Conferma and Visa collaborate on new travel payments management platform

Commercial Pay provides a suite of services to help firms manage remote and virtual payments more efficiently

Visa and virtual payments specialist Conferma Pay have launched a strategic partnership including a solution for travel spend as part of a suite of services.

Global credit card firm and digital payments leader Visa says the B2B services in Commercial Pay will help improve cashflow and eliminate outdated manual processes.

The travel module enables businesses to centrally manage their business travel spend integrating it into business travel reservation processes.

Visa said this delivers enhanced data, full spend visibility and automated expense reconciliation.

Employees and contractors who also use the Visa Commercial Pay Mobile app are able to view their reservations and total spend within the app.

The Visa-branded Commercial Pay Mobile app will host digitally-issued virtual commercial cards on employee and contractors’ mobile devices.

The app offers tools to help firms manage and track spend and reduce dependency on issuing and mailing physical cards.

The third module – Commercial Pay B2B – combines capabilities of Visa and Conferma Pay, to give buyers and suppliers more options to pay and get paid.

It provides features to help companies manage cash flow and capture enhanced data for reconciliation and reporting.

Users can select their optimal payment solution, either a single management platform or integrated third party procurement platform.

Kevin Phalen, global head, Visa Business Solutions, said: “Businesses are turning to Visa and our clients with a great sense of urgency to help them solve payment inefficiencies that the pandemic has quickly exposed.

“The launch of Visa Commercial Pay in partnership with Conferma Pay allows us to accelerate B2B money movement away from slow, outdated methods to fast, data-rich, secure digital payments and give businesses better control over their finances.”

Simon Barker, chief executive at Conferma Pay, added: “With a new economic environment, the controls to decentralize payments have to be put in place and with employees working from home, the ability to monitor, reconcile and approve spend becomes far more difficult.

“With the Visa Commercial Pay initiative, we are excited to partner with Visa and help businesses gain greater visibility and control over B2B spend whilst drastically improving the payment experience for buyers, suppliers, company contractors and employees.”

Visa says virtual commercial cards have never been more necessary as remote workers are turning to personal cards to pay for corporate expenses, buyers.

The firm said suppliers need more efficient ways to pay and get paid, and businesses need immediate visibility into their company spend to improve cash flow and mitigate risk efficiently.