Royal Bank of Canada is using digital money transfer service Interac to help corporate clients follow up with their customers on outstanding debts. The bank announced the feature, “Interac e-Transfer: Bulk Request Money,” last week to help clients collect payments faster.

Through Interac, a bank-operated digital payments service used by Canadian consumers, RBC business clients can send mass payment requests and automated follow-up texts or emails. Recipients can pay through Interac email or text a money transfer after logging into their online banking. 

With the new bulk-request function, Interac is merging payments and messaging into one platform. RBC said it is the first Canadian bank to offer this feature through Interac, and the bank monetizes the service through a monthly subscription fee. Clients can control how often they send automated reminders for outstanding payments, and they can send up to 10,000 requests at a time. 

Lisa Lansdowne-Higgins, vice president of business deposits and treasury solutions at RBC, said the bank’s clients often use costly and time-consuming manual processes — like mail and phone calls — to follow up on outstanding payments. According to Lansdowne-Higgins, the Interac feature helps the bank’s clients move away from manual, paper-based payment reminders. 

The new feature also provides daily reports to RBC clients that detail how many customers have paid and what is still outstanding. Clients can also include their own messaging and branding in their requests and automated follow-up communications.  

See also: RBC rolls out AI insights for business customers

Lansdowne-Higgins said the service is designed for clients who need to send multiple payment requests and follow-up messages at once. She said large gym franchises and insurance companies are examples of clients that could use the feature since many of their customers make recurring payments. 

In the past year, RBC has been upgrading the client experience for business customers. In July, the bank acquired WayPay, a startup that automates the accounts payable process for businesses. In October, the bank launched personalized insights for small business clients with the help of the conversational AI company Personetics.  

RBC joins a range of institutions trying to improve the accounts receivables process. TD Bank, for example, allows clients to collect recurring payments directly from customers’ accounts. Meanwhile, Scotiabank now provides electronic receivables reports that integrate into accounting software. 

According to Lansdowne-Higgins, the ability to include customized branding on follow-ups is a key differentiator for RBC, as business clients often need to send payment requests in bulk. “This was a primary lever that came up in many conversations with clients,” she said. 

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