PaperTrl Adds Virtual Cards to Construction Payments Platform

construction

Construction industry platform PaperTrl is offering virtual card payments with U.S. Bank’s help.

PaperTrl, which offers an accounts payable (AP) management and automation platform for construction firms, announced Wednesday (April 26) that the integration lets its customers automate AP operations from procurement through payment.

“By joining forces with U.S. Bank, we can better support our customers in the mid-market by directly embedding a leading virtual card into the AP process to add efficiencies for AP teams and stronger visibility and control over spend for CFOs,” PaperTrl Chief Executive Steve Weber said in a news release.

The integration’s capabilities include vendor management, purchasing, receiving, invoice processing and payments using U.S. Bank virtual commercial cards.

“Together, PaperTrl and U.S. Bank will help AP departments manage all B2B payments from a single platform, eliminate manual processing and help to reduce fraud,” the release said.

As PYMNTS reported recently, the more companies embrace automation in payment processing, the more they move to embrace it across their businesses.

“If you think about it from the supplier standpoint, the organizations receiving the payments are probably the most data-hungry and get the most value from data,” said Zachary Lynn, head of revenue operations at Boost Payment Solutions.

“It’s not only from data they receive but also data that we remove from their environment,” Lynn told PYMNTS. “The data they receive, like remittance data and the payments data that they can reconcile into their AR [accounts receivable] software, is extremely valuable to help their operations. At the same time, removing certain data from their environment makes them more operationally efficient.”

Meanwhile, research by PYMNTS and American Express finds that construction firms — facing lower housing starts and rising mortgage rates — are increasingly turning to digital payment tools to increase cash flow and clear accounts receivable (AR) faster and cheaply.

That’s according to “Building Better Cash Flow In Construction With Digital Payments,” which details the pressures construction firms are facing and how they’re coping through a greater reliance on digital tools.

“Getting paid on time is a major roadblock in the construction industry, disrupting cash flow for U.S. construction professionals. Only 11% of construction professionals say they are paid in full on every job, and the impacts can be devastating,” the report says, adding that 97% of construction professionals feel a strain from slow payments and cash flow troubles.

 

Flying Cars Can Wait: CES Shows Future Is Robots That Cool Your Soup, Pick Up Socks

AI Me gadget from CES 2025

What do the movies “Blade Runner,” “2001: A Space Odyssey,” “Back to the Future Part II” and Spike Jonze’s “Her” all have in common?

These science fiction movies, each depicting various versions of a future full of fantastic technologies, all take place in the year 2025 or earlier.

Though some of the high-tech gadgets and futuristic innovations seen in these films, such as hoverboards and flying cars, haven’t quite materialized in everyday life, they have sparked imagination and set the stage for the very real innovations. As the dozens of groundbreaking products and wacky gadgets that debuted at the 2025 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) this week reveal, the future is certainly now.

CES, after all, rarely disappoints when it comes to providing a first-look at some truly strange gadgets that might just represent the ultimate showcase of tomorrow’s technology.

From artificial intelligence (AI) being embedded into everything and smarter than ever home devices, to autonomous robotic companions and wearable tech that both bends and blends reality, many of the inventions that once seemed out of reach in Hollywood films are now being unveiled on the convention floor.

See also: The Five Not-So-Obvious Things That Will Change the Digital Economy in 2025

Could Smart Home Robots Revolutionize Daily Life?

It’s becoming clear that today’s technological advancements are increasingly bridging the gap between what was once imagined and what’s now becoming real.

For example, smart home robots are no longer a futuristic fantasy — they are being positioned as potentially indispensable components of modern households.

CES 2025 saw the debut of the Roborock Saros Z70, a robot vacuum with a telescopic, five-axis arm. Rosey the Robot from “The Jetsons” has nothing on this little gadget, which its maker describes as “a mechanical arm that sees and thinks,” and is able to pick up and put away items like socks, shoes, tissues and more.

For more serious household tasks, the SwitchBot Multitasking Household Robot K20+ Pro was also unveiled at CES 2025. “Whether it’s delivering objects, vacuuming, monitoring pets, purifying the air, providing home security, or even mobilizing smart tablets, the K20+ Pro juggles household management with ease … from delivering food and drinks to carrying small packages,” said a company release.

Read more: Training Robots Using Video Games Could Democratize Warehouse Automation

The K20+ Pro’s core is designed for customization and flexibility, serving as a modular foundation that allows users to create, adapt, and personalize the robot for a wide variety of innovative applications, and can connect with third-party smart devices like Alexa, Google Assistant and Siri, ensuring integration into any smart home ecosystem.

Elsewhere, TCL premiered its “AI Me” (Amy) concept companion robot, complete with animated eyes, autonomous movement and an AI-powered camera on its head; while Dreame showcased its X50 Ultra robot vacuum that has legs to avoid obstacles.

As smart home technology continues to evolve, the integration of robots designed to assist in daily activities could significantly alter how we interact with our homes, manage tasks and even shape the future of work.

TomBot, for example, debuted an emotional robotic lap dog, Jennie, an AI robot therapy dog designed to keep seniors company. On the more playful side of things, Tokyo robotics startup Yukai Engineering introduced the Nékojita FuFu, a portable cat-shaped robot that can blow air to cool hot food or drinks.

It wasn’t solely robotics for use at home being showcased at CES. John Deere used the Las Vegas event to reveal its own autonomous agricultural products. The fully autonomous machines were on display from Jan. 7 to 10, and were a bit bigger in size, if equivalently less cute, than the TomBot puppies.

Read more: Google Reportedly Bringing Gemini AI to TV Sets

The Future Is Calling and Consumers Can Answer Anywhere

Behind the strangely futuristic convenience of a robot picking up your laundry and taking out the trash while it vacuums and interfaces with the rest of your household appliances lies a much larger story: the rise of the smart economy.

As CES 2025 showed, augmented reality (AR) glasses are the eye candy of the smart economy. A host of futuristic specs were unveiled, capable of a range of tasks that turn the wearer into a high-tech superhero.

Halliday showcased “the world’s first proactive AI glasses with invisible display,” while freshly debuted Loomos.AI glasses offer a ChatGPT-4o integrated AI assistant.

But other appendages remain up for grabs, and innovative products from smart rings to apps like WowMouse, which allows smartwatch wearers to control devices using just their gestures and fingers, are vying for market share in ways that aim to make daily life more convenient, efficient and secure.