By using Bluechain, Aggregate Industries will be able to digitise the billing, collections and reconciliation process with its small and medium sized customers (SMEs).
Bluechain sees the UK as a strategic market for its current growth objectives and it plans to expand aggressively in the country, aiming to reach 100,000 new customers by the end of its first year. With other expansions already in the works, including Europe and Africa, Bluechain has its sights set on landing large businesses and SME customers across a range of sectors including utilities, wholesale, construction and professional services.
The UK expansion follows a successful Australian launch in the summer of 2020 focused on supporting SMEs. Bluechain has a growing number of customers and partners, including NRS Couriers, Rabbithole Café, Madcrew Wealth and Tuber.
The Request to Pay (RtP) company offers its platform to connect businesses and customers in real-time, transforming the biller and payer experience and taking the reactive ‘black hole’ of invoicing into “an insightful and connected mutually beneficial relationship”.
Complete transparency
Bluechain’s system puts control in the hands of the payee. Customers can schedule bills at a date that aligns with their payday and split payments into smaller amounts, pay in full or query their bill.
Businesses receive complete transparency on invoice status with live data to know when they will get paid. It also eliminates security risks as payment data is never in transit and verified billers no longer need to share risky text payment links.
Tim Annis, UK managing director at Bluechain, said: “Businesses such as Aggregate Industries and their customers are the backbone of the UK economy and this launch into the UK market is a great opportunity for Bluechain to help transform the payments experience particularly for SMEs.
“Bluechain’s platform takes businesses one step closer to their customers, and we are thrilled at the opportunities that this is bringing for UK customers. It’s great to be able to work with a partner like Aggregate Industries as we thrive together in delivering the best in class customer experience for billing and collections.”
Phil Rice, head of credit at Aggregate Industries, added: “Aggregate Industries and the broader Holcim Group are always looking for new ways to support and improve the customer experience. Through our open innovation platform, Holcim MAQER, we identify and partner with start-ups delivering the most impactful solutions that solve challenges for our customers and our own teams. Bluechain presents an opportunity to create a closer level of customer engagement. The focus on how we can help them become more digitally enabled while at the same time supporting the cost-to-service receivables makes it a win-win. Bluechain’s end-to-end approach presents just such a solution.”
