Barclaycard Integrates B2B Payments Tech To SAP Ariba

Barclaycard and SAP are partnering up to accelerate B2B payments, the companies announced today (Friday, Feb. 15).

In a press release sent to PYMNTS, Barclaycard Commercial Payments said it has struck a partnership with SAP to integrate its B2B payments solution, Precisionpay, into cloud procurement platform SAP Ariba, enabling businesses to pay their vendors via Barclaycard.

The integration will roll out later this year with the addition of Precisionpay Bank Transfer within the SAP Ariba platform. Corporate buyers can pay their vendors via virtual card, with suppliers receiving payment the same way they receive a bank transfer. Barclaycard noted that its collaboration with SAP Ariba could also link business buyers to supply chain financing, giving companies up to 56 days to pay their invoices while suppliers receive payment more quickly.

“Since launching the U.K.’s first corporate credit card over 50 years ago, Barclaycard has been pushing the boundaries to create payment solutions that help make our clients more successful,” Managing Director of Barclaycard Commercial Payments Marc Pettican said in a statement. “In global procurement, payment has always been the part of the process that has created the most friction, so we’re really excited to be partnering with SAP to make B2B payments as simple and seamless as possible.”

SAP Managing Director for U.K. and Ireland Jens Amail added that the integration of Barclaycard’s Precisionpay function within SAP Ariba expands the existing partnership between SAP and Barclaycard “by collectively redefining the corporate payments market with a highly innovative platform.”

SAP Ariba first stepped into the B2B payments space with the launch of AribaPay in 2013 through another collaboration with Discover. In 2016, SAP Ariba announced a partnership with First Data to power AribaPay. That same year, SAP Ariba launched its B2B procurement platform into China.

Barclays has also expanded Barclaycard’s presence in the B2B sector. Last June the company introduced a new commercial card solution designed for the construction industry to accelerate payments to small businesses in the sector.