Case Study: Financial Services Provider achieves 85% on-time payments with SAP Ariba

Automation Increases on-time Payments to 85 Percent

A global financial services provider specializing in life insurance and pensions faced fragmented settlement operations across procurement, invoice approval and payment. Poor collaboration between procurement and accounts payable led to non‑preferred suppliers, inaccurate invoices and missed payment targets, with on‑time invoice payments at just 50%.

The company deployed Ariba invoicing solutions and the Ariba Network to automate payment operations—introducing paperless invoice processing, standardized payment terms, stronger controls and supplier enablement, plus mandated electronic processes and ongoing training. The changes eliminated finger‑pointing, raised paperless invoices from 5% to 40%, grew spend under management from £1.5M to £180M, increased on‑time payments to 85% and reduced costs through better contract and supplier compliance.