SMB Financing, Vendor Acceptance Top Biz Cards’ Priorities

With commercial cards an increasingly popular choice in the B2B payments space, industry innovators are exploring pockets of opportunity to drive adoption through mitigating friction.

For some, that means targeting small businesses and wielding the commercial card as a tool to accelerate access to much-needed capital — a vital solution to support SMB operations during market volatility. For others, commercial card innovation comes in the form of overcoming the adoption hurdle of a lack of supplier acceptance.

Below, PYMNTS rounds up the latest in commercial card innovation as solution providers continue to drive up card usage in B2B payment scenarios.

InstaRem Expands BizPay

BizPay, the B2B payments offering by InstaReM that enables corporates to pay vendors via commercial card while enabling suppliers to accept payment via bank transfer, is expanding. The company recently announced the product’s launch in the Australian market, just weeks after the tool made its debut in Singapore.

In its announcement, InstaReM said that only 52 percent of Australian small businesses have access to the financing they need. Commercial cards can support small firms’ financing requirements, while BizPay aims to tackle the friction of high foreign exchange fees and other charges, the company noted.

Five Star Bank, Corserv Collab On Cards

Community bank Five Star Bank is turning to an external partner to support its commercial card rollout. The companies said in a recent announcement that Corserv will connect the bank with its credit card program, enabling Five Star Bank to offer its own customers the card products.

Though the partnership will facilitate the launch of consumer card products, the companies highlighted the particular benefits of commercial credit cards through value-added services.

“Corserv’s solution provides robust features for our business customers, such as a self-service card management portal, alerts and controls, and virtual cards to automate ePayables,” Five Star Bank Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer Krista Snelling said in a statement.

Capital On Tap Links With Marqueta

In another FinTech tie-up, card issuing platform Marqueta has recently revealed its collaboration with Capital on Tap. The companies are pairing up to enable Capital on Tap to expand its small business credit lending services into Spain, with the company wielding the commercial card to connect SMBs to financing.

For customers in Spain, access to a Marqeta-powered credit card will accelerate access to funds without the need to physically visit a bank, the firms noted. The companies are also linking small firms with value-added features like expense tracking and spend categorization.

In a statement, Ruben Vidal, the Spanish MD for Capital on Tap, noted that easing coronavirus restrictions will lead to a rise in small firms seeking capital to restart operations. Traditional financing via banks can be long and cumbersome, while government-backed relief programs have been hit with “several issues,” the announcement noted. Using cards to facilitate financing can ensure fast access to credit.

Boost, BMO Harris Automate B2B Payments

Boost Payment Solutions, another FinTech tackling friction in the commercial card acceptance arena, has secured a deal with BMO Harris Bank. Boost will connect the bank to its straight-through processing solution, enabling BMO Harris Bank’s existing Approve2Pay Corporate Card solution to automate payment processing.

Designed to streamline virtual card payments, the tie-up means enhanced processing, remittance reporting and reconciliation of B2B transactions for suppliers receiving payments.

“Collaboration with leading FinTech partners like Boost helps our clients streamline the B2B payments process, better supports cash flow needs and simplifies the process suppliers traditionally go through to accept a payment,” stated Steve Pederson, head of North American corporate card products for BMO.