Optal, a B2B transactions startup, has signed a new deal with British Lloyds Bank.
The Australian startup will leverage its Invapay solution to enable the bank’s clients and their suppliers to streamline transactions. Additionally, it will make these transactions more transparent.
The deal will remove unnecessary barriers, according to Optal. For instance, Lloyds’ clients will not have to accept card payments anymore.
Invapay does this by enabling corporate buyers to use commercial cards to pay suppliers and turning commercial card transactions into cash to pay non-card accepting suppliers via electronic transfers.
The benefit for Lloyds’ clients is that they won’t have to invest both time and money to create processes to receive card payments, according to the Melbourne-based firm.
Commenting on the deal, Andrew Watson, global head of working capital solutions at Optal, said: “We’re delighted to be teaming up with Lloyds Bank to optimise B2B payments for even more businesses around the world. Our Invapay platform really does offer a win-win for all concerned: fast, friction-free payments to facilitate seamless, transparent business processes.”
James Sykes, head of commercial cards at Lloyds Bank, added: “We are excited by the new capabilities we are now able to offer to our commercial banking customers. This offers them a great opportunity to simplify their payment landscape, whilst optimising the working capital benefits of their card facility and expanding the range of suppliers they can pay with cards. I am pleased that we will be working with Optal and will be able to leverage their expertise in this expanding area of payments.”
This is not the first time Lloyds has enlisted the help of small firms to improve its offering to clients. In July 2019, the bank partnered up with Callsign, the know your customer (KYC) technology provider, to sharpen its digital identification and authentication capabilities. Moreover, in the past it has also enlisted the services of Planxis, the UK-based forecasting and regulatory compliance technology startup.
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