Business financial management just got a lot easier for small businesses. B2B payments platform Paystand is teaming up with Xero to enable the cloud accounting firm’s customers to accept bank and card payments directly in sales orders and invoices. This will give Xero users a seamless, automated way to capture payments and reconcile them directly into their accounting systems. Paystand’s Xero plug-in, now available at the Xero Marketplace, will accelerate time to cash and help save SMEs money.
“Our goal is to transform commercial finance by automating the enterprise cash life cycle,” Paystand CEO Jeremy Almond said. He called the partnership “another step closer toward a frictionless payments infrastructure.” Paystand’s Xero plug-in provides support for ACH and Smart ACH/eCheck bank payments, as well as both debit and credit card payments – the only one of Xero’s plug-ins to do so.
The integration enables customers to make digital payments within the invoice which, once cleared, are reconciled in real-time. Payment information is tokenized and encrypted. And because the data is “saved without being visible”, the solution provides both security and seamless future transactions for the customer.
Blockchain-based B2B payments innovator PayStand participated in our developers conference FinDEVr Silicon Valley 2014. CEO Almond led a presentation titled Comparing the Strengths and Weaknesses of Different Payment Types, which looked at the relative advantages and disadvantages of card networks, eChecks/ACH, and digital currencies as payment options.
Last month, Paystand reported that it would participate in the fintech accelerator, Commerce.Innovated. In June, the company announced that it was expanding to Canada. Named one of The Silicon Review’s 50 Smartest Companies for 2017 at the beginning of the year, Paystand has raised more than $8 million in funding. The company includes BlueRun Ventures and LEAP Global Partners among its investors. Paystand was founded in 2013 and is headquartered in Scotts Valley, California.
Cloud accounting platform provider Xero also participated in our Silicon Valley developers conference in 2014. The company’s Head of U.S. Partnerships, David Pollack, presented Building an API-Driven Ecosystem for Small Business, and led a workshop and discussion on how Xero has grown its marketplace to more than 300 integrated applications. The company previously demonstrated its technology at FinovateSpring 2011.
Based in Wellington, New Zealand, Xero made headlines earlier this month with its acquisition of paperless accounting firm, Hubdoc, and the news that it would partner with U.K.-based GoCardless. In July, Xero announced a strategic alliance with fellow Finovate alum Gusto, an innovator in payroll, benefits, and HR management technology. A publicly traded company on the Australian Stock Exchange under the ticker “XRO”, Xero has a market capitalization of $3.7 billion (AUD$5 billion). Rod Drury is CEO.