BMO Teams With FISPAN to Simplify Business Banking

BMO has joined forces with FISPAN to offer the bank’s business clients direct access to everyday banking from their enterprise resource planning (ERP) or accounting system.

“By integrating payments, reporting, and reconciliation with these systems, clients now have a simpler, more efficient way to perform and manage their business transactions,” the bank said in a news release Thursday (Nov. 17).

According to the release, the partnership lets BMO business clients see real-time account and balance information, send electronic payments and automatically reconcile transactions without leaving their ERP systems.

“We recognize that our clients have competing demands and as their banking partner, we're focused on helping them make progress by delivering seamless and simple solutions,” BMO Commercial Banking, Digital and Innovation Head Sean Ellery said in the announcement.

Earlier this year, BMP teamed with cloud-based accounting firm Xero to give business customers more options for automatic banking to streamline their financial dealings.

BMO customers that use the company’s Online Banking for Business service will be able to send daily bank feeds to their Xero account, thus reducing data entry and reconciliation.

“Our clients have told us: The less time we need to spend on manual tasks, the better,” said Hugh McKee, head of BMO Partners. “Our partnership enables automatic transaction syncing between BMO and Xero, which gives owners more time to focus on what matters to them — making progress and growing their business.”

These partnerships come at a time when businesses are trying to manage as many aspects of their operations as possible digitally, as PYMNTS reported earlier this year.

A Bank of America study found that 85% of its small business customers are using digital channels, while digital engagement has risen by 15% from last year, leading to a rising share of sales coming in through online channels. The report noted that small business digital sales are now up 300% versus pre-2020 levels and account for almost half of total sales.

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