Today in B2B: BNPL Takes Over for Corporate Cards; Global Payments Puts Netspend up for Sale Again

Today in B2B payments, buy now, pay later (BNPL) becomes an alternative to corporate credit cards, and Global Payments tries to sell Netspend again after failing to get the $2 million it sought in 2020. Plus, MetaCX brings business value to the metaverse, and U.S. businesses expect easier cross-border payments to improve cash management.

Small Businesses Embrace BNPL as Corporate Card Alternative

In Latin America, 88% of businesses don’t have access to traditional credit, and 55% of B2B transactions are done with cash transactions. In the U.S., many small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) have limited access to credit and generally can get only a corporate card. Those facts drove KEO World to aim to apply the buy now, pay later (BNPL) concept to the business space. Today, the Miami-based FinTech supports 12,000 businesses in Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Peru and Mexico and is awaiting approval from the Central Bank of Brazil to start operating there and plans to launch in the U.S. in a couple of months.

Global Payments Looks to Sell Netspend

Payments processor Global Payments is seeking a buyer for Netspend, its prepaid debit card unit, for the second time since 2020. Global Payments is conducting a strategic review of Netspend’s consumer business but plans to keep its B2B assets. The company wants to refine its portfolio and put more emphasis on merchants, financial institutions, software partners and technology leaders. Global Payments tried to sell Netspend in 2020, with the hope of getting $2 billion, but it decided to keep Netspend after failing to get the price it wanted.

MetaCX Launches Metaverse-Based Business Value Network

Software firm MetaCX has launched the Business Value Network, a metaverse-based platform that lets businesses form “persistent digital connections” with other businesses in their ecosystem. MetaCX said the network is built around “a new computing paradigm broadly labeled as the metaverse,” promising business collaboration through a digital identity interoperable across all of a business’ relationships and technological investments.

56% of US Businesses Expect Easier Cross-Border Payments Will Improve Cash Management

U.S. businesses are more likely to see innovations that enhance their cash management capabilities as beneficial, while British businesses said they believe the chief benefit cross-border payments innovation can provide is cost reduction, according to “Innovating Cross-Border Payments,” a PYMNTS and Visa collaboration based on a survey of 456 decision-makers from businesses across 22 industries.