Small Business News

Amex Launches Digital B2B Payments Platform Business Link

For consumers, these days, there’s no shortage of peer-to-peer apps they can use to move money, with some popular examples including Cash App, Venmo, and Zelle. As for businesses, the list of options for sending money to vendors may be more limited. Now, a well-known credit card company and small business supporter is introducing a new platform for this purpose.

This week, American Express announced the launch of Amex Business Link. This new business-to-business payments option can be utilized by network participants. Business Link will allow for card and non-card payments as well as support both domestic and cross-border transactions. As Amex notes, the service will also include reporting and reconciliation tools, connecting to a variety of CRM and ERP platforms. Currently, Business Link is being used by more than 500 businesses located in five countries.

According to eMarketer, B2B payments in the United States are expected to top more than $30 trillion by the end of 2022. Yet, an estimated 40.4% of these payments are made using cash or checks. Additionally, 42% of businesses surveyed cited integrating suppliers’ technology as one of their top pain points.

Sharing more about Amex Business Link and its benefits, American Express’s president of Global Network Services Mohammed Badi stated, “Our Amex network participants have access to not only reliable payment rails with the lowest fraud rates in the industry, but also our issuing and acquiring expertise, as well as unique Amex benefits.” Badi added, “As B2B payments rapidly digitize, we see an opportunity to add a customized solution for our network participants. Amex Business Link modernizes how businesses buy and sell from one another with the flexibility to choose in real-time how they want to pay or be paid.”

Incidentally, the debut of Amex Business Link comes on the heels of this year’s Small Business Saturday — a retail holiday that the card company helped found and popularize. Initial results show that the 2022 edition led to $17.9 billion in sales. While impressive, this total was unfortunately down from last year’s record $23.3 billion total.

Given the surprising issues that businesses face when it comes to digital B2B payments, it seems as though Amex’s latest solution could be a welcome option. In turn, small businesses that don’t currently accept Amex may reconsider should Business Link prove to be well received. Seeing as American Express is nearing parity with leaders Visa and Mastercard, such action would certainly be beneficial. For all of those reasons, it will be worth keeping tabs on Amex Business Link as the platform rolls out.