Microsoft will let you pay bills from inside Outlook

Microsoft announced Monday that its payment service would be integrated with Outlook in a bid to better integrate bill pay and invoices into emails. It was one of the modifications to Outlook that the company said would allow developers to better engage with users.

The Microsoft Pay system would let users make payments through emails without having to switch into other apps. Microsoft said initial payment partners include Stripe and Braintree, while billing service Zuora and invoicing services including FreshBooks, Intuit, Invoice2Go, Sage, Wave, and Xero would also be among the companies working with the new Outlook capability. Microsoft Pay will be rolled out to some Outlook.com users over the next few weeks, while more users will receive the capability over the next few months.

Additionally, Outlook will gain Adaptive Cards for actionable messages that help contain notifications and conversations into one message. The new card format can be added into emails, bots, and Team chats, Microsoft said.

:story: The Verge