FIS Introduces Tool to Help Companies Optimize Collections

Financial technology firm FIS has launched a tool to help businesses optimize collections.

FIS Revenue Insight, introduced Thursday (Feb. 6), is part of the company’s Automated Finance suite, and is designed to give businesses insights into cash at risk.

“Today’s finance leaders across industries face growing pressure to modernize their accounts receivable management,” FIS said in a news release.

The company pointed to joint PYMNTS Intelligence and American Express research showing that 81% of businesses reported an increase in delayed payments, with 50% seeing late payments from customers and 77% of accounts receivable (AR) teams falling behind on their metrics.

“Even the best finance departments face questions about which accounts will or will not pay, and who will self-correct or who will go into severe delinquency,” the release added.

“The FIS Revenue Insight product can help CFOs bring technology harmony to the money lifecycle, employing AI to analyze customer data, identify high-risk accounts and address potential issues before they escalate.”

Seamus Smith, group president of automated finance, FIS, said the company’s goal is to offer ways to transform finance from “cost center into a growth partner,” removing friction from finance via visibility, real-time insights and innovation.

“A data-driven, proactive approach to accounts receivable management is critical for our clients to balance money in motion while maintaining a competitive edge and financial stability,” Smith said. “With the help of Revenue Insight, our clients can take the guesswork out of collections.”

The launch of FIS’ new tool comes at a time when many small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are still managing accounts receivable (AR) with outdated, manual processes, as covered here on Thursday.

“Maintaining a healthy cash flow is really hard for SMBs,” Murray Sharp, senior vice president of commercial B2B at Nuvei, told PYMNTS. “Delayed payments and inefficient collection processes put a strain on operations and ultimately impact downstream supplier relationships.”

Among the major roadblocks is the continued dependence on paper checks. In spite of innovations in digital payments, paper checks remain a fixture in B2B transactions, leading to slow, unpredictable cash flow.

More than three-quarters of SMBs are still chasing invoices manually, making collection calls, or handling disputes via email, and thus lagging competitors that have embraced digital automation and invoice financing tools, PYMNTS wrote.

“The old adage, ‘The check is in the mail,’ is still very much applicable,” Sharp said.