Infcurion upgrades invoice payment platform Winvoice with new functions

Infcurion has added new functions for Payers (Buyers) to the invoice payment platform “Winvoice“. Newly added functions allow users to pay their received invoices by credit card, debit card or prepaid card. The card payment enables users to extend actual payments until the withdrawal date which will improve their cash flows. It is also expected to improve business operations by reducing the time required for bank transfers, together with preventing errors.

In addition to the new functions for Payers, this update expands the use of Winvoice, which had been limited to corporates, to be available for individuals such as sole proprietors and freelancers. Furthermore, JCB and Mastercard have been added to the list of accepted card brands.

Background

In recent years, the enforcement of legal revisions and government policies related to accounting, such as the Invoice system and the revised Electronic Books Maintenance Act, have accelerated the trend toward digitization in business-to-business transactions. On the other hand, on B2B transactions, billing and payment for services and product purchases are made by invoices, and the payment methods are mainly relying on bank transfers. Recently, new mechanisms for realizing cashless payments on B2B transactions have been introduced, such as “Business Payment Service Provider” and “Invoice Card Payment”, which enables invoice payment by credit cards by acting as an intermediary between the supplier and the buyer. These Services are now attracting attention.

In fact, a survey conducted by Infcurion in March 2024 (n=1,032) indicated that 40.6% of respondents were aware of services for invoice payment by credit cards. In addition, approximately 20% (17.0%) of respondents answered that they would like to pay their invoices with a card.

Overview

These functions for Payers allow users to pay received invoices by card, debit card or prepaid card. By simply registering the necessary depositing information from the received invoices and uploading the invoicing data, users can pay the invoice with their cards even though the payment method written on the invoice are limited to bank transfers.

In the case of bank transfers, cash is required in the bank account at the time of the transfers. However, by using the functions for Payers (Buyer), cash preparation can be extended until the withdrawal date of the card usage, even if funds are needed to be borrowed at that time. This can effectively extend payments and improve cash flow (cash management).

After the card payment, the invoice amount is deposited into the billing company’s bank account in the name specified by the payer on the same day at the earliest, so the billing company will never know that the card has been used. In addition, switching to card payments can reduce the time required for bank transfers together with preventing errors, thereby improving operational efficiency.

Other major updates

Winvoice has updated the functions for Billers (Supplier) to support sole proprietors, freelancers, and other non- corporate users. This update allows non-corporate users to select cards as a payment method when billing for goods and services. When these functions for Billers (Supplier) are used, the invoice amount will be credited to the designated account within a minimum of the same day to three business days after the payer made the card payment. This allows users to reduce the risk of late or uncollected payments and improve cash flow (cash management). In addition, since the credit card company takes responsible for the credit to the payer, these functions can be used to prevent opportunity losses such as not being able to make new transactions due to the inability of the payer’s credit.

Winvoice also added JCB and Mastercard to the credit card brands accepted by Winvoice. Together with Visa, which has been available until now, Winvoice now supports three major international card brands. Users can use Winvoice with any credit card brand (Visa, JCB, or Mastercard), regardless of whether it is a corporate or personal card.

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