This New Partnership Could Flip the Script on B2B Transactions
In an era where digital payments are becoming increasingly common, businesses, small and large, along with government agencies and non-profit organizations, need modernized B2B payment solutions. Visa and SAP have collaborated to streamline this often complex process.
With a strategy extending beyond consumer payments, Visa aims to support broader money movement flows between individuals, businesses, and governments. This approach includes the management of accounts receivable and payable flows, card-based corporate payments, and cross-border transactions.
Stephen Karpin, regional president of Asia Pacific at Visa, underscored the importance of this evolution in the digital landscape. “There is an urgent need to modernize the way enterprises pay so it matches up to the consumer experience. Our collaboration with SAP is an exciting step in making B2B payments simpler and more intuitive, as organizations can make payments immediately on SAP platforms with their Visa corporate cards instead of having to leave their existing enterprise ecosystem and navigate the different payment methods their vendors accept. B2B payments need to be intuitive, speedy and fuss-free so that organizations can spend time and resources on other aspects of their businesses.”
On the other hand, SAP intends to enhance the user experience within its software ecosystem. By integrating Visa's payment services into the SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP), a higher level of automation can be injected into payments—a crucial stage in procurement. This development will help enterprises achieve further efficiency in their purchasing journey.
Paul Marriott, president of SAP Asia Pacific Japan, shared similar sentiments. He said, “Our collaboration with Visa endeavors to streamline and simplify the B2B payment process and drive further efficiencies for our joint customers. Embedding Visa payment into the SAP ecosystem aims to scale and accelerate digital commerce; together empowering enterprises, from small businesses to government agencies and non-profit organizations, to make secure payments with just a few clicks, transforming the last mile of procurement.”
The new solution will first be offered to SAP customers in select countries within the Asia Pacific region. By bridging working capital gaps in the supply chain and routing commercial payments to all suppliers, Visa and SAP hope to resolve the persistent challenges of businesses needing more resources to digitize B2B payment acceptance.
The anticipated changes are expected to speed up B2B payments and significantly improve cash flow for both payers and suppliers, making a substantial impact on the global business payments landscape.
Image credit: iStockphoto/monsitj
