AI use cases dominate in the corporate finance department, and few tasks are more considerable than bill payments.
Chief financial officers looking to cut payment processing times may soon have an artificial intelligence option that gets the bills paid accurately and faster than ever before.
That’s the promise of Billpay, a new accounts payable software tool from U.K.-based Revolut, a digital payments provider.
Revolut, which has 35 million individual customers and 500,000 business customers on board, is looking to beef up its accounting and payment product lines and appeal to C-suite financial executives.
BillPay is the latest example of that mindset. The AI-powered accounting and payments tool enables accounting team members to take invoices from company databases, pull the needed payment information, and process the approved invoice payments in record time.
“With Billpay, we’re aiming to reduce the time our customers spend on accounts payable by more than 80%,” said James Gibson, Revolut Business general manager, in comments to Financial News London.
Making Life “Easier” For Accounting Teams
Expected to roll out in the second half of 2024, Billpay would solve many problems for CFOs looking to speed up the payment process but prioritize accuracy and efficiency.
“We want to make life easier for CFOs by automating the finance functions,” Gibson added. “Large organizations are our target, especially companies that manage hundreds and thousands of monthly invoices.”
Billpay wouldn’t cost current Revolut business clients any additional cash, as it will come embedded within a company’s existing account. The company will also sweeten the Billpay offer with other digitally-based accounting features.
“We will also give customers access to interbank FX rates and international payments, so paying global suppliers is simple,” Gibson told Financial News. “Billpay will sit alongside our existing expense management solution, so our customers can easily manage spending across their business.”
While any CFO’s mileage will vary, it usually takes about a week at best or, more likely, up to 30 days or more to process an invoice. A longer payment timeframe can alienate suppliers and vendors and tie up accounting staffers on invoice processing tasks for days or even weeks.
The Revolut payment product should speed that process up.
“Billpay will leverage AI to help businesses time and money in several ways, from learning how to best match receipts with transactions to automatic identification of unusual bills or transactions to help identify and eliminate unnecessary spend,” Gibson said.
Brian O’Connell, a former Wall Street bond trader and best-selling author, is a prominent figure in the finance industry. With a substantial background as an ex-Wall Street trader, he has authored two best-selling books: ‘The 401k Millionaire’ and ‘CNBC’s Creating Wealth’, demonstrating his profound knowledge of finance and investing.
Brian is also a finance and business writer for esteemed national platforms and publications, including CNN, TheStreet.com, CBS News, The Wall Street Journal, U.S. News & World Report, Forbes, and Fox News.
