Xero adds pay later option for U.K. clients

Xero has added an integration with iwocaPay, an invoice checkout solution, and the first “pay later” option on Xero’s platform.

The integration currently is for U.K. customers only, and arrives at a time when many businesses have been forced to move their sales to online only due to the coronavirus pandemic.

IwocaPay was launched by iwoca in June 2020 to help small and midsized businesses manage cash flow. It allows small businesses to get paid immediately while giving their customers the option to pay upfront or spread the cost over 90 days.

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As brick-and-mortar stores have moved business online, they have had to find new ways to find and retain their customers. At the same time, customers and buyers have found themselves with less income overall. Anxiety over how the COVID-19 pandemic will progress has led to more frugal spending habits. E-commerce tools such as pay later can encourage more confidence among buyers.

“Cash flow is the number-one reason small businesses fail,” said Michael Green, director of partnerships for Xero U.K. and EMEA, in a statement. “Interruptions in payments can have a devastating impact on the survival of a business. So it’s great to see tools like iwocaPay easing this burden, especially at this difficult time.”

As part of this new integration, iwocaPay will be directly accessible from within Xero. Small business owners can add this feature to their Xero invoices, and payments will be digitally reconciled.

Iwoca is actively seeking other business platforms with which to integrate.

“Having the flexibility to pay a supplier later is critical in helping small businesses manage cash flow, and iwocaPay provides a better way to offer that flexibility,” Lara Gilman, co-lead of iwocaPay, said in a statement. “We’re delighted that Xero customers now have the option to include iwocaPay on any invoice. Suppliers can more easily offer business customers the extended payment terms they need, without carrying the credit or late payment risk … The vision is for our invoice checkout solution to be available to the entire ecosystem of fintechs, brokers, accountants and bookkeeping platforms.”

For more information, visit iwoca’s portal.

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