China Propels Its B2B Payments Game

China’s business-to-business eCommerce industry is heating up, which means that B2B companies will be increasing their demand for innovative, cost-effective services that compliment their digital growth.

Wirecard Group announced on Monday (June 8) a new solution for B2B companies to streamline their payments, both online and off. In a press release, Wirecard revealed its new procurement card that facilitates B2B electronic payments through the use of a single-use virtual card. According to Wirecard, the new tool was built with Chinese companies’ domestic and crossborder operations in mind.

The new virtual card solution is an extension of the company’s existing Supplier and Commission Payments platform, reports said, which services companies in their supplier payment and invoice settlement efforts.

“We are excited about the opportunities China’s rapidly growing business-to-business market presents for our corporate customers and for Wirecard,” said Wirecard AG CEO Markus Braun in a statement. “With this new service we are following the demand of our customers in Europe and Asia by adding specific business-to-business payments capabilities for the Chinese market to our platform.”

Wirecard cited findings from a recent Frost & Sullivan report that estimated the world’s B2B eCommerce market to reach a $6.7 trillion valuation by 2020, with China at the forefront of that growth. The mesh of globalization and digitization of B2B sales and operations, the company added, means that companies will need payments solutions that meet these multifaceted needs.

The new tool includes customizable features that allow business executives to set spend controls on the virtual cards and automate data aggregation from transactions to provide new insight into companies’ cash flow and spend management.

The German company’s latest service for Chinese B2B companies comes at a strategic time of growth for the market. Data released last March from iResearch found that China’s eCommerce sector expanded by more than 20 percent in 2014, with B2B sales standing as the largest contributor to that expansion. Experts predict that the nation’s current $2 trillion eCommerce market valuation is likely to nearly double in just three years.