Columnist

It's business, but not as we know it?

There’s no doubting that the human race has made great strides in the area of global connectivity over the last decade. We may not have found a cure for cancer, solved poverty, ended war or successfully sorted out a number of major international issues yet, but by Jove we certainly know a thing or two about sending information around the world quickly and efficiently.

Communications technology has improved enormously, even in the last five years. We now live in a high speed interconnected world, where, via our smart phones, tablets and various other mobile devices, we can sync our world together to remain ‘plugged in’ to the information super highway wherever we go. This may or not be a good thing for humanity in the long run, the debate will run and run. However, in the meantime, people will be doing business with each other around the clock, 24 hours a day, 7 days week, in ever increasing geographical circles.

Business has needed to respond and find solutions to this extended commercial environment in a number of ways. Clearly time is of the essence, and innovations which speed key processes up are becoming increasingly important to business of all shapes and sizes.

The actual business of sending money overseas is one such area which has required constant thought. New APIs have been developed to help speed up payments process. With such a large proportion of goods and services bought and sold internationally, foreign exchange transfers need to be integrated into accounting platforms to save time and money and keep you competitive.

“World First Autopay for Sage can plug into other companies’ systems, to bolt on international payment capabilities or automate existing manual currency transactions or international payments,” explains Alex Sullivan from World First, the foreign exchange company.

“Our clients can create a seamless process for making these payments. We also highlight the importance of getting the best value for foreign currency transactions, by protecting their businesses from exchange rate fluctuations. Something which any business involved in moving money overseas needs to be on top of.”

“International payments are a fact of life for an ever increasing number of businesses, and things which were perhaps taken for granted before now and a strategic company-wide approach is needed in the modern 24 hour business world.”

With technology continuing to force a faster pace, the old adage has never been more prescient; ‘money never sleeps’. It’s clear that businesses are going to need to adapt and find the right kind of products to keep them on top of this ever evolving situation, or they risk buckling under the weight of expectation from clients, suppliers and employees who are demanding faster, better and more effective service by the day.

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