American Express Global Business Travel (Amex GBT) has launched a new solution to manage travel and expenses for non-employees. The platform, known as the Guest T&E, aims to provide an efficient and organized solution for guest travel and reimbursement. The platform allows travelers to build their own travel profile and self-manage bookings through Amex GBT’s business travel marketplace. It also simplifies payment and budget management by allowing companies to create virtual cards based on predefined budgets. The platform features AI-based tools for receipt scanning and intelligent expense justification, automating the data inputting process and facilitating quicker expense approvals. It empowers managers and event coordinators by allowing them to create travel events, send guest invites, generate travel rules, and monitor real-time expense activity from within the portal. The platform is focused on experience, efficiency, and first impressions, ensuring both travelers and organizers benefit from a polished, secure, and efficient experience. 24/7 travel support is built into the platform, providing a safety net for those new to business travel or unfamiliar surroundings. Currently available on Amex GBT’s Neo and Egencia platforms, the platform is part of Amex GBT’s broader strategy to digitize and modernize the business travel experience. As customer demands and additional features are added, the platform may be expanded internationally. As non-employees continue to make up a larger share of the workforce, Amex GBT’s Guest T&E platform addresses this issue with an easy-to-use interface and enterprise level control and automation. The platform highlights Amex GBT’s focus on innovation, streamlining, and user happiness, offering a professional travel experience for every guest without the headache and risk of full compliance costs.
Paychex’s financial management solution for SMBs empowers them to manage their people and payments in one seamless experience by integrating payroll, HR, and accounts payable and offering access to real-time dashboards to monitor payables and cashflow
Paychex announced a new financial management solution for accounts payable provided by BILL, an intelligent financial operations platform for SMBs. Launching through Paychex Flex®, Bill Pay, Powered by BILL, integrates payroll, HR, and accounts payable and empowers SMBs to manage their people and payments in one seamless experience. Bill Pay, Powered by BILL, streamlines accounts payable by eliminating manual data entry, providing access to real-time dashboards to monitor payables and cashflow, and centralizing vendor data and payments. This increased efficiency and visibility can help businesses save time and ultimately improve the bottom line. Bill Pay, Powered by BILL, will enable businesses to: Automate bill payments with flexible payment options—offering multiple ways to fund and send payments to save time, money, and resources, all through Paychex Flex; Access BILL’s network of more than eight million businesses to easily find and pay vendors; Get real-time insights into payment status.
Trovata acquires ATOM to bolster treasury management offering with debt and investment instruments, intercompany transactions, in-house bank support, credit facilities, FX hedging, full domestic and international payment workflow, bank fee analysis and bank account management
Trovata announced its acquisition of ATOM, the enterprise Treasury Management System (TMS) developed by Financial Sciences Corporation. This move marks a bold step forward in Trovata’s mission to modernize and democratize treasury technology, unlocking the full capabilities required to serve large global enterprises. With ATOM’s deep treasury feature set—including support for debt and investment instruments, intercompany transactions, in-house bank support, credit facilities, FX hedging, full domestic and international payment workflow, bank fee analysis and bank account management—fully integrated into Trovata’s cloud-native platform, Trovata becomes the first modern, viable TMS alternative to the legacy incumbents. The combined offering delivers unprecedented scale, flexibility, and performance for corporate finance and treasury teams seeking to modernize. Brett Turner, Founder and CEO of Trovata said, “With ATOM, we have the firepower to compete directly with the legacy incumbents—and replace them. This isn’t just expansion. It’s a generational shift in treasury tech.”
Mastercard simplifies business payments directly integrating into the Oracle Cloud ERP, a new embedded virtual card payment capability
Mastercard has announced the local launch of a new embedded virtual card payment capability, with Westpac becoming the first commercial issuer in Australia to activate the solution for clients using Oracle Fusion Cloud Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). The integration leverages Mastercard’s innovative virtual card solution and Oracle’s B2B technology platform to deliver a seamless, secure, and fully embedded virtual card experience. By embedding virtual cards directly into the Oracle Cloud ERP, businesses gain real-time visibility, enhanced control, improved working capital management, and streamlined supplier onboarding, all within their system of record. The solution helps businesses move from manual, fragmented processes to a unified payment flow that centralizes financial management. Automated reconciliation reduces human error and frees finance teams to focus on higher-value work, while detailed remittance data improves transparency and simplifies the payment lifecycle for both customers and vendors. Unlike traditional implementations that require custom integration work, this solution is embedded in the customer’s existing Oracle Cloud ERP subscription, eliminating the need for additional setup or technical resources. Anouska Ladds, Executive Vice President, Commercial and New Payment Flows, Asia Pacific at Mastercard said, “By embedding our virtual card technology into enterprise workflows like the Oracle Cloud ERP, we are removing long-standing friction and empowering organizations and businesses across Asia Pacific to operate at the scale and speed of today’s economy.”
AmEx’s integration with Navan to enable business users to instantly create unique virtual Cards for travel bookings with built-in spending policies while offering automated reconciliation and real-time expense management
Navan announced a new integration with American Express that enables American Express U.S. Business and Corporate Card Members to instantly create unique virtual Cards for travel booked on the Navan Travel platform via Navan Connect. Navan Connect’s “Bring Your Own Card” functionality enables businesses to enjoy the benefits of the travel and expense solution employees love while keeping the benefits of the company’s existing bank and corporate card partner. To support and foster this integration, Navan is participating in the American Express Sync Commercial Partner Program. Combined with the end-to-end Navan T&E solution, the Navan-American Express Sync integration offers: Improved reconciliation. Speed up month-end close with automated reconciliation, all while earning the rewards of your American Express Card. Proactive spending policies. Create unique virtual Cards with built-in spending policies that make managing travel spend simple for finance teams. Real-time expense management. Companies have full visibility into every virtual Card expense the instant it happens with pending and cleared transactions that automatically appear in the Navan Expense dashboard to enable finance leaders to uncover savings opportunities — while keeping budgets and forecasts up-to-date. With Navan there are even more reasons to love your Card. American Express Card Members can earn the rewards of their eligible American Express Card when they use on-demand virtual Cards for travel payments.
Ecer launches GEO Enhanced Mode using four-step AI optimization framework; enabling Chinese exporters to bypass traditional SEO for direct global buyer access
Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)—an optimization strategy designed specifically for generative AI engines—has emerged. By ensuring a company’s information is deeply compatible with the content generation rules of AI engines, GEO is restructuring the entire process from “information retrieval” to “business matching.” It is carving out a new path for Chinese foreign trade companies to bypass the information silo and directly reach global buyers. Ecer.com recently launched its GEO Enhanced Mode, providing companies with a standardized solution for adapting to generative AI engines. Its core logic can be summarized in four progressive steps—Compliance, Structure, Context, and Authority—helping businesses move from simply “being found” to “being recommended.” Ecer’s GEO system first ensures that a company’s website meets AI crawling standards, including open data interfaces, clear content copyrights, and compliant privacy policies. Ecer’s GEO uses technologies like Schema markup and knowledge graph building to transform a company’s product parameters, certifications, and production capabilities into structured, AI-readable data. Ecer’s GEO analyzes user questions from AI engines to identify high-frequency sourcing scenarios (e.g., ” cross-border e-commerce drop-shipping suppliers”, “custom packaging solutions”). It then guides companies to build contextual content modules on their websites. Ecer’s GEO integrates a company’s industry certifications, media reports, and customer reviews to provide a multi-dimensional endorsement for the AI engine. Ecer’s GEO value is not just in “point-by-point optimization” of company information; it’s in promoting “ecosystem connectivity” across the foreign trade value chain. By integrating fragmented supplier data, logistics information, and industry trends into a dynamic knowledge network that AI can access, Ecer’s GEO is building a constantly updated “global trade brain.” By continuously outputting high-quality, structured information, they will become the “preferred source” for AI engines in their specific fields, giving them pricing and influence in their market segments.
Fifth Third and asset manager Eldridge partner to offer private credit arrangements to Commercial Banking clients
Fifth Third and Eldridge announced a strategic partnership to offer private credit arrangements to Commercial Bank clients. This program is built to enhance the ability for both parties to meet emerging and evolving needs and provide reliable private credit solutions to clients. Kevin Khanna, head of Commercial Banking. “By uniting complementary strengths and deepening our relationship, we are positioned to unlock new opportunities and enhance our collective value proposition. Most importantly both Fifth Third and Eldridge can deliver flexible, forward-looking financing solutions that empower clients to pursue strategic opportunities with confidence.” Nicholas Sandler, Co-President of Eldridge Capital Management. “This new partnership in private credit reflects a natural evolution of our engagement, grounded in a shared dedication to excellence. We’re excited to continue building on our foundation and expand what we can accomplish together across diverse forms of credit.” This program reflects a strong alignment of vision and capabilities, enabling Fifth Third and Eldridge to create new opportunities and deliver measurable value for clients and stakeholders.
Bipartisan Small Entity Update Act mandates SEC reassessment of compliance costs for advisers under $100 million AUM, adjusting outdated $25 million threshold to reduce regulatory complexity for community and regional banks
A bipartisan pair of senators introduced legislation Monday aimed at overhauling the Securities and Exchange Commission’s definition of small businesses. Sens. Katie Britt, R-Ala., and Andy Kim, D-N.J., are set to introduce a bill that would compel the Securities and Exchange Commission to reassess how it classifies small investment advisory firms, and how it would measure compliance costs that these businesses face. The legislation would affect community and perhaps regional banks that compete with independent investment advisors for wealth advisory clients, or those seeking to purchase investment advisory firms. The bill also signals growing agreement among Democratic lawmakers to lower compliance costs on a number of small financial companies. The bill would “ensure these small entities across the state and country are not unduly impacted by onerous regulations so they can continue to play pivotal roles in our economy,” Britt said in a statement. “It is paramount that the SEC considers the unique challenges facing our smallest businesses when issuing any future rulemakings,” she said. The SEC is already required to assess the impact of regulations on “small entities,” defined as a small investment advisor with less than $25 million in assets under management. But the threshold to even be required to register with the SEC is $100 million of assets under management, with few exceptions, making the threshold “virtually meaningless,” according to the lawmakers. A companion bill, introduced by Rep. Ann Wagner, R-Mo., has passed the full House and has been referred to the Senate Banking Committee. The new bill from Britt and Kim suggests at least some bipartisan buy-in on the committee, which any bill will need to pass the narrowly controlled Senate. “Every entrepreneur deserves a fair shot at success, free from outdated and overburdensome red tape,” Kim said in a statement. “This bill is a straightforward way we can modernize and stand by our smallest businesses so they can continue to contribute to our local communities and economies.” The legislation would require the SEC to conduct a study examining market growth and regulatory costs since the agency last modified its small entity definition. Based on those findings, the commission would need to issue new rules adjusting the threshold accordingly. The bill would then index the definition to inflation, with mandatory updates every five years. The proposal has drawn support from financial services industry groups that have long complained about regulatory complexity squeezing smaller firms out of business. Firms have complained that compliance costs have risen steadily as the SEC has expanded its rulebook in response to the 2008 financial crisis and other market disruptions, creating economies of scale that favor larger firms. “For too long, this outdated standard has allowed the SEC to bypass meaningful consideration of less burdensome regulatory alternatives for small investment advisers,” the Investment Adviser Association said in a statement.
Payroc’s acquisition of payment orchestration platform BlueSnap to enable it to offer end-to-end global card acquiring and eBanking processing capabilities to merchants, ISVs and embedded fintechs via a unified platform
Payroc WorldAcces is acquiring BlueSnap, a global payment orchestration and AR automation platform. This strategic acquisition unites Payroc’s direct-connect acquiring infrastructure across the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico, and transforms Payroc’s capabilities by adding BlueSnap’s robust global and enterprise capabilities. The transaction is expected to close in Q3 2025 and is subject to regulatory approval and other customary items. The acquisition creates a unified acquiring powerhouse that offers both end-to-end global card acquiring and eBanking processing capabilities to merchants, ISVs, and embedded technology partners, including: Global CNP Leadership & Routing Optimization: Accept card-not-present, electronic check and alternative payments in 47 countries, 100+ currencies, and 36+ local methods through a single API. BlueSnap’s intelligent routing and fraud prevention tools improve authorization rates and reduce cross-border costs. AR Automation & Cash Flow Efficiency: Accelerate receivables with embedded invoicing, subscription billing, and automated reconciliation. Real-time dashboards and out-of-the-box workflows simplify billing and collections. Enterprise-Grade Scale & Partner Ecosystem: Trusted by global enterprises and integrated with leading ISVs, ERP platforms, and embedded fintechs. Global Footprint & Compliance Excellence: Local acquiring, combined card and electronic check, dynamic and FX currency conversion, routing and interchange optimization, consolidated and detailed reporting, and managed clearing ensures cost-effective processing and regulatory compliance worldwide.
Zeni.ai launches business debit card featuring 1.75% cashback on every transaction, with rewards automatically deposited into its Checking Account, issuance of virtual cards instantly and AI to help spend smarter and close books effortlessly
Zeni, the AI-driven finance platform for modern businesses, today announced the launch of the Zeni Business Debit Card, the first debit card to combine instant cashback rewards with built-in AI financial management. Unlike traditional debit cards, Zeni’s card offers 1.75% cashback on every transaction, with rewards automatically deposited into the company’s Zeni Business Checking Account. Businesses can issue virtual cards instantly—no waiting for plastic—and begin spending in seconds. The Zeni Business Debit Card is powered by AI to help companies spend smarter and close their books effortlessly. Each transaction is automatically categorized, reconciled, and matched with receipts by Zeni’s AI Bookkeeper. Finance teams also gain real-time visibility into company-wide spending, with smart spend controls to set limits by user, department, or project.