EXCLUSIVE – SME accounting firm Xero has partnered with payments platform Stripe to allow its 1.2 million users to receive Automated Clearing House (ACH) bank transfers.

In a statement emailed to Bank Innovation, Xero, Chief Technology Officer, Craig Walker, stated:

Our ultimate goal at Xero is to make sure small businesses are getting paid as quickly as possible, while making the experience from set up to reconciliation seamless. Building on our partnership with Stripe, this new feature gives our customers even more ways to get paid efficiently while keeping sensitive information safe…. With the introduction of Stripe ACH, we are extending the ways a business can get paid into their Stripe account while maintaining the integrity of the first-class experience we’ve built between Stripe and Xero.

To enable ACH transfers, the user can log in to his Stripe account through the payment settings with the Xero dashboard and then connect to the ACH bank transfer payment gateway. They can then connect this to an invoice, which will enable the “Pay Now” button so it can be sent to their customers.

ACH payments is another step in Xero’s partnership with Stripe. The two came together last August to provide Xero customers faster payment methods and automated account reconciliation.

The SME accounting service has been an active seeker of partnerships to expand its business. Earlier this month, it formed a partnership with Singapore-based bank DBS to build an online payment solution for small and medium-sized enterprises. Prior to that, it partnered with London-based fintech Curve. Additionally, it is integrated with many banks, including Capital One, Wells Fargo, Silicon Valley Bank and City National Bank in the U.S.; Barclays in the U.K. and with Commonwealth Bank, and National Australia Bank in Australia.

Founded in 2006 in New Zealand, Xero currently has over 20 offices across the globe. It is listed on both the Australian Stock Exchange and New Zealand Exchange.

To learn more about SME fintech and digital payments, join us on March 5-6, 2018 at the Parc 55 in San Francisco for Bank Innovation 2018. Click here to request an invitation.