Barclaycard & SAP team-up to simplify business payments

Barclaycard has announced a new partnership with business intelligence and logistics software solutions provider SAP to help UK B2B organisations process payments and ease procurement cycles.

The strategic alliance will merge components of  Barclaycard’s B2B payment product Precisionpay with SAP’s enterprise marketplace Ariba, delivering procurement and payment services under a single platform.

At present, the new product, named ‘Precisionpay Bank Transfer’, has no specific launch date but it is expected to be rolled out ‘later this year’.

Backing the strategic partnership, Marc Pettican, Managing Director, Barclaycard Commercial Payments, said: “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.

“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.”

Precisionpay Bank Transfer enables buyers to pay suppliers earlier in the procurement cycle, improving supplier relationships and allowing them to take advantage of any prompt payment discounts.

According to research by the Federation of Small Businesses, the issue of late payments issued by large companies against smaller ones could add up to £2.5 billion to the UK economy whilst help keep an additional 50,000 businesses operating.

“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” explained Jens Amail, managing director, SAP UK Limited and SAP Ireland Limited.

“The introduction of early settlement flexibility will truly revolutionize the industry and bring so much more value to Barclaycard customers.”