How to pay suppliers by credit card when they don't accept cards

How can I pay a supplier by credit card if they don't accept cards?

Short answer: Pay the invoice through B2Bpay. You pay B2Bpay by Visa, Mastercard or American Express, and B2Bpay pays your supplier by bank transfer (EFT) or BPAY. The supplier never has to accept cards, and you keep your card's points and interest-free days.

Most Australian suppliers invoice for bank transfer or BPAY because that is what suits them. That leaves you paying large invoices from cash in the bank, earning nothing on the spend. B2Bpay sits between the two: your card on one side, the supplier's normal payment method on the other.

Over 40,000 Australian businesses use B2Bpay this way to pay suppliers, the ATO, rent, utilities and insurance. The platform is owned and operated by Zenith Payments Pty Ltd, is PCI DSS compliant, and the team is based in Australia. Start at the B2Bpay sign-up page or see paying suppliers with a credit card.

How does the supplier get paid?

By ordinary bank transfer or BPAY from B2Bpay, in the same way as if you had paid them yourself from your bank account.

When you add a supplier as a biller you enter either their BSB and account number or their BPAY biller code and your customer reference. B2Bpay verifies bank account details for payees before paying. When you make a payment, B2Bpay charges your card and forwards the funds to the supplier using the reference you provided, so they can match it to your invoice.

From the supplier's side it looks like any other customer payment arriving in their account. There is no merchant facility to set up, no account to open and no fee for them to pay. You pay the platform fee; they receive the full invoice amount.

B2Bpay's help pages state payments are passed to the biller within 3 business days, and the settlement date for each payment is shown in your Payment History.

Does my supplier need to sign up or do anything?

No. Your supplier does not need to register, install anything, accept cards or change how they invoice. They receive a bank transfer or BPAY payment as usual.

You add their payment details once as a biller. Many businesses are already set up in B2Bpay's biller list; if yours is not, select "Add new biller" and enter their details. Every future invoice from that supplier can then be paid by card in a few clicks, or scheduled for a future date.

If you connect Xero, MYOB or QuickBooks, your bills awaiting payment appear in B2Bpay automatically, so you do not need to re-key supplier details or amounts. See paying bills from Xero, MYOB and QuickBooks.

New payees go through bank account verification before the first payment. Set up new suppliers and contractors a little ahead of their first due date so verification is complete when you need to pay.

What does it cost and what do I earn?

You pay a platform fee on each payment, ex GST, shown before you confirm. The supplier pays nothing.

In return you keep your card's full reward points, because your issuer sees a purchase from B2Bpay rather than a bank transfer that earns nothing. On Earn Plus and Earn Max you also earn B2B Points, which credit 5 days after payment and convert 1:1 to Qantas Points or Velocity Points, 2:1 to Avios or 1:2.5 to Luxury Escapes Société Points.

Example: a $10,000 supplier invoice paid with Mastercard on Earn Max costs $250 ex GST and earns 10,000 B2B Points plus your card's points. The fee is generally a business expense; confirm with your accountant. Run your own numbers in the points calculator.

Is paying a supplier through B2Bpay a purchase or a cash advance?

A purchase. Your card is charged by B2Bpay for a bill payment service, so it is treated like any other purchase: you earn points and your interest-free days apply.

This is the important difference from paying a supplier's BPAY bill directly from a credit card, which issuers commonly treat as a cash advance with fees, interest from day one and no points. The same applies to drawing cash to pay a tradesperson. Routing the payment through B2Bpay avoids both.

Because you are paying B2Bpay, not the supplier, the normal card rules still apply to what you can pay for. B2Bpay's help pages note that you cannot use a credit card to pay for finance or credit, to pay yourself or a related business entity, or for illegal activities. See what you cannot pay.

How does paying suppliers by card help cash flow?

The supplier is paid now by bank transfer, but the money does not leave your account until your card statement is due. Depending on your card and where the payment falls in your statement cycle, that can be up to 55 days.

For a business with lumpy revenue or long debtor days, that gap smooths the mismatch between when you get paid and when you must pay others. You can pay suppliers on time, or early enough to take an early payment discount, without draining the bank account on the day.

The condition is that you pay your card statement in full by the due date. If you do not, the card's interest rate applies and the benefit disappears. Our guide to 55 days interest-free explains how to time payments.

Can I pay contractors, tradies and overseas suppliers?

Contractors and tradespeople can be paid like any other supplier: add their bank or BPAY details as a biller and pay by card, and they receive a bank transfer. Set them up before the first payment is due so bank account verification is complete.

B2Bpay forwards payments by Australian bank transfer or BPAY, so it is designed for paying Australian billers. If you need to pay a supplier outside Australia, call 1300 205 575 and the team will confirm what is possible for your business before you rely on it.

Multiple user logins are supported, so a bookkeeper or team member can prepare supplier payments while the owner keeps control of the card.