**Australia**: Visa has partnered with ANZ, NAB, HSBC, and Westpac to launch Visa B2B Integrated Payments, streamlining payment processes for businesses using the SAP platform, enhancing productivity and operational efficiency across various sectors.
Visa has announced a collaboration with ANZ, NAB, HSBC, and Westpac to introduce Visa B2B Integrated Payments (VBIP) in Australia, aiming to enhance and streamline business-to-business (B2B) payment processes for companies of varying sizes. This initiative, embedded within the SAP Business Technology Platform, is designed to automate a significant portion of B2B payments, thus alleviating the need for additional reconciliation tasks. As a result, this is expected to boost productivity within administration and finance teams, allowing businesses to concentrate on growth and operational efficiency.
The new solution enables Australian business owners utilising the SAP platform to process commercial payments to all suppliers, even those that do not currently accept card payments. Launching the platform in collaboration with key banking institutions, Visa aims to expand its network of local participating partners, which presently includes ANZ, NAB, HSBC, and Westpac, with aspirations to engage additional partners in the future.
Chris Newkirk, president of commercial and money movement solutions at Visa, commented on the launch, stating, “Business-to-business payments should not be complicated. And Australians want B2B payments to be as simple and intuitive as the seamless payments they experience as consumers. This milestone will help address common pain points faced by business owners, helping to close working capital gaps and digitise B2B payments across supply chains.”
Newkirk elaborated on the advantages of this system, pointing out that for growing companies managing multiple suppliers, the ability to automate payment processes can mitigate the risk of incurring late fees while allowing businesses to focus on enhancing their products and customer service.
This strategic announcement follows Visa’s recent interactions with SAP across the Asia Pacific region, intending to improve B2B payment experiences by ensuring transactions are both secure and seamlessly integrated into existing SAP platforms.
Philippa Campbell, head of transaction banking at ANZ Australia and PNG, commented on the partnership by stating, “As payments become increasingly digital, ANZ is committed to helping our customers streamline their processes and elevate their payment workflows to improve the way they pay suppliers.” Campbell noted that the collaboration with Visa and SAP complements their current payment offerings by seamlessly integrating financial solutions within the systems already utilised by customers, thereby promoting efficiency and innovation.
Paul Riley, executive for business and private transaction banking at NAB, echoed this sentiment, remarking, “As Australia’s largest business bank, NAB is focused on making things simpler and quicker for our customers so they can focus on building their businesses.” He expressed enthusiasm about the potential of VBIP to simplify procurement and expedite supplier payments, consequently allowing business owners to concentrate on more critical aspects of their operations.
Jeff Byrne, managing director of global transaction services at Westpac Institutional Bank, highlighted the importance of providing customers with innovative payment capabilities that deliver efficiency and value. “We are pleased to be able to offer VBIP embedded payments within the SAP environment as it provides our customers the ability to pay suppliers with a card embedded in their B2B payment flows,” he stated. Byrne further noted the potential for process efficiencies and cost benefits associated with integrating card payments into the B2B payment process, as well as the opportunity for enhanced access to working capital solutions through the preferred technology platforms.
Source: Noah Wire Services
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