Metro Bank trialling digital receipts for small businesses

The bank is working with Canadian technology firm Sensibill on the venture.

Metro Bank is trialling technology which it says will mean small businesses no longer have to worry about managing their receipts.

The bank is working with Canadian technology firm Sensibill on trialling digital receipts.

It will work by Metro Bank embedding receipts, captured using a smartphone camera, into the Metro Bank app and online banking, as well as linking them up with cloud accounting providers. 

The feature will also work for invoices, bookkeeping and VAT returns, says the bank.

Using the feature will be free of charge and will be rolled out to all Metro Bank customers in early 2020, Metro Bank said.

According to the bank, UK small businesses lose 15 days of paid work a year, spending two hours each week retrieving company expenses.

Paul Riseborough, Chief Commercial Officer at Metro Bank, says: "Accounting tasks, along with chasing invoices and staying on top of receipts, are major pain points for SMEs."

"By partnering with Sensibill we’re offering an innovative, digital solution that solves real problems for our customers, saving them time spent on admin and allowing them to focus on running and growing their business.”

“And this is just the first piece in the puzzle as we set about developing a major new digital ecosystem of services to help SMEs."

Corey Gross, Co-Founder and CEO at Sensibill, added: "Metro Bank is building a suite of compelling tools that will help transform the small business banking experience in the UK.”

“Our partnership with Metro Bank demonstrates our shared focus to deliver customer-centric solutions that improve the financial well-being of banking customers.”

“We’re excited to support Metro Bank’s commitment to strengthening its relationship with their customers through digital innovation."

Metro Bank will hope to tap into some of the success achieved by start-up Flux, a digital receipt specialist which works with Monzo, Starling and Barclays and says it is signing up nearly 900 customs every day.

Flux sits in between banks, payment providers and retailers, using its algorithm to associate individual products purchased with transactions in your mobile banking app.

Metro Bank CEO Craig Donaldson (pictured) is standing down from the bank, following a difficult period for the bank.