Metro Bank has launched new app tools for businesses to manage their receipts as the company itself is still recovering from last year’s accounting scandal.
The new features in the bank’s app are currently available for customers using an Apple device, but will also be rolled out to Android customers in the coming weeks.
The UK bank has teamed up with Sensibill to launch the features, which will sound familiar to anyone who has heard of the Canadian FinTech.
Simply put, the new feature will enable businesses to add, store and link receipts to transactions in their mobile business app by simply snapping a picture of them with their smartphone. The rollout to all Metro Bank business customers follows a successful beta-trial of the software in 2019.
Small UK businesses lose 15 days of paid work a year, spending two hours each week retrieving company expenses, according to Intuit Quickbooks research cited by Metro Bank.
The lender said its new app solutions would empower these businesses to overcome such hurdles more easily.
“We’re thrilled to partner with Sensibill to provide our business customers with essential money management tools, easily accessible from our mobile app,” said David Thomasson, chief commercial officer at Metro Bank. “These will empower SMEs to free up time in a way that wasn’t possible before, to spend running and growing their businesses.
“So many small businesses are facing uncertainty because of coronavirus. We want to keep delivering new tools for our customers that can make managing their money a little easier, especially at such a difficult time.”
Corey Gross, co-founder and CEO of Sensibill, added, “Metro Bank understands that small businesses and gig workers need a better, simpler way to track their finances and manage expenses. By leveraging our solution, the bank’s small businesses can regain hours once lost to analysing paper receipts and run their businesses more effectively, which is especially critical in light of the pandemic.
“This partnership reflects Metro Bank’s deep dedication to providing advanced technology and support to help the people they serve succeed financially, both now and in the future.”
The news comes as Metro Bank is still reeling from an accounting error that stripped £900m of its balances in early 2019. The bank’s shares understandably tanked as a result of the scandal. To strengthen its position, Metro Bank launched two bond sales in the Autumn of 2019. The first bond offering attempt failed, the second succeeded.
Sensibill is not without its challenges either. FinTech Global reported in May that the company had raised $5m in debt financing from CIBC Innovation Banking after the FinTech had been forced to lay off an unknown number of employees.
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