How Harbour AI is Revolutionising Payments in the Freight Industry

The world of freight forwarding is a high-volume, low-margin business. To grow and stay competitive, companies must operate with efficiency, yet they are constantly slowed down by one major factor for dealing with payments, the accounts receivable (AR) process.

Late payments, manual chasing, and archaic payment systems aren't just frustrating, they are a significant scaling blocker that eats into companies margins. At Harbour AI, we're tackling this problem head-on.

The Freight Forwarding AR Problem:

For too long, the financial side of the freight industry has relied on old legacy systems and methods. Below are some of the major problems we've encountered on our customer discovery calls, to name but a few:

1.Manual Invoice Reconciliation:

Long hours spent matching payments to invoices.

2.The IBAN Request Problem:

Requiring customers to manually input long bank details, creating unnecessary wait times on payouts.

3.Costly Credit Card Fees:

Every transaction made through card payments chips away substantially at the already thin profit margins.

4.Invoice Inaccuracies:

Simple errors, like a missing or wrong Purchase Order (PO) number, lead to immediate queries and slow down the entire payment cycle.

5.One-Channel Chasing:

Relying on slow manual email chasing, which is inconsistent and lacks modern communication channels.

This creates a frustrating cycle. The lack of efficient, flexible payment options and the burden of manual work make getting paid a huge obstacle to efficient operation.

Now, The Harbour AI Solution:

1. Seamless, Low-Cost Payments via Open Banking:

We have fundamentally eliminated the friction of old payment requests. Our platform embeds seamless payment options, such as Open Banking, directly into the invoicing process.

2. AI-Powered Precision and Automation:

Our AI-driven engine focuses on ensuring your invoices are accurate and sent out on time, every time.

3. Intelligent Dunning and Communication:

We replace slow, manual chasing with a smart, multi-channel approach. Our Dunning Agent automatically manages reminders across the channels your customers use such as SMS, WhatsApp, and email, ensuring timely and consistent engagement.

Lastly, in the few months since our launch back in June, we've given our customers a 5x ROI. Most importantly, 100% of all processed invoices have been reconciled automatically, removing a huge manual headache for our clients.

For freight forwarders, the path to growth and remaining ahead of competition requires removing every possible scaling blocker and operating with extreme efficiency. Harbour AI provides the technology to replace outdated, costly, and cumbersome accounts receivable processes with a modern, automated, and financially intelligent workflow.