Today Mastercard is officially launching the Mastercard B2B Hub, a new solution designed to make it easier for SMBs to invoice and process payments with accounts payable. The Hub also comes built in with online payment automation tools that improve the speed, ease and security of Mastercard’s commercial payments.
The move comes as Mastercard is working to break the domination of the paper check in B2B payments. Large firms have mostly migrated away from the paper-locked world of checks with digitized accounts payable solutions, but their small- and medium-sized counterparts are still using the less efficient methods of the 20th century.
Mastercard is offering a great leap forward, so to speak, by offering up a B2B Hub to make automated invoice processing solutions a reality for these firms.
The solution sent will be delivered through card issuers and is designed to be an end-to-end automated solution that busts through the costs and time deficients that are incumbent in manual accounts payable and payment processes. In addition to driving cost efficiencies, the Mastercard B2B Hub is also designed around providing a more secure e payment experience and giving merchants access to payments related data and insights.
“Midmarket and small businesses are growth engines of our economy. The Mastercard B2B Hub is the latest way we are working to meet the broader payment needs of this segment,” said Colleen Taylor, executive vice president of new payments business for Mastercard. “We see this solution as helping organizations maximize every minute and every dollar that they invest in their business. The comprehensive automated payment experience we deliver will help improve supplier relationships and accelerate the conversion of B2B payments from paper checks to electronic payments.”
The Mastercard B2B Hub will first launch in the U.S. later this year with AvidXchange as its execution partner. AvidXchange is an industry leader in automating invoice and payment processes with integrations into more than 130 accounting and other back-office systems across its 5,500 customers in North America.
“The combination of our invoice and payment automation capabilities and Mastercard’s proven commercial payment solutions will elevate the payment experience for midmarket and small companies. This opportunity is huge, with over 350,000 businesses sized in this underserved segment,” said Michael Praeger, chief executive officer of AvidXchange. “We are very excited to be the partner in delivering the Mastercard B2B Hub to card issuers, and we look forward to working together to bring its capabilities to market.”