How FinTech Keeps Banks Focused On Customer Experience With AP Automation

FinTechs are helping banks focus on the customer experience through accounts payable (AP) automation. AvidXchange Senior Vice President of Financial Services Boyce Adams Jr. told PYMNTS in an interview that banks foundationally value “the relationship they have with the customer” and “they understand the customer.” These financial institutions are providing lines of credit, and he says it’s the company’s job as a leader in FinTech to provide banks with the products and solutions that are going to help them advance their case with the customer.

The core competency of banks is to loan money and move money forward to customers. And Adams says he sees the FinTech’s job as providing the banks with “the tools and the processes” so that they can offer those services to their customers. And, even with digital on the rise, the transformation’s heart is still the foundation of the relationship between the bank and its end client, which is founded in trust. The customer, in turn, is looking to the bank to provide innovation directionality.

The banks help customers sort through all the innovation and technologies they read about — and can provide them with the tools as well as services that are going to help them accomplish their business goal. In addition to providing banks with what their clients are telling them they want, Adams says it’s also the FinTech’s job to give them an opportunity to have a conversation with their clients: The bank can go to them and ask if they have thought about AP automation.

Efficiency is just one piece of the puzzle, he said, while fraud mitigation is another piece that is becoming more important. As scammers get more sophisticated, he notes, check fraud is on the rise. As a result, eliminating manual processes is not only important from an efficiency standpoint, it’s also important from a fraud perspective. Adams says there’s certainly many paper checks written in the United States but that is on the decline — at a likely slower pace that one might anticipate.

Adams would contend that the reason for that trend is there are not many companies such as AvidXchange that are in the middle to make the move to electronic payments a very seamless process. And Adams notes it’s not the technology: he says the firm is investing tremendous time and money in the people and the process. As it stands, AvidXchange helps one in four banks across the United States automate AP and payments.

With a focus on relationships and procedures, FinTechs are aiming to help banks create a better customer experience through the help of digital-driven change.