American Express and Ariba have joined forces to launch
a complete online procurement and payment system for enterprises
and their suppliers.
Together, they have introduced the Ariba Processing Plus (AP
Plus) platform in the UK, following its earlier introduction in the
US.
The aim is to give those Ariba UK customers who use the American
Express Corporate Purchasing Solution new and enhanced data
capture, data reconciliation and real-time online reporting
features, said the companies.
AP Plus has been available in the US for several years, but the
UK launch marks its first deployment in Europe.
John Bostock, American Express European head of corporate
purchasing solutions, said: “The launch of AP Plus in the UK is a
great step forward for suppliers and buyers because it saves
customers time and money by providing a seamless, accurate and
real-time purchasing and reconciliation solution.”
AP Plus combines the functionality of Ariba Buyer and the Ariba
Supplier Network with financial controls offered by the American
Express Corporate Purchasing Solution and its global Merchant
Network, to provide a closed loop, global, online
procurement-to-payment solution.
Enhanced purchase order item details, including value added tax
(VAT) data, is captured, allowing customers to easily manage their
data reconciliation and tax reclaims.
For security, Corporate Purchasing Solution account numbers are
maintained by the buyer and are not shared with suppliers. For
suppliers, AP Plus eliminates the need for separate point-of-sale
systems that require manual entry and carry the risk of
administration errors.
The Ariba Supplier Network is an open business transaction
network. It includes 120,000 registered e-enabled suppliers
engaging in transactions worth more than $5bn (£2.95bn) each month.
The network has suppliers in 115 countries and supports 10
languages.