Richmond Inno Article

How Richmond’s Paymerang Found Success Digitizing B2B Payments

For many businesses, the work involved in handling supplier payments can be exasperating. Every invoice needs to be recorded, approved, paid and then reconciled, and management of that system can consume hundreds of hours of employee time annually. Nasser Chanda, CEO of Richmond-based fintech company Paymerang, believes his company offers the ideal solution: automation of the entire vendor payment process.

“Rather than having to manage their accounts payable, companies upload a payment file and send us the funds, and then we do all of the work at the back end,” Chanda said. “We enroll their vendors in our network, execute payments on their behalf, and then settle and reconcile those payments.”

Paymerang specializes in serving mid-market businesses in the healthcare, education, media, technology and manufacturing industries. The company’s ultimate objective, Chanda said, is to help its clients become more efficient, secure and profitable, and vendors appreciate the service because it allows them to receive payments more quickly.

In addition to providing time-saving convenience, Paymerang generates additional revenue for companies in the form of cash rewards.

“Our clients don’t pay us. We pay them,” Chanda said.

The concept is similar to consumer credit cards that offer cash back on purchases. Paymerang earns money back on the electronic payments it makes and then splits those rewards with its clients. According to Chanda, companies that use the service earn an average of $50,000 in rebates annually.

Paymerang currently processes billions of dollars in payments every year for clients spanning across the nation, its network includes more than 60,000 suppliers, and 75 percent of the payments it handles are made electronically.

Advanced security is one of the key components of Paymerang’s business model. The company’s e-payment process uses encrypted data and a two-level authentication system. The company also disburses payments using virtual cards in its own name to further protect its clients from vulnerability to fraud.

“WE’RE HERE FOR THE LONG TERM, AND WE’RE DOING THINGS THAT WILL HELP US BUILD A RESILIENT, STRONG ORGANIZATION SET FOR THE NEXT HUNDRED YEARS.”

Businesses who sign up can expect to be up and running with a full-fledged e-payable program in less than 30 days. No financial investment is required, and the entire registration process can be completed in a few hours.

Paymerang was first founded in 2010 by Steve Winston, who wanted to create a more modernized, automated approach to managing accounts payable. Chanda took over as CEO in 2017. He previously worked at Brink’s—a publicly traded security company headquartered in Richmond—where he launched its global payments initiative and grew it into a profitable business with over $100 million in revenue. Today, he oversees more than 60 employees in Paymerang’s Richmond office.

Last March, Paymerang’s expansion goals gained further traction when it received a $26 million investment by Aldrich Capital Partners, a private equity firm based in Bethesda, Md. Those funds are being used for investments in several key areas, including product development and sales and marketing.

Chanda credits much of the company’s success to the dedication of its employees.

“We have an incredible culture of teamwork, customer focus, positivity and strategic growth,” he said. Those efforts appear to be going a long way in securing a loyal client base, as the company enjoys high retention rates among its customers: “We’re loved by our clients. They basically don’t leave us,” said Chanda.

The finance automation industry is still in a stage of infancy, but market data suggests that it will continue to grow at a rapid pace.

If Chanda’s vision is realized, his company will make a positive impact on the local economy for years to come.

“We love the talent we have in Richmond, and we love to invest in Richmond,” he said. “We’re here for the long term, and we’re doing things that will help us build a resilient, strong organization set for the next hundred years.”