Industry Guide

What Businesses Need to Know About B2B Payments

Fast, seamless B2B payment processing is vital to the success of any business. Learn more about B2B payment processing, platforms and the future of B2B payments

Key Takeaways

B2B payments are transactions between two businesses. Beyond the parties involved, they differ from consumer payments because they move larger sums according to negotiated invoice terms and are subject to heavier security and compliance obligations.
Businesses pay each other through many methods, from ACH and wires to cards and instant payments. The right B2B payments method depends largely on how big and how time-sensitive a transaction is.
Cross-border B2B payments involve more friction than domestic ones, because the money must clear compliance and currency conversion before moving through a chain of correspondent banks to settle.
A B2B payments platform automates the work from invoicing through reconciliation. The strongest options use orchestration to connect a business to many payment providers and methods through a single integration.
Paper checks are losing ground in B2B, down to 26% of payments in 2025 from 81% in 2004, while instant payments, open banking, and digital wallets gain traction.

What are B2B payments?

Business-to-business (B2B) payments broadly refer to any transaction between two businesses, wherein one company acts as a merchant and the other as a buyer. B2B payments are tailored to meet the unique needs of businesses engaged in commercial activities by facilitating the seamless exchange of goods and services.

How do B2B payments differ from consumer payments?

B2B payments differ from consumer payments in that they typically move larger sums between two companies on delayed, invoice-based terms, and they face tighter security and compliance requirements as a result.

Beyond the obvious distinction, other key differences between B2B payments and business-to-consumer (B2C), business-to-business-to-consumer (B2B2C), and peer-to-peer (P2P) payments include:

B2B payments typically involve larger transaction volumes and higher monetary values as compared to B2C, B2B2C or P2P payments due to the fact that businesses often engage in bulk purchases or enter into long-term contracts with recurring payments.

Due to their larger monetary value and the various compliance requirements businesses are subject to — including anti-money laundering (AML) and Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements — B2B payments generally include additional security layers such as internal protocols, multifactor authentication (MFA), encryption, tokenization, and fraud monitoring tools.

Compared to B2C transactions, in which payments are typically made at the initial sale or even before receipt of goods or services, B2B payments are often made after the fact, once a supplier has issued an invoice to the buyer.

B2B payments often require more complex payment arrangements than consumer payments and may include customized payment terms, such as net payments or payment installments, based on agreements negotiated between both parties. Due to these complexities, B2B payments typically take longer to process than B2C or P2P payments and can sometimes take weeks to complete.

How big is the B2B payments market?

B2B payments represent one of the largest money flows in the economy, well ahead of consumer payments by total value. Businesses sent 7.4 billion B2B payments worth $58.2 trillion through the U.S. Automated Clearing House (ACH) Network in 2024 alone, and B2B volume on that network grew 155 percent between 2015 and 2024. Card networks, wire transfers, instant payment rails, and checks move trillions more beyond ACH figures, and cross-border activity also continues to increase.

Secure digital payment solutions and financial technology experts collaborating in a modern office e.

What are the most common B2B payment methods?

B2B payments come in a wide variety of formats, including (but not limited to):

Invoices
Online payment gateways
Payment links
Paper or electronic checks
Purchase orders
Wire transfers
Instant payments
Request to Pay (RTP)

Which of these payment types a business chooses to use for B2B payment processing depends on a range of factors, including transaction size, business preference, geographic locations, industry norms, and the desired speed and security of the transaction.

Some of the most popular methods compare as follows:

Method	Typical speed	Relative cost	Common use case
Wire transfer	Same business day	High, flat fee per transfer	Large, time-sensitive or one-off payments
ACH (standard)	1–2 business days	Low	Recurring vendor and payroll-type payments
Same Day ACH	Same business day, up to $1M per transaction	Low, small same-day fee	Faster invoice and supplier payments
Instant payments	Seconds, available 24/7/365	Low-to-moderate per-item fee	Urgent or after-hours settlement
Check	Several business days to clear	Low to send, high to handle	Legacy supplier payments
Card and virtual card	Authorized at once, settled in 1–3 business days	Percentage of transaction value	Procurement, controlled spend, supplier payments

How do B2B payments work?

A B2B payment works by moving funds from a buyer to a supplier against an agreed invoice, usually on credit terms rather than at the moment of purchase.

A typical transaction runs through several stages:

The buyer and supplier agree on commercial terms, often including a payment window such as net 30, net 60, or net 90.
After delivering the goods or services, the supplier issues an invoice that sets out the amount owed and the due date.
The buyer’s finance team routes that invoice for internal approval before any money moves.
Once approved, payment is initiated through the chosen method, whether ACH, a wire, a card, or an instant transfer.
The buyer’s bank and the supplier’s bank clear and settle the funds across the relevant payment rail.
The supplier reconciles the incoming payment against the original invoice to close out the transaction.

A B2B payments platform automates most of these stages, which removes manual data entry and speeds up how quickly a business recognizes incoming cash.

Who are the main parties in a B2B transaction?

Every B2B payment involves a buyer and a supplier, along with the banks and payment infrastructure that move money between them. The buyer initiates payment and the supplier receives it. Each side works with a bank or financial institution that holds its account and processes the transaction.

Between those banks sit payment processors and payment service providers (PSPs), which authorize transactions, route them to the appropriate payment rail and screen for risk. Payment networks then clear and settle the funds. These networks include card networks, the ACH Network, instant payment rails such as the RTP network and FedNow, and cross-border networks such as Swift. Many businesses add a payments orchestration layer on top, connecting them to multiple providers and rails through a single integration.

How do different industries handle B2B payments?

Which B2B payment methods a business uses — and even how it handles B2B payment processing — is often influenced by the industry in which it operates. Here are a few examples of how B2B payment processing differs from one industry to another:

Retail and eCommerce

In the traditional retail and eCommerce spaces, merchants frequently make B2B payments to suppliers. In this dynamic, merchants typically issue purchase orders for inventory replenishment, while suppliers provide invoices for payment. Depending on the size and scale of the business, a merchant may rely on online payment gateways, corporate cards or electronic transfers for B2B payment processing.

Financial services

B2B payment processing plays a crucial role in facilitating transactions between banks, investment firms, insurance companies, and other financial institutions. Common examples of B2B payments in the financial services sector include wire transfers, EFTs, and ACH payments. It’s important to note that banks and other financial institutions are subject to strict regulatory requirements and stringent security measures, meaning any B2B payments platform they use must possess robust data privacy and fraud prevention capabilities and adhere to any compliance terms.

Expert financial technology consultant discussing solutions with a client.

Healthcare

Similar to financial services, organizations within the healthcare industry are subject to strict regulatory and security requirements. When combined with billing intricacies, payment variability, insurance reimbursements, and a long list of stakeholders, including insurance companies, government entities, and suppliers, these requirements create a great deal of complexity within the B2B payments process.

Additionally, the healthcare industry as a whole is transitioning toward greater electronic payments adoption. As a result, EFTs, ACH payments, electronic checks, online payment portals, and electronic data interchange platforms have become some of the most common B2B payments processing methods in recent years.

Person using a tablet for digital payment or invoice processing.

Technology

Tech and software companies often rely on B2B payment processing for licensing agreements, recurring payments for SaaS subscriptions, and IT infrastructure services. Some of the most common B2B payment methods in this section include electronic payment gateways, online invoicing, and recurring billing systems.

Manufacturing and wholesale distribution

Manufacturers and wholesalers handle high-value orders across long supplier chains, so they rely on purchase orders and invoicing backed by trade credit with net terms. Payments often run through ACH, wires, and virtual cards, which give buyers more control over approvals and a clearer audit trail across many suppliers.

Marketplaces and platforms

B2B marketplaces and platforms sit between many buyers and sellers, so the platform itself has to collect each payment and settle it to the right parties. These businesses often embed payments and payouts directly into their software, which lets a seller get paid without leaving the marketplace and gives the platform control over timing and reconciliation.

How can companies process cross-border B2B payments?

Companies process cross-border B2B payments through several coordinated steps, from establishing a compliance strategy for each market to reconciling every payment against its invoice. To handle cross-border B2B payments, companies must:

Develop a compliance strategy that accounts for local regulations, tax requirements, and foreign exchange (FX) rules

The starting point is screening counterparties for AML and KYC obligations and checking both parties against sanctions and watchlists. Businesses also account for FX conversion and its fees, since most cross-border payments involve more than one currency. The payment itself usually travels through correspondent banks in different markets, and the ISO 20022 messaging standard gives each leg the structured data that regulators and receiving banks expect. Country-specific regulations, central bank documentation, transaction limits, and local tax rules apply on top of all this.

Define and accept payment terms and conditions amenable to all parties involved in the transaction

It’s important that all parties establish and accept payments in an invoice, as well as adhere to international norms and banking practices. Banks, which are typically responsible for facilitating cross-border payments, will carefully review the terms and conditions outlined in both the invoice and transaction before issuing letters of credit or bank guarantees.

Create an approval matrix within their enterprise resource planning system for processing invoice payments

This step applies to all parties involved in the transaction. A seller should use an approval matrix to sign off on an invoice before dispatching, as both customs and the exporter bank will refer to this invoice when processing the payment. The buyer, who must accept the invoice and pay for it based on the agreed-upon terms and conditions, should also create an approval matrix based on the value and geographical origin of the payment.

Automate key aspects of the cross-border payments process

This includes the due date of the invoice if it’s already approved and the payment receipt by the exporter once the payment is made partially or in full.

Reconcile payment confirmations according to invoices

Ensure that all B2B payment information is accurate by reconciling the payment information against the invoice from the bank statement using the invoice number assigned to that particular transaction.

What are the challenges of traditional B2B payments?

The biggest challenge with traditional B2B payments is how long they take to settle, which delays access to cash and forces finance teams into manual reconciliation work that invites error and fraud. The recurring problems fall into a few areas:

Checks and wire transfers can take days to clear, so suppliers wait longer for their money and cash flow becomes harder to forecast.
Matching incoming payments to invoices by hand is slow and error-prone, which leaves reconciliation lagging behind the actual movement of funds.
Fragmented systems make it hard to get a single, complete picture of what a business owes and is owed.
Cross-border payments are harder still, since money routes through several intermediary banks and must clear currency conversion and differing rules in each market.
Checks are still heavily used despite their fraud exposure.

What are the benefits of using a B2B payments platform?

The main benefit of a B2B payments platform is that it automates the full payment process, from invoicing through reconciliation, which saves a business time and can reduce errors across its financial operations.

Any business that routinely processes B2B payments should consider implementing a full-service B2B payments platform. A comprehensive B2B payments platform solution offers a wide range of payments-related functionality, including invoicing, B2B payment processing, payments reconciliation, reporting, and analytics. Many such solutions integrate with existing systems, such as accounting software, enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, and fraud monitoring systems, offering a truly holistic approach to managing B2B payments.

These are just a few of the ways in which businesses can benefit from implementing a B2B payments solution — other benefits include:

Streamlined payment processes

From managing invoices to initiating payments to tracking the status of payments, a B2B payments platform can automate the entire process, saving businesses valuable time and enhancing operational efficiency.

Fraud detection and prevention

Many B2B payment solutions include built-in security measures, such as MFA, data encryption, tokenization, and secure data transmission protocols to reduce the risk of data breaches and cyber attacks. Additionally, some platforms offer advanced fraud monitoring, detection, and scoring capabilities to help businesses assess risk levels and proactively respond to perceived threats.

More ways to pay

With the right platform in place, businesses can support a wider variety of payment methods, including credit cards, debit cards, ACH transfers, and EFTs. By diversifying payment options, businesses can cater to their customers’ preferences, create a more convenient payments experience, mitigate risk, and more easily navigate the complexities associated with cross-border transactions — all of which can lead to faster payment or repayment.

Payment terminal with card and mobile payment options at ACI Worldwide.

Optimized cash flow management

B2B payment platforms automate much of the payments process, including invoicing and issuing payment reminders. When combined with the ability to offer multiple payment methods, these automations can accelerate the payments process, ensuring timely receivables and allowing for faster settlement and disbursement.

By setting up integrations between their B2B payments solution and other core systems, including their ERP and accounting systems, companies can create seamless data synchronization, automate reconciliation, and generate more accurate cash flow forecasts. Taken as a whole, the efficiency gains that B2B payment platforms offer can give businesses greater control over their cash flow, so that they can confidently meet financial obligations.

Advanced reporting and analytics

A B2B payments platform gives finance teams a consolidated view of payment activity through dashboards and detailed transaction reporting. Spending patterns that would be hard to spot across separate systems become visible in one place, and the same underlying data feeds more accurate cash flow forecasts and clearer audit trails.

Support for other financial activities

Beyond payment processing, B2B payments orchestration can improve end-to-end reconciliation, invoice purchasing and factoring, cash flow forecasting, and liquidity management.

What should companies look for in a B2B payments platform?

Companies should prioritize a B2B payments platform built around payments orchestration, so that a single layer can route transactions across many payment service providers and methods.

The capabilities to evaluate include:

Support for a wide variety of payment methods, including mobile and digital wallets, real-time payments and BNPL
Strong fraud detection and prevention tools, including artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms
The ability to connect to hundreds of payment service providers through a single payments layer using payments orchestration
Robotic process automation to streamline operational workflows, consistently apply policies and reduce the risk of human error in B2B transactions

How can businesses prevent B2B payments fraud?

Businesses can reduce B2B payments fraud by verifying that every payments instruction and bank-account change is legitimate, and by implementing controls over who can set up and approve payments.

The security measures that do the most against B2B-specific schemes include:

Confirming unexpected payment requests through a channel already on file, such as a callback to a known number, to stop business email compromise, where a fraudster poses as a supplier or executive to redirect funds
Verifying any request to change a vendor’s bank account against records already held, rather than acting on an emailed instruction, to keep payments from being routed to a fraudster
Separating payee setup from payment approval so no single person controls both
Validating that an account belongs to the intended payee before funds are sent, so money cannot reach a fraudster even when the other details look right
Positively matching each check presented against the issuer’s own file of checks written to catch alterations and counterfeits before they clear

What are best practices for managing B2B payments?

The primary best practice for managing B2B payments is to replace manual, paper-based steps with an automated and centralized process. Digitizing invoicing and accounts payable comes first, because a process still running on paper cannot be automated until its inputs are electronic. With those inputs in digital form, a single orchestration layer gives finance teams a centralized location to initiate and reconcile payments instead of logging into disconnected bank portals.

That same central point lets a business offer suppliers their choice of payments method, as well as brings every payment under the same approval workflows and compliance screening, so the right people authorize spending and sanctions and KYC checks run before money leaves. The data the system captures then sharpens cash flow forecasts and gives a business firmer ground for renegotiating supplier terms.

What are the leading B2B payment trends?

The leading B2B payment trends include the decline of paper checks, the rise of instant payments, blockchain and distributed ledger technology, open banking, Request to Pay, digital wallets, and the growth of B2B marketplaces.

The decline of paper checks

Even in today’s highly digitized payments landscape, paper checks remain a popular B2B payments option, largely due to their familiarity. The tide seems to be turning, though: The Association for Financial Professionals (AFP) reports that paper checks accounted for 26% of B2B payments in 2025, down from 33% in 2022 and from 81% in 2004.

As demand for real-time payments increases and younger generations move to the forefront of the B2B payments space, we can expect to see a continued decline in the popularity of paper checks, with more businesses pivoting to digital payment methods.

Woman using digital tablet for payment processing, representing ACI Worldwide's financial technology.

Real-time payment processing

Given how essential cash flow management is to business operations, it likely comes as little surprise to hear that there’s growing demand for real-time payment processing in the B2B payments space. In the United States, the Federal Reserve’s FedNow Service went live in July 2023, and The Clearing House raised the RTP network’s per-transaction limit to $10 million in February 2025 to support higher-value business payments. ISO 20022 underpins both rails and gives each payment the richer remittance data that simplifies reconciliation.

Stablecoins and blockchain settlement

Stablecoins have become the most active B2B use of blockchain, giving businesses a way to settle payments in a digital token pegged one-to-one to a currency such as the US dollar. In 2025, the GENIUS Act enacted the first federal framework for payment stablecoins in the US, which requires issuers to fully back their tokens with liquid reserves and to meet disclosure and AML rules. By late 2025, regulators had begun granting national trust bank charters to stablecoin issuers including Circle and Paxos, a sign the market is moving into supervised territory.

Adoption among businesses is still early. One survey found that 13 percent of companies use stablecoins, while more than half of non-users expect to adopt them within a year, mostly for cross-border payments. For B2B specifically, the appeal is speed and reach, since a dollar-backed stablecoin can move across borders and settle in minutes at any hour, without the chain of intermediary banks that slows traditional cross-border payments. The technology still comes with tradeoffs around accounting treatment and operational complexity, so most businesses are testing narrow use cases rather than shifting their core payment flows.

Embedded payments

Embedded payments put payment functionality directly inside the software a business already uses, such as an ERP system, a procurement tool, or a B2B marketplace. Instead of logging into a separate bank portal, a buyer can approve and send a payment in the same place it manages an order. For platforms and marketplaces, embedding payments and related financial services creates a smoother experience for business customers and opens a new source of revenue.

BNPL for businesses

BNPL has moved from consumer checkout into B2B, where it updates traditional trade credit. A business buyer can take delivery and defer payment over a set period, often 30 to 90 days, while the supplier is paid upfront and the provider takes on the credit risk. Buyers free up working capital this way, and suppliers avoid the cash flow strain of extending terms themselves.

Open banking

Open banking has already gained significant traction in the B2C space due to its enhanced security measures, the control it offers consumers over their financial data, and its ability to create seamless payment experiences. We’re starting to see open banking adoption in the B2B payments sector as companies look to take advantage of many of these same benefits, as well as utilize the vast quantities of data to which open banking offers them access in order to enhance data collection and analytics.

Request to Pay

RTP — which comprises any transaction in which the payee initiates the payment request, rather than the payer — has been a popular payment method in the P2P space for some time because it makes repayment for smaller purchases fast and convenient. Businesses are also starting to realize the benefits of RTP, which enables them to request payments with detailed information, including invoices, purchase orders, and payment terms, which reduces errors and potential disputes.

Additionally, RTP enables businesses to accommodate a wider range of B2B payment methods, including card payments, bank transfers, and digital wallet payments, giving companies more flexibility and simplifying the reconciliation process for all parties involved.

Digital wallets

As payments have become digitized, so too have the methods that companies use to store payments information. Digital wallets have become a popular way for businesses to send and receive payments, as they eliminate the need to repeatedly enter payments information when making transactions, reducing the risk of error associated with manual data entry.

Many digital wallets can also integrate with companies’ accounting software and other financial systems, enabling them to easily track, report on and reconcile transactions. And with built-in security measures, digital wallets can help businesses safeguard their payment credentials, adding a layer of security to the B2B payments process.

Global marketplaces

Businesses are increasingly moving toward marketplace models for B2B transactions, as global marketplaces offer greater convenience for buying and selling. With this model, payments must be settled and reconciled within the marketplace itself, after which the platform will distribute funds to the appropriate parties.

How does ACI Worldwide support B2B payments?

ACI Worldwide offers a wide range of B2B payment solutions, including the ACI Payments Orchestration Platform, which facilitates global payments orchestration; ACI PayAfter and ACI Wallets, both of which support popular alternative payment methods; ACI Instant Pay, which enables companies to process real-time payments; and the Revenue Optimizer, which supports streamlined reconciliation and cash flow forecasting.

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