Xero Overhauls Payments For Faster Transactions

New Zealand’s cloud-based accounting firm Xero is overhauling payments to integrate with TransferWise, Stripe and GoCardless, Xero said in a press release Wednesday (Nov. 13).

The integration will make it easier and faster for small businesses in the U.K. to set up card and debit payments for customer invoices and bills.

The company announced the new relationships at Xerocon London 2019 with 3,000-plus accountants, bookkeepers and partners in attendance.

“Small businesses have to juggle many things to ensure success, but incoming and outgoing payments shouldn’t be one of them,” said Craig Walker, executive general manager of Payments and Billing Solutions at Xero. “By partnering with the world’s best payments providers, from Stripe to GoCardless and TransferWise, we’ve been able to develop smarter and seamless ways for small businesses to go from idea to payment as quickly as possible.”

The integrations will help small business owners reduce the stress of making payments and chasing late payments, he added.

With TransferWise, companies can pay and reconcile multiple bill payments regardless of who they bank with. Stripe integration makes it easier for businesses to accept credit cards, debit cards or Apple Pay. GoCardless allows for Direct Debit payments and installment payments for invoices. With Direct Debit, users can collect international recurring payments, with foreign exchange handled by TransferWise.

Stuart Gregory, head of business at TransferWise, said Xero is a “perfect fit” and aligns with its mission to assist small businesses worldwide. Pay with TransferWise lets U.K. businesses manage money with real-time data.

“The U.K.’s entrepreneurs can now spend less time on financial admin and more on growing their businesses, safe in the knowledge that their bills are taken care of,” Gregory said.

Xero was founded in 2006 by Rod Drury and Hamish Edwards. The company’s latest report, “State of Late Payments” found that small businesses in the U.K. are owed a daily average of 131 billion pounds in late payments. The Federation of Small Businesses approximates that 50,000 U.K. small businesses collapse annually due to cash flow issues.

In June, corporate audit and accounting company PwC expanded its existing collaboration with Xero.