While most industries have fully embraced digital processes, healthcare, insurance, and B2B finance still lag in one of the most fundamental parts of the consumer experience: payments.
Nearly nine in ten consumers use digital payment methods in daily life, confirmation that the expectation for convenience and simplicity now influence every industry.
The shift away from paper isn’t a matter of modernization for its own sake. It’s a direct response to rising costs, administrative friction, escalating security threats, and rapidly evolving consumer expectations. The question is no longer whether payments should go digital — it’s how to accelerate adoption in a way that's sustainable, scalable, and aligned with consumer expectations.
In a world where nearly everything is instant, asking payees to wait 7-10 days for a paper check is no longer practical. While the delay affects the payees, the operational burden falls on the payer, especially as they navigate:
Paper checks have anchored healthcare and insurance disbursements for decades, but their weaknesses are becoming harder to continue. Today, 30% of B2B healthcare payments rely on paper checks, despite costing 3-5 times more to process than electronic alternatives. Plus, they’re riskier. According to the 2025 AFP Payments Fraud and Control Survey, 63% of organizations experienced attempted or actual check fraud in 2024, making checks the most targeted payment method.
Today’s payment operations rely on intricate, multi-stakeholder workflows that were never designed for speed or simplicity. Digital payments directly counter these vulnerabilities by reducing processing costs by 81% and accelerating cycle times by 73%, along with reducing administrative burden, and strengthening security.
When speed, convenience, and security converge, digital adoption follows naturally. Each accelerates the other and collectively they redefine and simplify the payment experience.
Integration challenges remain a major barrier: legacy systems, disconnected platforms, and siloed workflows slow down digital transformation. To truly move the needle on digital payment adoption, the chosen payment solution needs to fit seamlessly into existing claims and billing systems without downtime, retraining, or added complexity.
When integration is fast, simple, and invisible to daily operations, teams see immediate value and digital adoption follows through with a simpler payment experience for consumers.
A broad, connected payment network is one of the strongest accelerators of adoption. When more providers and vendors are connected through the network, they can be paid digitally on day one; helping organizations reduce paper and avoid workarounds. It also means better data to identify patterns and prevent fraudulent activity before it happens.
When your network is expansive and connected, digital payments become the natural first choice for payees.
Payment preferences vary widely across generations, industries, and individual payees. True convenience means offering multiple payment options, paired with clear, complete remittance data, without adding fees, technical hurdles, or confusion.
This freedom of choice means payees are far more likely to embrace (and stick with) digital payments when payment options match their personal preferences.
Managing different platforms for different payment types and multiple vendors leads to duplication, increased error rates, and complicated reconciliation.
A single system for all payment types eliminates these headaches and makes the entire process more efficient for everyone involved.
Digital adoption accelerates when it’s tied to real-world benefits and the capabilities providers, vendors, and claimants want. For most, that comes down to three priorities:
Speed. Faster payments mean shorter revenue cycles and improved cash flow. With consumers using digital methods every day, slow payments feel increasingly outdated.
Security. Eliminating paper checks reduces cost and the risk of loss, theft, and fraud. Digital payments add encryption, verification, and compliance protections that physical checks cannot match.
Convenience. Fewer manual steps and simpler processes benefit both sides of the transaction. Plus, when full remittance data accompanies each payment, reconciliation becomes exponentially easier.
Deliver these three consistently, and digital adoption accelerates.
As payers move away from paper-based workflows, the operational impact of payments begins to shift. What previously drained time and resources now becomes a source of stability and confidence. Digital solutions reduce fraud, lessen call center strain, and give payees the fast, predictable experience they expect.
But meaningful change doesn’t come from digitizing one step in the process. It comes from replacing fragmented systems with a unified solution that supports the entire payment journey. That’s where the right partner matters.
ECHO combines proven expertise with the industry’s largest payment network and true payment choice. All delivered through a platform built for speed, security, and convenience. With one system and one partner, payers see real ROI and a payment experience that feels modern, consistent, and simple for everyone involved. With 25+ years of experience, we solve complex payment challenges with industry-leading solutions that save you time and money. Explore the benefits of our full-service payment solutions.