Mobile wallets, blockchain, P2P — it’s been busy in the payments world lately.

But before focusing on far-off technologies — such as cross-border transfers via blockchain — the payments industry should address more immediate pain points, according to René Lacerte, CEO of Bill.com, a payment processes provider.

“Getting rid of checks and automating the back office is still hard for many companies,” he told Bank Innovation. “More than 50 billion paper checks came out of the rotation in the last 20 years, but some businesses still rely on those. This is mainly because the physical paper provides this feeling of security and confidence to those companies.” Coming up with simple, automated solutions, which provide customers with the same sense of security, as checks do, should be top of mind for the industry, he added. 

Thanks to the pace of innovation in the industry, the technologies are already readily available to make this happen, Lacerte said. At the same time, different emerging technologies — including blockchain and real-time P2P payments — provide an opportunity for financial services to offer their customers a more personalized experience, he added.

Bank Innovation recently hosted Lacerte, a payments veteran, formerly of Intuit, for a chat about trends in payments.

Watch the 10-minute video below.