B-to-B payments

TransferMate, a cross-border B2B payments provider based in Ireland, has announced plans to buy Devisenwerk, a Swiss foreign exchange firm, to expand its capabilities and geographic reach.

Mainstream payment companies are quickly siding with fintechs to dilute the weight of paper on accounts payable and supply chains. American Express is pushing change by making it less of an ordeal.

B2B transactions are still heavily reliant on checks, and a lot of fintechs hope businesses are ready to break the habit. Silicon Valley fintech Coupa’s part of the parade of innovation, offering a virtual card and a payments-as-concierge approach.

Credit unions are well positioned to serve small businesses, but they'll lose that opportunity if they're not adequately protecting those members' cash flow.

Taking a cue from his previous success in commercial cash checking services, Conext CEO Michael Casalini hopes a Venmo-style mobile app that supports a quick conversion of checks to digital money can attract small businesses.

The ploys vary widely—digital tracking, fee incentives and "coopetition"—but banks are turning up the volume on innovation to pry businesses away from checks and keep them from signing up with rival tech startups.

To make commercial cards more viable, stakeholders in the B2B payments ecosystem need to break down traditional constructs and dynamically price card transactions so that they complement the commercial relationship between buyers and supplier, according to Dean Leavitt, CEO of Boost Payment Systems.

Right on the heels of securing a partnership with Amazon to benefit small business owners, American Express is launching a new Business Gold Card designed to reward spending in key categories and offer extra management tools.

Visa and Billtrust are pressuring businesses to embrace automation by developing a directory of suppliers who accept digital payments.

While B2B will never perfectly mimic the B2C space, there’s a lot businesses can learn from their consumer-facing counterparts, writes Mark Bartlett, marketing chief at FPX.

Automated payment technology provider Yooz North America is partnering with digital payment provider SnapCheck to help companies speed up accounts payable processes, while cutting operational and fraud costs.

ABN Amro plans to levy fees for some clients that don’t use digital payment processes, an aggressive tactic that’s had mixed results for the companies, retailers, and governments that choose to make intentionally harder to use manual payment processes.

It is important that all parties involved in construction projects not only be aware of these regulation updates and how they will impact their projects, but also what they can do to prepare for when the legislation inevitably reaches them, writes Matt Johnner, president and co-founder of BankLabs.

Accounts payables automation is a tough sell for companies that don't want to abandon a process they have clung to for decades. But this old process is a big target for fraudsters — and growing.

There are scenarios that complicate the B2B pricing process, before the customer even requests a quote. These issues vary across industries, growing even more complex once you bring subscription-based software solutions buyers into the picture, according to Mark Bartlett, chief experience officer of FPX.

A group of large banks is using its considerable size and influence to build standards for trade finance, including agreements on payments processes, documentation and risk—giving the consortium its own ecosystem to counter the myriad forces in technology and e-commerce that threaten to upend traditional practices.

Fintechs usually focus on niches rather than trying to be a one-stop shop for every type of merchant. But for Nvoicepay, bigger clients mean bigger opportunities.

American Express has positioned itself as a small-business champion for decades, but its partnership with Amazon illustrates the paradox of supporting mom-and-pop shops by enabling them to buy supplies from their largest competitor.

Amazon.com Inc. and American Express Co. are upping the ante in their bid for small-business spending.

American Express turned its loss of its Costco card business in 2016 into a pivot to a more technology-heavy strategy, a plan that is paying off with major deals with large partners and solid earnings.