American Express and Goldman Sachs develop digital payments solution for corporates

The new product will support multiple payment options, making B2B transactions easier and more efficient for large companies

American Express and Goldman Sachs Transaction Banking (TxB) are launching a cloud-based payments solution for large corporate clients.

The solution, currently available to select clients and anticipated to launch for general availability in early 2022, combines Goldman Sachs’s TxB platform with American Express’s deep card expertise and direct buyer and supplier relationships to create a powerful digital treasury solution for large corporations, according to the financial services providers.

Dean Henry, executive vice president of global commercial services at American Express, says that a single, cloud-based solution overcomes a “major pain point” for large commercial card clients.

Henry explains: “A major pain point for our large commercial card clients is managing multiple platforms and myriad time-consuming, costly and complex processes to make, track, and reconcile thousands of payment transactions every day.” 

“We are pleased to partner with Goldman Sachs to modernise these outdated legacy B2B payment processes. Together, we are setting a new standard in transaction banking for big business by offering access to faster payments and real-time tracking that can increase efficiency and reduce costs.”

The new solution will embed American Express’s virtual cards for the first time into the Goldman Sachs TxB platform, which already offers ACH, wire, and foreign currency payments.

Hari Moorthy, global head of TxB at Goldman Sachs, comments: “We developed the Goldman Sachs TxB platform to provide our clients with a modern cash management platform that is digital, nimble, easy to use, and secure—bringing a consumer-grade user experience into the world of B2B payments.”

“We are thrilled to further this mission by working with American Express to expand our payment platform, enabling clients that are American Express Corporate Card Members to make card payments and drive efficiencies in their supplier payment experiences.”

This new integrated payment solution includes a simple ‘one flow’ process that combines payment activity, both virtual card and non-card, into a holistic set of B2B payment instructions.

This helps generate operational efficiencies, eliminates duplicative manual processes, and reduces bank fees often incurred due to multi-file initiation, according to American Express and Goldman Sachs.

Also included is Goldman Sachs TxB’s Intelligent Payments Engine, which will route payments to a particular payment channel in a manner that optimises a buyer’s preferences based on speed and cost.

Buyers and suppliers gain access to dashboards that provide spend data and analytics, as well as real-time updates on payment statuses, while actionable insights enable corporate chief financial officers to make more informed decisions for their companies.

Image: American Express

Mark Dugdale