LONDON, January 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Open ECX, the fastest growing e-trading community in Construction, and global corporate payment solutions provider, Optal, have today announced a partnership that will introduce payment solutions specifically tailored to meet the needs of the construction industry.

     (Logo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/458236/Open_ECX_Logo.jpg )

     (Logo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/458246/Opital_Logo.jpg )

Combined with Open ECX's WebContractor solution, Optal's payment solution will give construction businesses simple, straightforward access to competitive subcontractor payment facilities. The solution will help businesses automate and improve the speed of payments to the construction supply chain, reducing the time and personnel costs associated with manual payment processes while improving both trading relationships and retention rates.

Optal's payment facility is fully integrated with WebContractor, making it simple for construction businesses to pay subcontractor invoices on time or early with no complicated administration, while remaining compliant with fair payment legislation in the UK Construction Act. Subcontractors get paid faster, helping to improve subcontractor cash flow. Optal's solution offers the industry automated reconciliation, protection against fraud and supplier default in addition to a reward that can turn payment costs into a revenue stream.

Matthew Jones, CEO of Open ECX says: 

"WebContractor is designed to tackle the problems construction businesses face with effective subcontractor management, using technology to ease the burden of UK Construction Act compliance, enhancing financial visibility and building stronger relationships with the supply chain. Our partnership with Optal will add an extra dimension to the capabilities of WebContractor, with easy payment functionality incorporated directly into the supply chain process.  Savings can be made through reduced administration, a major reduction in contractor bank charges for payment costs, and there will be no need to maintain supplier bank details."

Andy Downes, General Manager of Optal UK says: 

"Construction is one of the UK's most important industries and it has been lacking in payment solutions tailored to its very specific requirements. Our partnership with Open ECX has allowed us to develop a solution designed specifically for this industry; one which allows low-risk, secure card payment transactions to be directly linked to invoice details, providing fully automated reconciliation for both the construction firm and the subcontractor." 

Additional Information 

About Open ECX Ltd 

With almost 2,000 trading relationships across 25 countries, processing monthly transactions worth almost £40million, Open ECX facilitates automated electronic transactions across a large community of construction businesses and suppliers.

Open ECX's scalable software helps streamline and better manage procure-to-pay (P2P) processes, whether they be, for example, receiving e-Invoices, viewing e-Catalogues, placing e-Orders or paying subcontractors. Software from Open ECX dramatically enhances visibility, control and compliance while also allowing substantial cost-savings and improved trading relationships in the Construction Supply Chain.

Their WebContractor solution allows construction businesses to effectively manage subcontractor relationships end-to-end, through improved visibility and tracking of the payment process on both sides. This streamlines and simplifies the payment process, and ensures compliance with the UK Construction Act.

For more information about Open ECX, visit http://www.openecx.co.uk

About Optal Ltd 

Optal is re-inventing how payment processes work across complex industries.  By stripping payment processes of their customary inefficiency, Optal helps companies boost profitability across a growing number of sectors around the world.

Optal issues MasterCard branded payment products, driving its focus on developing and bringing to market game-changing payment solutions.

For more information about Optal, visit http://www.optal.com .

Contact Details

Chloe Leigh, Marketing Director, Open ECX Ltd, +44-07786-938-790, chloe.leigh@openecx.co.uk

Andy Downes, General Manager, Optal Financial Ltd, +44-07957-762457, andrew.downes@optal.com

SOURCE Optal and Open ECX