American Express has launched American Express Global Pay – a new digital solution that enables US businesses to make domestic and international business-to-business (B2B) payments. Through this new digital solution, business customers can send payments funded from their business bank account to their suppliers in more than 40 countries, across a range of currencies, using a simple, mobile-friendly platform.

Eligible customers can also earn Membership Rewards points on their foreign exchange payments. American Express Global Pay is currently available to eligible US American Express Small Business Card Members. American Express Global Pay features American Express Global Pay addresses small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) needs by providing: an integrated user experience that allows the user to manage their American Express Business Card account and access their American Express Global Pay in the same place.

an intuitive interface that helps users pay suppliers with ease and reduces the risk of common errors and delays with fields that dynamically update based on the country of their payment. a reward program that sees eligible customers earning 1 Membership Rewards for every USD 30 equivalent on their foreign exchange payments (maximum of 4,000 points per payment). payments that are eligible for same business-day delivery through American Express Global Pay’s connection to payment systems such as SEPA Instant Credit Transfer.

transparent exchange rates that let customers see the applicable exchange rate before sending a payment. American Express has not disclosed exact fees yet, stating that it will display the fees when the business is creating the payment. Besides, recipient banks or intermediary banks may charge their own fees, which can reduce the amount delivered to the client’s recipe.

Small businesses and the cross-border opportunity According to the World Bank, SMEs represent approximately 90% of businesses and more than 50% of employment worldwide. As small businesses increasingly do business internationally, the volume of B2B cross-border payments is growing as well. Therefore, B2B cross-border payments are expected to increase by 30%, reaching USD 35 trillion by 2022.

Besides, cross-border payments made by SMEs increased year-over-year, reflecting a broader potential increase for cross-border trade payments. However, when it comes to cross-border payments and foreign exchange (FX) – which typically represent 8%-14% of overall bank payments revenue – small businesses often don’t have the infrastructure in place to process complex payments, making it more difficult for them to handle cross-border payments. A problem that needs to be solved According to a June 2022 survey by American Express, 64% of US SMEs owners and financial decision makers expect their total spend with businesses outside of the US to increase over the next six months and cite access to a wider range (43%) of products and services and supply chain diversification (35%) as some of the top business benefits of cross-border B2B spending.

However, one-quarter (27%) cited complexity of the process as one of the top obstacles when making cross-border payments. When asked about the attributes that small and mid-sized business owners and financial decision makers are looking for in a cross-border payments solution, nearly half (48%) said transparent fees and rates, on par with a simple user experience (44%). As the small business segment pivots to online business models and expands globally, there is a growing need to make international supplier payments and cross-border payments more cost effective and more intuitive.

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