Amex Teams With SAP Ariba For End-To-End B2B Payments

American Express and SAP Ariba announced Wednesday (April 3) a new partnership in which buyers and suppliers will have new payment and financing options on the Ariba Network.

In a press release, the companies said the partnership is multi-phased, with American Express using Ariba Network APIs to enable its virtual card capabilities within the SAP Ariba process and platform. That will enable commerce, secure payments and easy reconciliation between businesses on a single platform, the companies said in the release. The new integration is slated to roll out later in 2019, providing businesses the ability to use existing American Express Corporate Cards to generate virtual card payments.

“We are continuously looking for ways for our customers to conduct more business in a simple, intuitive and integrated manner. With over half of American Express’ largest global customers already using SAP Ariba to manage their expenses, this partnership has the opportunity to provide significant value for our joint customers,” said E-Bai Koo, executive vice president, Global Commercial Services at American Express in the press release. “We couldn’t be more excited about building a long-term partnership with SAP Ariba.”

With the integration, American Express and SAP Ariba said businesses will enjoy improved operational efficiencies, increased payment speed and reduced risk of fraud, among other things. The companies noted in the press release it’s the first of more digital solutions that will come out of the strategic partnership.

“American Express’ unique integrated business model provides deep relationships with both buyers and suppliers. As a global leader in the payments space, they deeply understand the needs and pain points that businesses face throughout the supply chain cycle,” SAP Ariba Senior Vice President, Business Network and Ecosystem Sean Thompson said in the same press release. “Partnering with American Express as a new network extension partner — integrating virtual payment capabilities within Ariba Network — we’re able to deliver a true end-to-end procure-to-pay process to customers that changes the game in the corporate payments space.”