Vector.ai Adds AI Finance Tool to Platform for Freight Forwarders

 Vector.ai has announced the introduction of payment integrations to its productivity platform for freight forwarders.

With automated finance management via the platform and partner network, forwarders will be able to further automate their operations, free up their human workforce and pay the creditors much faster to reduce goods clearing times, the company said in a press release Thursday (Aug. 4).

“Through these integrations, we are bringing a sophisticated and well-rounded [artificial intelligence] finance tool that will not only allow forwarders to lessen the burden on their physical labor and provide actionable data into freight spends, but also automate payments,” said Vector.ai Co-Founder and CEO James Coombes.

With the new integrations, Vector customers will be able to automate every step of the payment process, the company said. They will have access to a range of payment partners, automatic reconciliation, automatic addition of accruals for transaction fees and a workflow interface that helps them keep track of their payments.

“Our payment network eliminates time spent on data entries and speeds up the time to payment, facilitating quicker release of goods and reducing the risk of taking on unnecessary fines,” Coombes said in the release.

In May, Air Cargo News reported that airfreight digital booking portal WebCargo can now directly process real-time rates and payments for forwarders and airlines, enabling forwarders to pay for bookings on the platform rather than using a separate tool.

Read more: Airfreight Booking Firm WebCargo Launches Payments Tool

“Freight and payments are foundations of global trade, but both introduce friction,” said Zvi Schreiber, CEO of the Freightos Group, which is a part of WebCargo. “Until today, forwarders booked cargo on one platform and paid on another, which is like shopping on Amazon but paying on PayPal.”