Optimizing B2B Payments in 2025

Customers aren’t the only ones making payments.

In 2024, the global B2B payments market topped $83 trillion in total value. The market Is forecast to experience tremendous growth from 2024 to 2028, increasing around 40% in value to roughly $124 trillion. 

While transactions between businesses for the exchange of products and services are nothing new, how these payments take place is changing. A 2024 PYMNTS report shows that trends like the rise of digital marketplaces, automation, AI, and virtual cards are enhancing B2B payment processing.  

Our goal with this guide is to walk you through the specifics of B2B payments, including how the process works, the difference between payment methods commonly used for these types of transactions, and how to choose the right B2B payment gateways for your business. 

What is a B2B Payment?

B2B payments refer to transactions between two businesses (hence, B2B, business-to-business). 

A B2B payment typically prioritizes efficiency to keep the flow of goods and services consistent between the buyer and seller so as not to disrupt the buyer’s operations and supply chain. These payments can be used for any number of services, including one-time purchases and recurring payments. 

Examples of B2B sellers include vendors and service providers who offer companies across many industries the products and solutions needed to keep their business running smoothly, such as:

• Payment technologies, such as B2B payment gateways
• Software (including everything from accounting software to cybersecurity tools)
• Physical equipment or wholesale inventory 
• Managed services for digital platforms
• Access to cloud computing capabilities 

There’s no limit to what a B2B seller can offer to buyers, as every business’s needs vary depending on their industry and how their business operates. For instance, a traditional brick-and-mortar shop will require different payment technologies than an e-commerce merchant that sells solely online. 

A peak into B2B payment processing 

Unlike B2C payments (more on that in a moment), B2B payment processing involves a few more steps.

When customers make payments, all they need to do is interact with a business’s payment interface either online or in person. Comparatively, B2B payments typically require a more complex procedural flow:

• Agreement: Before any payment can be requested or received, the two B2B participants (the buyer and the seller) must sign an agreement or contract with each other. Agreements can be a one-time thing for singular purchases but, more often than not, are ongoing contracts that define the payment amount and the billing cycle. In some cases, the seller and buyer may agree to variable payments based on the usage of a service or product. 
• Invoicing: With an agreement in place, B2B sellers can send buyers an invoice for the goods or services rendered on the agreed-upon billing schedule. Invoices generally include the price of the service, along with taxes and any additional fees, such as payment processing fees. Speaking of payment processing, these fees can vary depending on the type of payment method used. Should a buyer end up late on a payment, the seller can then send reminders with warnings of late fees if the buyer fails to make the payment. 
• Approval: When the buyer receives an invoice from the seller, it becomes their responsibility to check the invoice for accuracy and approve it. If the buyer notes any problems with the invoice, they can send back a rejection of the invoice to the buyer with an explanation. The seller must then correct the invoice and issue it once again. 
• Payment and Acceptance: If everything looks right with the invoice, the buyer must then choose their payment method and initiate the payment. At this point, the typical payment process takes place, which involves sending a payment request through a B2B payment gateway to the relevant banks and financial institutions for authentication and approval. 
• Reconciliation: Both parties must reconcile the payment via either their accounts payable or accounts receivable departments. Completing the reconciliation process quickly is vital for keeping your books up to date and ensuring fluidity in your cash flow. Failing to reconcile a B2B payment efficiently can lead to discrepancies and, in worst-case scenarios, can leave you without sufficient funds to cover future payments and bills. 
• Automation: At all stages in the B2B payment process, buyers and sellers can implement automation technologies to make the process smoother and more efficient. For example, automation can be greatly beneficial for fixed recurring payments as it can reduce the amount of manual work required by either party to initiate and approve the transaction. 

How B2B Payments Differ from B2C

B2C (business-to-customer) transactions are more straightforward compared to B2B payments. 

While both B2C and B2B use cases include a buyer and a seller, the B2B transaction can actually involve multiple people at both businesses to authorize and approve a payment. Business decision-makers must consider a variety of different factors before committing to a purchase or B2B payment agreement, while individual customers need only consider their own personal budget. 

Aside from the number of people acting behind the scenes to approve a payment, B2B and B2C payments differ in three key ways:

1. Terms of the agreement. In B2C scenarios, customers usually pay immediately, or opt for payment plans like BNPLs. The payment typically requires no additional terms aside from the customer’s consent to charge their payment method. For B2B payments, there can be factors like credit lines and invoices at play that do not always result in an immediate payment, making it necessary for both the buyer and seller to consider how delays may affect their cash flow. 
2. Payment size and amount. While customers can make larger purchases, they are rarely spending as much as a B2B buyer spends to restock inventory, invest in technology, or any other type of business purchase. The large amount of a B2B payment necessitates a payment system that can bear the weight of high transaction values and volumes without undue delays or disruptions. 
3. Frequency. Although customers can pay on a recurring basis (think installment loans, utility payments, etc.), B2B payments tend to occur on a more frequent schedule. As such, B2B payment participants require a payment system they can trust to handle large transactions as needed. 

Common B2B Payment Methods

What payment methods can you use for a B2B transaction?

Several.

In decades past, paper checks were the norm for B2B exchanges of goods and services. 

Today, there are many additional options for businesses to choose from that can add efficiency and security to a payment, such as:

• Wire transfers
• ACH transfers (used primarily in the U.S.)
• SEPA transfers (used for cross-border transactions in Europe)
• Virtual cards
• Peer-to-peer platforms
• Lending solutions and credit lines

Paper checks do remain a prevalent form of payment for B2B use cases, with around 75% of companies still using them for payment purposes. However, alternatives like virtual cards are gaining traction quickly, with experts citing their simplicity of use as a leading factor in the increasing adoption rates.

Access to a wide variety of payment method options can be your key to not only increasing payment efficiency but also reaching buyers, suppliers, vendors, and partners in different parts of the world. FXC Intelligence reports that the B2B cross-border payment market swelled to a size of more than $31 trillion in 2024, making it one of the fastest-growing payment segments. 

A payment solution that can offer you a diverse range of payment methods ensures you have access to the technologies you need to transact with other businesses all over the globe. 

Why It’s Important to Optimize B2B Payments (and How to Do So)

A well-structured B2B payment process is necessary for keeping your revenue steady as a seller and ensuring timely payments as a buyer. Below, we have detailed several essential best practices and implementation recommendations for building an effective B2B payment strategy: 

1. Make your invoices digital 

Switching to digital invoices reduces errors, speeds up payment processing, and guarantees accuracy by pulling data directly from your accounting systems. You can also integrate digital invoices with automated workflows that make it easy to send reminders for late payments and synchronize your invoices with business-critical data, like inventory management, to prevent overbilling.

If you are strictly a buyer, make sure your payment solution can receive and approve digital invoices. 

2. Add greater transparency to your B2B payment approvals

B2B payments often require multiple approvals from different decision-makers. Role-based automation clarifies these responsibilities and can identify potential bottlenecks that hinder efficiency in the approval process. The key is to analyze delays when they occur to precisely pinpoint areas in need of remediation. 

However, to analyze delays, you first need a system that can reflect your transactional data in real time. 

3. Diversify your payment methods

As we discussed before, access to multiple different payment methods is your ticket to connecting with B2B buyers and sellers from all over the world. Plus, integrating a multitude of payment methods allows you to be more selective with each transaction and choose the payment option with the highest likelihood of success, as well as to offer your buyers greater freedom of choice. 

4. Stay on top of fraud prevention and cyber security

The world of B2B payments is transitioning into a new digital era alongside the rest of the payments sector. While new digital tools and solutions offer plenty of benefits, they also come with new risks and potential vulnerabilities that need to be addressed. 

Layering in security to your B2B payment process is all about choosing the right providers who can offer you more than payment capabilities alone. You want a provider that can strengthen your defenses with solutions like tokenization and advanced vaulting to keep your B2B payments safe at all times. 

Choosing a B2B Payment Gateway Service Provider

Different payment gateway service providers offer unique advantages to your business. 

However, choosing just one can lead to what’s known as vendor lock-in. 

Vendor lock-in is when your business becomes heavily dependent on a specific payment provider, making it difficult or costly to switch to another solution. 

Proprietary technology and long-term contracts are common culprits behind lock-in, making it difficult to use a different provider or integrate new providers with your existing system. 

Sometimes, a vendor may encourage you to “lock in” with them under the notion that a single provider can offer greater stability to your finances and operations. Yet, this can vastly decrease your operational flexibility and resilience, especially if that provider experiences an outage or prolonged downtime. 

Instead, consider opting for a multi-provider B2B payment gateway strategy. 

Avoiding vendor lock-in requires interoperability. With something like an open payments platform, you can use open APIs to integrate a much wider variety of providers and B2B payment gateways without ever having to limit yourself a sole provider with potentially restrictive agreements. 

The crucial question thus transforms from, “Who is the best B2B payment gateway service provider?” to “Who can provide me with the best platform for orchestrating and optimizing my B2B payments?”

Avoid Vendor Lock-In and Integrate Multiple Gateways with Spreedly

Achieving a multi-provider strategy keeps your business vendor-agnostic and operationally resilient. With Spreedly’s open payments platform, you gain the freedom to integrate as many B2B payment gateways as you want or need from our broad selection of partners and connections.  

That’s not all, either.

Spreedly offers a plethora of modern payments capabilities for intelligently routing and retrying transactions. Our Recover solution, for instance, allows your payment system to automatically retry transactions at pre-determined backup gateways in the case of an outage or soft decline. 

Recover boosts your transaction success rates and lowers costs by: 

• Mitigating gateway outages by creating an automatic failover
• Retrying transactions using secondary gateways based on decline codes
• Enabling you to add a set of standard retry codes or custom rules 

For B2B use cases, peace of mind is essential when sending and receiving payments. Whether you are a B2B buyer or seller, Spreedly’s solutions and platform provide everything you need for a fully custom approach built for your needs.

Contact Spreedly today to get started, or try out our demo now. 

Download the Payments Orchestration eBook Below