CreDec Adds Real-Time Payments To Xero

Payment service provider CreDec is integrating real-time payments capabilities that will allow small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) and their accountants to bypass bank portals and initiate payments from directly within their accounting platforms.

The company said in a press release Thursday (Nov. 14) that the U.K. FinTech has launched its Virtual Account service, connecting SMBs and accountancy firms to real-time payments functionality in their accounting portals. CreDec lets users create their Virtual Account within accounting platforms like Xero, and then link those accounts to their bank accounts for seamless payment initiation.

According to CreDec, there has not yet been another way for SMBs and accountants to initiate payments in accounting portals, which means SMBs must independently balance their books and manage the burden of multiple payments, potential payment errors, and manual data entry.

Its integration with Xero is the first of multiple partnerships CreDec is planning with other cloud accounting players. The integration supports single and batch payments, automatic scheduling of pending payments for approval, and automatic relay of transaction data back into the accounting platform for reconciliation, reporting and analytics.

“CreDec’s Virtual Account effectively turns Xero into a bank front end,” explained CreDec CEO Alex Meynell. “We’ve closed the gap between banking and accounting payments, and starting with Xero, we’re making accounting platforms the principal interface for all payments activity. It’s a big step for automating a significant chunk of accounting administration for U.K. [SMBs].”

Xero recently announced several other collaborations in an effort to strengthen its payments capabilities for SMBs and their accountants.

Xero will integrate with TransferWise, Stripe and GoCardless, allowing U.K. SMBs to set up card and debit payments with support for bill payment reconciliation, card acceptance, installment invoice payments, and recurring payments, integrations that are designed to more seamlessly help SMBs manage payment processes.