In this webinar, Steve Weber, CEO and co-founder of PaperTrl, provides an in-depth overview of the AP automation landscape, focusing on how to evaluate automation platforms and distinguish modern solutions from legacy systems. He emphasizes that while many providers promote similar baseline features—like OCR, virtual cards, and approval workflows—the real differentiators lie in who controls the payment process, how deeply the platform integrates with banks, and the degree of transparency and control afforded to customers. Legacy systems, he explains, rely on outdated batch processing and profit from interest on held funds and high-fee payment methods, whereas modern platforms using embedded banking execute real-time payments directly from the customer’s bank. Weber urges organizations to assess vendor onboarding practices, payment method flexibility, integration complexity, and security protocols, including the importance of maintaining a PCI out-of-scope stance and avoiding email-based vulnerabilities. Ultimately, he advocates starting the AP automation journey by consulting one’s bank and prioritizing platforms that truly serve the business’s interests over those driven by fee-based models.