San Francisco‑based Tereina, a payments company in which SAP holds a stake, announced on Tuesday that it is adding a native payment layer to the SAP business‑software suite. The new service, called SAP Pay, enables firms to move money to suppliers, staff and partners without leaving the ERP environment, and supports both conventional currencies and stablecoins.
How the service works
According to Tereina chief executive Cedric Bru, the platform sits inside the existing SAP applications that businesses already use to track finances, inventory and operations. Companies can subscribe to SAP Pay under their current SAP contracts, meaning no separate licensing or integration effort is required. Bru likened the offering to Apple Pay, but for enterprise software – a payment tool that is built directly into the system where transactions are already recorded.
Cost savings and partnership model
Tereina says the service can cut payment processing fees by roughly 25 percent compared with traditional merchant‑acquiring models. Rather than competing with existing payment providers, Tereina partners with them, routing transactions through its network while preserving the lower‑cost structure. The company emphasizes that the new layer does not replace customers’ existing payment relationships; it simply offers a streamlined, cost‑effective path for moving money.
Technology and development timeline
The product was built using AI‑assisted coding tools and represents two and a half years of development, with the majority of work completed in the past 18 months. Tereina’s staff, described as a “few dozen” engineers and product specialists, operates out of San Francisco. The company’s focus on rapid development and integration aligns with SAP’s broader strategy to deepen its ecosystem of cloud‑based services.
Implications for businesses
For enterprises that already rely on SAP for resource planning, finance and supply‑chain management, the ability to initiate payments without switching platforms could improve cash‑flow visibility and reduce administrative overhead. The inclusion of stablecoins also offers a bridge to digital‑asset transactions, giving firms flexibility in markets where cryptocurrency use is growing.
Industry reaction
Analysts note that SAP’s move into payments reflects a wider trend among enterprise software vendors to become one‑stop shops for business operations. By embedding payment capabilities, SAP can keep more of a company’s financial workflow within its own cloud, potentially increasing customer lock‑in and creating new revenue streams. The partnership approach also mitigates regulatory risk, as Tereina does not become a direct banking entity.
Overall, the launch of SAP Pay positions Tereina and SAP to capture a slice of the multi‑trillion‑dollar corporate payments market while offering businesses a simpler, lower‑cost way to settle invoices and payroll.
Original reporting: Appleton, WI News Feed (HLL/CB) — read the source article.
