Sustainable Finance Starts with Your Supplier Payments

Sustainability isn’t just a corporate initiative—it’s a financial imperative. While much of the ESG ("Environmental, Social, and Governance") conversation centers on energy use, supply chains, and reporting frameworks, one of the most overlooked areas of impact is accounts payable (AP). Every paper check sent, every envelope stuffed, and every truck delivering payments contributes to your environmental footprint.

Modernizing AP through embedded B2B payments not only improves operational efficiency—it supports real, measurable environmental, social, and governance (ESG) goals.

Digitization That Delivers ESG Value

Embedded B2B Payments—payment functionality seamlessly integrated within existing financial workflows—represent the next evolution in AP digitization. Rather than bolting on fragmented tools, embedded payments offer a turnkey way to digitize, automate, and optimize your entire supplier payments process. That transformation also drives ESG progress across three key pillars:

Environmental Impact: Eliminate Paper, Emissions, and Waste

AP teams still reliant on paper checks are creating avoidable environmental harm:

• Each paper check transaction produces 4.29 grams of CO₂, not including the emissions from mail trucks and office equipment used in the process.¹
• The U.S. still prints over 3 billion checks annually for B2B payments alone.²
• Digital payments can reduce energy consumption by 80% or more compared to paper-based workflows.³

By eliminating manual check printing, paper waste, and physical delivery, Finexio’s embedded AP payments solution dramatically reduces your organization’s carbon footprint—one supplier payment at a time.

Social Impact: Empower Teams and Suppliers

Beyond environmental benefits, embedded payments drive a more inclusive and supportive ecosystem:

• Small suppliers often wait 30–90 days for payments, hurting cash flow and business continuity. Automating AP ensures faster, more reliable payments to all vendors.⁴
• 83% of finance employees say manual AP processes cause unnecessary stress, leading to burnout and turnover.⁵

Finexio’s platform supports supplier inclusion by streamlining onboarding, ensuring payment transparency, and reducing friction for small and diverse vendors. Meanwhile, your internal teams are freed from repetitive tasks, enabling them to focus on strategic work that matters.

Governance Impact: Security, Compliance, and Control

Embedding payments into your finance stack also improves governance outcomes:

• 82% of organizations experienced attempted or actual payment fraud in 2023, mostly targeting checks.⁶
• Digital payments create a full audit trail, simplifying compliance and strengthening internal controls.

Finexio not only digitizes your payments—it assumes responsibility for maintaining sensitive supplier banking data, reducing internal risk and ensuring payment compliance standards are met.

Your Payments Are a Platform for Change

Your AP department is not just a cost center—it’s a lever for ESG progress.

By adopting embedded B2B payments, you’re not only optimizing operations and reducing costs. You’re actively:

• Lowering your carbon emissions
• Strengthening supplier relationships
• Protecting your organization from risk
• Empowering your team
• Delivering on your ESG commitments

Sustainable finance truly starts with your supplier payments.

Ready to Lead with Purpose?

See how Finexio’s Embedded Payments as a Service helps finance, sustainability, and ESG leaders align operational goals—and eliminate reliance on paper-based payment practices.
Learn more about Embedded B2B Payments

Sources

1. Check CO₂ Emissions Estimate:
   https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Carbon-Footprint-calculation-for-paper-checks_fig1_340121877
2. Association for Financial Professionals (AFP) 2023 Payments Fraud Report:
   https://www.afponline.org/publications-data-tools/reports/survey-research-economic-data/Details/2023-afp-payments-fraud-control-report
3. Energy Consumption of Digital vs Paper Processes – AIIM Industry Watch:
   https://info.aiim.org/digitalizing-core-business-processes
4. PYMNTS – 2023 B2B Payments Innovation Readiness Report:
   https://www.pymnts.com/study/b2b-payments-innovation-readiness-2023/
5. Ardent Partners – AP Metrics That Matter in 2023:
   https://ardentpartners.com/2023/03/accounts-payable-metrics-that-matter-in-2023/
6. AFP Payments Fraud Control Report 2023:
   https://www.afponline.org/publications-data-tools/reports/survey-research-economic-data/Details/2023-afp-payments-fraud-control-report