AirPlus International, a corporate payment provider, has joined forces with payment platform Billhop. The partnership, according to an announcement, will give enterprises the flexibility to pay any supplier, including suppliers that don’t accept credit cards, with their AirPlus credit card of choice — virtual or plastic. Moreover, said the announcement, AirPlus customers are now able to pay infrequently used or one-time suppliers without the time-consuming and costly process of onboarding them into their enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems.

AirPlus customers only need enter their card information and request a payment via Billhop’s payment platform. After carrying out necessary compliance checks, Billhop then charges the card, acting as a merchant of record, and initiates the payment via bank transfer to the supplier. Subsequently, the payment information is imported into the clients’ ERP systems. Customers pay the card bill as normal, benefiting from their flexible credit card payment terms.

Stefan Waelde, head of business development-B2B payments at AirPlus, said there are still numerous B2B suppliers who do not accept credit cards. Together with Billhop, he said, “we are happy to bridge that gap for our customers.” Thanks to the partnership, he said customers can use their preferred AirPlus credit card to pay for all their corporate purchases in a safe, clear, fast and simple way.

Tashi Gauffin, chief commercial officer at Billhop, said the partnership will give businesses the flexibility and convenience to pay their suppliers by card. By circumventing the need for supplier intervention and onboarding, he said, “companies can now consolidate all spend on their card program and manage it with ease.”