B2B Payments Tech Closes The Buyer-Supplier Gap

As B2B payments innovation accelerates, some solution providers are pulling double-duty by tackling both accounts payable (AP) and accounts receivable (AR) friction with a single solution. Commercial cards are an increasingly popular tool of choice to address the pain points of buyers and suppliers, but as this week’s look at the convergence of AR and AP reveals, it’s not the only way to close the gap between buyer and supplier.

American Express Elevates Early B2B Payment Offering

Early payment discounts can be a valuable tool for both buyers and suppliers. For corporate buyers, early payment discounts can open up a new revenue stream and support the bottom line, while for vendors, accelerated payments support healthier cash flow.

With these benefits in mind, American Express recently rolled out enhancements to its Early Pay offering in the U.S. The solution offers a digital platform to bring greater control to buyers’ AP workflows and to generate more working capital. Suppliers, meanwhile, can accept early payment to support their own financials.

“As we continue to focus on enabling digital payments beyond our traditional corporate cards, we are investing in solutions to improve the buyer and supplier experience and help solve common B2B payment-related pain points,” said Daniel Brachfeld, vice president/general manager, supply chain solutions at American Express, in a statement.

Transcard Closes The Buyer-Supplier Gap With Data

On the path to making B2B payments invisible, payment solution providers must close the gap between the buyers making the payment and the suppliers accepting it. Transcard recently positioned itself to deepen buyer-supplier connectivity with recently announced account-to-account (A2A) capabilities using Mastercard Track technology, allowing businesses to use a range of payment solutions — including real-time payments — while ensuring that vendors can seamlessly accept and integrate transactions.

In a recent conversation with Karen Webster, Transcard CEO Greg Bloh noted that inserting a third-party platform between buyer and supplier can be “very problematic,” and can actually add more friction in both AP and AR processes. Ensuring that third-party technology fits seamlessly and invisibly between B2B partners is key to easing any pain points, with data a critical component to tackling both AR and AP challenges.

“The biggest benefit I see is not necessarily the payment itself,” Bloh said. “What’s important is the data that flows with the payment.”

Boost Eases Commercial Card Acceptance For Healthcare Sector

Boost Payment Solutions is making a name for itself as a payments technology company that addresses one of the biggest challenges in commercial cards today: supplier acceptance. Recently, the company announced a partnership with Global Healthcare Exchange (GHX), a healthcare technology company that connects buyers and sellers within the industry.

Through the collaboration, Boost will enable GHX customers to use commercial cards to pay suppliers, with Boost addressing the needs of the buyers as well as suppliers with complex settlement requirements. It’s an integration that tackles friction in both AP and AR, allowing buyers to use commercial cards to take advantage of capital float and rewards while ensuring that healthcare suppliers can optimize card acceptance and benefit from faster payments.

“This collaboration is especially timely as many healthcare organizations are struggling with financial solvency,” said GHX General Manager Rob Alcock in a statement.

Wells Fargo Eyes Faster Payments For Suppliers With Virtual Cards

B2B payment solution providers are increasingly turning to commercial card technology to meet the needs of both buyers and suppliers. Wells Fargo recently announced a virtual commercial card offering, the WellsOne Virtual Card Payments service, which digitizes the commercial card to further ease friction for both sides of the B2B transaction.

According to Wells Fargo, “this service offers a convenient way to make business payments with the security and control of a credit card, while providing suppliers with options to help receive payments faster.”

In a statement, Mary Mazzochi, senior vice president and manager of the commercial card product suite at Wells Fargo, said the offering helps migrate AP departments from paper checks and toward technology that can optimize working capital, bring transparency to payments and combat the risk of fraud. Suppliers, meanwhile, are automatically sent the virtual card number via a secure channel to process payment.