The last time PYMNTS spoke with payment processing firm BillingTree, CEO Edz Sturans explained how difficult it is for B2B companies to get on board with faster, digital payments.
“The B2B space has continued to rely heavily on the paper invoice and a net 30-day payment term, which allows for larger balances to float for 30 days or greater,” he said. “This has been a key reason for the slow adoption of electronic payments in the B2B arena.”
Just a few short months later, and BillingTree rolled out Payrazr, an initiative that provides businesses – both B2B and B2C – with a whole host of in-house payment solutions. And, Sturans said at the time, more solutions would be rolling out as part of the Payrazr platform over time.
Only days ago, BillingTree announced a new effort to expand and develop the Payrazr suite. That strategy comes in the form of Greg Mallin, who has been tapped by BillingTree to expand the solution across vertical markets.
As business development director – a position created for Mallin, who joins BillingTree from MasterCard – he will be tasked with guiding Payrazr through its growth spurts. PYMNTS had the chance to speak with Mallin, along with BillingTree head of corporate marketing Dave Yohe, about the new role and how BillingTree will be working with other businesses, including B2B ones, to help speed up that e-payments adoption.
For Mallin, BillingTree’s approach to its business customers was key in accepting the new position. “What drove me to come to BillingTree is the development and innovation that’s taking place,” he said. “I come from the front-end of the payments business, so this is a bit of an introduction to the back-end of it. But to come full circle is exciting and interesting to me.”
This approach to the back-end of payments means Mallin will be diving deep into an array of industries to find out exactly what each market, and each individual company, needs in order to integrate what Mallin describes as “nimble, customizable and flexible” payment tools.
Aiding these players in facilitating more sophisticated payments procedures means BillingTree’s corporate clients can then maintain stronger relationships with their own customers, Mallin said. And that first begins with looking at each of Payrazr’s corporate partners.
“The first thing you have to do is take a step back and understand how that business works, and really get engrained with the client and see their processes,” Mallin told PYMNTS, adding that BillingTree will then cater its payments solutions based on the foundation a business already has in place. “Knowing how their process flows is going to give you the indicators of what types of solutions or innovations they need. Each one is going to be unique in that space.”
As BillingTree first explores new corporate partnerships across the U.S., Mallin said he will be eyeing various sectors, like health care, which is now tasked with aligning its payment strategies to the Affordable Care Act. Banks and other financial institutions, too, he told PYMNTS, have been underserved when it comes to integrating more efficient payment systems.
What Payrazr is looking to do, explained Yohe, is develop an array of solutions for business clients that provide solutions or recurring payments in which an invoice is issued – typically in a card-not-present scenario. “I wouldn’t put us in the category of, say, Square or PayPal,” he said.
That means the Payrazr service could have big potential for B2B payments, which are often coupled with invoices, recurring services or other non-card transactions.
But the solution is still in its early stages, and Yohe added that BillingTree is continuously developing new services under the Payrazr name, many of which won’t be coming until next year. Yohe and Mallin also added that the company has begun mulling the option of making Payrazr capable of international processing, another move that could make the solution all the more attractive to B2B companies working with overseas buyers and suppliers.
As Payrazr continues its expansion, Mallin said he will be taking the experience he gained in the front-facing payments sector and apply it to the corporate clients in need of more robust, back-end payments solutions, meaning a focus on the customer will be key to Payrazr adoption.
“Given our opportunities and partnerships that we have, it’s contagious and infectious,” Mallin said about his decision to accept the new role at BillingTree. “A strong client focus is the same type of focus I had in my past. Those are the types of things that attract you.”
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