Xero has unveiled two new payment features for its users.
The first is a new bill payment tool that offers a simple and secure way to manage, approve and pay bills without leaving Xero. Small businesses and their bookkeepers can now set up a direct bank transfer as a payment method for bills, and use open banking to batch pay multiple bills from their bank account.
To make this happen Xero has partnered with financial services provider Crezco, making Xero the first major small business cloud accounting software in the UK to offer on-platform bill payments using open banking.
Xero’s Jo Copestake said: “Paying bills is crucial for cash flow, but it’s a very manual process for many small business owners. With our bill payments feature, small businesses can avoid manual bank transfers, funding external wallets and accounts or entering credit card details. It’s all about making life easier and saving time on everyday admin.”
Eligible UK Xero customers can register for the bill payments beta now, with the new feature being made available on 27 November 2023.
Xero has also launched eInvoicing, starting with the ability to receive eInvoices. Hailed as the next big billing revolution, eInvoicing uses the Peppol network to enable the electronic real-time delivery of invoices between businesses and their trading partners.
Xero customers can register to receive eInvoices in Xero. While eInvoicing is mandatory for UK government agencies and its suppliers, the UK has not adopted eInvoicing more broadly. However, Copestake felt that eInvoicing will eventually become a global best practice standard and a natural part of the cloud accounting process.
