Meet Fintecture, a French startup looking to improve B2B payments. While many payment companies are focused on B2C payments, with Stripe leading the way, B2B payments haven’t changed much over the years.
“There are still a lot of paper checks in America. In Europe, it’s mostly transfers and manual reconciliation,” Faisal Udmin, founder and CEO of FinTechture, told me.
But this investment in the B2B market is strange because those transactions represent a much larger volume than B2C transactions. That’s because the average B2B transaction is so large – we’re talking about tens of thousands or sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Fintech is approaching the market in a number of ways to deliver a better performing product. There is no single solution that works for all companies.
In its first payment method, Fintecture is based on open banking. The company has signed partnerships with large corporate clients such as Edenred or Bricoman so that clients of these companies can pay using fintech.
When they click a Fintecture link (or scan a QR code in-store), they can connect to their bank account and verify the transaction from there. The first transaction requires a bit of onboarding, but the second transaction is already easy.
200,000 companies have contacted Fintecture at some point to pay for products or services. Quick Pay or Standard Transfer starts with instant verification. Fintech guarantees that the funds will eventually reach the company’s bank account.
Fintech created a second method for its customers to pay from the bank interface. Essentially, the startup generates virtual IBANs so that incoming payments can be automatically reconciled.
“The payer receives a tracking link that works like a DHL link so they know the status of their funds in the payment flow,” says Admin.
FinTech’s third product is a way to let your customers pay in multiple installments. Fintecture takes care of the fraud and payment process so that you don’t use the BNPL provider. Instead, companies can open a line of credit with their bank, knowing that the money will eventually arrive. It is usually much cheaper than borrowing money from BNPL company.
Finally, Fintecture can handle refunds. “Here we have a solution that automates part of the compensation process with integrated KYC and AML features as well as fast payments,” said Oudmine. Fintecture requires companies to link to their bank accounts to directly verify their identity.
A total of 7,000 businesses collect payments using fintech. About a thousand use the product directly, while the rest rely on combinations of Penilane, Libeo, Regate and other fintech products.
Fintecture raised $26 million in Series A funding (€26 million) this year. Investors include Target Global, Eurazeo, RTP Global, Samapatta, Allianz Trade, Societe Generale and various business angels. There are currently 80 people working for the startup – and the company plans to hire another 40.
