"Consequently, the EU has defined the SEPA (Single Euro Payment Area) standard that will be in place during 2008," said Tavi. "Commercial standardization efforts, driven by companies like ABN Amro, Citigroup, GE and HP, include an exciting proposal called TWIST, which targets the paperless and electronic transactions for management of the treasury related operations, including payments and third party financing transactions."

Xign is another specialized vendor that creates electronic documents and makes EIPP payments to the bank ACH (Automated Clearing House). Xign is used by 35 of the Fortune 500 companies.

ERP or accounting applications are used as systems of record for the transactions executed by the Xign system, said Chris Rauen, marketing manager.

One key advantage is early payment discounts. "Buyers may typically pay in 30-60 days, while paper invoices may not get into 'accounts payable' until after 30 days, when they are due," said Rauen. "Electronic processing with EIPP is a whole new opportunity. Early payment discounts can be obtained, such as 2 percent for 10 days, 30 days net. The supplier benefits by lower DSO (Days Sales Outstanding) and the buyer receives a discount as an incentive to pay early."

Ariba, like its leading competitors in financial supply chain automation, is growing fast, with transaction value up 20 percent per quarter, said Ling Leung, senior consultant, solutions strategy, greater China, "but to keep that in perspective, electronic transactions are still valued in billions, whereas global trade comprises trillions of dollars."