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B2B Payment Rewards Optimization Engine
A SaaS platform that automatically calculates the optimal credit card plus passthrough service combination for each ACH vendor payment, maximizing net rewards after fees. The platform would maintain a database of card rewards rates and passthrough fees, recommend the best payment path per transaction, and negotiate volume-based fee discounts with providers like Plastiq and Melio on behalf of high-spend clients.
Why this matters
You run a business spending hundreds of thousands or even millions every month on vendors like media agencies who only accept ACH. Every other payment in your business earns cash back through credit cards, but ACH offers nothing. You have tried card-to-ACH passthrough services, but their processing fees eat up the rewards, making the whole exercise pointless. You know that with the right card and the right service, the math could work in your favor, but figuring out which combination is optimal for each payment is a manual spreadsheet exercise nobody has time for. You want a tool that just tells you the best way to pay each vendor to maximize net savings, automatically.
- · Built for Finance and accounts payable teams at mid-market to enterprise businesses spending $200K+ monthly on ACH-only vendor payments, particularly in marketing, advertising, logistics, and professional services.
- · Most likely monetization: SaaS subscription with success fee (percentage of net savings achieved).
The Pain · Narrative
You run a business spending hundreds of thousands or even millions every month on vendors like media agencies who only accept ACH. Every other payment in your business earns cash back through credit cards, but ACH offers nothing. You have tried card-to-ACH passthrough services, but their processing fees eat up the rewards, making the whole exercise pointless. You know that with the right card and the right service, the math could work in your favor, but figuring out which combination is optimal for each payment is a manual spreadsheet exercise nobody has time for. You want a tool that just tells you the best way to pay each vendor to maximize net savings, automatically.
Score Breakdown
Market Signal
Go-to-Market
CFOs and accounts payable managers at advertising and marketing agencies' client companies spending $200K+ monthly on ACH vendor payments
~15,000-25,000 US mid-market businesses with $200K+ monthly ACH vendor spend
LinkedIn outbound to CFOs and controllers in advertising-dependent industries
$1,500/month plus 10% of net savings above baseline
5 paying customers within 60 days, each saving $3K+ monthly net of platform fees
MVP Scope · 1–2 weeks
- Build a card rewards database covering 20 top business credit cards with their rewards rates by spending category
- Integrate fee structures for Melio and Plastiq (manually if no API available) into a comparison calculator
- Create a net-rewards optimization algorithm that takes vendor payment amount and recommends best card+service combination
- Build a simple web dashboard where users input monthly ACH spend and see projected net savings
- Set up a landing page with a savings calculator tool for lead generation
- Add support for multiple vendor payments and recurring weekly payment schedules
- Implement a savings tracker showing cumulative net rewards over time versus baseline ACH
- Create a fee-negotiation request template for contacting passthrough providers about volume discounts
- Add email notification system for optimal payment recommendations before each weekly payment cycle
- Reach out to 50 target CFOs via LinkedIn with the savings calculator as a lead magnet
Differentiation
Why This Might Fail
Self-rebuttal — the most important trust signal
- 1Passthrough providers like Plastiq and Melio may not offer APIs, meaning the platform cannot automate payment execution and becomes just a recommendation engine that users may not consistently follow.
- 2Card networks could restrict or penalize manufactured spend through passthrough services, eliminating the rewards arbitrage opportunity entirely and invalidating the core value proposition.
- 3The target customer base is sophisticated enough to eventually do the optimization math themselves or negotiate direct deals, limiting long-term retention and willingness to pay ongoing fees.
Evidence Summary
How AI synthesized this insight — no verbatim quotes
Approximately 5 commenters confirmed that ACH lacks the interchange revenue that funds credit card rewards, making direct cash back structurally unlikely. Multiple users independently identified Melio and Plastiq as existing card-to-ACH passthrough solutions, but 4 commenters noted that their processing fees often cancel out rewards. One commenter pointed out that the math depends on the specific card used, with signup bonuses or higher rewards rates potentially making it work. The original poster spends 400K to 1.5M monthly, representing an extremely high-value customer for any solution that delivers even fractional savings.
Action Plan
Validate this opportunity before writing code
Recommended Next Step
Build
Strong demand signals detected. Real pain, real willingness to pay — start building an MVP.
Landing Page Copy Kit
Ready-to-paste copy based on real Reddit community language — no editing required
Headline
B2B Payment Rewards Optimization Engine
Sub-headline
A SaaS platform that automatically calculates the optimal credit card plus passthrough service combination for each ACH vendor payment, maximizing net rewards after fees. The platform would maintain a database of card rewards rates and passthrough fees, recommend the best payment path per transaction, and negotiate volume-based fee discounts with providers like Plastiq and Melio on behalf of high-spend clients.
Who It's For
For Finance and accounts payable teams at mid-market to enterprise businesses spending $200K+ monthly on ACH-only vendor payments, particularly in marketing, advertising, logistics, and professional services
Feature List
✓ Card rewards database with real-time rates across major business credit cards ✓ Passthrough fee calculator comparing Melio, Plastiq, and other services per transaction ✓ Net rewards optimization engine recommending best card+service combination per vendor ✓ Volume-based fee negotiation portal with passthrough providers ✓ Savings dashboard tracking cumulative net rewards versus baseline ACH
Where to Validate
Share your landing page in r/r/Entrepreneur — that's exactly where these pain points were discovered.
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