Turning B2B Payments Into Business Class: PayRewards Adds Avios

By Matthew Richardson

DALLAS, TX – November 06, 2026 — For most U.S. businesses, paying routine vendor invoices, rent, and quarterly taxes is a necessary drain on cash flow that yields little to no return. While corporate credit cards offer lucrative points on specific categories like travel and advertising, a massive blind spot remains: the trillions of dollars routed through traditional Automated Clearing House (ACH) transfers and checks, which typically earn nothing.

Now, a recently launched fintech platform is attempting to close that gap by applying consumer-style loyalty psychology to corporate accounts payable. PayRewards, an accounts payable platform that entered the U.S. market in August, announced today the addition of British Airways' loyalty currency, Avios, to its points transfer network.

The new partnership allows American business owners to convert points earned on everyday business payments into Avios at a 1:1 rate. The platform joins an increasingly crowded field of financial technology companies vying to digitize and monetize the massive B2B payments ecosystem, offering a unique proposition that essentially allows businesses to buy their way into premium airline cabins through transaction fees.

Cracking the Untapped B2B Payments Market

The accounts payable sector has long been considered the final frontier for digital payments. While platforms like Melio and Plastiq have made significant inroads, they have largely focused on different value propositions. Melio, for instance, targets small businesses with free ACH transfers and simplified payment workflows, completely eschewing a proprietary rewards system. Plastiq allows businesses to pay virtually any bill with a credit card for a 2.9% fee, enabling users to unlock their underlying credit card rewards, but it does not offer a native loyalty currency.

PayRewards is attempting to carve out a distinct niche by offering a proprietary, transferable loyalty currency on all payment types, including ACH. This directly addresses the limitation of traditional business charge cards, which are often rejected by vendors unwilling to absorb high merchant processing fees.

The platform's U.S. expansion is backed by a $28 million Series E funding round, signaling strong investor confidence in its business model. This confidence is largely rooted in the track record of its parent company, Pay.com.au. The Australian entity has already processed more than $7 billion across 30,000 businesses over the past 12 months, proving that business owners are willing to pay transaction surcharges if the perceived rewards are high enough.

The Unit Economics of Travel Arbitrage

The core question for chief financial officers and business owners is whether the math actually works. PayRewards does not charge a monthly platform fee, but it monetizes transactions through a tiered fee structure. Users pay a 2.9% service fee on credit card payments, plus a rewards fee of 1.75% on the Core Tier (earning one point per dollar) or 3.25% on the Plus Tier (earning two points per dollar).

Financial analysts who track loyalty programs generally value British Airways Avios at roughly 1.5 cents per point when redeemed for standard economy flights. At this valuation, paying PayRewards' fees results in a net negative return on investment. For example, a business paying $10,000 in invoices on the Core Tier would incur a $175 fee to earn 10,000 Avios. If those Avios are only worth $150 in economy airfare, the company has effectively lost $25 on the transaction.

However, the calculus shifts dramatically when optimizing for premium international travel. Business and first-class redemptions can frequently push the value of an Avios point to 2.5 cents or higher. At a 2.5-cent valuation, those same 10,000 points are worth $250, yielding a net gain of $75 over the $175 fee.

The real financial leverage comes from what the platform calls the "Double-Dip." Because businesses can use a rewards-earning credit card to fund the PayRewards transaction, they can stack their earnings. If a company uses a corporate card that earns 2% cash back, that underlying reward effectively subsidizes the 2.9% card processing fee and the 1.75% PayRewards fee. In this scenario, the net cost of acquiring the points drops significantly, making the arbitrage highly favorable for savvy operators.

Navigating Award Availability and Surcharges

Earning the points is only half the battle; redeeming them efficiently requires a deep understanding of the global aviation alliance ecosystem. British Airways operates nonstop flights to London from 27 U.S. cities, offering its acclaimed Club Suite business class product. However, the airline is notorious in the travel industry for levying exorbitant carrier-imposed surcharges—often referred to as fuel surcharges—on its award tickets.

For a round-trip business class flight from the United States to London Heathrow, a traveler redeeming Avios might still be required to pay anywhere from $800 to over $1,500 out of pocket in taxes and surcharges. This substantial cash co-pay can quickly erode the value generated through the accounts payable arbitrage.

To maximize the utility of the newly integrated Avios partnership, business travelers must look beyond British Airways' own metal. Because Avios is the loyalty currency for the broader International Airlines Group (IAG) and partners within the oneworld alliance, the points can be deployed strategically. Redeeming Avios for transatlantic flights on partner airlines like American Airlines or Iberia often circumvents the most punitive surcharges, preserving the financial upside of the rewards earned through vendor payments.

A Strategic Playbook for Founders

The addition of Avios marks the platform's third major airline partnership since its U.S. rollout, joining Cathay Pacific Asia Miles and Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer. With additional travel partners slated to be announced in December, the company is rapidly building a comprehensive ecosystem for corporate travel hacking.

"American business owners pay trillions of dollars in accounts payable each year, and much of it earns nothing," said Blake Hutchison, CEO of PayRewards, in a statement regarding the launch. "We help them earn on all of it. With Avios as a partner, the rent, inventory and vendor invoices an owner already pays could become a lie-flat business class seat on a nonstop flight to London, whether the trip is to win new business in Europe or to take the vacation they have earned."

For modern enterprises, accounts payable is no longer just a back-office administrative burden. When managed with precision, it has evolved into a strategic lever that can fund global executive travel and offset significant operational expenses. As fintech platforms continue to blur the lines between corporate finance and consumer loyalty, the businesses that learn to navigate these complex fee structures will be the ones sitting in the premium cabin, while their competitors remain grounded by traditional banking constraints.