US Bank to Buy Debit Card-Based Biz Expense Management Platform Bento Technologies

U.S. Bank has agreed to purchase FinTech company Bento Technologies, according to a Thursday (Aug. 12) company announcement. The acquisition is aimed at broadening the bank’s digital capabilities for small business customers.

Known as Bento for Business, the 8-year-old Chicago- and San Francisco-based company provides small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) with debit card-based payment and expense management tools. Bento customers transfer funds from their bank account into a Bento account, with money being accessible via a Visa debit card, according to the company’s website.

The deal is expected to close in September. Financial details regarding the acquisition were not provided.

U.S. Bank said the acquisition was part of its overarching goal to combine payments and banking services to streamline cash flow and money management for its small business customers. Together, Bento’s accounts payable software combined with the bank’s Elavon and talech accounts receivable software will offer the bank’s customers a unified experience for all their billing needs.

The integration of both software technologies follows Bento’s introduction of AutoMatch, a technology advancement that uses artificial intelligence to connect the receipt image from a mobile device to the matching transaction, PYMNTS reported previously. The advancement allows customers to send in receipts when they are offline and send digital receipts from a Bento-registered email address to a set email account to automatically link the receipt to the correct transaction.

Read more: Bento Rolls Out B2B Expense Management Upgrades

Prior to that addition, Bento had launched its Bento Pay Solution in August 2019 to let business owners make payments with just an email address.

See more: Bento Launches Email-Powered B2B Invoices

In terms of the U.S. Bank acquisition, Bento’s expense management software will complement the products U.S. Bank offers business customers. Together, the companies will continue to drive modern and secure payment acceptance and digital spending, U.S. Bank said in the announcement.

“Our focus is to provide customers with digital capabilities they need to manage their finances from anywhere, while also retaining the visibility and control that are important to managing cash flow efficiently,” said Shailesh Kotwal, U.S. Bank vice chair of payment services.