Online automatic validation of fleet daily rental invoices is rising quickly, according to figures provided by motor industry technology specialist epyx.
Usage analysis of the company's 1link Hire Network daily rental e-commerce platform shows that five years ago, the most progressive fleets passed around 35% of fleet daily rental invoices without human intervention but that today, this has risen to around 75%.
The improvement has been created by better fleet manager and daily rental supplier understanding of the way in which automatic validation can be used to create a seamless purchasing progress, explained David Wallace, sales and business development director.
He said: "Automatic validation is one of the key advantages of using e-commerce to buy daily rental. Without it, you will potentially generate as many invoice rejections as you would with a paper system, which is clearly not making the most of the technology.
"Used properly, automatic validation means that the booking details and then the invoice itself are agreed automatically online against the original quotation. Only if this varies will there be the need for any human intervention.
"Fleets and their suppliers have developed the expertise to recognise where points of divergence between quote and invoice are likely to occur and identify them in advance. An already efficient process is becoming more and more impressive."
David added that the volume of 1link Hire Network "self serve" daily rental - where fleets both book and manage their own rental requirements online through dedicated sites provided by rental providers - had also grown by 10% in the last 12 months.
He said: "We have some daily rental providers using the platform that are now receiving more than 95% of their daily rental bookings from fleets through this route. It is very effective.
"What has made this growth possible is that the technology behind 1link Hire Network allows real-time integration to rental supplier data, providing the means to access essential rental information requirements such as P11D or Motor Insurance Database reporting."