KeyBank Invests In Billtrust For AR Automation

KeyBank is working with accounts receivable company Billtrust to launch a new AR platform for its corporate clients.

In a deal signifying increased focus on FinTech partnerships, KeyBank said late last week that it has formed a strategic partnership with Billtrust and made an equity investment in the company. Their union has led to the creation of the bank’s KeyTotal AR platform, which uses Billtrust technology to automate accounts receivable processes for business customers of the FI.

Specifically, the companies said, the KeyTotal AR platform uses Billtrust’s Quantum Payment Cycle Management solution to enable businesses to send out electronic invoices and accept payment.

“Banks have traditionally focused of payment execution,” said Matt Miller, KeyBank’s head of product & innovation for enterprise commercial payments, in a statement about the initiative with Billtrust. “We think that’s important, but in consulting with our clients, we hear a lot of pain upstream and downstream of payment processing. Partnering with innovators like Billtrust enables us to optimize clients’ processes from beginning to end.”

In another statement, Ken Gavrity, KeyBank’s head of enterprise commercial payments, said the collaboration with Billtrust is part of the bank’s broader vision of collaboration.

“Our partnership model centers around collaborating with industry-leading software companies whose solutions align with our broader strategy of delivering innovations that truly make our clients’ businesses more efficient and effective,” he said in a statement. “Our track record with  this strategy gives our clients reason to trust that we will find the right solutions to streamline their payment processes.

“Combining our investment with the strategic partnership is critical. It fully aligns KeyBank’s interests with Billtrust, ensuring an integrated view of the product roadmap and client experience,” Gavrity said.

KeyBank has inked other strategic partnerships with FinTechs in the past, including a 2015 collaboration with accounts payable company AvidXchange.