Bank of America Merrill Lynch has introduced an Accounts Payable Optimization solution to address the needs of small and large businesses that face the challenge of choosing the most efficient channels of payment.
Deciding between card, wire, automated clearinghouse (ACH) or supply chain finance for the hundreds or thousands of transactions depends on the nature of each supplier and is a complex and time-consuming task.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch has come up with Accounts Payable Optimization solution to address such need of the clients.
The new solution will analyse the suppliers of a company and determine the most efficient method of payment for each entity across BofA Merrill’s Card, Payments, Supply Chain Finance, and FX Payments teams.
The Accounts Payable Optimization process was performed manually
The Accounts Payable Optimization process is usually a manual task. Bank of America Merrill Lynch stated that the Accounts Payable Optimization tool can help clients enhance cash flow, improve days’ payable outstanding, control financing costs more efficiently and strengthen their supplier relationships.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch global transaction services (GTS) channels and global commercial banking head Hubert JP Jolly said: “We’re excited to launch Accounts Payable Optimization and help take the guesswork out of supplier payment analysis.
“Besides releasing our clients’ treasury teams from manual tasks, the tool delivers actionable data that helps improve a company’s own cash flow and supplier relationships.”
The bank claims that clients who choose the Accounts Payable Optimization tool will experience a simple onboarding process and receive deeper data analytics. There will be just one file to manage treasury payables, including supply chain finance invoices, through BofA Merrill’s CashPro Connect file payments channel.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch launched the Accounts Payable Optimization solution earlier this year as a pilot for select clients and the tool is now available to all client companies.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch GTS corporate banking global co-head Fernando Iraola said: “One of our guiding principles is advocating for our clients, and we do that by bringing clients solutions before they even know they need them.
“Accounts Payable Optimization is a perfect example of our approach to advocacy.”
Last month, the bank introduced a fully integrated FX risk management programme for its financial institution (FI) clients, with guaranteed FX rates for up to 180 days for qualified customers.
The bank claims that the programme can help its clients add certainty to volatile foreign exchange rates, as cross-currency transactions have become increasingly important for small and medium businesses.
