US-based payments company American Express (Amex) has agreed to acquire Israel-based business-to-business (B2B) payments automation firm Nipendo.
The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The transaction is expected to advance American Express’ goal of developing an end-to-end B2B platform which will enable more easier and efficient business payments.
Headquartered in Netanya, Nipendo offers a cloud-based platform to facilitate intelligent automation of procure-to-pay processes.
The platform is developed to cater to the needs of suppliers as well as buyers. It is said to streamline interactions between them across all spend categories for goods and services and all kinds and sizes of suppliers.
The cloud-based platform makes source-to-pay (S2P) procedures touch-free and minimises errors by leveraging robotic process automation (RPA), machine learning (ML), and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies.
Besides, it offers compliance management and enforcement, process governance, audit and validation, discrepancy management and dispute resolution.
Nipendo co-founder and CEO Eyal Rosenberg said: “Businesses can face a number of challenges even before they make a payment, including finding the right suppliers, managing order processes and supply chain, as well as handling discrepancies and invoice reconciliation.
“These traditionally paper-based processes require heavy investments of time, effort, and money. We are honoured to become a part of American Express, excited about the synergy of our mutual vision and looking forward to serving as an important component of the new business value we can offer, by efficiently streamlining B2B payments.”
Nipendo’s platform integrates with an organisation’s current systems, enabling clients to keep their current payment infrastructure in place while gaining further automation.
Through the transaction, American Express plans to combine the Israeli firm’s team, technology, and capabilities to broaden its differentiated offerings for businesses.
The latest deal follows American Express’ acquisition of acompay in 2019 and last year’s collaboration with BillTrust and Versapay. Recently, American Express announced a B2B solution called Amex Business Link for the company’s network participants.
American Express global commercial services and credit and fraud risk group president Anna Marrs said: “Our extensive direct relationships with both buyers and suppliers puts us in a unique position to transform the way companies pay for goods and services. We are taking the friction out of B2B payments, paving the way for faster, more efficient, and transparent transactions.
“With Nipendo, we will strengthen our expertise and capabilities in the space, and their innovative platform will give business customers common ground to connect and transact on the Amex network.”
The deal is anticipated to close within the current quarter, subject to customary conditions.