Automated financial services have revolutionized the business and banking management experience. Convenience and speed are what people want most, and the ever-improving capacity of technology delivers on what individuals have come to expect, particularly from financial institutions, to accomplish their everyday tasks quickly and efficiently.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is fueling these advanced capabilities. It’s easy to consider AI as the wave of the future, but in reality, it’s the here and now. According to Gallup polling, 85 percent of Americans regularly use products or services that contain AI capabilities, a proportion of the public that's only expected to grow as the digital train gains momentum. With more service channels readily available, online banking is now the preferred method consumers use to take care of their account management errands, based on survey data from Accenture Research.
Business owners especially want these expeditious capabilities to keep pace with their competition and make the most of their human capital to help improve the customer experience. Legacy systems once had their utility, but with back-office operations more voluminous and time-consuming than ever - such as payables and receivables - they're no longer efficient, especially when advanced technologies are available to streamline payment processes.
Accounts payable automation solutions enable business owners to improve productivity by taking care of tasks that are important to handle without sacrificing human capital, which is better used in other more personalized capacities - the kind AI can't handle. Companies that invest in AI and human-machine collaboration have the potential to increase their earning power by 38 percent, according to calculations from Accenture Research. Boosts in revenue stand to be even greater among specific industries - as much as 28 percent growth in automotive, 34 percent in professional services, 41 percent in retail and 49 percent in health care.
Automated financial services come in many forms, but here are a few of the ways they can benefit your company from a perspective of payment processing:
Enhances speed
Manually processing paper-based invoices takes excessive amounts of time and energy, just to process one, never mind several as is usually the case for business owners, particularly in health care. Automation speeds up the process and saves time through paperless payments, which more companies are assiduously pursuing. According to the Association for Intelligent Information Management, companies that reported "actively seeking" ways to eliminate paper went from 9 percent in 2014 to 16 percent a year later.
Improves accuracy
As fastidious as your staff may be, they're bound to make mistakes or miscalculations when transcribing or using manual key entry. Robotic process automation and intelligent machines help to reduce the potential for error by rendering manual entry unnecessary.
Reduces clutter, disorganization
Work processes get bogged down when papers and invoices get misplaced. According to the ILM Corporation, when documents get misfiled, tracking them down averages an hour, and three hours if someone has to recreate it. Paperless invoices filed and logged electronically makes for easier access by reducing clutter and the potential for productivity delays caused by mishandling.
Strengthens compliance capabilities
Every industry is affected by compliance protocols, which can change at any given time. Accounts payable automation can give you and your staff the extra time needed to make the appropriate modifications when and if compliance regulations change, freed from the constraints and monotony of manual processing that automated financial services are capable of handling.
Whatever industry you happen to be in, from health care to dealer services, Comerica Bank has a complete offering of payable solutions that can help your business thrive. An experienced Comerica Bank Treasury Management Officer will evaluate your payables and receivables so that your method is customized to your preferred format. Using your company's own data helps to make customization possible. The all-in-one payment processing services available through Comerica Bank allow for a more in-depth, immersed degree of automation.
