Commerce Bank is working with a financial technology company that enables businesses to offer their employees the option of financing health bills without paying fees or interest.
Paytient, a privately-held firm based in Columbia, Missouri, developed the product, which became available through Commerce Bank on Jan. 1. It typically is offered as an employee benefit to pay for out-of-pocket medical, dental, pharmaceutical, vision, and veterinary care expenses, said Brian Whorley, Paytient’s founder and CEO.
Paytient members can swipe their Paytient card to pay providers in full at the time of service, effectively turning unexpected health care expenses into self-defined payment plans — always without interest or fees, Whorley said.
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“Through our partnership with Commerce, Paytient is bringing dollars to the table that folks can use to better access and afford care. Employers like that because it’s a turn-key software solution,” he said.
Employers pay Paytient a subscription fee to offer the product to its employees. Participants receive a Paytient card that they swipe to pay the health care provider in full at the time of service and choose a payment plan with Paytient.
Commerce Bank – headquartered in Kansas City with a large presence in the St. Louis area market — and Paytient split the merchant fees when participants swipe the Paytient card, said Chad Doza, the bank’s senior vice president, consumer credit card. Health care providers pay that merchants fee.
“That’s how the bank makes money and that’s how, between the fee to the employer and the interchange, is how Paytient funds the zero interest and zero fee,” he said.
Assisted by FS Vector, a Washington, D.C.-based fintech advisory firm, Paytient sought out a financial services provider to help it serve large employers, hospitals and health insurers with a national footprint. Commerce Bank has decades of successful relationships with hundreds of well-regarded health systems, Whorley said.
Whorley did not disclose how many employers have signed up for the product through Commerce Bank since Jan. 1.
“Paytient serves hundreds of thousands of folks and with the partnership with Commerce, we’re comfortably confident that we’ll be able to reach millions of folks in 2023 and beyond, he said.
Commerce Bank’s involvement reflects how the world of banking is changing, as people look for various ways to pay for things, including health care, Doza said.
“As our industry fragments, we see opportunities to partner with all kinds of financial technology companies to help us deliver our core product in a different way,” he said.
Health care affordability can negatively impact a business’s productivity if employees are delaying necessary health care due to financial concerns. According to the Gallup 2021 Report on US Healthcare in America, nearly one-third of Americans report not seeking treatment for a health problem due to its cost.
Commerce Bank last year ranked fourth on the Business Journal's list of the largest banks in the St. Louis area, based on local deposits of $8.7 billion as of June 30, 2021.
