NatWest has partnered with Canadian technology firm Sensibill to launch a new feature which is free and now available to all small business customers with the NatWest app. The new feature will enable receipts to be captured using a smartphone camera or sent to the app via email, and reconciled with a list of transactions held by the business. It will allow users to track spending and categorise expenses for HMRC, as well as exporting the receipts for invoicing or accounting purposes.

The feature has been introduced to allow over half a million small business customers to simplify their expenses, tax processes and better understand their outgoings on a monthly basis on their mobile phone - allowing them to get on with running their business. NatWest’s initial trials of the app with business customers showed that 88% rated the service as ‘good’ or ‘very good’ and 78% would recommend NatWest if the bank offered it in the future.
This service is free and available now to all iOS customers using the mobile banking app, with Android to follow later in Q1. This new feature will allow customers to;

• Capture all paper receipt images with their phone camera
• Store essential information about their expenses using their phone camera (expense category, merchant, VAT, total, date and more)
• Stay within budget by filing expenses in folders that track the total spent
• Prepare and submit billable expense reports
• Digitally archive purchase records
• Forward any e-receipts to a dedicated Receipts address
• Add notes and tags about the business purpose of each expense
• Search by item, currency, category, payment method or date range
• View itemized receipts that are automatically reconciled to their Bank transactions if paid for by NatWest / RBS debit card
• Create reports either in Excel or PDF to share with their bookkeeper, accountant, and/or upload to their accounting software
• Create folders that automatically track the total spent by category
• Export and digitally archive purchase records

Marcelino Castrillo, Managing Director of Business & Private Banking at NatWest, said: “No bank can expect to thrive without listening to the evolving needs of customers, and by partnering with Sensibill, we’re offering proactive help and best-in-class innovation for free - allowing small businesses to spend less time on admin, and more time on what they do best.”

Corey Gross, CEO and Co-Founder at Sensibill: “NatWest is making it clear that customers come first, and they’re not taking for granted how dramatically business banking solutions can make a difference in peoples’ lives. When you’re running a business, you want the banking bit to be invisible. You want it to alleviate financial stress. Through this partnership, that’s exactly what NatWest is doing.”

The bank has introduced over 15 new mobile banking app features for business customers since 2017. The service reflects NatWest’s drive to provide a full suite of business capability within its app and online banking services, building on the introduction of a new digital platform (Esme) to allow small and medium sized businesses to quickly obtain unsecured loans of up to £150,000 and FreeAgent, online accountancy software that enables the bank to signpost helpful products and services to customers according to business need.

Small business customers new to NatWest can also benefit from a digital on-boarding process now - meaning they don’t need any paper to open a business bank account. Over 85% of customers are choosing to open their account in this way, with four out of five receiving their account details within a few hours. Over 80,000 small businesses will benefit from this service in 2017.