B2B Payments Today: Duplicate Invoices Cause AP Pain; Citizens Debuts Corporate Payments Platform

Today in B2B payments, the 33-day wait for cross-border payments and why AP professionals dread duplicate invoices. Plus, Conexiom Platform automates supply chain and AP duties, how AR automation speeds payment processing and Citizens Bank rolls out corporate payments offering.

The Conexiom Platform Automates More Supply Chain, AP Business Tasks

Trade document automation company Conexiom on Thursday (Sept. 16) unveiled The Conexiom Platform cloud-based automation tool, giving the company a foothold in supply chain and accounts payable automation after establishing itself in the sales automation space.

The Conexiom Platform automates documents for companies’ order-to-cash (O2C) and procure-to-pay (P2P) procedures, pulling data from purchase orders, invoices and other documents and transforming it into structured data in the businesses’ system.

25% of AP Professionals Cite Duplicate Invoices as Major Pain Point, Waste of Time

PYMNTS’ The Digital Report says 25 percent of AP staff said duplicate invoices or payments create noticeable pain points in manual AP operations. Getting a second notice for a bill and trying to determine if it has already been paid can often turn into a time-sucker.

Alexander T. Hagerup, co-founder and CEO of Vic.ai told PYMNTS that artificial intelligence (AI) solutions can facilitate data extraction and handle changes in workflow or identify deviations in typical patterns.

Citizens Bank Launches Corporate Payment Solution

Citizens Bank recently rolled out an integrated payments solution for improved payments processing for corporate customers.

The new tool, which includes invoice automation, allows companies to automate invoice-to-pay process from one platform. It also lets Citizens Bank customers earn rebates on virtual card and ACH payments.

Average US Firm Waits 33 Days to Receive Cross-Border Payments, Data Show

The average U.S. firm waits 33 days to receive a cross-border payment, according to the August edition of PYMNTS’ Global B2B Payments Playbook.

Cross-border small and medium-sized business (SMB) B2B payments could generate $10 billion to $15 billion market, according to recent research, while the global B2B payments space could exceed $35 trillion in 2022.

Businesses and financial services providers around the world are rolling out cross-border innovations to help them streamline and accelerate B2B payments, including through the use of Banking-as-a-Service, according to the Playbook.

87% of Firms Say AR Automation Speeds Processing, PYMNTS Data Show

PYMNTS’ B2B Payments Innovation Readiness Playbook found that firms realized seven different benefits from digitizing their AR, led by faster processing speed (87 percent), improved team efficiency (80 percent) and improved overall customer experience (75 percent).

Saving money on operational costs (72 percent), improved days sales outstanding (60 percent), headcount reduction (60 percent) and improved collections (50 percent) rounded out the list.