Today In B2B: Xero Collaborates On API Bank Connection; Billtrust Teams With REPAY

Today in B2B payments, European banks grow wary of small business loans, and Xero collaborates on API bank connectivity. Plus, REPAY partners with Billtrust, JAGGAER teams with TransferMate and U.S. CFOs ponder their cash reserves.

SMB Loans Pose Potential Big Risk For European Banks

Euro area banks have cut back on lending, as the pandemic continues to threaten the economy. At the same time, however, big problems are building over their earlier loans to small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). The Wall Street Journal reports that many SMBs across Europe are fighting for survival. The region’s banks have two trillion euros out on loan to small businesses — two-fifths of what is on their business loan books.

REPAY Teams With Billtrust For Vendor Payments

Payment solution provider REPAY Holdings Corporation has connected its systems with Billtrust. REPAY’s business clients will be able to automate digital payments to Billtrust’s network of sellers via its participation in Billtrust’s Business Payments Network (BPN), according to a Wednesday (Jan. 20) announcement. Darin Horrocks, senior vice president, B2B, at REPAY, said the company’s aim has been to assist its clients with streamlining and perfecting supplier payments by automating them using one interface. “We believe our partnership with Billtrust will significantly bolster the adoption of electronic payments to suppliers who participate in the BPN,” Horrocks added.

JAGGAER Joins Forces With TransferMate On ‘Source to Settle’

Procurement technology company JAGGAER has collaborated with TransferMate to provide offerings from “source to settle,” according to an announcement. “Thanks to this agreement, we can now offer JAGGAER customers and their suppliers improved tracking, reconciliation and speed of processing or receiving cross-border transactions in 134 currencies,” JAGGAER CEO Jim Bureau said in the announcement.

US CFOs Consider How To Use Cash Reserves

U.S. finance chiefs aren’t sure what to do with the massive borrowed cash piles they’ve accumulated for pandemic relief, the Financial Times (FT) reported. The numbers came out to $2.5 trillion borrowed by corporate America last year. But if the economy begins to recover as the year goes on, some chief financial officers (CFOs) aren’t sure what to do with their excessive fortunes, according to FT. Companies in the U.S. S&P 500 index have built up an additional $1.3 trillion as well.

Xero, Nedbank Team On API-Enabled Bank Feed For SMBs

Xero, a global small business cloud accounting platform, is working with South Africa’s Nedbank to give small- to medium-size business (SMB) clients a digital, application programming interface (API)-enabled bank feed to access financial data, according to an ITWeb report. The companies said this is a first for the South African banking sector. The new program will allow SMB bank transactions to be imported directly and securely from Nedbank accounts into the Xero cloud accounting platform, the report stated.