The agreement builds on a 2016-started long-term relationship with a focus on helping small businesses get paid faster. For GoCardless, this also marks a doubling-down in the accountancy space, an important sector for the fintech company as it seeks to further its ambitious growth plans.
As per the press release, the news comes at a time when small businesses worldwide face some of the most challenging economic conditions in recent history, and the pressure is impacting business owners. According to Xero’s Global state of small business owner wellbeing report, the well-being of small business owners is at a level below that of the general population, overburdened by an array of challenges, including cash flow. Through this collaboration, Xero’s small business customers are enabled to better their cash flow and get paid almost twice as fast by seamlessly connecting their online invoice payments to the GoCardless platform.
The partnership allows Xero’s customers to leverage GoCardless directly within the Xero platform to collect recurring and one-off payments without hidden fees, and in an easy manner. This is both through direct debit, which helps minimise the likelihood of late payments, and a GoCardless feature to collect instant, one-off payments powered by Open Banking in the UK, and PayTo in Australia.
What is more, small businesses are also able to reconcile payments directly on the Xero platform, thus reducing administrative burden. When talking about accountants and bookkeepers, the integration offers an accurate and up-to-date image of a company’s financial position, which helps eliminate the need to follow up with clients regarding their accounts.
Leigh O’Neill, EGM - Money at Xero expressed excitement towards the renewal and strengthening of the collaboration with GoCardless. As macroeconomic pressures require small businesses worldwide to have different methods for maintaining a healthy cash flow, the spokesperson said that the partnership with GoCardless provides Xero customers with the ability to access the former’s global bank payment network so they can get paid in an expedited manner.
Further adding on this, Seb Hempstead, VP of Partnerships at GoCardless advised the collaboration with Xero began with a shared ethos of supporting small businesses, and as they renew their agreement for an additional five years, they are looking forward to bringing the latest in bank payments to a multitude of small businesses and helping them win and retain customers, save time and money, stress less, and get paid on time.
The press release further highlights that the GoCardless integration is available to all Xero subscribers in the UK, Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, and the US.
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