Today in B2B: Barclaycard, Liberis Team on Revenue-Based SMB Financing; Accenture’s Acquisition of Advocate Enhances Business Management Tools

Today in B2B payments, Phixius and Aliaswire partner on account verification for small-volume users of automating clearinghouses, and accounts payable automation has streamlined the supply chain for many companies. Plus, Onfleet raises $23 million in Series B fundraising round, Payrailz and Q2 partner on P2P payments for banks and credit unions, and CSI is set to launch a working capital solution.

AP Automation Helps Companies Head off Supply Chain Disruptions

Businesses that initially perceived accounts payable (AP) automation as a temporary necessity have rapidly come to embrace it as a strategic, multipronged tool for the long term. AP digitization helps them reduce friction and operational costs, heading off supply chain disruptions and improving customer retention.

PYMNTS research has found that nearly all chief financial officers — 96% of them, in fact — say the central purpose of digitizing their AP and accounts receivable (AR) functions is to benefit their vendors and customers, according to the “AP Automation Tracker,” a PYMNTS and Beanworks collaboration

Manual processes hindered many workers’ ability to be fully remote, as many said they had to make office visits during the pandemic for tasks such as obtaining checks or pulling files. Not surprisingly, then, nearly two-thirds of finance professionals noticed delays in invoice processing, expense reimbursement and vendor payments.

Barclaycard, Liberis Offer SMBs Revenue-Based Financing

Payments company Barclaycard and embedded business finance platform Liberis have teamed up to offer small and medium-sized business (SMB) customers access to personalized, revenue-based financing, following Barclays’ investment of about $43.4 million in Liberis last year.

London-based Liberis said the funding will help it develop its application programming interface (API)-driven embedded finance platform, launch new products for SMBs and continue its global expansion. The company’s platform has been integrated with partners in the United Kingdom, United States, Ireland, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Slovakia and Czech Republic.

The partnership gives customers access to Barclaycard Business Cash Advance, a new solution designed to help fund SMBs with fixed-cost financing, according to the release.

Last-Mile Delivery Firm Onfleet Raises $23M in Series B Round

Last-mile delivery management software platform Onfleet has raised $23 million in a Series B fundraising round that it will use to accelerate its technological growth and expand its product and engineering capabilities, according to a company press release Tuesday (June 7).

Kayne Partners, the dedicated growth equity group of Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors, led the company’s Series B funding round, with participation from existing investor Savant Growth. The latest round brings the company’s total capital raised to more than $40 million.

Onfleet’s route optimization cuts the number of drivers needed and miles driven, improving profit margins and reducing carbon emissions, the company press release said.

Accenture Buys Advocate to Add Suite of Business Management Tools

Accenture has bought tech consultancy firm Advocate Networks, a managed services provider for business management solutions that is helping to modernize businesses. Advocate’s team, headquartered in Norcross, Georgia, will be joining Accenture’s Technology Strategy and Advisory team and will help clients “define, architect and measure value” from their digital and cloud transformations.

Advocate’s work includes a suite of services that align tech with business goals to help find ways to improve savings and grow. The suite includes strategic advisory, technology business management (TBM)-as-a-Service and other things, and the release said they will strengthen Accenture’s cloud and digital transformation efforts.

CSI to Roll Out Working Capital Solution

Corporate Spending Innovations (CSI) will be debuting a new working capital solution to help with supply chain issues, according to a Monday (June 6) press release. The solution will initially be released for a beta group of customers, with a larger release planned for the fourth quarter of the year.

CSI provides payment solutions to brands using business payment options, which include CSI Travel, CSI Paysystems and global-fleet fuel cards.

Last year, CSI also joined up with Citi Commercial Cards on B2B payment offerings for Citi’s customers, combining online payment functionalities from CSI with Citi’s international connections.

Phixius Teams With Aliaswire on Account Verification for Small-Volume ACH Users

ACH payments platform Phixius and FinTech payments company Aliaswire have teamed up to allow financial institutions (FIs), FinTechs and businesses with a small volume of ACH transactions to comply with Nacha’s WEB Debit Account Validation Rule, according to a Nacha press release Monday (June 6).

Phixius by Nacha offers efficient, safe exchanges and verification of payment-related information through its peer-to-peer network and the Aliaswire allows lower-volume ACH users to access Phixius to verify routing and account numbers on ACH payments, the press release says.

Phixius has enabled more than 1,700 financial institutions and more than 7,000 businesses to verify account information since its launch last year, according to the press release.

Payrailz, Q2 Team on P2P Payments for Banks, Credit Unions

Digital payments company Payrailz is partnering with Q2’s digital banking platform to provide banks and credit unions with improved payment experiences, according to a press release on Monday (June 6).

Q2 Holdings offers digital solutions for banking and lending and will integrate with Payrailz to provide peer-to-peer (P2P) payment services within Q2’s Partner Accelerator Program.

The Q2 Partner Accelerator Program is part of the Q2 Innovation Studio and enables in-demand financial services providers using the Q2 software development kit (SDK) to integrate their technology with Q2’s digital banking platform.