Visa and four of the UK's leading banks are partnering with Amazon on the launch of a new commercial marketplace for businesses shopping on the popular e-commerce site.
The launch of Amazon Business in the UK will see the giant e-commerce firm open a marketplace designed to cater the needs of businesses of all sizes, from sole traders to large institutions. More than a hundred million products will be available to companies that sign up to the service, including laptops, office supplies, furniture and commercial-grade printers.
As part of the launch, Visa is working with four of the UK's leading banks to provide a comprehensive expense management service for corporate card account holders who move their procurement needs to the site.
The new enhanced transaction data, available to Barclaycard, Citi, HSBC, and Lloyds Bank UK commercial account holders, provides line-item details on all purchases for Amazon Business customers and integration with reconciliation tools.
Kevin Jenkins, regional managing director, UK and Ireland at Visa, says: “By bringing together data from Amazon Business purchases and Visa’s processing in collaboration with our bank partners, we will ultimately help our UK commercial account holders spend less time reconciling their purchases, giving them more time to spend on their businesses.“
Amazon Business users get access to VAT-exclusive pricing and invoicing, the option to add a Purchase Order number to orders, and a set of customised account management tools, including the ability to set up multi-user accounts and spending limits.
Amazon Business first launched in the US in April 2015 and now serves more than 400,000 companies, generating more than $1bn in sales in its first year. Last December it rolled out in Germany, where it is now used by more than 50,000 business customers.
Eddie Norton, regional head of global liquidity and cash management Europe at HSBC, says: “Amazon Business will make life much easier for HSBC’s commercial cardholders. Purchases made using an HSBC Visa Corporate and Purchasing Card will enable enhanced transaction data such as purchase order numbers, unit costs and tax breakdown to be included in their card statements. This additional information will improve invoice reconciliation and allow full integration into companies’ own accounting systems.”