American Express plays catch up game with Mastercard and Visa as the company introduces automated accounts payable solution
American Express has launched its proprietary automated accounts payable solution ‘American Express One AP’ for U.S businesses to process suppliers’ payments. The Amex technology offers end-to-end payment processing which supports multiple payments methods including virtual card payments and Automated Clearing House (ACH).
American Express has invested heavily in payables automation in recent years as it battles to catch up with Visa and Mastercard which already provide similar products in the market. Back in July last year, Mastercard had announced a partnership with SAP to introduce it to businesses in Colombia and Chile.
The company’s “American Express One AP” is based on technology ‘acompay’ which they had acquired in 2019 from ACOM Solutions.
“Amex One AP is the continuation of our journey to digitize payment processes and become an essential part of our customers’ businesses. By automating the accounts payable process with an innovative, end-to-end solution, One AP makes it easier for businesses to pay for what they need to operate and ultimately grow,” said Trina Dutta, Vice President/General Manager B2B Payments Automation, Global Commercial Services at American Express.
The solution which the company offers work with existing accounting systems. The survey done under ‘American Express One AP’ said that 84% of U.S business decision-makers feel positive about switching to digital payments mode while 44% said the majority of their payments were not in digital form before the pandemic.
American Express One AP has collaborations with Bill.com, WEX, Concur, MineralTree, Coupa and SAP Ariba.