A new bill-payment service wants to solve an old problem for small business owners: how to earn travel rewards on suppliers who only take bank transfers or checks. PayRewards, the US offshoot of Australia's pay.com.au, launched in August with $28 million in fresh funding and a pitch aimed squarely at points enthusiasts.

Here's how it works. You pay a business invoice using an eligible American Express, Visa or Mastercard (or straight from your bank account). PayRewards then settles with the vendor by bank transfer, wire or check, so the supplier never needs to touch a card. Fees are tiered: a plain card payment costs 2.9%, while the 'Plus' option runs 6.15% on a card but earns 2 PayRewards points per dollar. Bank-funded Plus costs 3.25%. Wires cost $16 to send, checks $5, and there are no signup or monthly fees.

The maths can be surprisingly reasonable. On a $10,000 bill paid with a card that earns 2 transferable points per dollar, you'd pay roughly $615 in total fees and walk away with 20,000 card points plus 20,000 PayRewards points — about 1.54 cents per point combined. That's not cheap, but it's in the ballpark for people who collect miles for long-haul premium cabins, especially when the spend also knocks out a credit card welcome bonus.

What makes the PayRewards currency interesting is where it goes. Two transfer partners are live: Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer and Cathay Pacific Asia Miles, at 1:1. Both matter. Singapore keeps most of its long-haul first class and A380 Suites award space for its own members, and KrisFlyer often has business class availability partner programs never see. Asia Miles unlock Cathay first class redemptions that aren't bookable elsewhere, and they're handy for British Airways flights where booking with Avios triggers brutal fuel surcharges — paying with Asia Miles can cut the cash cost dramatically.

A few caveats. Paying yourself, relatives or related businesses is banned, and residents of Connecticut, Hawaii, New Mexico, South Dakota, West Virginia and Washington, DC can't open accounts. On tax, processing fees on genuine business payments may be deductible, but tacking on an optional charge purely to buy points for personal trips is a grey area — the US Justice Department pushed back on exactly that logic in its 2025 American Express settlement.

Rivals like Melio, BILL and Plastiq let you put bills on cards too, but PayRewards is the first of this crop with its own transferable points currency layered on top. The sensible play, if you run a business with chunky invoices: the account is free, so open one now and know the mechanics before a big bill and a lucrative card offer land at the same time.

Story via View from the Wing.