Expert Interview: Angela Murphy, MSTS

EXPERT INTERVIEW ANG ELA MURPHY

About the Author: Angela Murphy | Strategic Partnerships Manager Angela Murphy is a speaker and author building out the partnerships program at a global company. She gives talks to universities and corporate organizations looking to change the relationship between the private sector and academics. Angela holds a PhD in Rhetoric from the University of Kansas.

MSTS MSTS, a global leader in B2B payment and credit solutions, facilitates transactions for customers in over 190 countries. Credit as a Service® (CaaS) is setting the stage for the future of omnichannel B2B payments. SMB and enterprise organizations use CaaS to extend credit lines to customers without straining working capital.

Founded in 1978, MSTS has 48 years of industry experience. How have you and your solutions evolved since your inception?

We believe our customer obsession, coupled with innovation, has been our keys to success. Over the past few decades, we have designed and implemented B2B payment solutions for large enterprise organizations in manufacturing, retail, and transportation industries. Our deep expertise and superior technology in payments and A/R automation has enabled us to package our Credit as a Service® (CaaS) product into an off-the-shelf solution for SMBs.

MSTS’ purpose is to help businesses grow by streamlining B2B payments and automating A/R, across the globe. Through our Credit as a Service product we provide our clients with tools to better serve their key customers from dedicated lines of credit to enhance the customer purchasing experience across all sales channels, our processes and support are essential to how our clients grow.

Looking forward, MSTS understands how critical eCommerce is to an omnichannel strategy and the importance of offering a payment option that businesses prefer, even when shopping online. MSTS’ InvoiceMe, a tool, within CaaS enables invoicing at checkout. The tool integrates easily into all major eCommerce platforms, including Magento and BigCommerce. We did a deep dive into why payments matter in most B2B transactions in our Choices at Checkout Whitepaper.

As a multinational company servicing a wide variety of clients, are there any constant challenges you’re facing?

One key challenge is the resistance to digital transformation. Now that we are in the midst of a global crisis, businesses are feeling the pressure to conduct business online and provide alternative payment options for their buyers such as invoicing. The key challenges are parting ways with conventional methods such as credit cards and moving away from manual processes while also maintaining strong relationships with buyers, which is one of our core competencies.

MSTS has operations in over thirty countries with various business offerings. As part of the work in rolling out any new offering internationally, MSTS first undertakes legal, due diligence to determine banking, entity, regulatory and any other requirements necessary to operate in that country, following the details of a given program planned to be launched. Additionally, MSTS and with its parent corporation, World Fuel Services, have worked together to leverage ongoing banking relationships to establish new international bank accounts. For countries in which no prior banking relationship existed, we have worked to develop new banking relationships and partnerships as needed. Also, our technology and services are configurable to the needs of the client. To create a frictionless purchasing experience it’s important to provide buyers with multiple payment options. A recent survey we conducted found 74% of buyers would purchase with a competitor if their vendor’s eCommerce store didn’t offer their preferred payment option. The study also found that 82% of buyers would choose a vendor over another if they offered invoicing at checkout with 30-, 60-, or 90-day terms.

The customer’s purchasing expectations continue to rise based on their experiences in the consumer world. To remain competitive and to increase their share, businesses must provide a seamless purchasing experience for their buyers.

The pandemic has gripped the globe and economies are still reeling. How can MSTS help struggling businesses with working capital when there is so much uncertainty?

Our company has weathered downturns and uncertainty before, from supporting our airline clients in the aftermath of 9/11 to working with our clients during the 2008 market crash. As experts in the industry, we can use our technology and experience to provide working capital relief for businesses facing economic uncertainty. With our diverse, global offerings, we can be a trusted partner during this crisis and future success.

MSTS powers global commerce. In a changing payments landscape, how adaptable are your tools and solutions?

We have an API first approach to our technology. This headless approach enables MSTS’ clients the flexibility to modernize payments without eliminating current systems. CaaS integrates into legacy systems through APIs including ERP, CRM, POS and eCommerce platforms.

...in the midst of a global crisis, businesses are feeling the pressure to conduct business online and provide alternative payment options for their buyers.