TDDirect Pay allows resellers to review and pay their Tech Data invoices within 24 hours of shipment and arrange for payment at a future date. Resellers can view all open invoices, schedule payments, download account information for use in financial management applications and ensure their own billing process is fast and accurate. TDDirect Pay is available to all Tech Data customers free of charge.

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However, while at least 500 Tech Data resellers have already signed up for the TDDirect Pay service, Ken Colton, director of oerations at Portland, Ore.-based Polar Systems, said he wasn't aware the program existed. "I was unaware that they had an online bill paying service," Colton said. However, Colton is definitely interested in taking advantage of the program and said he plans to look into it immediately. "We pay in a timely fashion, and anything that would allow us to write fewer checks would be great," he said.

Jen Rehak, accounting manager for MyTechWare, a software solution provider based in Maitland, Fla., said the TDDirect Pay system was secure, quick and easy. "We decide exactly when funds will be transferred, and we always know how much money is in the bank at all times," she said.

While banks realized years ago the need to provide financial services such as online invoicing, payment and secure funds transfers to large enterprises, small and midsize businesses only recently expressed interest in financial tools, said Scott Tillesen, Tech Data's director of SMB credit. "Many of our SMB customers began adopting online bill pay for their personal finances and realized the benefits it can provide their businesses," Tilleson said.