Openpay ventures into B2B sector via inaugural contract with Woolworths
Openpay has launched a new B2B portal courtesy of an agreement with retailing giant Woolworths.
Payments technology company Openpay (ASX: OPY) is venturing into the business-to-business (B2B) sector via a maiden agreement with major Australian retailer, Woolworths Group (ASX: WOW), barely two months since listing on the ASX.
The agreement has been hailed as a key milestone by Openpay which means the company is on course to achieve its long-held strategic goal of developing a new B2B payments solution that is marketed in Australia and globally.
Earlier today, Openpay confirmed it will be launching its new B2B portal, Openpay for Business, a software-as-a-service solution enabling companies to manage trade accounts end-to-end, including applications, credit checks, approvals and account management via a single system.
According to Openpay, its portal enables businesses to manage their trade purchases, collate data on transactions and develop and manage invoices, with flexible modules for payment reconciliation and ongoing customer retention.
The cloud-based SaaS platform digitises the process for business transactions ensuring simple facilitation of end-to-end logistics, enabling business customers to complete forms online and facilitate credit checks for “approval within minutes”, the company says.
The deal is expected to serve as a key differentiator for Openpay with no additional balance sheet expenditure required while delivering diversified revenue streams over the coming months.
Currently, Openpay provides services to customers and merchants in Australia and New Zealand and has also begun to offer its services in the UK as of last year. The company partners with merchants to provide what’s known as buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) repayment plans to customers in-store, in-app and online.
The BNPL offering enables customers to purchase goods and services upfront while spreading repayments over time with no interest costs.
Additionally, Openpay claims that by providing flexible payment solutions, its BNPL offering also facilitates increased transaction values and conversion rates for merchants at checkout, thereby helping to boost consumer demand and sales among merchants offering its services.
Partnering with Woolworths
Under the partnership, Woolworths has agreed to roll out Openpay’s portal across its payments and digital platform, as part of Woolworths’ own business-to-business service.
Woolworths has confirmed it will utilise Openpay’s management platform for an initial three-year term including an option to extend for a further two years.
Importantly, Woolworths has said it will not be offering a ‘book now pay later’ facility through the platform.
“Businesses with trade accounts currently face manual, very time-consuming processes to gain approval for credit checks and manage their accounts,” said Michael Eidel, chief executive officer of Openpay.
“With Openpay For Business, these companies can now seamlessly control the whole trade account process from signing new accounts to invoicing in the one system, saving much needed time and resources and improving trade customers’ experiences,” Mr Eidel said.