EXCLUSIVE – SME lender, BlueVine has come together with cross-border payments provider Veem in a move that is indicative of a likely trend where payments and lending companies come together.
For Veem, the partnership will let the blockchain-based payments company allow its U.S.- clients to finance their payments and gain access to working capital for business expenses.
For BlueVine, the appeal to partner with Veem is its ability to simplify the cross-border transactions, using a multi-rail technology across its global networks.
“Most small businesses rely on banks for cross-border payments. Veem simplifies the process down,” Charles Amadon, VP of business development and strategic partnerships at BlueVine, told Bank Innovation.
“Typically, the bank has a lot of complexity to getting the client set up and requires a lot of paperwork and information,” Amadon said. That’s because the cross-border transaction for banks “was never designed for small businesses,” he said. In fact, according to a Veem post yesterday, less than 25% of loan applications for SMEs in the U.S. are approved.
“An astounding number, 82% according to Entrepreneur, of small businesses fail due to cash flow challenges,” Marwan Forzley, founder and CEO of Veem, said in this statement yesterday. “By working with BlueVine, we are providing our customers access to the capital they need when they need it, so they can continue living their dream.”
When clients sign up for Veem, they will be introduced to BlueVine through in-app messaging and other marketing methods. They can flip over to BlueVine and increase their line credit within their Veem homepage. And since their bank accounts are already linked to Veem, they can get quick access to the approved capital, Forzley said.
Over the year, both BlueVine and Veem will be exploring deeper integration as the partnership involves, Amadon said. This could include BlueVine users getting access to Veem within the BlueVine app (right now it’s only the other way around).
As for BlueVine, the Redwood City, Calif., company (which recently increased its invoice financing credit line to $5 million and its business line of credit to $200,000), has set a goal to originate $1 billion in loans this year. Last year, BlueVine CEO Eyal Lifshitz told Bank Innovation the origination goal for 2017 was $500 million, which it surpassed.
As for users, Amadon could not reveal the exact number, but said it was in the “tens of thousands.”






