Is GenAI the Secret Weapon Invoices Have Been Waiting For?

the digitization on B2B payments Continuing a path where FinTechs, platforms, banks and corporations work in sync to cut paper and manual processes.

the invoice one of the most critical links in the chain between buyers and suppliersas ERP systems and the flow of information to payment systems the in the end what to get the transaction is made and actions money from one company to another.

Alex Hoffmanngeneral manager of North America at Edenred Paysaid using advanced technologies, AMONG generative artificial intelligencehave a seismic effect in the back office.

“For a long time, the industry has offered paperless payment alternatives,” including virtual cards, and real-time payments are poised to gain more traction, he said. “What GenAI adds on top of all of this is that beyond payment, we can automatic the invoice-to-pay cycle.”

The conversation took place as part of “What’s Next in Payments: Memo to GenAI Companies,” that seeks to explore how companies use the advanced technology to improve everything from back-office operations to paying themselves while creating new business models.

CFO Office Transformation and AP Processes

The idea that “GenAI is changing the world has become well received,” said Hoffmann, whose company offers a full range of solutions to chief financial officers as they modernize their debt payments processes.

“Within the space of office of CFO and accounts payable, that’s where GenAI can be most transformative,” he said.

As he puts it, generative AI is a tool to extract invoice headers and line-items DATA in different formats, including PDFs, images and even handwritten documents.

“This reduces manual intervention during data acquisition, which reduces the possibility of errors,” Hoffmann said. “… AI can have a huge impact on automating and comparing data on invoices and orders … and therefore the allocation of customer payments.”

There are already entries done in industries that have been around for a long time dominated through paper invoices and paper checks, such as in the hospitality space, where Edenred seeks to simplify general ledger coding and high transaction volumes that occur in different revenue streams (food, beverages and bookings , for example). Property management is another sector of promise, tied to invoices that are rotated manually scattered. a wide geographic terrain of distant properties. Media companies are complex and large entities that often have to deal with staggered payments to different stakeholders.

Widespread Impact

Generative AI too WITNESS a benefit for improving the approval process, allowing for more dynamic workflows. Previous technologies homely set the parametersas, a price to pay, but that’s about it. now, Advanced technologies can route invoices automatically to specific parties, including specifically suppliers with a fixed payment amount.

None of this works without strong guardrails in place to fight fraudsters. B2B transactions are often high-dollar interactions, and as Hoffmann says, “where there’s money, there’s fraud.” Machine learning has worked for managing fraud over the yearsbut generative AI can create additional lines of defense, identifying anomalies that may point to payment fraud or compliance issues (for example, during supplier onboarding).

“We can do it use now autonomous fraud agents to facilitate a multifaceted approach, looking at data anomalies in multiple third-party applications,” tracking the speed of the invoices themselves.Hoffmann told PYMNTS.

Both data and technology can improve relationships between buyers and suppliers, offering extensions of terms and credit facilities, when appropriate, for suppliers, he said.

the power inherent in generative AI and automation BE MANY fully realized with standards focused on how AI models can be built and deployedhe said. We’re on our way towards a time when a company can say they use “ChatGPT Model No. 5,” and there is widespread recognition of what that model does and what level of security tied up this.

In the long run, he said, “we can help streamline and accelerate invoice-to-pay cycles leading to better supplier relationships and more accurate payments.”

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