As part of its ongoing investment in its B2B (business-to-business) network and in enhancing buyer and supplier capabilities, American Express today announced a new offering by Boost Payment Solutions, a global leader in payments, to provide commercial virtual Card processing services to U.S. merchants who accept American. Qualified American Express merchants will now have access to Boost Intercept®, Boost’s patented Straight-Through Processing (STP) solution, at no additional cost. This collaboration will enable suppliers to streamline acceptance of American Express virtual Cards and minimize the challenges associated with manual processing of virtual Cards.

While virtual cards offer a dynamic payment option that replaces a physical card number with a tokenized, one-time-use digital version, in B2B payments, some suppliers are still processing virtual card payments manually, including the opening of each email and copying the tokenized card number in their Point-of-Sale (POS) terminal. The increasing volume of virtual card transactions is making automation even more essential for suppliers, as 52% of U.S. commercial card spend is estimated to be on virtual cards by 2025.

Now, with Boost Intercept® for qualified American Express merchants, the end-to-end process is entirely automated, eliminating the manual work previously associated with processing virtual Card payments via e-mail. The automated process can shorten the time between when a payment is authorized and when funds settle, potentially leading to better cash-flow management. By automating each step -- receiving, parsing and processing – suppliers don’t just save time, they also help their business run more efficiently and safely: as virtual Cards are generated with unique details for a specific transaction, merchants do not have to worry about handling sensitive payment and Card data from buyers.  

Provided at no additional cost to qualified American Express merchants , Boost Intercept® brings the positive impact of end-to-end automation to businesses of all sizes, and helps suppliers enjoy similar benefits that buyers do when it comes to virtual Cards: faster, more efficient payments.

• From delayed payments to timely payments.  Automating virtual Card payments with Boost Intercept® can help reduce payment cycles and improve cash flow management, helping suppliers receive the funds more quickly.
• From data entry errors to reliable information. Boost Intercept® automates and therefore simplifies reconciliation efforts, with detailed transaction data accompanying each payment, making it easier for suppliers to match payments with invoices.

And from a supplier staffing perspective, data shows that automating digital payments can save precious time compared to manual processes: According to the Amex Trendex B2B Edition**, of the U.S. businesses who said that payments automation is saving their finance team’s time (36%), the average reportedly saved was 9.9 hours per week, or more than 500 hours per year.

This new collaboration with Boost aims to empower American Express suppliers with enhanced efficiency, accelerated payment processing, and an improved customer experience.