Visa Teams With Edenred to Bolster Commercial Payments

Specific-purpose payments solutions provider Edenred partnered with Visa.

“This collaboration strengthens Edenred’s platform through the certification of its in-house issuing and processing infrastructure with Visa Europe,” according to a Tuesday (Oct. 21) news release. It allows Edenred to issue Visa credentials across its activities like benefits, mobility and B2B payments.

The partnership melds Visa’s network and innovation engine with Edenred’s market expertise and proprietary technology, the release said. It gives Edenred access to Visa’s commercial payments and B2B payments capabilities for insurance payouts, travel supplier payments, and other uses in the embedded finance space.

“Our partnership with Visa is a clear proof point of Edenred’s technology leadership,” Edenred Chief Product Officer Clément Le Chatelier said in the release. “Integrating Visa’s network and innovations within our PayTech platform allows us to scale faster, offer more choice, and deliver unmatched value to our clients.”

The partnership allows Visa to offer more solutions for businesses and employees and further its goal of improving commercial payments, according to the release.

“By combining Visa’s global capabilities with Edenred’s platform, we’re unlocking exciting new possibilities for innovation and growth across their business lines,” Lucy Demery, head of Visa Commercial Solutions, Visa Europe, said in the release. “This collaboration is a powerful example of how we can work together to deliver seamless, secure and meaningful payment experiences that empower both businesses and their employees alike.”

The two companies have already collaborated in Latin America and the United States, and they plan to introduce the first Visa-enabled Edenred virtual payment solutions at the start of next year, with additional programs launching across Europe, per the release.

Edenred and Visa are teaming at a time when embedded finance has shifted from being a trend to “the next competitive frontier,” PYMNTS wrote Tuesday.

“Embedded Finance as a Strategic Initiative,” a PYMNTS Intelligence and Green Dot collaboration, found that almost every major company has already embedded financial services into their platforms to increase customer engagement, bolster loyalty and speed growth.

But even as 93% of firms report that the payoff outweighs the pain, most are scrambling to upgrade within the year, turning embedded finance from a convenience into a strategic imperative.

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