Aria Expands B2B Deferred Payment Infrastructure to UK

French FinTech Aria has expanded its B2B deferred payment infrastructure to the United Kingdom.

The company supports the platform economy by allowing freelancers to get paid faster and businesses to pay when they want to pay, Aria said in a Wednesday (June 28) press release.

“Our growth has been fueled by solving a real problem for freelancers and businesses in a way that lets platforms keep control of their customer experience,” Aria CEO and Co-founder Clément Carrier said in the release. “Opening up the U.K. market is an important step in our journey to change the way businesses pay and get paid.”

Freelancers and small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) typically must contend with long payment terms, ranging from 30 days to 60 days, which puts a strain on healthy cash flow management, Carrier told PYMNTS in an interview posted in April.

Aria’s solution helps sellers get direct access to 100% of the value of their invoices within 24 hours, while buyers can stick to their usual payment terms, at the end of which Aria is repaid, Carrier said during the interview.

The Aria deferred payments platform connects to marketplaces, transactional Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platforms and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems; enables its platform partners to white label the solution; and distributes early payment of supplier invoices while allowing buyers up to 90 days to pay, according to the press release.

To support its launch in the U.K., Aria has opened an office in London and has appointed embedded finance and B2B marketplace specialist Tom Lamb as head of the U.K., the release said. The company also plans to add six to eight employees by the end of the year.

“Post-COVID and in the current economic climate, more and more companies are looking online and for contingent workforce solutions but struggle to get the same terms or experience to which they are accustomed,” Lamb said in the release. “By working with our platform partners, we make solving this crucial issue for businesses and freelancers simple, easy and automated.”

PYMNTS research has found that at a time when talent is at a premium, speedy payment options can be a competitive advantage.

Solutions like instant payroll give workers more financial stability while enabling companies to enjoy the benefits of reduced turnover and a happier workforce, according to the “Expanded Payments Choice Playbook®,” a PYMNTS and Onbe collaboration.

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