Today in B2B: JIFFY.ai Raises $53M for HyperApp Platform; Trucking Companies Need One-Stop Shop for Buying Used Commercial Vehicles

Today in B2B payments, payment APIs might be the key to smoother cash flow, and Billtrust teams up with Procede Software to expedite commercial vehicle payments. Plus, businesses want fast, integrated payments, and costs, regulations and lack of awareness are the top barriers to digital innovation.

Billtrust Partnership With Procede Software Expedites Payments for Truckers

B2B automation and integrated payments platform Billtrust on Wednesday (March 9) announced a collaboration with Procede Software, a heavy-duty truck and commercial vehicle dealer management system (DMS) and solutions provider, to expedite payments, boost revenue and increase profits.

Through the partnership, Billtrust will integrate its cloud-based accounts receivable (AR) software with Procede’s dealer management software, Excede, to bring customers a complete solution for automated, electronic invoicing and digital payments. They will also get access to Billtrust’s Business Payments Network (BPN).

JIFFY.ai Snags $53M for HyperApp Platform, Sales and Marketing Growth

Low-code/no-code intelligent automation platform JIFFY.ai on Wednesday (March 9) closed a Series B fundraising round worth $53 million that it will use to increase its sales and marketing efforts and push its HyperApp platform forward, according to a press release.

JIFFY.ai’s HyperApp platform combines robotic process automation (RPA), intelligent document processing and no-code workflow management and software creation.

Cost, Regulation and Lack of Awareness Pose Top Barriers to Digital Innovation

Several key challenges prevent firms from seeing the full benefits of digital innovation, such as high data management costs, regulatory problems and lack of understanding of the benefits.

Both midmarket and large firms ranked these as the top three barriers, although in a different order, according to “Accelerating the Time to Realized Revenue,” a PYMNTS and Mastercard collaboration based on a survey of 400 corporate executives.

Midmarket firms ranked high data management costs highest, with 53% citing that as a barrier to innovation, followed by regulatory problems at 48% and a lack of understanding of the benefits at 32%. Among large firms, the largest share — 48% — said a lack of understanding of the benefits is the greatest challenge, followed by high data management costs at 47% and regulatory problems at 45%.

Trucking Companies Seek One-Stop Shop When Buying Used Commercial Vehicles

Buyers of used commercial vehicles were often on their own when it came to finding insurance for the vehicle. At best, they could hope that someone at the selling company could point them to an insurance agent they knew.

That changed in February when Ryder announced that it had selected InsurTech REIN to launch an embedded insurance program for Ryder’s used commercial vehicle sales customers.

Businesses Seek Fast, Integrated Payments, Accounts and Cards

Businesses needing payments, accounts and cards typically go to a traditional bank, stand in line, get three different application forms, fill those out and then hope to get approved for each of those things separately. If the business gets all three, they often find that the pieces don’t work together seamlessly.

Australian FinTech Zeller developed a solution that offers payments, accounts and cards in an integrated solution that requires only one signup. On average, it takes a little more than five minutes to sign up for Zeller and get the three products. There’s one processing fee. After that, the business only pays for the payments it processes.

During the first eight months after its launch in May, Zeller signed up 10,000 Australian businesses. On March 3 (Thursday), the company announced it closed a $100 million Series B funding round at a valuation of over $1 billion.

For Smoother Cash Flow and Easier Month End Closes, Payment APIs Might Be the Trick

The push toward payments digitization traces its roots to the 1970s, beginning with the Automated Clearing House — the first real attempt to create a fully automated digital payments system.

Fast forward a few decades, more than half of all B2B payments are still made with paper checks, said Tom Harel, chief technology officer and co-founder of B2B payments automation platform Routable.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been accelerating the transition toward automated interactions between payers and payees. Harel cautioned that we may not ever be fully rid of the paper check, which has at least some advantages (you don’t need to know a lot about the recipient, after all — just their name, address and a few other details).