Oct 19 Reuters - Oracle Corp's NetSuite said on Tuesday that it would put automatic banking features into its accounting software for businesses, with HSBC Holdings Plc as its first partner to automatically send and receive money and reconcile accounts.
Oracle NetSuite sells business software to mid-sized companies to track their finances and book sales. Many core functions, such as comparing bill payment details and reconciling with cash statements to see how much cash is available in any given time, still require humans to push buttons and key in data.
Oracle NetSuite said on Tuesday used artificial intelligence and partnerships with banks to automate these processes. When a bill or an employee expense report comes in, software can read it, file it and have money wired.
Evan Goldberg, executive vice president of Oracle NetSuite, said the goal of the new system is to help businesses get a more accurate and daily view of their cash position and to give staff in finance departments more time to work on more important things like planning and analysis.
Labor is at a premium, Goldberg told Reuters in an interview. You want your people not to work on strategic data entry, but talking about stuff which will actually add value to the business. The Oracle NetSuite system requires integration with banks, working to make business transactions more efficient. Oracle NetSuite said it aims to integrate with most major banks and that its first partner is HSBC.
In a statement, Barry O Byrne said HSBC's chief executive officer for global commercial banking said partnerships like the one with Oracle NetSuite are central to our strategy of supporting our clients growth across all regions from Asia to the Americas. We envisage that this will be the first alliance of many.