MarginEdge has introduced a new mobile bill payment solution, called MarginEdge Bill Pay, to help restaurant operators settle their payments with their smartphones. Now, owners are able to upload, approve, and even pay their invoices on the go.
PaymentsJournal reached out to Bo Davis, Founder and CEO of MarginEdge, to discuss the new solution, how this new mobile payment capability is addressing current restaurant owners’ pain points, and where the shift in digital payments is headed.
We are clearly seeing a shift toward digital B2B payments. What do you expect to see in the next few years?
Moving beyond the payment, it’s important businesses are able to move money from Point A to B in a secure, reliable manner. But what will matter the most in the few years forward are what value-added services are accompanying that capability. What processes does a company [have to] help streamline or reduce friction points? Do they help eliminate it? Does this solution help with the reconciliation process? Does this solution provide richer remittance to my vendor to help streamline their cash application process? Can I do one-click ordering to my vendor and always be in sync with their records?
It’s those problems we are tackling with [MarginEdge] finance and will continue to iterate on in the coming years as we plot a path toward being the most efficient and streamlined way to pay in the restaurant space. A product built for restaurant owners by restaurant owners.
In your conversations with restaurants, what are the challenges they’re facing, whether it’s with new tools or keeping up with the constantly evolving payments space?
Restaurants are surrounded by noise. New tools and technology vendors are promising to help them gain back time or streamline processes, but most of these providers are not built and created by former restaurant owners or general managers who have actually experienced the pain points day in and day out.
Other solutions tend to only address 70 to 80% of the problem while missing industry nuances that can help streamline the entire process. Moreover, these companies are still charging per invoice or per payment. With [MarginEdge] finance, we have stuck our flag in the ground and are going to market with a fixed flat rate of $100 per month with unlimited invoices processed and payments made.
Again, because we are former restaurant owners, we truly understand simple, transparent pricing matters, and creating tools to solve the actual challenges of the industry matters, not just another generic AP platform.
How many restaurants are you currently working with?
5,200-plus restaurants all across the United States.
What is the main goal of this solution?
The main goal is to help eliminate the arduous process of cutting checks to vendors on a weekly and sometimes daily basis. We streamline and automate the complete AP process, and thanks to our invoice processing capabilities, ensure you are paying the right amount to the right vendor, regardless of credits you may have.