American Express Launches S2S eInvoice&Pay

In response to rising corporate demand to reduce paper and gain greater savings and efficiencies in their accounts payable processes, American Express has begun offering S2S eInvoice&Pay to corporate customers in the US. “Many of our clients are looking for an automated and efficient way to handle invoices and manage payments to suppliers,” said Gordon Smith, President of American Express Global Commercial Card.

“Having taken steps to move their ordering online, these companies now realize that they are still mired in paperwork on the backend: routing paper invoices and sending paper checks. They are turning to American Express as the leader in the commercial card space to help them take the next big step in transforming their payment process.”

Nestlé USA, a leading food company and a longstanding American Express commercial card client, will begin implementing the S2S eInvoice&Pay solution in its supply chain next month.

Since adopting electronic invoicing and payment for its 18,000 North American vendors in 2002, Latrobe, PA-based Kennametal Inc., a global supplier of industrial tooling, engineered components and advanced materials, has realized a number of benefits. It has slashed processing costs by two-thirds, cut payment costs by converting 58% of vendors to electronic payment and increased speed of pay to suppliers by 30%. Kennametal uses technology from Harbor Payments, which American Express acquired last December.

“Our main focus has been to take all the paper out of Kennametal’s accounts payables processing – to see all our invoices in one electronic format,” said Dean Hoffman, Manager, Customer/Vendor Support Services, who noted that, as result of automated invoice review and dispute, Kennametal has re-assigned AP personnel to more strategic tasks, such as vendor negotiations. “They’re not just doing invoice exception processing anymore.”

Research by Boston-based Celent, LLC, estimates that US business-to-business transactions amount to approximately $36 Trillion annually, with 73% of those transactions still paid by check. Celent also estimates that automation can reduce invoice processing costs for buyers by as much as 92%, while electronic settlement can slash payment costs by up to 86%.

Providing expertise in expense management, payment processing and Electronic Invoice Presentment & Payment (EIPP) technology, American Express can help buyers reap the full benefits of an automated supply chain by lowering processing costs, reducing invoice approval cycle time, and improving cash management. Suppliers can also benefit by gaining greater visibility into the buyer approval process, and lowering billing costs with online inquiries and dispute resolution.

To help companies expand the benefits of e-procurement to their supply chain, features of S2S eInvoice&Pay include:

• Electronic capture of 100% of invoices
• Straight-through electronic processing from Purchase Order to payment for users of electronic procurement and the American Express® Corporate Purchasing Card (CPC)
• A large and fast-growing e-invoice enabled supplier networks, plus a dedicated enrollment team to provide service and support
• Reduced invoice exceptions and faster pay via automated review and dispute resolution
• Multiple payment options (including the American Express Corporate Purchasing Card and ACH)
• Compatibility with all ERP systems, plus advanced SAP connectivity

For more information about eInvoice&Pay, access http://www.americanexpress.com/s2s.