30 June 2023
The collaboration aims to streamline and simplify payment processes, embedding Visa’s digital payments into the SAP ecosystem.
In a groundbreaking partnership, Visa, the global leader in digital payments, and SAP, a prominent market leader in enterprise application software, have joined forces to streamline and simplify business-to-business (B2B) payments for enterprises across Asia Pacific. This collaboration, announced today, marks a significant milestone as the two industry giants embark on a mission to revolutionize the integration of payments into the SAP ecosystem using SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP).
With approximately 99 percent of the world’s largest companies already being SAP customers, this collaboration sets the stage for Visa and SAP to explore the realm of embedded finance within the B2B market. The digitization opportunities for B2B payment flows in the Asia Pacific region alone are estimated to exceed $50 trillion.
Visa’s strategic move aligns with its vision to expand its presence in the B2B space, facilitating seamless money movement between individuals, businesses, and governments beyond consumer payments. This initiative encompasses accounts receivable and payable flows, corporate payments leveraging card-based solutions, and cross-border transactions.
Stephen Karpin, Regional President of Asia Pacific at Visa, emphasized the urgency to modernize B2B payments, stating, “The movement of money is becoming increasingly digital, but the bulk of transformation has been focused on the consumer space. There is an urgent need to modernize the way enterprises pay and enhance the B2B payment experience.” The collaboration with SAP represents a pivotal step in achieving this objective, enabling organizations to make immediate payments on SAP platforms using their Visa corporate cards. This eliminates the need for businesses to navigate various payment methods accepted by their vendors, ensuring a simplified and intuitive B2B payment experience.
For SAP, this collaboration aims to enhance the overall customer experience by integrating Visa’s convenient payment services into SAP’s software. The B2B payment services, running on SAP BTP, will inject greater automation into the payment process, enhancing procurement efficiency for enterprises. Paul Marriott, President of SAP Asia Pacific Japan, highlighted the collaborative effort, stating, “Our collaboration with Visa endeavors to streamline and simplify the B2B payment process and drive further efficiencies for our joint customers. Embedding Visa payment into the SAP ecosystem aims to scale and accelerate digital commerce.”
Initially, the embedded finance solution will be offered to SAP customers in Australia, India, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, with plans for expansion into other markets across the region.
The collaboration between Visa and SAP will also contribute to the digitization and acceleration of B2B payments within Asia Pacific’s supply chains. Many businesses in the region, particularly smaller ones lacking the resources to digitalize B2B payment acceptance, have yet to adopt commercial card payments. This reliance on traditional, manual methods such as cash and cheques not only hampers the payment process but also impacts the cash flow for both payers and suppliers. By leveraging Visa’s suite of Commercial & Money Movement Solutions through SAP BTP, businesses using Visa cards will be able to make seamless payments and leverage their cardholder benefits, both domestically and cross-border.
This collaboration represents a significant step forward in transforming the last mile of procurement, bridging working capital gaps in the supply chain and driving the digitization and speed of B2B payments. Visa and SAP’s united effort promises to reshape the landscape of B2B transactions, offering businesses across Asia Pacific a more efficient and intuitive payment experience.
SAP and its associated products and services mentioned in this release, along with their respective logos, are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP SE in Germany and other countries.
