The Payments AI Agent is an AI-powered assistant that helps employees resolve card and transaction issues and access general reimbursement information instantly through a simple conversation, without having to involve the Finance team.
By explaining the status of transactions and executing fixes to common issues, for example, a top-up request for insufficient funds, the Agent replaces back-and-forth emails and support tickets, unblocks employees and leaves Finance teams free to focus on higher-value work.
Every action happens within existing Payhawk spend policies and approval workflows, keeping processes compliant, consistent, and fully auditable.
If you are unsure exactly what the Payments AI Agent can do for you, you can ask it directly.
Common challenges in card management
Everyday spend problems, such as failed transactions, insufficient funds, or policy restrictions, disrupt employees and drain admin and Finance team resources.
Employees lack visibility into the reasons for these issues and rely on manual admin intervention to resolve them. Administrators, meanwhile, are caught in a reactive cycle of approvals, troubleshooting, and back-and-forth communication. All this leads to wasted time, frustration on both sides, and Finance teams acting like a support team.
The Payments AI Agent allows employees to self serve without the need to involve Finance teams. The Agent provides information and executes workflows, for example fund requests, so that employees aren’t unnecessarily slowed down, and Finance teams can focus on more important work.
Key functionalities
The Payments AI Agent helps streamline processes and improve efficiency in various cases.
Functionality | Capability |
Introduction of the Payments AI Agent's capabilities | The Payments AI Agent presents its own capabilities upon first interaction, or tells you what it can do when asked. |
Card management | Cardholders can surface card information, freeze and unfreeze cards, and request new cards. |
Card transactions | The Payments AI Agent can provide cardholders with information for completed and pending card transactions. The Agent proactively notifies users for failed transactions and provides help fixing them. |
Requests and approvals | Cardholders can request funds to card. The Payments AI Agent notifies users when the fund request was approved or rejected. |
Reimbursements, per diem, mileage | Cardholders can get general information about reimbursements, per diems, and mileage expenses. The Payments AI Agent notifies users when status has changed. |
Smart assistance | The Payments AI Agent can answer everyday how‑to and general questions using information from the Payhawk help desk. If you request an action handled by another Payhawk AI Agent, the Payments AI Agent will let you know which AI Agent can assist. That AI Agent will then message you directly so you can complete the task. For example, if you ask the Payments AI Agent to book a trip to Vienna, it will explain that the Travel AI Agent handles travel bookings. The Travel AI Agent will then message you to continue the conversation and help arrange the trip. |
Long-term memory | The Payments AI Agent can remember the user’s personal preferences, so the next time they interact with it, the Agent will respond in their preferred way or carry out specific actions for them. |
Audit trails for compliance | The Payments AI Agent follows the user’s established Payhawk workflows and logs every action, so that Finance teams have control and a clear audit trail. |
How the Payments AI Agent works for Finance teams
By activating the Payments AI Agent, Finance teams streamline card management processes while enhancing overall efficiency with:
Fewer interruptions, as employees get instant explanations and suggested fixes for failed card transactions and finance only handles true exceptions.
Lower support and operational costs, as the Agent absorbs repetitive issues, such as failed payments, card blocks, fund requests, and reimbursement questions. Thus, the Agent frees Finance teams from low-value tasks, while employees act independently, only within the guardrails the Finance team has already set.
Confidence in compliance, as every fix, request, or card action automatically mirrors the defined spend policies, approval workflows, and audit requirements at your organization.
How the Payments AI Agent works for employees
The Payments AI Agent enables employees to do the following:
Request funds, freeze or unfreeze cards, and request new cards, with quick commands in the Payhawk web portal, mobile app, and Slack (MS Teams coming soon).
Get real-time notifications with information about failed or declined card transactions, with clear, actionable steps on how to resolve the issue on the spot.
Have visibility over recent card transactions, authorizations, and refunds.
Get help with reimbursement inquiries such as out-of-pocket expenses, mileage claims, and per diem allowances.
Ask general knowledge questions about Payhawk's features and how-to-guides.
Get answers to questions about Payhawk payments and card-related topics.
Activating the Payments AI Agent
The Payments AI Agent comes out of the box and is included in both the Payhawk mobile app and web portal.
Employee access to the AI Agent in Slack depends on whether a Payhawk administrator at your company has enabled the communication channel in the Payhawk web portal from Settings > AI Office.
Processing your data
For more information about how Payhawk processes personal data for the Payments AI Agent feature, see the following resources:
Global Privacy Policy - Covers personal data for which Payhawk acts as a Controller.
Data Processing Addendum - Covers personal data for which Payhawk acts as a Processor.