Today in B2B Payments: Dick’s Sporting Goods Offers Accelerated Payments; PropelAuth Raises $2.6M for B2B Authentication

Today in B2B payments, SESAMi launches an eFinancing marketplace with its banking partners, while FinLync teams up with Workday Ventures and joins its software partner program. Plus, gig workers get a boost from the availability of localized payments, and Billtrust eyes a sale after struggling to reach profitability levels.

Payments FinTech FinLync Teams With Workday Ventures

Payments FinTech FinLync has received a strategic investment from Workday Ventures and joined that firm’s software partner program, the company announced Thursday (July 28).

With this partnership, FinLync hopes to power Workday Financial Management with more than 100 pre-integrated bank API connections to banks worldwide. The goal is to give Workday Financial Management customers the ability to initiate real-time payments while dealing with common treasury headaches “through end-to-end payment traceability, simplified connectivity, and real-time cash visibility.”

Peter Klein, FinLync’s co-founder and chief technology officer, said the core of the partnership is the belief that companies that switch to a model of real-time working capital across their payments, cash and treasury functions are the ones who succeed.

Dick’s Sporting Goods Partners With C2FO on Accelerated Payments

Dick’s Sporting Goods announced Thursday (July 28) that it has teamed up with working capital platform C2FO to offer early payments on approved invoices that will support the long-term success for minority-, veteran-, disabled- and female-owned businesses with streamlined access to capital.

C2FO allows suppliers to accelerate payment on chosen invoices for a minimal discount, with Dick’s self-funding the early payments, according to the release. Dick’s has committed to spending $300 million every year by 2025 with diverse-owned and operated businesses.

Diverse-owned businesses used the C2FO platform to secure 3.2 times more than other businesses in 2021, per the release. The company has accelerated more than $2 billion in early payments to diverse-owned businesses worldwide so far in 2022.

Localized Payments Boost Companies’ Gig Worker Appeal

Almost three-quarters (73%) of independent contractors are prepared to leave their current freelancer marketplaces for better payments experiences, according to “Expanding Payments Choice,” a PYMNTS and Onbe collaboration. To keep these global employees and freelancers loyal and productive, companies must make sure that they are paid on time, in their native currencies, without friction.

Meeting the expectations of independent contractors is a challenge, and it’s doubly difficult on a global scale, Onbe Chief Product Officer Tracy Monson told PYMNTS in a July interview. Onbe facilitates payments to more than 180 countries, taking the burden of managing foreign exchange (FX) and cross-border wage access and payments off clients’ plates.

PYMNTS’ research has found that conducting business across borders involves a distinctive set of payment frictions that can slow international business transactions. For example, although cross-border sales make up more than one-quarter of businesses’ average total in the United States and the United Kingdom, receipt of payment for these transactions takes 55% longer than for domestic sales. Other challenges include authentication issues and costs surrounding currency conversions, as well as data security.

PropelAuth Raises $2.59M to Address B2B Authentication Requirements

PropelAuth, which works with end-to-end authentication for B2B companies, has raised a seed investment of $2.59 million that it will use to invest in new product features, recruit more staff and add users and audiences with developer relations.

PropelAuth’s work is intended to help with self-service UIs, featuring organizations and groups as a notion, user administration and libraries, solving an issue where many authentication providers for B2C clients can’t address the authentication requirements for B2B businesses. The company’s work already consists of providing things like adjustable roles, out-of-the-box support for customer organizations and integration with many major web frameworks.

Additionally, the company will make its growth plan free for early-stage startups, to raise $1 million in funding as part of its “Free till Funded” initiative. The idea is to alleviate the younger companies of worries about their authorization or various deadlines.

Business Payments Firm Billtrust Eyes Sale

B2B accounts receivable (AR) automation firm Billtrust could be put up for sale by its owner, BTRS Holdings. BTRS is working with an investment bank as it considers its options, which include a sale to a private equity firm, according to sources familiar with the matter.

The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, stressed that a deal was not certain. Billtrust’s software helps businesses move from paper invoicing to a digital payments system. According to its website, the New Jersey-based company employs more than 760 people in seven countries.

BTRS went public in a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) merger in 2021. As Reuters notes, its shares hit their peak in the middle of February of last year, but have fallen 73% in the ensuing months, as fewer businesses turned to digital payments solutions to deal with COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns.

SESAMi, Banking Partners Debut eFinancing Marketplace

B2B eProcurement and eMarketplace SESAMi has debuted a collaboration with its five banking partners — including OCBC, CIMB and Linklogis — that will allow suppliers to get paid immediately on their outstanding invoices and purchase orders, according to a Bloomberg report Wednesday (July 27).

The next step for SESAMi is reaching out to the supplier community to kick off the program with as many of them as possible, the report said.

The SESAMi marketplace will allow suppliers to choose the financing partner that’s best suited for their specific needs, the report said. The financing partners will then leverage the data provided by SESAMi’s eProcurement system to make faster and more accurate credit decisions in real time. This will give suppliers access to financing at a lower interest rate than conventional, off-the-shelf products.

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