Toronto-based Moneris Solutions Corp. has announced Boost Intercept, a platform developed in partnership with New York City-based Boost Payment Solutions, LLC that will see the electronic payment processing giant expanding into Canada’s B2B market.
Boost Intercept, which will be made available to potential customers sometime in spring, is designed to replace traditional B2B payment methods such as cheque- and paper-based invoicing with an electronic system similar to the company’s signature B2C (business-to-consumer) platform.
“There is a natural migration that is happening,” Rob Wilkinson, Moneris’s vice-president of B2B sales, told ITBusiness.ca. “Moneris’ focus is to support businesses in making the switch to electronic payment processing solutions, and the Boost Intercept product allows us to deliver that value to B2B customers.”
Despite multiple predictions that Canada’s enterprise market would embrace electronic payments as quickly as consumers have, paper-based cheques continue to be popular in the business world, Wilkinson said, noting that while the Canadian Payments Association has reported a “relatively steady” decline in their use, businesses still issued or received approximately 95 per cent of the 950 million cheques processed in Canada in 2014.
By implementing an electronic payment system for their commercial clients, businesses can benefit from increased security, lower operating costs, and more efficient – or even automatic – data processing, he said.
In addition to developing and releasing a new B2B platform, Moneris has spent the past year organizing a team that will extend the company’s range of B2C services to B2B clients, including strategy consulting, analytics reporting, and technical support, Wilkinson said.
While the company hasn’t specified which electronic payment cards will be supported by Boost Intercept, Wilkinson said it’s expected to support all major brands, and the company’s existing B2C infrastructure is compatible with several of the most popular, including Interac, Visa, MasterCard, and American Express.
Nor has Moneris specified how much it will charge for its B2B services, though Wilkinson said that future customers can expect more concrete details in early spring.