Billtrust, Priority Streamline B2B Payments Reconciliation

Order-to-cash solutions provider Billtrust has added Priority Commercial Payments to its Business Payments Network (BPN) to streamline B2B payments reconciliation, the companies said in a press release this week.

Accounts payable automation and payment processing firm Priority will connect to businesses within BPN to support streamlined reconciliation of transactions that flow through the platform, supporting the journey toward touchless accounts payable and reconciliation processes.

Priority will be able to facilitate payment acceptance via BPN for corporate users, and then enable that transaction data to post directly into ERP or accounting systems.

“We’ve long admired Priority for the work they’ve done to enable merchants to benefit from the acceptance of new forms of payment, such as virtual card,” said Nick Babinsky, vice president and general management of BPN at Billtrust in a statement. “As like-minded FinTechs focused on converting paper check to digital forms of commerce, we are well-positioned to drive even greater value to merchants and banks as partners through BPN.”

BPN was launched last year to promote the digitization of B2B payments by connecting financial institutions and accounts payable platforms with the ability to connect directly with merchants on the network. Acquirers and accounts receivable platforms can also connect to the network to capture transaction data for end-users.

BPN is a collaboration with Visa, which has also expanded its presence in the B2B payments space in recent years. In an interview with PYMNTS last November, Billtrust CEO Flint Lane explained that while paper checks themselves may not be painful for businesses to use or accept, it’s their ability to promote data extraction, analysis and reconciliation that presents a “last-mile” challenge in paper-based B2B payments.

At the time, Billtrust noted it would layer additional features onto the network moving forward, including possible solutions like support for specialty pricing, or incentives for instant payments to vendors.

Last month, Comdata became the latest firm to join BPN.