Lloyds TSB provides e-invoicing
Lloyds TSB is to offer its customers an online invoicing service, allowing companies to drastically reduce their billing costs.
Traditional paper-based invoices can cost between £5 and £20 to administer, yet online invoicing costs can be calculated in terms of pence not pounds, the high-street bank claimed.
The service, available via Lloyds' corporate banking Web site, allows customers to securely exchange, store and download invoices.
Customers are charged for the fee-based service largely by the number of transactions they make. The service has been trialled with several London councils.
A spokesman for the bank said e-invoices were quicker to produce and could boost a company's cashflow, if used on a large number of customers. "When a company sends out an invoice it can take three to four people to sign it off and it can take about 10 days to reach a supplier's desk."
The software is supplied by supply chain specialist Causeway Technologies.