American Express acquired business-to-business payment company Acompay this week, allowing the company to automate the accounts payable process for business customers.

The acquisition comes at a time when large institutions are looking to grow their business clientele through new underwriting tools and other technology. Acompay automates the payment process for businesses so they can pay with one click, and it consolidates all payments they have to make in one place.  The acquisition gives American Express a holistic view of their business clients’ financial picture and a window into their transaction flows, a basis for making product recommendations. 

“American Express is not as well known for the small business lending and payment capabilities,” said Dean Henry, executive vice president of global business financing and supplier payments at American Express. “Acompay will be the digital glue that allows us to connect lending and payments.”

Acompay automates the accounts payable process by working with a company’s existing software and pulling information from supplier invoices. The platform analyzes who the company has to pay, how much the company has to pay and how the supplier wants to be paid, as well as offers insights on outstanding purchase orders. Businesses using Acompay simply select their method of payment, and Acompay handles the process from that point forward, saving suppliers’ addresses and account information.

See also: Amex and Mastercard Zeroing In on Businesses with New Partnerships

American Express wants to use Acompay to move beyond credit card services for its business clients. The company currently offers domestic and international ACH and wire payments, as well as lending products including working capital and business loans. Henry said American Express has improved B2B payments for large companies through a partnership with SAP Ariba and for small companies through a partnership with Bill.com, and Acompay will help it fill the gap and improve payments for mid-market companies.

The deal isn’t expected to close until the fall, and Henry said he expects Acompay to be available to business customers by the end of 1Q 2020. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

ACOM solutions, which launched Acompay in 2016, has worked on automating accounts payable since its establishment in 1983. The Long Beach, Calif.-based company processes more than 33 million payments per year, accounting for more than $112 billion.

Amex, like other large banks and incumbent financial companies, is making more moves to reach more business customers, and Acompay is a part of this. For example, in June, Capital One acquired BlueTarp, a business-to-business credit company, in an effort to grow its business client base.

Alenka Grealish, senior analyst of corporate banking at Celent, recently told Bank Innovation these types of acquisitions give  institutions a better view of the business supply chain. “The relationship is really sticky, and you potentially can cross-sell other products,” she said. “A supplier might start exporting, and you could discern that because there are some non-U.S. addresses in accounts receivable, so you can start offering them cross-border services.”