Germany-based corporate payment company AirPlus International has partnered with Sweden-based payment platform Billhop . This partnership allows enterprises to use their AirPlus credit cards, be it virtual or plastic, to make payments to suppliers who may not currently accept credit cards.

Additionally, AirPlus customers gained the ability to pay occasional or one-time suppliers without the intricate and costly process of integrating them into their ERP systems. To benefit from this new partnership, AirPlus customers input their card details and initiate a payment request through Billhop's platform. After conducting necessary compliance checks, Billhop charges the card as a merchant of record and facilitates the payment to the supplier via bank transfer.

Subsequently, payment details are integrated into the clients' ERP systems. Customers then settle their card bills as usual, taking advantage of their flexible credit card payment terms. In the company press release, representatives from AirPlus expressed satisfaction with the partnership, emphasising its role in bridging the gap for customers encountering suppliers who do not accept credit cards.

They highlighted the convenience and simplicity the partnership brings to corporate purchases, furthering AirPlus's position in global travel payments into the B2B sector. In turn, officials from Billhop noted that the collaboration offers businesses the flexibility and ease of paying suppliers via cards. By bypassing the need for supplier intervention and onboarding, companies can streamline their expenditure on card programs and manage it effortlessly.

Other developments from Billhop In February 2024, Billhop entered into a partnership with Eurocard to streamline the payables processes for businesses and clients within the Nordic region. Following this announcement, the collaboration allowed corporate customers within the Nordic area to pay any bill or invoice with the use of Eurocard’s virtual cards, including solutions from suppliers who do not accept card transactions. At the same time, this new payment approach aimed to enable businesses and clients to take on the card processing costs instead of suppliers, while also granting them to the possibility to optimise access to their built-in credit lines.

It further aimed to streamline the payable procedures and facilitate faster and more secure payments to one-time, low-volume suppliers with no enrolment or set-up procedure being needed. Eurocard’s virtual cards are set to be directly embedded in Billhop AB’s smart bill payment platform, while also being used in order to streamline the payment processes and ensure optimised security, and precise control over expenses. .