There is no question that mobile payments are entering the mainstream. One-quarter of the world's population – 1.8 billion of us – will be banking with mobile devices by 2019, according to a recent report by KPMG, while Google and Apple are gearing up to claim their stakes in the market with Android Pay and Apple Pay.

Corporates with consumer-facing retail sales are already having to move with the times and enable their customers to make contactless payments with their phones. But the real challenge from the company's treasury perspective is to integrate the growing bulk of mobile payments into the overall corporate payments environment. In an article in Financial Executive magazine, Greg Hammermaster outlines 10 things that financial professionals should consider when planning to improve the efficiency and integration of corporate payments. They are as follows:

1. Integrate all points of payment directly to the bank for settlement – and to the accounting system for reconciliation – to improve cash flow.
2. All payment methods – whether a credit card terminal, e-commerce website or mobile phone equipped to take payments – should be directly integrated within the business’s accounting system, otherwise the cost of sales will be increased.
3. Eliminate manual data entry at point-of-sale and in accounting solutions.
4. Automate the reconciliation process to reduce errors, saving time and money.
5. An advanced, integrated payments portal is a good way to organise the payments environment, offering Web and mobile access to a reporting dashboard and other services.
6. Payment platforms certified by the Payment Card Industry (PCI) can improve PCI compliance for merchants.
7. Improve audit by eliminating manual processes, which increase auditor scrutiny.
8. A consolidated payments environment can create price efficiencies.
9. Integrated payments platforms are more capable of adding advanced features and solutions, such as mobile payment apps, automated invoicing or integrated loyalty systems.
10. Business software providers are offering pre-integrated payment solutions for small and mid-sized businesses.