CardUp Eases Supplier Card Acceptance With Hong Kong Launch

Hong Kong businesses now have a way to pay suppliers around the world using credit cards – even if the payees don’t normally accept them – via a new solution from CardUp.

CardUp, a Singapore-based digital credit card enablement platform, said on Wednesday (Dec. 2) that it is expanding into Hong Kong with the launch of a new service that will enable businesses to pay overseas suppliers via credit card.

CardUp said in an announcement that a key selling point for the new service is its ability to help businesses better juggle and manage their cash flow in a digital payments market that is “dominated by bank-to-bank transfers.”

By using the platform to pay suppliers with their credit cards, businesses can tap underutilized credit lines, earn rewards points and hang onto cash in their accounts for up to two months, according to CardUp.

The company said its new solution also leverages its status as a registered Visa Business Payment Solution Provider, or BPSP, to pay suppliers in more than 100 countries. While CardUp noted that it charges a processing fee for each transaction, the FinTech said its relationship with Visa also gives it the ability to offer users customized interest rates.

CardUp CEO Nicki Ramsay said that many businesses in Hong Kong – one of the world’s top commercial hubs – are struggling “both with cash flow problems and challenges digitizing payables and receivables whilst finance teams work digitally in the new post-pandemic world.”

“We saw an opportunity to help them with a more flexible digital business payment facility to enable their business continuity,” she added.

CardUp noted that a recent study by the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce found that 42 percent of the territory’s small and mid-sized businesses worry about whether they can survive the coronavirus pandemic. Even big companies have been severely impacted, with 24 percent concerned about their “survivability,” the company said.

Maaike Steinebach, Visa’s general manager for Hong Kong and Macau, said that many businesses “often think of a credit card as nothing more than a payment method. However, a business credit card can also double as a planning and budgeting tool. Based on our research, Visa recognized that cash flow optimization is one of the top pain points of Hong Kong [SMBs]. Our partnership with CardUp helps businesses extend their days of payables outstanding and optimize their working capital with their commercial cards – crucial in the current business climate.”