KAREN JOY BACUDO

Finance Editor

GoCardless has become the exclusive integrated payment provider for Intelligent Billing, linking its payment services with a billing platform used by telecoms operators and managed service providers.

Under the agreement, Direct Debit and open banking payment services will be built into the Intelligent Billing platform, developed by PRD Technologies. The integration lets businesses trigger payment collection from a customer’s bank account when an invoice is generated, with payment status updates returned to the billing dashboard.

The setup is aimed at organisations with complex recurring revenue models, particularly in telecoms and managed services, where finance teams often handle large volumes of repeat invoices and collections. By consolidating invoice generation, payment initiation, and reconciliation into a single workflow, the system is intended to reduce the need for staff to switch between separate tools.

The integration also includes GoCardless’ Success+ payment retry tool, which, on average, recovers 70% of payments that initially fail by automatically retrying collections.

For Intelligent Billing, the partnership provides a single integrated payment supplier within its platform. For GoCardless, it extends the reach of its bank payment services into a specialist software provider serving sectors that rely heavily on recurring billing and usage-based charging.

Telecoms operators and managed service providers often manage billing structures that combine subscriptions, usage charges and service add-ons. This can make collections and reconciliation more laborious, particularly when payment processing sits outside the core billing system and requires separate manual checks.

PRD Technologies positions Intelligent Billing as a specialist platform for billing and data processing, with customers ranging from smaller businesses to large providers and resellers in telecoms and managed services. The software also supports areas such as subscription management and Microsoft billing.

GoCardless, which focuses on bank payments, says more than 100,000 businesses use its services to collect and send payments through direct debit, real-time payments and open banking. It processes more than USD $130 billion in payments annually across more than 30 countries.

Executives at both companies said the agreement addresses the operational burden that delayed payments and manual billing work can place on recurring revenue businesses.

“We are excited to continue our relationship with Intelligent Billing as their exclusive payment provider to bring automated bank payments directly into the platform. For telecoms and MSPs managing complex recurring revenue, billing admin and delayed payments are a massive burden on resources. This integration solves that pain point by connecting invoice generation straight to payment collection, helping businesses save time, improve cash flow, and focus on growth,” said Tom Metcalfe, Director, Global Partnerships, GoCardless.

Simon Adams, Managing Director at PRD Technologies, developers of Intelligent Billing, said the integration reflects PRD Technologies’ approach to the platform.

“Our goal has always been to automate every process and make billing as simple as possible for our clients. By choosing GoCardless as our exclusive payment provider and integrating them natively into Intelligent Billing, we are delivering a complete billing-to-cash cycle in one place. Telecoms operators and MSPs can now look forward to effortless, set-and-forget payments that eliminate heavy manual admin, reduce failed collections, and keep them in full control of their financial performance,” said Adams.

SOFIAH NICHOLE SALIVIO

News Editor

Flexera has published research showing that every organisation surveyed uses generative AI public cloud services. It also found that 85% now see managing cloud costs as their main cloud challenge.

The findings point to growing pressure on technology budgets as companies juggle hybrid cloud estates, AI spending and limited visibility over usage. Some 17% of organisations exceeded their public cloud budgets in the past year, while estimated wasted cloud spend rose to 29%, reversing a five-year decline.

Hybrid cloud has become the dominant operating model in the survey. Flexera found that 69% of organisations now use a hybrid cloud approach, rising to 78% among those with more than 5,000 employees.

Spending patterns also point to larger, more complex estates. Among organisations spending more than USD $500,000 a month on cloud, 79% operate hybrid environments.

The report suggests AI is adding a new source of cost volatility. While all respondents said they use generative AI public cloud services in some form, 45% described that use as extensive and 30% said cost unpredictability was one of the biggest challenges in scaling AI workloads.

Chris Andersen, Chief Financial Officer at Flexera, linked those pressures to broader changes in how finance teams track technology spending.

“The conversation around cloud costs has shifted significantly. It has moved from spending more on technology to solve problems to managing increasingly complex environments that have often evolved organically over time.

“Many organisations have not intentionally designed hybrid or multi-cloud strategies. Instead, these environments emerge through acquisitions, new business requirements or teams independently adopting different platforms. As a result, finance leaders are being asked to manage technology estates that are much harder to monitor and optimise.

“The challenge is that complexity itself creates inefficiencies. The more environments organisations operate across, the harder it becomes to maintain visibility into what resources are being used, whether they are delivering value and where opportunities exist to reduce unnecessary spend,” Andersen said.

The survey also points to a more formal approach to cloud oversight. Flexera found that 71% of organisations now have a Cloud Centre of Excellence, while 63% have established dedicated FinOps teams.

Governance spread

Responsibility for cloud governance is also moving beyond specialist infrastructure teams. According to the research, business units and software asset management teams are taking a larger role in overseeing cloud usage and costs.

Managed service providers are adjusting their offerings in response to AI-related demand. Nearly half plan to offer AI consulting and SaaS management services, while two-thirds are adopting AI for cybersecurity use cases.

The data also shows a divide between larger and smaller organisations in the use of outside providers. Enterprise use of managed service providers rose by three percentage points from a year earlier, while use among small and medium-sized businesses fell from 48% to 39%.

Andersen said the shift in AI spending could change the balance of costs on company profit and loss statements.

“There is enormous pressure on organisations to invest in AI quickly enough to remain competitive, but AI costs behave very differently from traditional technology spending. Usage can scale rapidly across cloud environments, making costs far harder to predict and control.

“People costs have traditionally been the largest line item on the profit and loss statement for technology companies. If AI develops as many expect, technology spend could eventually overtake that. Yet most organisations are nowhere near as disciplined in managing technology costs as they are people costs.

“Companies know exactly who works for them and what those people cost. Far fewer can say the same about every cloud workload, SaaS agreement or AI tool operating across the business. That becomes a serious financial challenge once AI usage starts scaling.

“The organisations best positioned to succeed will be those that simplify where they can, improve visibility across increasingly hybrid environments and establish clear accountability for technology spending. Without that discipline, complexity itself becomes a driver of unnecessary cost,” Andersen said.

The research was based on a survey of 753 technical professionals and executive leaders worldwide, including cloud decision-makers and users across industries, organisation sizes and functional roles.

JOSEPH GABRIEL LAGONSIN

News Editor

Zippd has published consumer research on delivery speed in retail purchasing decisions, finding that faster fulfilment is influencing where shoppers choose to buy.

The survey of 2,050 UK adults found that 19% of consumers would switch to another retailer if it could deliver significantly faster. Among those aged 25 to 44, 42% said they were more likely to buy from a retailer offering same-day delivery.

The data suggests delivery speed is moving beyond a back-end logistics issue and becoming a more visible part of the sales proposition. According to Zippd, fulfilment is starting to affect retailer choice, purchase intent and conversion, rather than only the post-purchase experience.

Fast delivery may also influence impulse buying. More than one in four consumers, or 27%, said faster delivery made them more likely to make last-minute purchases.

Price pressure

The research also examined what shoppers would pay for quicker service. Around four in 10 consumers said they would pay more than £2 for faster delivery, whether buying from a traditional retailer or a marketplace.

That willingness dropped once the price rose above £5. The figures suggest retailers may face a narrow pricing window if they want to offer faster fulfilment without deterring demand.

Zippd said this suggests rapid delivery may be more viable as a widely available convenience than as a premium add-on. That could matter for retailers balancing customer expectations with the cost of offering quicker delivery options.

The shift appears to be particularly visible in online marketplaces, where speed and convenience are promoted alongside product range and price. In that model, fulfilment becomes part of customer acquisition as well as a factor in conversion.

Changing journey

The research forms part of Zippd’s Instant Commerce Index, which examines how the gap between product discovery, purchase and delivery is narrowing. Zippd argues that fulfilment now has greater influence across more stages of the shopping journey.

Gemma Taylor, Co-founder of Zippd, described the company’s view of the change in consumer behaviour: “The most significant finding isn’t that customers want faster delivery – retailers have known that for years. What’s changing is the role fulfilment plays within the customer journey. We’re beginning to see this shift as more brands and marketplaces are making fulfilment speed a visible part of the customer proposition, enabling brands to differentiate beyond product and price alone.”

The figures add to wider pressure on retailers to compete on convenience as well as assortment and pricing. As delivery windows shorten, speed appears to be becoming part of how consumers discover, assess and buy products across a broader range of categories.

Zippd provides fulfilment technology for eCommerce brands and marketplaces managing delivery across seller networks. Its systems connect with eCommerce and delivery platforms to help businesses manage fulfilment through a single network.

The research was conducted online among UK adults.