Visa recently partnered with electronic invoicing and payment company Viewpost to bring electronic business payments to Viewpost’s small- and medium-sized business (SMB) clients.
By using Visa virtual commercial cards through their participating financial institutions, SMBs will increase automation, convenience and security for their business transactions.
Viewpost allows SMBs to connect and exchange electronic invoices and payments, share transaction data and access working capital on demand. Visa’s partnership with Viewpost will help financial institutions in the United States bring to market a fully optimized SMB finance management solution that integrates with their online banking site.
When a virtual card payment is made through Viewpost, the supplier will receive a one-time virtual account number for posting funds to its merchant account. Viewpost will then deliver remittance information to both businesses, such as paid invoices, the amount paid and the due date. If a supplier does not accept virtual commercial card payments, an invitation can be extended through a proprietary automation method.
“Providing access to simple, secure working capital solutions for SMBs is a critically-important focus for our business,” Vicky Bindra, global head of products and solutions at Visa, said. “Our collaboration with Viewpost gives SMBs comprehensive financial management tools in a single portal – right where they bank. We are thrilled to partner with Viewpost and make our customers’ lives easier by significantly reducing time, cost and friction around payment, so they can focus on what is most important – managing and growing their businesses.”
Visa’s 2016 Small Business Payments and Banking Survey found that over two thirds of respondents indicated they preferred to pay bills through online banking tools, rather than a supplier’s website, Ken Paterson, vice president of research operations at the Mercator Advisory Group, said.
“We’re excited to partner with a renowned brand and payments technology leader like Visa,” Max Eliscu, CEO at Viewpost, said. “This partnership accelerates our ability to address costly pain points in the multi-trillion-dollar B2B payments ecosystem while also, and perhaps most importantly, bringing flexibility, cost savings and simplicity of payment to the massive and underserved small business marketplace.”