American Express is developing payments solutions for small to medium-sized businesses through collaboration.

By working with fintechs, the payments giant can develop solutions quickly, giving SMBs the peace of mind of working with reliable banking partners, Widad Chaoui, senior vice president, corporate and B2B solutions product management, global commercial services, told Bank Automation News.

“We know fintechs excel at developing software that addresses various B2B and/or industry-specific needs and bringing new solutions to market quickly,” Chaoui said, adding that core products are developed in-house. 

In addition to their business and corporate cards, Amex built its One AP solution, which helps SMBs integrate their accounting systems with Amex and automating payments, Chaoui said. 

By working with banking partners, businesses can gain a competitive advantage by accessing not only the partner’s proprietary solutions, but the solutions of their fintech partners, too.

For example, Amex developed the Amex Sync Commercial Partner Platform, through which they partner with B2B software providers across spend management, travel, meetings & events, and more.

“These partnerships make us more helpful to businesses than they can be on their own,” added Chaoui.

The New York-based company also works with fintechs to solve niche problems quickly, Chaoui said.

Boost Payment Solutions teamed with Amex in October 2024 to streamline Virtual Card processing services to Amex-accepting U.S. merchants. 

Focus on SMB payments 

Amex is focused on developing tools for SMB payments like automating accounts receivable and payables along with providing working capital, R.J. Ancona, vice president and general manager of B2B product, partnerships and client management, merchant services, told BAN. 

Eight in 10 businesses are planning to improve their payment processes in 2025, according to a March 13 Amex B2B study. 

AmEx surveyed 1,000 U.S. business decision makers in the United States in December 2024 and January 2025 and found that:: 

• 91% of business decision makers say that easy, streamlined and secure payments drive business growth; 

• 17% of businesses have fully automated their payments processes; and 

• 26% of business decision makers say that slow payments are a reason why they stopped working with a buyer or supplier. 

The “daunting task to change payment processes from manual to automated” is simple and easy with Amex’s end-to-end tools, Ancona said. 

“At Amex, we are continuing to invest in our B2B network, to bring automated solutions to both buyers and suppliers, enhancing the payments experience on both sides of a transaction,” Ancona said.