Thredd Helps LianLian Launch Virtual Cards in APAC Market

Payments processor Thredd has helped LianLian Global launch a virtual card program in the APAC market.

LianLian, a cross-border payments firm based in China, chose Thredd to power its Yueda virtual card for Asia-Pacific (APAC) region customers in industries such as eCommerce, travel and international B2B trade, the company announced Thursday (Aug. 8) in a news release emailed to PYMNTS.

Tim Shen, LianLian’s co-CEO, said that Thredd’s virtual card-issuing capabilities will help fuel his company’s growth plans, after securing payments licenses in major markets such as mainland China, Hong Kong China, Singapore, the U.S., the U.K., Luxembourg, Thailand and Indonesia.

“We are delighted to find a partner in Thredd who can support us with virtual cards that will ensure that no matter where a client needs to send a payment, it will be supported,” he said, according to the release. “Access to a local team of experts who speak our language has made the implementation and ongoing operations seamless.”

The partnership comes at a time when — as PYMNTS wrote last month — virtual cards are changing the relationship between buyers and suppliers.

Speaking with PYMNTS CEO Karen Webster, Boost Payment Solutions CEO Dean M. Leavitt noted that virtual cards are poised for wider adoption in commercial payments, letting buyers extend their payment periods while allowing suppliers to receive payments faster.

“The leverage that exists on both sides of the [buyer and supplier] equation often dictates the payment type,” he told Webster.

Leavitt added that in transactions between large companies, there’s typically balanced leverage, driving the choice of payment methods. This balance makes sure that both parties are on equal footing in negotiations, resulting in fairer and more efficient payment agreements. At times where suppliers hold the leverage, Leavitt stressed the importance of striking some balance.

“You have to make sure that the supplier is getting something for agreeing to take cards,” he said in a conversation for the “What’s Next in Payments: Halftime” series.

At the same time, reluctance among suppliers is holding back virtual cards from wider adoption, as PYMNTS noted recently.

“Despite a clear economic advantage, the uptake is far from the potential growth projected on the horizon, and the industry does not yet have good enough tools to improve the value proposition of virtual cards for suppliers, nor to explain that value proposition well enough or to sell and implement the product,” that report said.

Paul Christensen, CEO of B2B payments accelerator Previse — which has researched virtual card use with PYMNTS Intelligence — pointed out that while 80% of buyers favor virtual cards, their use makes up just 2% of those buyers’ accounts payable (AP) transactions.