Chris Ward | Senior Business Development Manager, CloudPay
Over the previous decade, the world experienced the sudden rise of FinTech organizations, shaking up not only the financial sector but the wider world of business, too. Innovative technology has allowed people to get access to financial services easier and quicker than ever before, with obvious benefits around convenience.
On a day-to-day basis, most of our connections with FinTech businesses are consumer-driven, but the fact is that FinTech can be hugely beneficial on a B2B basis, too. In this blog, we’ll explore the current state of play with FinTech, how it works for B2B and who the key players are in the B2B FinTech market.
What is FinTech?
Firstly, it’s important to cut through the noise and define exactly what FinTech is. As we know, the word ‘FinTech’ combines ‘finance’ and ‘technology’, but there are lots of different services that can be offered by FinTech organizations. These include (and are not necessarily limited to):
- Mobile banking and payment systems
- Digital credit and lending functions
- Trading, either of traditional stocks and shares or of cryptocurrencies
The key selling point in all of these areas is that FinTechs enable more direct and more convenient access to these payment methods and services than was offered in the past. At a time when more and more people want to manage their finances digitally, FinTechs give them more choice and flexibility in what they do with their money.
How does FinTech work for B2B?
B2B FinTech companies form an increasingly important part of the technological make-up of financial services. There are a multitude of key business functions that B2B FinTech firms are helping to simplify for organizations. These can be relatively simple acts such as securing finance or adopting banking-as-a-service, and can go further to include full digital business banking, insurance, money transfers and payment enabling technology.
There is also a major upside for businesses in adopting B2B FinTech solutions in terms of cost-effectiveness. Many of the price barriers to deploying up-to-date technology have been broken down by these firms, which are now able to offer more flexible payment options so that business customers don’t have to shoulder a major financial burden.
Who are the top B2B FinTech providers?
There are a vast number of B2B FinTech providers in the marketplace, offering a huge variety of different solutions and services. Some are established FinTech players, while others are on the up, having made a real impact over the past few years. Here are five B2B FinTech companies to keep a particular eye on:
- Robinhood: a financial services company that enables the commission-free trading of stocks and shares, and the exchange of cryptocurrencies, via a mobile app. Over 22.5 million users are now signed up to Robinhood worldwide, enjoying the safer and easier trading that it enables.
- Stripe: an online payment and credit card provider founded in 2009, which has become one of the most-recognized FinTech companies, as well as one of the most valuable (it’s currently worth around $95 billion). Stripe enables safe purchasing by customers of whatever goods and services they need, and to get instant and easy access to credit when required.
- CloudPay: a global payroll provider that connects all employee pay processes through a unified solution, including payroll, payments and on-demand pay. Automation and unification allow international businesses to make their payroll data consistent, so that they can easily run accurate, compliant payroll across every territory and currency in which they operate.
- Klarna: a ‘buy now, pay later’ company which has surged in popularity in recent years, helping consumers and businesses alike get greater flexibility in buying goods and services at almost all price points. Founded in Sweden in 2005, Klarna is now used by more than four million people worldwide every month, either through their website, mobile app, or through embedded options on retailer websites.
- Chime: an online bank founded in the United States that allows customers to conduct regular banking without any fees. Its business model instead profits by collecting interchange fees. Chime is now used by more than eight million people, who are able to perform their usual day-to-day banking duties through a mobile app or on the web.
CloudPay’s global payroll solution helps businesses like yours make payroll easier, more accurate, and more compliant than ever before.