Clear Books Links With Stripe To Help SMBs Accept Card Payments

In a move that lets small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) take card payments and monitor income, accounting platform Clear Books has integrated with Stripe. The connection enables SMBs with a Clear Books account to take invoice payments by credit and debit card, according to an announcement.

Clear Books said the card acceptance feature can speed up cash flow: As businesses simplify the payment process, they can receive payment quickly. Businesses can also see the current payment status on bills, with invoices automatically categorized as paid after clients pay them.

Online shopping companies that harness Stripe on their own sites can also automatically ingest banking data into their Clear Books software. In addition, Clear Books keeps clients and payments Stripe charges separate. As a result, businesses can easily classify and keep track of these items.

Clear Books said Stripe is one of the top British payment providers, which assists SMBs in accepting funds via debit and credit cards.

An important focus on putting online payment acceptance into place for B2B sellers is to make sure that experiences and processes are the most effective as they can be for a small company in addition to its clients.

Nikita Melnikovs, member of the board at card payments technology company DECTA, told PYMNTS in a past interview, that one way to satisfy this goal is to connect payment acceptance with eInvoicing. He noted that the function benefits the B2B sector even more than B2C.

The combination makes a corporate buyer’s own internal process as effective as possible.

He said, “It simplifies company purchasing and accounting processes, therefore accounting may see information about the transaction — when did it take place, what was the order and its size – as well as the invoice.”

In separate news, Kabbage, the alternative SMB lending firm, was entering the payments arena to assist SMB cash flow, per news last October. The firm announced the rollout of Kabbage Payments at the time for SMBs to help with quicker invoice payments and to speed up accounts receivable.