Barclaycard and KashFlow – big deal?
Barclaycard are piloting allowing businesses using the their merchant services to raise invoices and collect payments using an “e-invoicing” service provided by KashFlow.
This posting on TechCrunch, prompted the above tweet from Duane Jackson, which Dennis Howlett picked up on immediately and wrote about here.
My initial reaction to reading the TechCrunch article was that this seemed like a significant development but, here’s my problem, the more I think about it the less important it seems to me. It may be a big deal for the two companies involved (great exposure for KashFlow particularly) but I can’t see where the importance to business owners might be.
I am running a small business and find the idea of printing and posting paper invoices plain ridiculous in 2010, so I use accounting software that makes it easy for me to create PDF invoices and email them to customers. I want to make it as easy as possible for my customer to pay me, and improve my cashflow, so I include a link in my PDF invoices which directs to my PayPal account, which can accept all major credit and debit cards. If I was a Barclaycard merchant, I assume that I could just as easy link to that account on my invoices.
If I didn’t have my accounting system already setup, I might well decide to use KashFlow, and in that case why would I be interested in a cut-down, badged version of that software provided by Barclaycard?
Maybe another scenario is that I have an accounting system that I am happy with but I can’t produce PDF invoices and collect payment electronically. Am I really likely to keep that accounting system and also run a parallel invoicing system (and presumably sales ledger) in a completely separate service and have all the hassle of keeping the two in sync? No, of course not. I will either struggle on without the benefits of “e-invoicing” or, perhaps more likely, decide that it’s time to change my accounting system. In which case, again, I have no interest in what Barclaycard are offering.
My conclusion is that this is another example of one of the banks trying to use an alternative means to market their financial services by cloaking them in some pseudo “added-value” solution involving software. Barclays have form on this, with their Clearly Bookkeeping promotion some years back.
I can’t see any downside for Duane Jackson, unless they are spending a lot on the “badging” exercise for Barclaycard and, indeed, it is already providing his company with great publicity.
Unfortunately, I can’t see much upside for the small business community. That’s why I am thinking this is no big deal.
Update
Duane Jackson responded to my final comment on this posting, via Twitter, as follows – enough (not) said:
I think the benefit is not in the software they gain but the link and, I assume, the automated accounting element. Saving time is something every business tried to do(or at least I do) and if I can decrease the number of steps I have to take to do my books I’ll be happy. I assume I can create and charge a customer from within one of their applications in one step thus saving time.
Surely that point has to be obvious?
Hi Mr A, thanks for your comment.
I agree that less time spent doing your books must always be a good thing. My point is that this can be achieved by using modern software (like KashFlow) and therefore why not go there direct, rather than via some third party (like Barclaycard)?
I completely agree to an extent. I believe the publicity for KashFlow is probably the biggest thing to come from this deal and a smart move. Getting into bed with Barclay’s is no small feat. What is means for the future could be far greater but let’s not speculate.
I also think that the number of businesses this will massively affect is also not large. However for those smaller telephone sales companies taking orders by phone. The ability to enter a sale and charge for it with their pre-existing barclaycard virtual terminal (or whatever their calling it) is a massive time saver.
Unfortunately, I don’t think the people taking telephone sales via a terminal will gain anything – you are right, it would be fantastic if they could. My understanding (and we need to wait and see) is that; (1) business raises invoice (2) emails it, then (3) payment can be automatically made via Barclaycard. So, I think it’s accounting first, then collection – not the other way around
Hi Adrian,
As with all card processors we integrate with (about a dozen right now), there is a virtual terminal within KashFlow for taking payments over the phone.
Hi Duane, thanks for stopping by. I am not doubting that KashFlow makes it easy to deal with payments over the phone. What I am struggling to “get” is how the tie-in with Barclaycard improves what you already have to offer. My take is that a business could get what it needs directly from you, so what would it gain by going via Barclaycard’s e-invoicing site?
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