The irony of automation is that while companies are pushing to automate payments, many are still dealing with paper-based invoices. In 2021, companies will look to change that, predict some industry leaders.

“Citizens has had for some time payable automations, in digitalizing how customers pay for things,” said Ray Champ, senior vice president for commercial card products at the $179 billion bank. “But on the invoicing side of things, those same customers making payments digitally going forward are still receiving invoices on paper.”

Growing market interest in automating invoices is prompting the Providence, R.I.-based bank to make invoice automation a top priority this year, Champ said. It’s another side effect of a pandemic economy, in which remote workers struggle to manage traditional paper-based processes.

“Behavioral changes as a result of the pandemic and the logistics with customers doing their business has changed — and may forever have changed,” Champ told Bank Innovation. “We’re trying to create products and services that cooperate with a remote work force that hasn’t been in, and probably won’t be in for some time, their physical offices.”

It’s also a way for companies to shave costs. On average, processing a paper invoice costs approximately $15, according to Ephesoft, an intelligent document processing company. In 2020, Ephesoft launched Semantik Invoice, a low-code solution that helps accounting departments automate invoice processing.

While automation can often reduce processing costs by 80% or more, only 15% of organizations are fully paperless, according to Ephesoft research released Wednesday. Of the remaining 85%, only slightly more than half are actively pursuing a paperless environment. Ephesoft surveyed 200 accounting and finance professionals across several industries, including banking and technology, for its report.

Technology, such as robotic process automation (RPA) and AI, can support the shift to a paperless environment, but Ephesoft found that 12% of businesses surveyed use RPA, and 11% use AI. Similarly, a 2019 Gartner survey on financial services technology found just 17% of its respondents had deployed automation technology. Gartner surveyed more than 1,300 senior banking, investment and insurance executives for its research. Interest in the tech is growing, however, with 59% reporting they plan to invest in RPA.

AvidXchange, which specializes in automating all aspects of AP, including invoicing, is one technology provider that has seen this rise in automation interest. The Charlotte, N.C.-based company has secured $1.1 billion in nine rounds of funding, and in 2019 acquired BankTEL Systems, bringing AvidXchange’s total number of bank customers to 2,000 at that time. This week it announced the acquisition of Core Associates, which makes TimberScan, an automated accounts payable solution for the construction industry.

AvidXchange CEO and co-founder Michael Praeger told BI that the Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the automation process for many companies.

“There are not that many CFOs who would send their AP specialist home with pre-printed checks, to cut corporate payments in their dining room table,” Praeger said. “So that’s certainly been an acceleration for that conversion — from paper to digital.”

AvidXchange is focusing its growth on acquisitions of vertical-focused solutions, and approximately 38 banks already resell its solution. A “handful” of banks, including Keybank and Fifth Third Bank, offer a white-label of the Avid Xchange solution, as well. The company hopes to announce a major strategic partnership with another bank later this year, Praeger said.