The Open Banking payment solutions’ functionality was offered through a partnership between Xero and the financial services provider Crezco.
One of the new features is represented by the bill payments product, which was developed in order to enable businesses to manage, approve, and pay bills without leaving the Xero platform. This will take place by setting up direct bank transfers as a payment method for bills while using Open Banking to batch pay multiple bills from their bank account. UK businesses and clients with a UK bank that supports Open Banking will be enabled to complete their end-to-end accounts payable process in Xero as well.
The small business accounting software will enable SMEs to avoid manual bank transfers, funding external wallets and accounts, or entering credit card information. The bill payments beta and the new feature will be made available on the 27th of November 2023.
At the same time, Xero launched e-invoicing in the UK, offering small companies the ability to receive e-invoicing. The new tool, `eInvoicing` leverages the Peppol network in order to allow the electronic real-time delivery of invoices between SMBs and their trading partners. The tool is also automated, and it removes the need to create paper or PDF invoices, alongside the process of scanning, emailing, and manually entering them. The bills will come straight into the platform.
Xero had multiple partnerships and product launches in the last couple of months, covering several different geographic areas around the world.
In October 2023, the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) announced its collaboration with the global small business platform Xero in order to optimise the manner in which businesses automate payments to suppliers. The incorporation centered around RBC’s PayEdge platform, which was developed to allow customers and clients to amalgamate funding sources, irrespective of the user’s bank or account type, as well as pay suppliers using their preferred payment methods.
In addition, the primary benefit of this partnership is the automation of the invoice-to-pay procedures, which centralised payment workflow management in order to improve efficiency and cost savings. It eliminates the need for business owners and merchants to wait for month-end statements, as well as streamlining financial administration. According to the press release posted at the time, the integration also enabled RBC customers to gain access to exclusive offers and solutions, potentially simplifying operations, as well as saving time and money in various aspects of their business journey.
Earlier in the same month, the UK-based provider of funding and tech services to businesses Sonovate obtained certification from Xero to augment reporting and reconciliation capabilities and offerings. The Xero certification was set to allow it to streamline financial management for clients and users, while recognised its technology integration capabilities.
At the same time, the incorporation also elevated the client experience by facilitating the automatic synchronisation of user lists, invoices, and credit notes between both vendor systems which ensured that funding transactions made through the Sonovate platform were accurately recorded in Xero customers’ account software. It also focused on providing clients with accurate insights into their invoice funding status, liabilities, availability, and cash allocations in real-time, with easy reporting, instant payment, debt updates, and a secure reconciliation process.
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