Today in B2B: Invoicing, Supplier Portals Lead to Smoother Payments; Digital Processes Reduce Fraud

Today in B2B payments, cross-border payments streamline eCommerce opportunities in China, while qiibee expands its blockchain-based B2B rewards marketplace. Plus, Tesorio raises $17 million amid a leadership overhaul, and Nibble Health helps to spread out the payment pain.

qiibee Expanding Global Blockchain-Based B2B Rewards Marketplace

Blockchain-based B2B rewards marketplace qiibee on Tuesday (July 5) said it raised $4.8 million in a seed funding round that it will use for the growth of its team and expansion into new markets, including North America.

Z5 Capital led qiibee’s funding round, with participation by digital advertising group Meet The People; Ben Davey, former CEO of Barclays Venture; Mainardo de Nardis, former executive vice-chairman of Omnicom Media Group and CEO of OMD Worldwide; and Phil Rubin, founder of Grey Space Matters and rDialogue; as well as existing investors R/GA Ventures.

The first connection of different loyalty programs through qiibee’s platform launched last year, when Swiss luxury watch maker Louis Erard allowed their members to exchange their own loyalty currency, Louis Erard Points, to miles from Etihad Guest and 9 different cryptocurrencies.

Easier Invoicing, Supplier Portals Top List of B2B Payment Needs

Companies face two primary problems when making payments to suppliers: invoice reconciliation issues and a lack of supplier portals.

In fact, each of those problems were cited by about 42% of financial institutions when they were asked about common problems their corporate clients face when paying suppliers, according to “Meeting the Challenge of Payments Modernization,” a PYMNTS and FIS collaboration based on a survey of 311 executives working as head of treasury services or wholesale banking at large international banks, regional banks, community banks and credit unions.

What’s more, 15% of the executives surveyed said the inability to offer supplier portals was the most important problem companies confront when paying suppliers, while 9% said the same about reconciling invoices.

AR Platform Tesorio Raises $17M, Names New Leaders

Tesorio has raised $17 million in a Series B funding round, the accounts receivable management platform said Tuesday (July 5).

The company said in the news release it is focusing this round on expanding its go-to-market efforts. Tesorio has also named two new people to leadership roles: Chief Sales Officer Mark Bartlett, who has worked with Concur, BlackLine, SAP and Navis, and Vice President of Marketing George Coughlin, a veteran of companies such as Adaptive Insights and Intuit.

Based in San Francisco, Tesorio helps companies manage more than $23 billion in invoices each year, with clients that include Slack, Box, Veeva Systems, Twilio and Domo. The company’s platform includes collections automation, a comprehensive collections dashboard, customizable dunning, dynamic workspace functionality and streamlined payments.

Half of Companies Say Digital Processes Reduce Fraud

A majority of companies across all size ranges report that they have benefited from digitizing payments processes.

Among the many benefits of digitizing payments processes they report is fraud reduction. In fact, 50% of chief financial officers (CFOs) say digitization benefited that part of their payments operations, according to “Business Payments Digitization,” a PYMNTS and Corcentric collaboration based on a survey of 400 CFOs from middle-market firms with $400 million to $2 billion in annual revenue.

The larger the company, the more likely it is to say that digitization has lowered fraud. Among the firms with that view are 67% of the largest companies surveyed in the survey, 48% of midsize companies, 44% of small companies and 42% of the smallest companies.

Employer-Backed BNPL Plan Spreads Out Healthcare Payments and Pain

When a family member received a medical bill for $8,000 — despite having medical insurance — Steven Greene, who is now co-founder and CEO at Nibble Health, saw a problem that needs solving. Having seen the widespread ability of consumers to pay for things in installments in eCommerce and other markets, Greene also saw a potential solution.

He and Phil Markunas, who is now co-founder, chief technology officer and head of product at Nibble Health, set out in 2021 to find a way to allow people to pay for healthcare costs over time at no cost to them — with no interest and no fees.

On June 21, Nibble Health announced that it had raised $8.5 million in a seed round. The company aims to be fully live in late 2022 or early 2023. The goal is building a business-to-business (B2B) healthcare payments company that enables organizations to provide zero-interest, zero-fee healthcare financing for employees’ out-of-pocket expenses as an employee benefit.

Cross-Border Payments Help eCommerce Merchants Navigate China’s Business Complexities

LianLian Global Executive Chairman David Messenger told PYMNTS CEO Karen Webster that the pressures of the COVID-19 pandemic have underscored the challenges of navigating supply chains.

Increasingly, companies across all manner of verticals — but particularly for United States firms operating in eCommerce — are presented with opportunity in the form of new markets and customer bases. Along with those opportunities, of course, arise challenges.