Today in B2B Payments: New Solutions Tackle Alcohol Sales, Email Inboxes

Today in B2B payments, iControl and MarginEdge partner to help solve the problems restaurants face when buying and selling alcohol, while Auditoria.AI introduces smartbots that help companies run their helpdesks. Plus, Berlin-based startup Workist raises about $8.7 million to help automate B2B transactions.

iControl, MarginEdge Team on B2B Alcohol Payments

B2B food and beverage payment solution iControl is partnering with restaurant management software solution MarginEdge to help solve the problems restaurants face when purchasing and serving alcohol. iControl Chief Revenue Officer Don Voss said: “We’re excited to bring our restaurant clients a truly holistic, full suite of tools to better manage their back-of-house operations, tackling rising costs and gaining crucial time back thanks to MarginEdge’s data reporting and automation.”

Auditoria.AI Introduces Smartbots to Manage AP, AR Email Inboxes

Natural language and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies provider Auditoria.AI has introduced two AI-enabled smartbots that monitor and manage shared accounts payable (AP) and accounts receivable (AR) email inboxes. Dubbed AP Helpdesk and AR Helpdesk, these smartbots deliver automated responses that speed up response time, improve service to vendors and customers, and scale with automation.

German Startup Workist Raises $8.7M to Automate B2B Transactions

Berlin-based tech startup Workist has raised 9 million euros (about $8.7 million) to continue building its automation platform for B2B transactions, add to its team and further its expansion into international markets. The company said in a post on LinkedIn: “This is a huge milestone for the entire team at Workist and approval for us that we are on track to automate document-heavy B2B transactions with the power of AI.”

Can Blockchain Help Banking-as-a-Service Leap From Commodity to Capital Access on-Ramp?

The partnership of Figure Technologies and Ready Life provides an illustration of what’s to come, Figure Technologies CEO Mike Cagney told PYMNTS’ Karen Webster in an interview. “The ultimate democratization of banking is going to be underpinned by blockchain — and the movement to a decentralized, rather than centralized, construct,” Cagney said.

Two-Thirds of Firms Plan to Automate Routine AP Tasks in Next 12 Months

Aiming to automate routing AP procedures, two-thirds of firms are either currently innovating their systems or plan to do so within the next 12 months. Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems are a critical part of innovations around B2B payments, according to the PYMNTS and American Express collaboration, “ERP Solutions in B2B Payments.”

Payoneer Adds First Chief Platform Officer, Forms New Division

Commerce technology company Payoneer has hired Assaf Ronen, a veteran of SoFi, Amazon and Microsoft, to lead a newly established division that integrates Payoneer’s technology, product and high value service units. Ronen has become the company’s first chief platform officer and will head its new platform division.

Fondy Integrates With ClearBank to Provide eCommerce Merchants Faster Payments, More Control

Embedded banking and real-time clearing firm ClearBank is integrating with one-stop payment platform Fondy to bring eCommerce marketplaces a seamless solution to manage and control their money flow. Fondy Founder and CEO Valeria Vahorovska said: “Together with ClearBank, we are stronger and in a better position to instill real, positive change in the way businesses process payments.”

FedEx: Deteriorating Economy Drove 11% Drop in Package, Freight Volume

FedEx is cutting costs and raising prices after a quarter in which its global package and freight volume dropped 11% year over year. FedEx President and CEO Raj Subramaniam said in the company’s quarterly earnings release: “We’re moving with speed and agility to navigate a difficult operating environment, pulling cost, commercial and capacity levers to adjust to the impacts of reduced demand.”

Automation Solves Primary Pain Point for 70% of SaaS Firms

More than 90% of firms that provide B2B Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions do not have full visibility or control of non-payroll spending until it occurs. Facing considerable costs and frictions, these businesses express an interest in one system that would allow them to manage different types of non-payroll spend while enabling AP teams to work more efficiently and provide faster, more accurate reports to management, according to the PYMNTS and Airbase collaboration, “The Financial Performance Quarterly.”

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