U.S. Bancorp to acquire B2B payments provider Bento

U.S. Bancorp has agreed to acquire Bento Technologies, a move designed to strengthen the bank's ability to bundle banking and payments in a single offering for small businesses.

Bento, better known as Bento for Business, offers payment support and expense management services such as tools to manage card payments, spend tracking and transaction controls. One of its signature products is a Venmo-style app called Bento Pay, which supports instant payments for high-value B2B transactions. The feature uses email addresses to send payments, with payees selecting to receive funds via a virtual card or ACH transaction. This is designed to safeguard funds while eliminating the need to write checks, which many small businesses still use.

Business payments have historically trailed consumer transactions in adopting digital advancements such as real-time availability and mobile wallets. Automation began to pick up during the pandemic as businesses turned to digital payments for remote work. That trend is expected to continue even as businesses bring people back into offices, creating demand for business banking that can also accommodate digital payments.

At the onset of the pandemic, Bento updated its distribution method, sending corporate cards directly to employees based on their work location. It had previously sent them only to the business owner.

Bento's accounts payable software complements the $559 billion-asset bank's accounts receivable technology through its Elavon merchant services unit. The Minneapolis-based bank also plans to blend Bento's expense management tools with its own credit, deposit and card account services.

U.S. Bank did not say what it is paying for Bento, which is based in San Francisco and Chicago. The deal is expected to close in September.