Finance
Payflows Raises $26 Million for All-In-One Finance Platform
French FinTech Payflows has raised $26 million for its all-in-one platform for finance teams.
The company announced the funding on LinkedIn as it emerged from stealth Monday (April 22), saying that its platform would “set finance teams free from boring manual work.”
In less than 18 months, Payflows said, “we built a suite of procurement, payments, cash management and cash collection modules which are best-of-breed in their category and combined into an all-in-one platform.”
“We are forever grateful to our first customers — amongst some of the best forward-looking European finance and procurement teams — for their belief in our big vision and our mighty team. Our number one motivation is to make their lives easier.”
And that’s something most organizations are looking for in 2024, as PYMNTS wrote last week.
“More and more organizations are recognizing the need to update and modernize what has historically been a manual, paper-based process — but one that’s also very mission critical to the business function,” Kat Battle, product manager for Complete AP at Bank of America, told PYMNTS in an interview last November.
Battle spoke of a client she had recently worked with who was “hand signing 7,000 checks per month and mailing them out.”
That situation had opened that company up to fraud, she said. Aside from the cost savings associated with accounts payable (AP) modernization, automating away legacy bottlenecks also helps make business payments more secure.
“AP automation solutions can automate 75% of the manual steps required for paper-based methods, leaving only the control pieces of the process behind like approving invoices, approving payments,” she said.
By making the streamlining of accounts receivable (AR) processes a priority, CFOs hope to unlock liquidity trapped in inefficient systems, thus putting their businesses on a more stable financial footing, PYMNTS wrote.
“And, ultimately, by addressing their top worries, CFOs can better position their companies to navigate the uncertainties of the global economy, ensuring not only survival but also the potential for growth and sustainable success,” that report said.
“Chief value officer, or CVO, might be a more suitable title in the future for this position where you’re looking at not just financial analysis, reporting and controls, but value creation and how to use those resources to drive value creation for the company,” LiquidX CFO Abhishek Khandelwal told PYMNTS.
“It’s critically important to strike a balance in being a financial steward of the company and at the same time supporting the innovation that can drive future growth.”
“The release of the Hong Kong Taxonomy for Sustainable Finance marks a key milestone for Hong Kong’s sustainable finance landscape,” Eddie Yue Wai-man, CEO of HKMA, said in a statement on Friday.
“By providing a common language and framework for sustainable finance, we are equipping market participants with an important tool to make informed decisions, drive impactful cross-border investments and contribute to global efforts in combating climate change.”
The taxonomy covers 12 economic activities under four sectors: energy, transport, construction, and water and waste management.
Having a taxonomy is important to prevent “greenwashing”, the act of making unsubstantiated claims about the environmental benefits of a product or practice.
The HKMA plans to expand the taxonomy soon to cover other sectors like retail and services, said Arthur Yuen Kwok-hang, deputy CEO of HKMA, who added that the authority had received positive feedback following market consultations last May on preparing the taxonomy.
“We encourage the financial sector to use the taxonomy to assess the greenness of projects when they decide to make green loans to these companies,” Yuen said at a media briefing on Friday.
“A green taxonomy is an integral part of the green finance ecosystem. It enables investors to look for green investment opportunities and make informed decisions, thus easing the mainstreaming of sustainable finance flows.”
The taxonomy has adopted local elements such as listing out Hong Kong certifications and standards that could be used to prove the buildings or operations are environmentally friendly and also are in line with guidelines issued by mainland China and the EU.
“This will help companies operating in mainland China and Europe to consider borrowing green loans or raising green bonds in Hong Kong,” Yuen said, noting that Asia alone will require US$66 trillion in climate investments over the next 30 years.
“Addressing climate change requires the support of the financial industry, which in turn will bring about enormous opportunities,” he said. “Hong Kong, which is an international financial centre, is the ideal capital market to support these green financing activities.”
Investments on such a massive scale are needed to meet the global aim of containing global warming within 1.5 degrees Celsius of pre-industrial levels and avoid the worst effects of extreme climate events. Last year was the warmest year on record, according to the World Meteorological Organization.
“Extreme weather is clear evidence of accelerating climate change and a reminder for an urgent need for decarbonisation,” Yuen said.
02:01
What is climate finance, and why is it crucial to the global energy transition?
What is climate finance, and why is it crucial to the global energy transition?
The Hong Kong government’s decision to extend the US$100 billion Green and Sustainable Finance Grant Scheme for another three years will cover transition bonds and loans for companies to upgrade their equipment to save energy and cut down on pollution.
The move was announced by Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po in his budget speech in February. The current scheme expires on May 10.
“The scheme will encourage more companies and industries in the region to make use of Hong Kong’s financing platform as they move towards decarbonisation,” Yuen said.
Separately, the HKMA will soon launch a cloud-based platform for banks to assess the potential impact of physical risks on residential and commercial buildings in Hong Kong under different climate scenarios, such as flooding and typhoons.
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