Visa Joins Forces With Australian Banks on B2B Payments

Visa has teamed with four of Australia’s biggest banks to simplify B2B payments.

The collaboration, announced Monday (March 17), will see the digital payments giant team with ANZ, HAB, HSBC and Westpac to launch Visa B2B Integrated Payments (VBIP) in Australia.

“The solution, which is embedded into the SAP Business Technology Platform, will allow businesses to automate many of their B2B payments,” the companies said in a news release. “This effectively removes the need for additional reconciliation, improving productivity for administration and finance teams, and creating more time to focus on business growth.”

According to the release, Australian business owners using the SAP platform will be able to route commercial payments to all suppliers, including those that don’t accept card payments. In addition to the above-mentioned banks, Visa plans to add other local partners in the future.

Chris Newkirk, Visa’s president of commercial and money movement solutions, said VBIP will help address the pain points faced by business owners at a time when Australians want B2B payments to be as pain-free as the ones they make as consumers.

“For a growing company managing multiple suppliers, payment processes can be automated to reduce the risk of late fees, allowing them to focus on improving their product offerings and customer service while effectively managing supplier payments and cash flow” Newkirk said.

In other B2B payment news, PYMNTS wrote Monday about the way new embedded finance solutions are changing the payment landscape. For example, B2B digital marketplaces “are becoming ecosystems where suppliers and buyers can transact with unprecedented ease,” with these platforms offering embedded services like buy now pay later (BNPL).

These innovations, the report added, are designed to solve payment delays, a long-term challenge in B2B commerce. With their structured installment plans, BNPL solutions enhance liquidity and bolster buyer-supplier relationships.

“There has definitely been an uptick in B2B-type platforms that are looking to add additional services to their product offering,” Justin Downey, vice president of product at Maverick, told PYMNTS. “There’s been a lot of development with third parties and ease of integration through APIs. Adding this payment piece to an existing offering just makes sense.”

Historically, B2B payments have trailed their retail counterparts. Digital wallets, one-click checkouts and real-time payments dominate consumer transactions, while business payments are weighed down by antiquated systems.

“The inertia is largely due to legacy banking infrastructures, regulatory complexities and entrenched business processes,” PYMNTS wrote.

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