This Week in B2B: A Year’s Worth of Payments Innovation

We are officially in the second half of the 21st century’s first 50 years.

But, against a backdrop where the finance functions of many B2B firms operate like it’s still 1935, glued to sending paper checks and invoices, it’s increasingly clear that the future of B2B payments is set to be shaped by next-generation innovations that create more seamless, secure and integrated payment ecosystems across industries.

“There’s a relatively unacceptably high level of check usage here in the United States,” said Seamus Smith, executive vice president and group president at FIS, emphasizing the risks of fraud and inefficiency inherent to checks during a discussion posted Thursday (Jan. 2) for “PYMNTS Outlook 2025: Navigating the Future of Banking and Payments.”

Emerging technologies like open banking and real-time account-to-account payments present viable alternatives, Smith said, yet the industry must do more to articulate their advantages. “Incorporating data into the money flow will provide significant improvements for businesses seeking to reduce their dependence on checks,” he said.

The B2B payments landscape underwent significant transformation in 2024, driven by the continued evolution of digital technologies, regulatory shifts and changing market demands.

This ongoing digital transformation of payments demands a shift in how finance teams operate.

How Digitizing B2B Payments Drives Transformation

Efforts to modernize B2B payments are themselves having a notable downstream impact across the entire business operating landscape, one that is requiring finance teams and treasury leaders to adapt and innovate.  As PYMNTS covered, in an increasingly unpredictable global economy, the roles of chief financial officers (CFOs) and treasurers have evolved beyond traditional bookkeeping and balance sheets.

Today’s financial ecosystem operates at a fast pace, demanding immediate access to actionable insights. This need has ushered in the era of real-time financial data — a transformation fueled by AI (artificial intelligence), machine learning and automated processes.

Modern B2B payment solutions can reduce the reliance on manual processes, streamline workflows, and integrate with enterprise resource planning (ERP) and treasury management systems (TMS). These efficiencies help allow finance teams to focus on strategic activities such as forecasting, capital allocation and risk management.

These innovations are also in turn making the finance function more strategic and operational. As just one data point, companies in the mobility space could enjoy a range of benefits if their treasurers had greater influence and involvement, according to the PYMNTS Intelligence report “The Impact of Misunderstood Treasurers in the Mobility Space.”

Among treasurers in the space — which includes manufacturing or services related to commuting — 82% said they believe their company would gain greater cash flow predictability if they were more involved in interdepartmental meetings or discussions.

Even if those meetings touch on blockchain and stablecoins.

2024’s Biggest Innovations in B2B Payments

A breakdown of the biggest innovations shaping the future of B2B payments in 2024 revealed that, while supplier acceptance remains a hurdle, the B2B space collectively wised up to the potential of virtual card payments in 2024, as the digital mechanism showcased its versatility by addressing critical business needs such as efficiency, security and scalability.

As the B2B payments landscape grows more digital and interconnected, the focus on cybersecurity has never been more urgent. The year 2024 saw some of the worst hacks, breaches and data leaks ever, underscoring the vulnerabilities in a digital world. From ransomware attacks targeting critical infrastructure to massive data breaches compromising billions of users’ information, it’s clear that standing up a robust defense against cyberthreats and ensuring greater safety and resilience should be a New Year’s resolution for businesses.

At the same time, enhanced know your customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML) protocols, driven by advanced analytics and real-time monitoring, become standard practice. Compliance is no longer just about avoiding pitfalls — it’s about paving the way for sustainable growth, as financial services players and payments stakeholders look to align compliance with business strategy and turn what was once a burden into an enabler of success.

Overall, among the key trends that reshaped B2B buyer and supplier dynamics this year were the rise of digital marketplaces, the embrace of automation and artificial intelligence (AI) across accounts payable (AP) and accounts receivable (AR) workflows, real-time payments, the surging use of virtual cards, and the changing face of B2B procurement.

The Year’s First Marketplace Moves

The new year has already brought with it a small flurry of mergers, acquisitions, and partnerships across the B2B landscape, first among them the Tuesday (Dec. 31) New Years’ Eve news that food service technology company PAR Technology acquired Delaget, a restaurant analytics provider.

A few days earlier, on Thursday (Dec. 26), news broke that unified commerce and logistics software firm Cart.com teamed with punchout integration provider Greenwing Technology. The collaboration is designed to make eProcurement easier and more efficient for institutional buyers such as universities, government agencies and large corporations, and highlights the rise of online B2B marketplaces as a key reimagining of how procurement teams source goods and services.

Elsewhere, it was announced Monday (Dec. 30) that Nayax will deploy its fuel management system, EasyFuelPlus, across the U.K. delivery fleet of grocery and general merchandise retailer Tesco.

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