Fiserv and Melio Partner to Help Banks Serve Small Businesses

Fiserv, a global provider of payments and financial services technology solutions, has partnered with Melio, a B2B payments platform, to help financial institutions streamline accounts payable and receivable for small businesses.

This collaboration has launched a comprehensive solution called CashFlow Central, available from Fiserv, that is designed to enable financial institutions to better serve small businesses and regain market share from direct-to-business competitors, the companies said in a Monday (Oct. 23) press release.

CashFlow Central combines Melio’s user-friendly workflows with Fiserv’s biller and merchant network and payment capabilities, according to the release. This integrated solution aims to streamline payment processes for small businesses, which have historically faced challenges with manual, paper-based processes and the need to use as many as four tools to manage payments.

With CashFlow Central, small businesses can use a range of features such as sending electronic invoices, accepting payments through ACH transfers or credit cards, digitizing supplier invoices, and paying billers and suppliers using a bank account or credit card, the release said.

The solution can also be expanded to include expense management and card issuing capabilities, as well as in-store and online merchant payments through Fiserv’s Clover point-of-sale and business management platform, per the release.

John Gibbons, head of the Financial Institutions Group at Fiserv, said in the release that small businesses are looking for solutions that offer both commercial-level capabilities and consumer-grade ease of use.

“Now financial institutions have an answer, a comprehensive, integrated experience that is just right for small businesses, enabling them to pay and get paid electronically and instantly,” Gibbons said.

Matan Bar, CEO and co-founder of Melio, added: “The combination of innovative Fiserv payment capabilities and Melio’s accounts payable and receivable automation software will create significant value for banks and their small business customers.”

PYMNTS Intelligence has found that personalization is one of the most sought-after features that small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) want from financial partners. In addition, 83% of SMBs seek convenience from their financial partners, 69% want customer analytics and intelligence, and 65% are likely to work with a financial adviser to receive the personalized attention they need, according to “Digital Banking Rises to Meet SMB Needs,” a PYMNTS and NCR collaboration.