E- Delivery Documents Speed Up Invoice Approval for DHL UK
July 2nd, 2008 by SusanAccountis client’s DHL, have added an electronic delivery document facility to their existing UK e-billing service to speed up the invoice approval process. It enables DHL staff and customers to view the key paper shipping documents in electronic format, after they have been invoiced.
To view the shipping documents, users simply login to the DHL e-billing Portal, find the corresponding e-invoice, and click on a link in that e-invoice to open the shipping documents in PDF format. Users can then check the original shipment documents for delivery details such as sender, receiver, contents and other key items of information.
This visibility will help reduce the number of customer queries relating to deliveries and help speed up the approval and payment process. Like all DHL e-invoices, the e-delivery documents are stored and archived online and can be accessed in real-time, 24/7 via the DHL e-billing portal from any location.
Fundtech Bank Survey: 61% see the opportunities of EIPP
June 26th, 2008 by SusanOn Monday Fundtech issued the results of a recent survey they carried out on European banks. The main subjects of the survey were SEPA, EIPP and Mobile Banking. What is particularly interesting for the e-invoicing community is that 61% of the banks interviewed see EIPP as both a revenue and cost saving opportunity. Survey participants see significant growth in the adoption of EIPP over the next three years. 38% predict that between a quarter and half of their customers will adopt the service, while 15% believe that over 50% will adopt it. Read full press release.
So why do banks see EIPP as a new revenue stream? There are a number of reasons. One of the most significant is that by combining EIPP with existing transaction services, banks can extend visibility beyond payments to the complete invoicing cycle. This gives banks an invaluable insight into a customer’s business and makes it easier to calculate risk. Greater visibility also leads to:
Increased revenue through cross-selling - A better understanding of a customer’s business makes it easier to sell high-end services such as invoice factoring, supplier finance provision, enhanced treasury lending and foreign exchange services.
Better, more profitable customer relationships - Becoming more integrated with a customer’s finance process will help encourage loyalty and increase retention. This presents an opportunity to develop deeper more profitable business relationships.
The ultimate elimination of paper
June 25th, 2008 by SusanCharlie Walker of Procurement Alert has recently blogged on e-invoicing in his article “Collect more, by taking less cash.” Looking at w
ays in which AR departments can modify existing processes to collect cash quicker, he says:
“E-invoicing - The ultimate elimination of paper when it comes to billing customers. It started slowly, but momentum is starting to build. It’s a situation where success breeds success. More companies e-invoice customers; more customer become accustomed to it. Creditors and customers then both realize how much money and time can be saved by taking the invoice function on line.”
Charlie, is absolutely right. For example, our trading network is expanding daily, making it easier and easier for companies to make the switch to e-invoicing. Companies are much more likely to embrace e-invoicing if they know that their customers are already accustomed to receiving invoices electronically. Also, e-invoicing enables suppliers to save 82% per invoice on delivery costs. Other benefits include eliminating copy invoice requests, manual-error reduction and reduced days sales outstanding.
EBAday 2008 - Helsinki, 25th-26th June
June 19th, 2008 by Susan
Following on from my previous post….where best to find out more about EIPP for banks than EBAday 2008. We will be on the Fundtech stand demonstrating the Accountis EIPP system. Running over two days EBAday 2008 promises to look beyond the practical compliance requirements of operating a Single Euro Payments Area and deal with the strategic questions that banks must address if they are to prosper in the new business environment. More info:
EBADay Website: www.ebaday.com
Accountis’ article on SEPA: EIPP: Extending Payments to the Full Cycle
RBS and Accountis Announce E-Invoicing Partnership
June 19th, 2008 by SusanBanks: Unlock A New Revenue Stream with EIPP
On Tuesday we put out a press release announcing our partnership with The Royal Bank of Scotland. The release has been excellently received throughout the World, and thanks to everyone who has supported it over the past few days (Finextra, E-commerce Journal, Finance Tech….).
What this announcement shows is that banks are now taking EIPP very seriously. The demand for electronic invoicing from corporates is growing rapidly, and banks should grasp this opportunity by integrating e-invoicing solutions into their product portfolio. Banks who offer the end-to-end processing of invoices from purchase requisition to payment will gain greater visibility of customer finances, deepen business relationships and find it easier to sell additional, high-value payment related services. More on this next week.
Click on this link to read the full release (PDF).
Accountis Supports European EXPP Summit 2008
May 1st, 2008 by Susan
As posted on our website earlier this week, Accountis is once again delighted to support the EXPP Summit. The event is in its fourth year and promises to be bigger and better than ever. The venue is the Sheraton Frankfurt Hotel & Towers, Conference Centre in Germany. The conference is on 28th and 29th of September, followed by the E-Invoicing Operators forum on October 1st.
Event website: European EXPP Summit & Forum 2008
EIPP : A win-win situation for banks
May 1st, 2008 by SusanAccountis Sales Director Ifor Williams has written an article called “EIPP: Extending Payments to the Full Cycle” which looks at the opportunity e-invoicing holds for banks and discusses how they can take advantage of it. The article is currentlly on GTNews.com and here is an extract.
“The delivery of EIPP to corporates is a win-win situation for banks. Customers get the transparent, real-time liquidity management services they want. They also benefit from an outsourced service that covers everything, from purchase order initiation through to tailored financing based on the company’s accounts receivable. They receive rapid, accurate payment for their goods and services while lowering their operating costs.
From the bank’s perspective, services of this kind work because they create a ’stickier’ relationship that is mutually beneficial. Not only does the bank have a greater opportunity for cross-selling its products and services, it can also deliver a truly tailored lending portfolio while minimising risk. Additionally, banks have a unique advantage over in-house systems and business process outsourcers because they can combine e-invoicing services with their existing payment transactions.
Although e-invoicing is favoured by larger corporates typically serviced by the largest banks, there is no reason why smaller banks with SME customers cannot deliver similar services. Cost and complexity are key issues and smaller financial institutions must consider whether they have sufficient resources, for example IT support and infrastructure, to support an EIPP solution themselves or whether they can buy these services from a larger partner or provider. They may also need to be more creative about the nature of services they offer, perhaps concentrating on delivering a few core services to their SME clients.”
EIPP: Extending Payments to the Full Cycle
SEPA goes live!
January 30th, 2008 by SarahThe Single European Payments Area (SEPA) for credit transfers was launched this week, with the European Commission (EC) predicting potential savings of £268bn over the next six years.
Businesses in the Eurozone (i.e. the 15 nations that use the euro currency) should start to see faster and cheaper payments as of 28th January, as the new “SEPA Credit Transfer” service is launched.
Electronic payments in euro between different countries currently cost more than making a bank transfer in the same country. With the roll-out of the new standards over the next three years, SEPA will make all electronic payments in the Eurozone the same as making domestic payments, and guarantee that the money will pass from one bank account to another within three days.
The European Commission sees this as a logical extension to the introduction of the euro. As EU internal market and services commissioner, Charlie McCreevy explains: “SEPA will improve the efficiency and competitiveness of the single market and realise our ambition to make euro payments across the EU as easy, efficient and secure as domestic payments”.
Although the UK does not use the euro, businesses with a presence in the Eurozone will need to change their processing systems if they want to make lower cost SEPA transactions, and UK banks will need to upgrade systems to support it.
SEPA has initially been launched for credit transfers, but the facility is due to be extended to direct debits by 2009.
Click here for more information.
In the press – Computer Weekly
December 20th, 2007 by SarahComputer Weekly has picked up on our recent release about DHL’s Brian Thumwood speaking at the Electronic Invoicing and SEPA conferences in London earlier this month (see previous post December 4th). Brian spoke to Warwick Ashford about the benefits of the Accountis e-invoicing solution. DHL expects that the Accountis system will “cut out up to 336,000 paper invoices a year in the UK alone”. Given that the company has implemented the system in Belgium and Switzerland, as well as the UK, already and has plans to continue the roll out to 22 other European countries in the next two years, the impact on paper consumption alone will be enormous. To read the full article, visit the Computer Weekly website.
EIPP – “It’s a ‘win-win’ solution”
December 4th, 2007 by SarahBrian Thumwood, DHL’s e-billing Programme Manager, today spoke to delegates at the IIR’s joint Electronic Invoicing and Single Euro Payment Area (SEPA) conferences in London. Brian was once again able to illustrate the benefits of their Accountis EIPP solution using an on-line Flash demonstration, which can be viewed via the Accountis website. Any delegates present who were unsure of the benefits of e-invoicing would hopefully have been converted by Brian’s presentation – as Brian puts it: “It’s a ‘win-win’ solution”.