Virtual Card Investments Heat Up To Help Firms Spend Wisely

With interest in and adoption of corporate card products heating up, financial institutions (FIs) are turning toward collaboration to elevate their offerings for small businesses and enterprises. This week’s look at commercial card innovation finds a ramp-up in virtual card investment, and a focus on helping SMBs remain savvy about spending.

Citi, CSI Team Up For Card Supplier Payments

Citi Commercial Cards and Corporate Spending Innovations (CSI) are linking up to develop B2B payment solutions designed to enable efficient virtual card payments in accounts payable (AP). Citi’s virtual commercial cards can be integrated into the CSI platform, adding another supplier payment method to join ACH and check payment options. In a statement, Citi Commercial Card Global Head Gonca Latif-Schmitt said the collaboration is part of the company’s broader efforts to bring choice and innovation to global B2B payments.

Boost Raises VC For Commercial Card Tech

Boost Payment Solutions this week announced a Series C funding round to the tune of $22 million, with investors at Invictus Growth partners leading the charge. It’s a show of support for Boost’s B2B payments technology, which brings together buyers, suppliers, and commercial card issuers and networks to facilitate vendor payments via commercial cards, even when those businesses don’t accept that method of payment. Boost plans to use the funding to accelerate growth across a variety of industries, including healthcare, telecommunications, manufacturing, freight and logistics, and real estate.

Teampay Adds Spend Management To SVB Business Cards

Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) is ramping up the functionality of its business card products via a partnership with Teampay. In a recent announcement, SVB said that it will integrate Teampay’s spend control and management technology into its Innovators Card product to help business and employee end-users make better use of company funds and to access real-time visibility into card usage. Transactions are automatically reconciled in back-office platforms, the firms noted.

Pacific Western Bank Taps Extend For Virtual Cards

Also investing in virtual card technology is Pacific Western Bank, which has enlisted the support of Extend to launch a virtual commercial card product that allows business clients to generate virtual cards for employees, suppliers and contractors. The tool, which can be used for one-off or recurring transactions, is paired with a mobile app to track spending and enhance security.

Fiserv Debuts Early Wage Access Via Payroll Cards

As more employees demand access to payroll solutions to access earned wages on-demand, the payroll card has emerged as a functional tool to make this happen. Fiserv is among the latest FinTechs to adopt payroll cards for this purpose, recently announcing the launch of its early wage access feature for business clients using its Money Network electronic payroll service. Through a collaboration with Instant Financial, Fiserv is using payroll cards to connect clients’ employees to earned wages when they need them, without the need for those professionals to have a bank account.

Commonwealth Bank Eyes SMBs With Zero Interest Card

With a focus on small businesses, Australia’s Commonwealth Bank is rolling out a new commercial card product without interest. Dubbed the Neo card, the small business credit card aims to support SMBs and millennial entrepreneurs with a payment product that won’t drive them into a debt-accrual spiral. Reports said the FI is rolling out the card just months after industry rival NAB introduced its own zero-interest small business credit card.