BofA Merril releases iPad e-payments and e-invoicing app

By Raphael Michilis
Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BofA ML) has launched an iPad app version of Paymode-X, the bank’s online payments and electronic invoicing solution powered by Bottomline Technologies.


The portable platform gives treasurers real-time access to critical corporate payments information, and mobility, allowing them to take actions to ensure that payment and settlement cycles continue to flow wherever they go.


“It’s an incredibly powerful tool, allowing businesses to remotely connect to their payments and invoicing system, and as a result, have better control, efficiency and predictability of their cash flow,” said Kevin Phalen, head of card and comprehensive payables at BofA ML.


Paymode-X connects users to a private network of over 185,000 suppliers that accept e-payments and send e-invoices, as well as supports paper cheque print services through single file integration.


In 2011, BofA ML clients processed over 88 millions of transactions worth more than $ 125bn through Paymode-X. 

Romania launches e-invoice pilot for VAT refunds

By Raphael Michilis

Romanian Ministry of Communications have teamed up with the Ministry of Finance and NAFA (the National Agency for Fiscal Administration) to launch an e-invoice pilot project that will allow businesses to file for VAT reimbursement via internet.

The new service will provide Romanian companies with online forms supposed to facilitate VAT recovery.

The system will allow real-time validation of each value completed in the forms, eliminating possible errors and excluding the Finance department from the process.

“A form with a validation of fields filled with a flowchart on the back can only be a sign of fairness. We want to eliminate things that annoys everyone, to eliminate the things that can be interpreted so, and so by officials” said Dan Nica, Romanian minister of communications.

The Romanian e-invoicing project will cost approximately € 3m to its financier, the EU, and will involve about 100.000 companies.

“We do not want a pilot project with 10 companies, but have 100,000 companies in the pilot. We want SMEs to be involved in this project. We hope to start this project immediately,” said Nica. 

ARCHIVES-Visa: e-gov payments made in 90% of countries

By Raphael Michilis
25 April 2012
Countries around the globe have continued investing in electronic payment methods despite the economic downturn and austerity measures, says the 2011 Government e-payments Adoption Ranking (GEAR), a study commissioned by Visa and published by The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).

More than one-third of the 62 countries included in the 2011 GEAR study received the highest possible score for their efforts to promote e-payment security. And more than 90% of the countries have systems in place to enable citizens to calculate and file their income taxes.

“The overall trend since 2007 is for governments to continue to make commitments to the development of e-payment platforms. There is increased ease and efficiency in the way citizens and businesses conduct transactions with their governments," said Lucy Hurst, associate director of custom research at EIU.

The study shows that the e-government initiatives have grown in correlation to the rise in alternative payment methods and broadband networks. The majority of the countries included in the survey have developed 3G, 4G and other mobile phone technologies, according to the study.

Along with security systems, this improvement is gradually bringing consumers to trust in governmental electronic payments alternatives, Visa concluded.



Key statistics

Other key trends observed by the 2011 GEAR included:
More than 86% of national governments have a VAT or tax collection system,
About 84% of the countries have a system for the collection of fines and tolls,76% percent of the governments surveyed have a procurement system in place.

Trust is the “key barrier to citizen adoption of government e-payments”, according to Visa and the EIU.

Despite the growth of e-gov initiatives observed since 2007, e-payments still have little penetration in services like obtaining/paying for an ID card, requesting unemployment, workers' compensation and welfare benefits, and disbursement of loans to businesses, reported EIU.



Study profile

GEAR 2011 analysed the performance of 62 countries for 37 indicators across the categories: Citizen-to-Government; Government-to-Citizen; Business-to-Government; Government-to-Business; Infrastructure; Social and Economic Context; and Policy Context.

The countries included in the EIU report account for more than 80% of world population and an estimated 94% of total world GDP.

The GEAR study also looked to the future and estimated that e-gov initiatives implementation and improvements will come along with varied transformations in several countries. Amongst them, the report foresees that:

·         Financial inclusion, particularly in the developing world, is likely to get a boost from the roll out of mobile banking services. Countries in Africa and Latin America are expected to see particularly strong gains in this area.

·         Mobile payments will likely see a huge uptake in the coming years. With more than 5 billion mobile phone users worldwide, mobile payments are likely to boom.

·         Automating standard services such as tax payments/refunds and social security contributions will likely be prioritized over other e-payment services.

·         E-payment security will remain an important issue to address and developing proven security measures will be necessary for the uptake of e-payments to flourish.

·         Public/private-sector collaboration on e-payment initiatives is likely to continue as governments try to do more with fewer resources. 

Basware offers PEPPOL compliant e-invoices

By Raphael Michilis published on 02 May 2012
Basware, an e-invoice solution provider, has fine-tuned all of its internet-based solutions with the standards of the Pan-European Public Procurement Online (PEPPOL) initiative.


The implementation of PEPPOL will enable Basware clients to transmit e-invoices and documents to organisations within Europe in accordance to with the initiative standards.


“As a supplier, it is essential to be PEPPOL compliant to meet customer demands. When sales and invoicing processes are harmonised, it makes the relationship between buyer and supplier mutually beneficial and opens up new business opportunities, particularly against our competitors that may not yet be compliant,” said Pekka Leppälä, sales director at Staples, one of the Basware clients using PEPPOL e-invoices.


Esa Tihilä, Basware CEO, said: “Basware believes in openness and collaboration between all parties across trading networks. The support we have provided to the PEPPOL initiative is based on recognition and understanding of the importance in providing an EU-wide standard for electronic document exchange upon which organisations can rely to automate their P2P processes.”


The new Basware solution comes three months before the Norwegian Government will make PEPPOL compliant e-invoicing compulsory.
This will make PEPPOL the “backbone of public electronic invoicing in Norway”, according to the Agency for Public Management and e-Government (Difi).


“The high standards for invoice content set by PEPPOL will ensure public authorities receive better-quality invoices. The wider business community will also prosper through simpler and more efficient invoicing processes,” said Olav Astad Kristiansen, senior adviser, Difi.


Related articles:


‘Mild growth’ in e-invoicing adoption among US corporates

Orange and Polish businesses to promote e-invoicing

By Raphael Michilis published on 16 May 2012

Orange Poland has teamed up with the Polish Confederation of Private

Employers Lewiatan to create an electronic payments coalition called “I choose e-invoice” (Wybieram e-fakture).

The implementation of e-invoicing solutions could reduce the overall costs of the invoicing process by about 80%, which is estimated to be around USD2.6 per invoice printed and posted, according to the e-fakture in Poland report published on the Lewiatan website.

Only 8% to 11% of the 1.5bn invoices issued in Poland every year are emitted electronically, according to the report.

The report highlights businesses of all sizes will profit from e-invoicing.

A large corporation issuing 20,000 invoices a month could save USD3.84m, while a smaller company sending out 1000 invoices on paper per month could save more than USD2,500 in that period, the document estimates.

Further to the processing costs, electronic invoicing should reduce costs of debt service and increase investment income, by shortening the billing cycle, which with paper takes from 19 to 40 days until the end of the process, according to the Polish National Clearing House (KIR SA).

Besides persuading companies to adopt the electronic solution, the e-fakture alliance wants to promote changes in Polish laws to promote e-invoice take-up in the country, the Clearing House says on its website.

The slow e-invoice take-up in Poland is, partly, due to marketing fragmentation caused by the complexity and lack of standardization of systems deployed across the EU, concludes the report.

According to another study, the savings from moving to electronic invoicing could reach at least USD51bn per year in Europe, Ricoh UK found.

In the United Kingdom alone, the savings could surpass USD5.5m, says the report.

Business and government electronic invoicing this year are expected to be 30% higher than in 2011, but penetration is still low with only 18% of all European invoices likely to be issued electronically, according to Ricoh.

Related articles:

'Mild growth’ in e-invoicing adoption among US corporates


Basware offers PEPPOL compliant e-invoices