THE FUTURE OF ACCOUNTS PAYABLE - PART 1: How Open Banking is Reshaping AP

Accounts Payable is changing faster than many organisations realise.

For years, AP transformation largely meant replacing paper, introducing OCR, improving workflows and integrating with an ERP. That definition is rapidly becoming outdated.

We are now seeing several technologies and regulatory developments converge at the same time:

• AI-driven document capture and data extraction

• Increasing levels of touchless invoice processing

• E-invoicing mandates and structured invoice data

• Peppol and growing interoperability between buyers and suppliers

• Open Banking and account-to-account payments

• Real-time payment capabilities

• Automated matching, validation and exception management

• Greater integration between AP, procurement, treasury and supplier systems

A good recent example is Pay by Bank.

Amazon Business now offers Pay by Bank to UK businesses using Open Banking technology and explicitly positions it as a way for Accounts Payable and procurement teams to improve cash-flow visibility and simplify reconciliation.

At the same time, the UK Payments Initiative (UKPI) launched on 2 June 2026.

The FCA describes this as a major step forward for Open Banking and commercial Variable Recurring Payments, with the intention of increasing competition and innovation in payments.

And eBay's UK payment options now include Pay by Bank alongside established methods such as cards, PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay and Klarna.

Individually, these developments are interesting. Collectively, they point towards something much bigger. The traditional Accounts Payable technology stack is being fundamentally reshaped.

For CFOs and Finance Leaders, I don't believe the question should simply be:

"How do we make our current AP process more efficient?"

A better question is:

"What should our Invoice-to-Pay environment look like in three years — and are the technology decisions we're making today taking us towards it?"

Competitive advantage won't necessarily come from adopting every new technology. It will come from understanding which developments genuinely improve:

• Cost per transaction

• Straight-through processing

• Supplier experience

• Working capital visibility

• Fraud prevention and control

• Compliance

• Scalability

• And ultimately, the effectiveness of the finance function.

At CloudConnect, this is exactly why we believe organisations need to look beyond simply digitising today's processes.

The opportunity is to connect buyers, suppliers, documents, data and enterprise systems so that increasingly more of the Invoice-to-Pay lifecycle can happen automatically, accurately and intelligently.

Accounts Payable is no longer just evolving. The architecture of Accounts Payable is being rewritten.

Finance Leaders need to make sure they're part of that conversation.

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NEXT IN THE SERIES

Future of Accounts Payable Part 2 – AI and the Rise of Autonomous AP

We'll look beyond traditional OCR and rules-based automation to explore how AI is changing document understanding, decision-making, exception management and the future role of the AP team.