Managing payments is about to get a lot easier for small businesses across the UK thanks to a new partnership between SAP and Barclaycard.
The software giant has announced it will be building Barclaycard's PrecisionPay offering into its SAP Ariba suite, making it simpler and more straightforward to processes payments.
Claiming that it will "bring procurement and payment together", SAP says that the new partnership, collected in its Ariba Network service, will now allow buyers to pay suppliers much earlier in the procurement cycle.
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Buyers will also benefit from greater access to flexible working capital, with Barclaycard now able to fund payments to suppliers, with customers having up to 56 days to pay the balance.
Lastly, the launch, which will begin rolling out later this year, means that prompt payments will improve cash flow on the supplier's side, making their business more resilient to the threat of late payments.
SMB payments
The launch comes alongside findings from the Federation of Small Businesses which estimates that tackling payment issues could add £2.5 billion to the UK economy and keep an extra 50,000 businesses open each year
“Since launching the UK’s first corporate credit card over 50 years ago, Barclaycard has been pushing the boundaries to create payment solutions that help make our clients more successful," noted Marc Pettican, managing director of Barclaycard Commercial Payments.
"In global procurement, payment has always been the part of the process that has created the most friction, so we're really excited to be partnering with SAP to make B2B payments as simple and seamless as possible.”
“Barclaycard is a long-term strategic partner for SAP and we’re now taking this partnership to the next level by collectively redefining the corporate payments market with a highly innovative platform," said Jens Amail, managing director, SAP UK Limited and SAP Ireland Limited.
"The introduction of early settlement flexibility will truly revolutionise the industry and bring so much more value to Barclaycard customers.”
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