RBS Targets SMB Receipt Management With Sensibill

With a focus on small business (SMB) cash management, the Royal Bank of Scotland is teaming up with Sensibill, a company that provides receipt management solutions for financial institutions (FIs) to provide to their own customers.

The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) announced news Tuesday (Oct. 17) that it is partnering with the technology company to link the bank’s SMB customers to Sensibill’s receipt management solutions. The tool lets small business owners scan receipts and manage data from those purchases straight from the RBS mobile banking app, the companies said.

The solution will fully roll out in January 2018.

The partners emphasized that providing value-added services like receipt management is part of a broader push to retain customers and remain competitive.

“No bank can expect to thrive without listening to the evolving needs of customers, and by partnering with Sensibill, we’re offering proactive help and best-in-class innovation for free — allowing small businesses to spend less time on admin and more time on what they do best,” said RBS Managing Director of Business Banking, Marcelino Castrillo, in a statement.

According to their announcement, RBS and Sensibill have already tested their joint offering, with trials showing 88 percent of small businesses rating the app as “good” or “very good.”

“It’s simple: If banks don’t service their customers’ needs, someone else will,” said Sensibill CEO and Co-Founder Corey Gross in a statement. “Every time a customer uses a competing solution to solve their financial pain, customer loyalty erodes. This is especially relevant with open banking gaining momentum and third parties having access to customer information that was once in the bank’s custody. There has never been a more critical time for banks to invest in their customers and invest in services that will retain them.”

Earlier this year, RBS said it would dedicate more than $1 billion to help small businesses switch to one of their competitors, including FinTechs, as part of a requirement by the HM Treasury and the European Commission. The deal prevents RBS from welling off its Williams & Glyn subsidiary and aims to spur competition in the SMB financial services space across the U.K. and Europe.