strategy. Our teams will now reap the rewards as our strategic transformation programme drives a new digitally-enhanced experience.”

Ryan Poggi, Managing Director of 51ˇçÁ÷UKI added, “BT Group has a long history of connecting the world through the power of telecommunications. As it undergoes its programme of transformation, our cloud-based solutions will place data at the heart of strategic decision-making, driving operational efficiencies and enabling innovation at scale.

“With immediate savings, and wider benefits in productivity and performance, our services can scale to meet and deliver against BT Group’s transformation ambitions. That’s why we’re the only choice for organisations, of any size, that wish to modernise their ERP and stay resilient to the challenges that may come.”

About BT Group

BT Group is the UK’s leading provider of fixed and mobile telecommunications and related secure digital products, solutions and services. We also provide managed telecommunications, security and network and IT infrastructure services to customers across 180 countries.

BT Group consists of three customer-facing units: Consumer serves individuals and families in the UK; Business* covers companies and public services in the UK and internationally; Openreach is an independently governed, wholly owned subsidiary wholesaling fixed access infrastructure services to its customers – over 650 communications providers across the UK.

British Telecommunications plc is a wholly owned subsidiary of BT Group plc and encompasses virtually all businesses and assets of the BT Group. BT Group plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange.

For more information, visit

About SAP

SAP’s strategy is to help every business run as an intelligent enterprise. As a market leader in enterprise application software, we help companies of all sizes and in all industries run at their best: 51ˇçÁ÷customers generate 87% of total global commerce. Our machine learning, Internet of Things (IoT), and advanced analytics technologies help turn customers’ businesses into intelligent enterprises. 51ˇçÁ÷helps give people and organizations deep business insight and fosters collaboration that helps them stay ahead of their competition. We simplify technology for companies so they can consume our software the way they want – without disruption. Our end-to-end suite of applications and services enables business and public customers across 25 industries globally to operate profitably, adapt continuously, and make a difference. With a global network of customers, partners, employees, and thought leaders, 51ˇçÁ÷helps the world run better and improve people’s lives. For more information, visit .

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To preview and download broadcast-standard stock footage and press photos digitally, please visit . On this platform, you can find high resolution material for your media channels.

The post BT Group Reaps the Rewards as 51ˇçÁ÷Powers Finance Transformation appeared first on 51ˇçÁ÷UK News Center.

London, UK – 31 August 2023 – Over half of UK SMEs (52%) are reassessing their bank’s suitability for them, according to new 51ˇçÁ÷research. Similarly, less than a quarter (22%) of UK consumers are currently satisfied with their bank’s support, suggesting the moment for change is now.

In a survey of 2000 consumers and 500 senior decision makers within the UK’s growing SME’s cohort, 51ˇçÁ÷reveals interesting insights into customer banking behaviours to help banks and financial services providers pivot from a one-size-fits-all approach to customer experience, and deliver bespoke, targeted solutions.

In times of high personalisation and “Digital everywhere”, banks need to think differently and create a stronger empathetic relationship with their consumers. It’s time to understand better, be more proactive and communicate and engage better.

A closer look at segment insights

SAP’s research looks at how gender, age, business type and turnover determine the variety of attitudes and behaviours customers have towards financial services.

In sync with societal changes where gender plays an increasingly important role in the way products and services are consumed, banks need to rethink their go-to-market strategies. There are marked gender differences in how customers work with their bank. For example, almost one fifth (19%) of females check their account after every transaction (compared to just 14% of males). Females are also almost three times less likely to have moved money from online-only providers to high-street banks (11% of males vs 4% of females).

The emerging call is that of ‘gender relevance’ – an opportunity for banks to relook at their products and messaging to ensure gender relevance and to address different needs and behaviours.

Age too determines banking behaviour as customers look for different financial options and services based on digital and financial maturity. Baby Boomers, those aged 55 and over, are more than twice as likely to switch provider based on sign-up offers and better interest rates compared with Gen Z audience (36% vs 16%). Meanwhile, appetite to adopt digital services paints a different picture. Almost a quarter (24%) of Gen Z have switched their bank in the last year based on digital experiences – while less than one in 10 (9%) of Baby Boomers have done the same.

“The message from UK banking customers is clear – providers are failing to deliver the personalised services and support and this is breeding dissatisfaction. The time is now for banks to hit the re-set button and ditch the one-size-fits-all approach to targeting and recognise each segment acts and behaves differently,” explains Anuj Kumar, Industry Strategy and GTM lead for Financial Services at SAP, UK.

It’s a similar story for SMEs with turnover influencing banking behaviours and engagement. Businesses that turn over between ÂŁ100m and ÂŁ499m are almost twice as likely to be reliant on their bank for support and guidance during the cost-of-living crisis than those that generate between ÂŁ10m and ÂŁ49m each year (61% vs 37%).

Michael Walsh, Head of Financial Services, UK, suggests “SMEs are key to the growth of the UK and banks need to re-think how they engage with them. Size, experience of the executive, industry and the businesses own growth ambitions are significant factors driving how they use the Financial Services sector. Typically, focus has been on working capital such as financing, lending and overdrafts. With the ever-increasing digitisation of capabilities, banks need to serve SMEs in different ways. Future focus has to be on helping SMEs access new customer bases with a collaborative ecosystem and networks leveraging emerging intelligent platform technologies.”

Seeking personalised education and support

SAP’s survey also reveals that UK banking customers, whether SMEs or consumers, are calling for greater personalised education and support to offset economic concerns.

On average, 1-in-5 (20%) of consumers call for better and easier access to support, education and digital tools amidst current economic pressures. Age once again plays a key role here with Gen Z (20%), Millennials (23%) and Gen X (20%) calling for their bank to deliver guidance on where to access support when things go wrong. Fewer than one in 10 Baby Boomers make the same demand.

Gender also informs calls for greater education. Females are twice as likely to (21%) ask for their bank to post more online content with tips and advice, compared to males (11%). While both men and women place equal demand on interest rates support and education (16%) and the development of accessible budgeting tools (16%).

Similarly, UK SMEs are equally clear on where banks need to deliver education and support. Over half (53%) of companies that turnover between £100m and £499m want to be informed on where they can access lending and funding options, while four in 10 (43%) of much smaller companies, generating between £100k and £999k, would like more communication and advice on where to access support when things go wrong. SAP’s survey also finds that over half (60%) of companies sized between £50m and £499m would like their bank to invest in additional analytics and automation to help drive new insights and streamline their operations.

“Customer first is the call of the hour. Banks must accelerate adoption of digital capabilities but in doing so need to ensure that they can communicate enhanced value and experience to the end consumer, both for retail and SME groups. With new technologies, including AI, enabling new ways of doing business, limitations of current architectures can no longer be the excuse to decelerate innovative disruption,” says Walsh .

Kumar concludes: “In times of financial strife, it’s the responsibility of banks to listen and respond to their customers, upgrading their support from both an educational and technology standpoint. Customers demand constant, proactive engagement and reassurance across multiple channels, with content that educates, digital tools that empower smarter financial choices, and advice that’s readily accessible and on-demand. That’s the modern banking experience that the UK has come to expect, and financial services must keep up or get left behind particularly in an era that is seeing a growth in alternative banking service providers.”

The post As the Going Gets Tough, Banks Miss the Mark Say UK SMEs and Consumers appeared first on 51ˇçÁ÷UK News Center.

LONDON –Ěý today announced that has extended its relationship with 51ˇçÁ÷to make its payments gateway product, , available to 51ˇçÁ÷customers across Europe.

From today, any business signed up to the will be able to access Smartpay and take advantage of benefits including frictionless customer experience, bolstered fraud defences and a consistent payments offering across online and offline channels.

One of Smartpay’s chief benefits is its ability to power fast, smooth, flexible payments. The platform supports one-click purchases and allows buyers to use a variety of different cards, currencies and payment methods. In addition, Smartpay uses the latest anti-fraud approaches – such as machine learning – to detect fraudulent transactions in real-time and reduce false positives. This approach protects the business’ finances and minimises negative customer experiences such as payment declines.

For companies who rely on the 51ˇçÁ÷Commerce Cloud to do business, implementation of Smartpay is swift and easy, and it removes the need to have multiple integrations with different payment providers. In turn, this means that organisations can offer the same payment experience to their customers across all physical, digital and mobile channels.

The provision of Barclaycard’s Smartpay gateway to SAP’s European customers is the latest development in the partnership between the two industry leaders. In February last year, a collaboration was unveiled which saw Barclaycard’s business-to-business payment solution, Precisionpay, incorporated into the 51ˇçÁ÷Ariba Network.

Marc Pettican, President, Barclaycard Payments, said: “This expansion of our partnership with 51ˇçÁ÷opens up big opportunities not only for us, but also for the many businesses that use the 51ˇçÁ÷Commerce Cloud across Europe. They will gain access to a leading payment gateway and will be able to offer customers a smooth, safe and seamless checkout experience.”

Charlie Platt, VP and Head of Strategic Customers, 51ˇçÁ÷UK, said: “This innovative agreement demonstrates the power of our partnership with Barclaycard and our continued alignment to its long-term strategy. 51ˇçÁ÷Commerce Cloud customers can now deploy a trusted and market-leading payment gateway solution that can help to grow their businesses.”

Visit the 51ˇçÁ÷News Center. Follow 51ˇçÁ÷on Twitter at .

Notes to editors

To find out more about the award winning partnership between Barclaycard and SAP, visit sapappcenter.com

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About SAP

As the Experience Company powered by the Intelligent Enterprise, 51ˇçÁ÷is the market leader in enterprise application software, helping companies of all sizes and in all industries run at their best: 77% of the world’s transaction revenue touches an SAPÂŽ system. Our machine learning, Internet of Things (IoT), and advanced analytics technologies help turn customers’ businesses into intelligent enterprises. 51ˇçÁ÷helps give people and organizations deep business insight and fosters collaboration that helps them stay ahead of their competition. We simplify technology for companies so they can consume our software the way they want – without disruption. Our end-to-end suite of applications and services enables more than 440,000 business and public customers to operate profitably, adapt continuously, and make a difference. With a global network of customers, partners, employees, and thought leaders, 51ˇçÁ÷helps the world run better and improve people’s lives. For more information, visit .

About Barclaycard

Barclaycard, part of Barclays Bank PLC, is a leading global payment business that helps consumers, retailers and businesses to make and take payments flexibly, and to access short-term credit and point-of-sale finance. In 2018 we processed nearly ÂŁ268bn in transactions globally. Barclaycard is a pioneer of new forms of payment and is at the forefront of developing viable contactless and mobile payment schemes for today and cutting-edge forms of payment for the future. We also partner with a wide range of organisations across the globe to offer their customers or members payment options and credit.

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The post Barclaycard Extends Partnership With 51ˇçÁ÷To Include Payment Gateway Access appeared first on 51ˇçÁ÷UK News Center.