QuickBooks Adds Apple Pay For Invoice Payments

Small business financial services firm Intuit is taking advantage of Apple’s move to roll out Apple Pay as a web offering, linking the electronic payment tool into its QuickBooks platform for B2B payments.

The company announced Tuesday (Oct. 18) that it will now allow businesses to offer Apple Pay as a payment option for their own business customers when paying an invoice. Apple Pay will be an additional payment option that integrates into QuickBooks Online, allowing electronic payments of digital invoices sent through the QuickBooks platform.

In a statement, Intuit Developer Group Vice President and Head Vinay Pai said the new feature is part of Intuit’s efforts to help SMEs improve cash flow.

“A recent Intuit survey found that almost 70 percent of small business owners felt that giving their customers more ways to pay will help them get paid faster, boosting their cash flow and enabling long-term success,” he said. “In addition to being a first mover with Apple Pay, the QuickBooks platform gives small businesses the ability to integrate the tools they use to run their business, providing a simple, integrated view of their business performance and cash flow.”

Intuit added that the integration of Apple Pay into the QuickBooks platform is part of an effort to accelerate B2B payments. The company said in its announcement that it takes businesses that don’t accept online payments an average of 28 days to see their B2B invoices settled. Further, 64 percent of businesses said they see their invoices go 60 days or longer without being paid.

Apple Pay also offers payments security for both buyer and supplier, the company said, and can support invoice payments being made on Apple devices with Touch ID to ensure the identity of the payer. Apple Pay also prevents a buyer from having to share any credit card information, Intuit added.

B2B payments made via Apple Pay are automatically fed into the QuickBooks platform for accounting and data management purposes. The solution only works for businesses that access QuickBooks Online via the Safari web browser, the firm noted.