Flume is a digital wallet specifically designed to support the 30 million US businesses currently relying primarily on slow, analogue payment methods, according to the press release. Unlike most payment platforms focused on digitally enabled companies, Flume aims to close the digital divide for overlooked trade-oriented businesses initially with less than USD 15 million in annual revenue.
Wex explains that 80% of businesses still use paper checks for invoices. For the typical SMB that issues 450 invoices per month at an estimated cost of USD 15 per invoice, it costs USD 80,000 a year just to manually process invoices. Flume alleviates these issues by offering a transparent, digital payments platform that eliminates the need for a manual account payable (AP) and accounts receivable (AR) processes.
Even without errors, it is anticipated to take 60-90 days for businesses to get paid on manual invoices, on average, depriving SMBs of income that could enable them to hire an additional 2 million employees. By allowing businesses to send, store, and receive funds through a mobile and web app, Flume’s digital wallet will enable accelerated and real-time payments.
In the coming months, WEX expects to roll Flume out in phases across specific, high-need industry hubs. The first phase will centre on existing WEX fuel card users and new customers. Later in 2022, the company plans to release new software add-ons that will expand Flume to builders and tradesmen to increase payment speed and transparency. Flume will be provided by WEX Payments, a state-licensed money transmitter, in conjunction with a partner commercial bank.
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