Manual Billing Costs Banks $98.5 Million Every Year

Banks have spent years tuning front-end digital experiences, yet a growing share of revenue risk now sits deeper inside the institution, where billing logic, pricing governance and data visibility intersect.

That is the central message of the PYMNTS Intelligence Digital Financial Services Tracker, “From Back Office to Bottom Line: How Modern Account Analysis Empowers Treasury Management.” The report argues that account analysis, long treated as a routine back-office function, has become a frontline determinant of revenue integrity, client trust and competitive positioning. Manual workflows that once seemed adequate now introduce delays, errors and opacity that can weaken margins and strain commercial relationships.

The report finds that traditional account analysis relies heavily on manual reconciliation across fragmented systems. That structure slows billing cycles and increases the likelihood that billable services go untracked or discounts outlive their intended terms. Modern platforms that integrate automation and business intelligence change the role of account analysis altogether. They do more than accelerate invoicing. They create continuous visibility into service usage, pricing compliance and client profitability. In doing so, they reposition billing from a cost center into a strategic lever for growth and retention.

Beyond efficiency gains, the report frames modernization as a response to shifting expectations among commercial clients. Businesses increasingly expect the same clarity and timeliness they receive in consumer financial tools. When banks cannot explain fees clearly or reconcile charges quickly, confidence erodes. That erosion can open the door to competitors offering more transparent and responsive treasury services.

Key data points illustrate the scale of the issue:

$98.5 million is the estimated annual amount financial institutions lose due to operational inefficiencies in reconciliation processes, largely driven by manual workflows and siloed systems.

5% to 15% of potential revenue is lost by institutions with weak pricing governance, as unauthorized discounts, inconsistent pricing and poor enforcement quietly compress margins.

80% of North American banking executives say their current pricing and billing capabilities fall short of client expectations for agility and transparency, highlighting a widening gap between bank operations and customer demands.

The report goes further by linking account analysis modernization to relationship depth. Commercial clients are often the most profitable segment for banks because they generate revenue across lending, payments, treasury and advisory services. Losing a single middle-market client can mean forfeiting multiple income streams at once. BI-enabled account analysis gives banks the ability to understand which services clients use, how pricing affects behavior and where tailored offers can strengthen loyalty.

Automation also changes internal dynamics. By reducing manual reconciliation work, banks free staff to focus on higher-value activities such as pricing strategy, client advisory and cross-selling. One multinational bank cited in the report reduced manual reconciliation tasks by 73%, cutting transaction processing volumes and lowering staffing costs while improving accuracy. Those gains underscore why account analysis is no longer just an operational concern.

The report concludes that modernization is no longer optional. It outlines a roadmap that includes automating data collection through APIs, enforcing standardized pricing governance, adopting analytics to model profitability and equipping relationship managers with real-time insights. Each step reinforces the same point. Billing accuracy is the foundation, not the finish line.

Account analysis has moved from the back office into the strategic core of treasury management. Banks that recognize this shift can protect revenue, deepen client trust and compete more effectively. Those that do not will continue to leak value in places customers increasingly notice.