BILL Debuts Cash Accounts to Boost SMB Working Capital

BILL says it has debuted a new way for small businesses to manage their money.

The BILL Cash account, announced by the financial operations platform Ton hursday (Oct. 2), is an operating account designed to help small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) strengthen their cash positions.

“Cash flow is the lifeblood of SMBs, yet businesses are leaving thousands of dollars on the table while their operating cash sits in low- or no-yield accounts. To secure higher yields, businesses are wasting time moving funds between multiple accounts.”

BILL, the release added, is enhancing value for customers by helping them extend operating cash while they boost working capital, while earning 42 times the national average annual percentage yield (APY), and benefitting from up to $200 million in FDIC insurance.

“Idle cash sitting in low- or no-yield checking accounts not only costs businesses time and money—it costs them opportunity to grow. BILL is redefining what an operating account can do, and we’re doing it at scale because we’re trusted by nearly half a million businesses,” said Mary Kay Bowman, executive vice president and general manager of payments and financial services at BILL.

Cash Account, she added, gives growing businesses “the same enterprise-grade capabilities normally reserved for Fortune 500 companies—combining high APY on an operational account with fast speed, seamless software integration, and security all in one simple account.”

Writing about the working capital landscape earlier this week, PYMNTS argued that innovation in this space can be a “lifeline” when “SMBs find it hard to breathe.”

“Traditionally, working capital optimization was viewed as the enterprise chief financial officer’s domain as an exercise in shortening receivables, stretching payables and managing inventory,” that report said. “Today, it is emerging as a cross-functional lever for mid-sized firms that can connect procurement strategy, trade compliance and global sourcing decisions.”

Meanwhile, PYMNTS spoke with BILL’s Bowman earlier this year for a report on SMB’s use of artificial intelligence (AI) to compete with larger counterparts.

“Smaller businesses can’t compete with bigger businesses on scale — so they need to compete on smarts,” she said. “The smartest thing small businesses can do is use AI to unlock top-tier finance expertise and tools that were only ever available to enterprise companies.”

Bowman added that the best AI tools for SMBs aren’t flashy tech add-ons but are developed with the needs of small business in mind.

“Silicon Valley needs to be delivering AI that actually delivers tangible outcomes that small businesses need: saving time, improving accuracy, and freeing up bandwidth to focus on growth,” she told PYMNTS.