Marg ERP, a leading Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) company has partnered with ICICI Bank, India's largest private sector bank by consolidated assets, to offer an integrated payments platform to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) customers, using Marg's accounting software.

This integration enables ICICI Bank's current account holders to securely connect their bank account with the Marg ERP software and undertake an array of digital transactions from within the ERP platform. It will enable businesses to initiate vendor & salary payments via RTGS, NEFT or IMPS directly from this platform, automate reconciliation of banking and accounting entries, apply for working capital loans as well as schedule future dated payments, thereby offering them an exemplary command over day-to-day financial transactions.

This pioneering initiative significantly enhances convenience for MSMEs as they are no longer required to toggle between a banking platform and an ERP software to undertake their business transactions. It also allows them to seamlessly connect their banking and accounting, which was once available only for large companies with large IT and infrastructure budgets.

Anup Bagchi, Executive Director, ICICI Bank said, ''ICICI Bank has always pioneered in bringing digital innovations and providing world-class banking experience to its customers. We are delighted to partner with Marg ERP to bring forth an integrated payments solution that will offer MSMEs with an unparalleled ease of doing business. The collaboration aims to promote the concept of 'Connected Banking' wherein we aim to get various banking functions such as initiating transactions, payments and reconciliation on a common platform. Additionally, it will enable businesses to initiate vendor & salary payments digitally, apply for working capital loans as well as schedule future dated payments without having to shift between a banking and an ERP software platform. We will continue the model of co-creating to deliver innovative products and services to our customers.''

Shares of the bank gained Rs 1.3, or 0.45%, to trade at Rs 288.55. The total volume of shares traded was 40,771 at the BSE (9.25 a.m., Thursday).