Given the B2B sector’s legacy of complex workflows, intricate data requirements and entrenched manual processes, the opportunities for innovation are immense.

While modernizing something as entrenched into business workflows as a decades-old accounts payable or accounts receivable program may take some coaxing, companies that wait too long to integrate innovations into their operations could risk falling behind their competitors and miss out on potential efficiencies as next-generation capabilities continue to evolve.

Sticking to paper-based processes is costing businesses not just their time and money, but also increasingly preventing them from unlocking digitally driven 21st-century growth.

The top innovation pillars defining the B2B landscape this week were around the increasingly necessary benefits of workflow automation; the opportunity small business-focused solutions offer; why partnerships are building better B2B solutions; the ongoing digital transformation of traditional processes; and what’s being done to streamline cross-border payments.

Building Better B2B Solutions With Partnerships

By pooling resources, companies can accelerate the development and deployment of B2B innovations, allowing them to stay ahead of competitors. In an evolving digital landscape, these benefits position partnerships as a strategy for driving B2B innovation, as the marketplace showed this week.

As one example, Jaggaer and Bottomline partnered to provide companies with more payment options for B2B transactions. Bottomline’s Paymode business payment network and Premium ACH offering, virtual card and other payment modalities will be integrated into Jaggaer’s B2B payment solution, Jaggaer Pay, the companies said Thursday (Sept. 5).

Trustly and Newline by Fifth Third teamed up to facilitate money movement in the United States. The collaboration brings together Trustly’s open banking payments and Newline’s embedded payments platform, the companies said Thursday.

Elsewhere, last-mile delivery management firm Onfleet on Wednesday (Sept. 4) integrated with fleet insurance firm Fairmatic to deliver a solution aimed at companies with fleets of 10 or more vehicles, which gives fleet managers a comprehensive view of driver performance and can offer personalized safety recommendations.

Acquisitions were also announced this week.

Ncontracts acquired Venminder and announced Wednesday it will add Venminder’s unified platform for managing third-party risk to Ncontracts’ integrated compliance, risk and vendor management solutions for the financial services industry.

Also Wednesday, money mobility platform Ingo Payments acquired cloud-based banking platform Deposits Inc.

“This was literally a missing piece in our [platform] that powers the money in and money out [of an account],” Ingo Payments CEO Drew Edwards told PYMNTS in an interview.

Reducing Reliance on Checks Through B2B Automation

Zil Money’s OnlineCheckWriter.com announced Tuesday (Sept. 3) that it now allows businesses to send checks funded by their credit card or wallet.

The PYMNTS Intelligence report “Getting Paid: Digital Payments for Improving Cash Flow and Customer Experience” found that 75% of organizations still use paper checks despite their high costs and inefficiencies.

That’s why PYMNTS unpacked Tuesday how, as digital transformation sweeps across industries, B2B payments are no longer merely about settling invoices; instead, they are increasingly about creating seamless, transparent and efficient experiences that reflect the brand’s values and commitment to its partners.

“If I had to boil it down to two words, it’s ‘competitive advantage,’” Aaron LeHew, director of invoice-to-cash at Esker, told PYMNTS Wednesday about embracing innovations around AR digitization and automation.

Achieving this competitive advantage is only getting easier as the integration-to-impact window shortens for firms looking to tap into new B2B payments innovations.

“One change can affect three or four different parts of your business,” Priority Head of Commercial Court Toomey told PYMNTS in an interview posted Thursday. “There’s no need for a large manufacturer to have to send out 10,000 rebate checks to every individual retailer that’s selling the product on a quarterly basis when there is a much more efficient way to do so, as long as they work with it within their supplier network or their buyer network in order to implement that change.”

The Big Opportunity Small Businesses Represent

Payment-as-a-Service provider UNIPaaS announced Tuesday that it launched a small business-focused invoice payments partnership with American Express.

On Thursday, PYMNTS unpacked how embracing purpose-built solutions that cater to the unique needs of small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) is top of mind for Main Street merchants and the FinTechs and payment innovators serving them.

Meanwhile, Ziina raised $22 million Tuesday to provide FinTech services for United Arab Emirates-based small businesses.

On Friday (Aug. 30), Brazilian FinTech Ume raised $15 million in a Series A funding round to expand its payment network and merchant services platform for SMBs on Pix.

Jack Henry and Moov teamed up Tuesday to help small businesses accept digital payments.

SMBs are a diverse group, varying in size, industry and geographical location, making their payment preferences equally diverse. Unlike large enterprises that can build custom payment systems or dedicate resources to advanced treasury management, SMBs operate with more limited budgets and infrastructure. As a result, their payment needs tend to revolve around affordability, simplicity, flexibility and reliability.

Tapping Digital Transformations for Business Improvements

In a world where time is money, the ability to streamline contracting and payment processes is more than just a convenience — it’s a competitive advantage.

Marty Ringlein and Will Hubbard, co-founders of Agree.com, discussed the benefits of embedded solutions for mid-market companies in an interview with PYMNTS posted Thursday.

The marketplace is responding with other innovations as well. Revolut Business on Wednesday launched Revolut BillPay, a feature that automatically pulls bills in from the user’s accounting software or allows users to upload bills to their account.

Artificial intelligence is also transforming legacy workflows. Anthropic introduced a Claude Enterprise plan Wednesday that helps organizations collaborate with its AI assistant, Claude, using internal knowledge. The new plan includes an expanded 500K context window, more usage capacity, a native GitHub integration and enterprise-grade security features.

Meanwhile, one year after launching the first of its three business products, OpenAI said Thursday it now counts more than 1 million paying business users.

Streamlining Cross-Border Payments for Better Global Business

Seamless cross-border B2B payments remain one of the white whales of the connected economy.

With news Friday (Aug. 30) that Bridge raised an additional $40 million to continue building its stablecoin-based global payment scheme, executing international transactions quickly and conveniently is increasingly top of mind for companies looking to capture market share in foreign markets, as is ensuring those transactions are occurring compliantly and responsibly.

On Tuesday, PYMNTS unpacked why finding the right balance between these competing demands — convenience and compliance — is imperative for B2B buyers and suppliers.

As digital payments grow in popularity, the lack of cross-border interoperability has attracted attention, including that of infrastructure provider TerraPay President Ruben Salazar Genovez, who is leading a new effort to do something about it.

“We have huge respect for all the technology and the architecture and the user experience that our partners have been building in their domestic spaces,” Genovez told PYMNTS in an interview posted Thursday. “But the reality is that today, it’s very easy to travel with a piece of plastic, but it’s very difficult to travel with a piece of software. And so, we want to enable these wallets to be able to provide the same user experience and the same sort of payment capabilities when they travel abroad. And that is a gigantic task.”

For all PYMNTS B2B coverage, subscribe to the daily B2B Newsletter.

The post This Week in B2B: Partnerships, Payments and Process Improvements appeared first on PYMNTS.com.

“While Paystand first introduced limited service in Canada in 2018, Canadian payers will now be able to access all the benefits of the Paystand Platform and the Zero-Fee B2B Payment network,” the company said in a news release Thursday (Sept. 5).

According to the release, the expansion comes as Canadian businesses are increasingly choosing cash-based B2B transactions instead of credit, to reduce the risks of payment delays or non-payment.

“In this context CFOs are primed for a less expensive and safer alternative payment solution,” the company added.

The release also noted Paystand’s platform can help finance departments speed up time-to-cash, reduce DSO and eliminate transaction fees.

“Almost 40% of Canadian businesses use real-time, EFT payments to transact business,” said Jeremy Almond, the CEO and co-founder of Paystand. “That is where Paystand can immediately innovate — providing a zero-fee network for their businesses, and modernizing the payments technology globally. Canadian businesses will gain the full Paystand experience with zero fees, fast transactions and no middlemen.”

Paystand in April acquired spend management software provider Teampay to create a financial platform covering both accounts receivable (AR) and accounts payable (AP), while also expanding Paystand’s network to include more than 1 million businesses.

“This significant step forward in our mission not only revolutionizes payments and creates a seamless, fee-free B2B network, but also ushers decentralized finance into traditional spaces,” Almond said at the time.

In other B2B payments news, PYMNTS spoke recently with Priority Head of Commercial Court Toomey about how businesses across various sectors seek to modernize their financial operations on this front.

“There are a lot of changes happening across a lot of outdated or antiquated industries. We’re in a good space right now to see a lot of change,” Toomey told PYMNTS, adding that this transformation is happening across the board, though not always at the same pace.

“Anyone who was at the forefront of having a digital presence are who we see as being more willing to test out new products, work with new FinTechs on different solutions around the actual financial products used to pay their vendors or finance some of their purchasing,” he added.

For all PYMNTS B2B coverage, subscribe to the daily B2B Newsletter.

The post Paystand Expands Its B2B Payments Service to Canada appeared first on PYMNTS.com.

Bottomline’s Paymode business payment network and its Premium ACH offering, virtual card and other payment modalities will be integrated into Jaggaer’s B2B payment solution, Jaggaer Pay, the companies said in a Thursday (Sept. 5) press release.

“Expanding our natively integrated partner offerings to include best-in-class solutions like Paymode elevates the value of the entire Jaggaer One solution,” Dawn Andre, chief product officer at Jaggaer, said in the release. “Leveraging two of the industry’s most valuable procurement and payment solutions provides significant value to organizations looking to optimize their source-to-pay strategy.”

Jaggaer Pay helps accounts payable (AP) teams reduce the number of manual and repetitive tasks they must handle throughout the invoice lifecycle, streamline the payment process and enhance cash flow management, according to the release.

Paymode prevents fraud by validating suppliers; provides payers with maximum rebate opportunities by enabling them to use virtual cards and Premium ACH; and helps suppliers reduce the risk of financial fraud, enhance reporting and lower overall acceptance costs by accepting more payments digitally, the release said.

Adding Jaggaer as an embedded payments partner will help fuel the growth of the Paymode network beyond the 550,000 members it has today, Gunita Bindra, vice president of partnership strategy, Paymode at Bottomline, said in the release.

“Our embedded solution in Jaggaer Pay provides buyers and suppliers with a seamless experience that meets them where they are today and where they are headed in the future,” Bindra said. “It’s a secure way for businesses to automate their payables process and enhance their supplier relationships.”

In some other recently announced partnerships and product launches, Bottomline teamed up with Fifth Third Bank to help customers streamline their payment processes and enhance cash flow management and efficiencies, joined forces with Coupa to simplify digital payment processes for businesses, and expanded the availability of its legal bill review service for property and casualty (P&C) insurance carriers and corporate legal organizations.

Jaggaer was acquired in August by investment firm Vista Equity Partners. Jaggaer CEO Andy Hovancik said in an Aug. 13 press release that this move “underscores Jaggaer’s strong momentum and the compelling value our intelligent software delivers.”

For all PYMNTS B2B coverage, subscribe to the daily B2B Newsletter.

The post Jaggaer and Bottomline Partner on B2B Payments appeared first on PYMNTS.com.

And the world of B2B payments — characterized by complex workflows, intricate data requirements and entrenched manual processes — is finding this out in real time, as businesses across various industries seek to modernize their financial operations to optimize efficiency and unlock new avenues for growth.

“There are a lot of changes happening across a lot of outdated or antiquated industries. We’re in a good space right now to see a lot of change,” Priority Head of Commercial Court Toomey told PYMNTS.

This transformation is not confined to a single industry but is happening across the board, albeit at varying paces.

Industries like retail, eCommerce and manufacturing have been more amenable to adopting these innovations, Toomey noted, explaining that they are interested in leveraging digital tools to streamline their supply chains and financial processes. These sectors, having already embraced digital transformation in other areas, are now extending those efficiencies to the back-end of their operations, integrating new financial products that enhance payment processing and working capital management.

“Anyone who was at the forefront of having a digital presence are who we see as being more willing to test out new products, work with new FinTechs on different solutions around the actual financial products used to pay their vendors or finance some of their purchasing,” he added.

For example, in the food and beverage sector, the presence of a few key players on both the supply and distribution sides has created a universal standard that simplifies the adoption of new technologies across the industry. This standardization, Toomey said, allows restaurants, hospitals and schools, among others, to integrate new payment solutions into their operations, improving efficiency and reducing costs.

Read more: Priority Completes Acquisition of Plastiq and Combines B2B Offerings

Catalysts of Change in B2B Payments

However, not all industries are quick to embrace these innovations. Sectors like healthcare and freight logistics are often more hesitant, primarily due to regulatory compliance concerns and regional fragmentation.

In healthcare, Toomey explained, the heavy oversight and stringent regulations can act as barriers to adopting new financial tools, slowing down the pace of change. Similarly, the freight and logistics industry faces challenges due to the disparate operational standards across different regions, from the Mediterranean to Asia. This fragmentation makes it difficult to implement a one-size-fits-all solution, causing some players to stick to their traditional methods rather than risk potential disruption.

“It’s ironic that one of the areas for most companies that is the most outdated are their financial tools, when just a small investment from that same team can go a long way in improving efficiency and also cost savings,” Toomey said. Change management, therefore, plays a critical role in the implementation of these innovations.

For businesses that do decide to take the plunge and adopt new technologies, the fear of disruption is a concern.

At the same time, the time investment required for these transformations is often overestimated. While many companies fear that implementing new solutions will take months or even years, the reality is that with the right resources and commitment, the process can be completed in a matter of weeks. This shortened timeline, coupled with the long-term benefits, makes the case for embracing change even more compelling.

Benefits of Innovation

The benefits of modernizing B2B payments extend beyond cost savings. By reducing the disparity between days payable outstanding (DPO) and days sales outstanding (DSO), Toomey said that companies can optimize their working capital, ensuring they have the cash flow necessary to support day-to-day operations. Additionally, these innovations can improve supplier relationships by speeding up payments and enhancing overall supply chain efficiency and visibility.

“One change can affect three or four different parts of your business,” he said. “There’s no need for a large manufacturer to have to send out 10,000 rebate checks to every individual retailer that’s selling the product on a quarterly basis when there is a much more efficient way to do so, as long as they work with it within their supplier network or their buyer network in order to implement that change.”

Toomey also pointed to the potential of spear-tip innovations like digital wallets and real-time payments to further transform the B2B landscape. Traditionally seen as consumer-focused products, these tools can be repurposed for B2B transactions, offering more efficient and secure methods for handling payments.

Still, for B2B innovations to achieve widespread adoption, several trends and behavioral shifts need to occur.

Toomey emphasized the importance of larger financial institutions in leading the charge. These institutions need to be proactive in introducing new products to their clients and guiding them through the adoption process. However, they must also be willing to collaborate with FinTechs, embracing the changes that these partnerships bring. Without this top-down support, many companies may struggle to navigate the crowded marketplace of FinTech solutions, leaving them hesitant to invest in new technologies.

Ultimately, he added, as more businesses recognize the benefits of modernizing their financial processes, the pace of change is likely to accelerate.

“Be open to change and embrace change,” Toomey said. “If you have internal check processing, if you’re doing manual check runs still, there are certain hard costs associated with that that can be reduced at scale by outsourcing to a new provider or just eliminating them altogether.”

The post Integration-to-Impact Window Gets Tighter for B2B Payments Innovation appeared first on PYMNTS.com.

“With full 2-way syncing and AI-powered data extraction for every part of every bill, all that’s left for you to do is review and pay,” the company said in a Wednesday (Sept. 4) post on LinkedIn. “It’s fast. It’s simple. And it’s ready to save you hours, every single week.”

Revolut BillPay helps businesses reduce the manual effort involved in processing, paying and managing all their bills, according to web page dedicated to the new feature.

The feature works with the accounting software Xero, FreeAgent and QuickBooks Online, with more integrations to be added over time, the page said.

Users can upload bills to Revolut BillPay by taking a photo with their mobile phone, uploading a file, forwarding bills via email or letting them flow in from the user’s accounting software, per the page.

“It’s no secret Revolut BillPay saves accountants and finance teams valuable time,” the company said on the page. “In fact, the investment service Join Odin saved their team over 3 hours per week, freeing up more time for the important stuff.”

“Revolut BillPay also helps you reduce errors on data extraction, and makes sure workflows and approvals are controlled — especially compared to manual methods,” the company added. “Everything’s syncedautomatically, so you don’t need to update records yourself. On top of that, because payments are built into Revolut Business, you benefit from all our spend controls and approvals, without needing to worry about human errors.”

In another recent move, Revolut and Visa said Aug. 27 that launched a cross-border business payments partnership that allows instant card transfers for Revolut’s business customers via the Visa Direct system. The solution is now available for Revolut business customers in more than 78 countries and supports more than 50 currencies.

On Aug. 23, Revolut said that the Revolut Business Payment Gateway can now be integrated with BigCommerce. The integration will make online businesses’ payment processing smoother and offer their customers a seamless checkout experience.

The post Revolut Business Adds Bill Pay Feature appeared first on PYMNTS.com.

In contrast, B2B payments have lagged, with transactions between buyers and suppliers commonly bogged down by inefficiencies, delays and a lack of flexibility and choice. According to PYMNTS Intelligence research published this summer, 3 in 4 organizations (75%) still use paper checks, despite their high costs and inefficiencies.

But with the news that IKEA U.S. last week (Aug. 29) began rolling out an invoice-to-pay solution provided by payments company Slope, saying it will provide flexible payment options for the furniture retailer’s business customers, hope for a better way to pay and be paid is glimmering along the B2B horizon.

After all, as businesses increasingly operate in a global and digital environment, B2B buyers are beginning to demand the same level of convenience and service they experience as consumers.

This shift is also elevating the role of payments in B2B brand building. Ultimately, as digital transformation sweeps across industries, B2B payments are no longer merely about settling invoices; instead, they are increasingly about creating seamless, transparent and efficient experiences that reflect the brand’s values and commitment to its partners.

Read more: Digital B2B Payments Turn User Experience Into a Superpower

Trust and Transparency: Foundations of B2B Brand Building

Reliability and trust are key drivers behind B2B buying decisions, and a better payments experience is fundamental to supporting both of those brand pillars — particularly against a backdrop where brand building is no longer solely the domain of marketing departments.

For B2B enterprises, where relationships and trust are paramount, the payment experience can serve as a powerful brand differentiator, influencing perceptions, loyalty and ultimately, the bottom line. Unlike B2C, where transactions are often one-off, B2B transactions are typically part of a longer-term relationship. A well-handled payment process can reinforce trust between partners, while issues such as delays, lack of transparency or errors can erode it.

And as businesses continue to digitize, the ability to offer seamless, integrated payment solutions can set a brand apart from its competitors. For instance, integrating payment processes with existing enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems can streamline operations for clients, reducing the administrative burden and creating a more seamless, efficient experience.

An August PYMNTS Intelligence report, “Building Better B2B Relationships Through Payments Innovation,” found that innovations like automation, virtual cards and digital payments are becoming cornerstones of B2B payments, with businesses increasingly recognizing their role in strengthening buyer-supplier relationships.

“The companies that aren’t embracing virtual cards or B2B payments innovations will be the ones that fall behind,” ConnexPay founder and CEO Bob Kaufman told PYMNTS in March. “The suppliers that are not as flexible and willing to embrace these new forms of payments are going to lose business, while the buyers who are not using them are losing revenue, which results in them not being as competitive in their space.”

Read more: Nine Things Payments Execs Need to Know for Their 2025 Business Plans

The Future of Payments in B2B Brand Building

In the June 2024 report “Getting Paid: Digital Payments for Improving Cash Flow and Customer Experience,” PYMNTS Intelligence revealed that 79% of firms want to receive digital payments, including wire, automated clearing house (ACH) and virtual cards, and 83% consider fully electronic payment processing to be important or very important.

“We see from both buyers and suppliers across many different industries that the need to focus on working capital has been apparent,” Chad Wallace, executive vice president and global head of commercial solutions at Mastercard, told PYMNTS in January. “… [By using virtual cards] buyers are able to pay suppliers in a real-time fashion, so suppliers aren’t receiving late payments. And the buyers are also taking advantage of the credit line to manage their own working capital better. So, we see the benefits on both sides of the house.”

And one of the often-overlooked aspects of digital B2B payments is the wealth of data they generate. This data can be a powerful tool in brand building, offering insights into customer behavior, preferences and pain points. By analyzing payment data, businesses can identify trends and tailor their offerings to better meet customer needs, further strengthening their brand.

For example, understanding which payment methods are most popular among different customer segments can inform product development, marketing strategies, and even customer service approaches. Additionally, payment data can help businesses identify at-risk accounts — those who are consistently late in paying, for instance — and proactively address potential issues before they escalate.

Looking ahead, B2B payments are no longer just a back-office function in B2B transactions — and may never be such again. Rather, they are a critical touchpoint that can significantly influence a company’s brand. By prioritizing trust, transparency, security and customer experience in their payment processes, B2B businesses can build stronger relationships, enhance their brand reputation and ultimately drive growth.

For all PYMNTS B2B coverage, subscribe to the daily B2B Newsletter.

The post The Crucial Role Payments Can Play in B2B Brand Building appeared first on PYMNTS.com.

And with the news Friday (Aug. 30) that Bridge has raised an additional $40 million round to continue building its stablecoin-based global payment scheme, executing international transactions quickly and conveniently is increasingly top of mind for companies looking to capture market share in foreign markets.

But the rise of faster and easier cross-border B2B payments has simultaneously elevated the importance of security and anti-money laundering (AML) compliance for high-risk transactions. For buyers and suppliers, finding the right balance between these competing demands — convenience and compliance — has become a critical imperative, one that could mean the difference between operational success and severe financial or reputational damage.

This was the theme of a speech given by U.S. Federal Reserve Governor Christopher J. Waller last Wednesday (Aug. 28) at the Global Fintech Fest in Mumbai, India.

“Not all frictions that slow payments down are bad,” Waller said. “Certain frictions are purposely built into the global payment system for compliance and risk-management reasons … there is no silver bullet that increases speed and efficiency without tradeoffs.”

“Granted, the practice today of sending payments through an often complex chain of correspondent banks contributes to slower payments that could benefit from efficiency enhancements,” added Waller.

Read more: How Compliance Is Shaping the Future of Cross-Border Payments

Balancing Speed, Convenience and Compliance 

For buyers and suppliers operating in high-risk, cross-border environments, balancing speed, convenience and compliance is frequently no easy task.

After all, cross-border payments, driven by advancements in technology, supply chain innovations and the increasing interconnectedness of economies, have become a cornerstone of global growth, enabling businesses to expand their reach, tap into new markets and engage with a more diverse range of suppliers and buyers.

But with this growth comes heightened risks. The nature of cross-border payments, particularly in high-risk regions, exposes businesses to a multitude of challenges, including currency fluctuations, geopolitical instability and varying regulatory environments.

Faulty cross-border payments cost merchants in the United States at least $3.8 billion in sales last year alone, according to the PYMNTS Intelligence report “Cross-Border Sales and the Challenge of Failed Payments.” Additionally, 70% of U.S. firms experienced higher rates of failed payments in cross-border sales compared to domestic sales.

At the same time, the anonymity and scale of digital transactions have made these payments attractive targets for fraudsters, money launderers and other bad actors.

The push for faster B2B payments has also led to a growing tension between speed and security. As businesses adopt real-time payment systems and embrace innovations like digital wallets, the risk of processing fraudulent transactions or violating AML regulations increases. The challenge lies in implementing solutions that facilitate rapid transactions while maintaining robust security protocols.

See also: Looking to Capture the Real-Time Opportunity in B2B Payments? You’re Not Alone

The Role of Technology in Enhancing Compliance

“Compliance has traditionally been a cost center designed to avoid risk,”  Sovos CEO Kevin Akeroyd told PYMNTS in an April interview. “It has not been a force for growth — but now, it’s turning that corner, and it really can be a force for growth.”

By embracing technology, adopting a risk-based approach, and fostering collaboration across the ecosystem, businesses can strike the right balance between speed, convenience, and security. In doing so, they can not only protect themselves from the growing threat of financial crime but also position themselves for long-term success in an increasingly interconnected world.

PYMNTS has previously covered how traditional methods of compliance management often fall short due to their reliance on manual processes and retrospective analysis, highlighting the role that future-fit advances like artificial intelligence (AI) can play in both securing and streamlining the global business landscape by helping firms enhance their AML compliance and detect suspicious activity in real time.

“There are two big things businesses want,” Boost Payment Solutions founder and CEO Dean M. Leavitt told PYMNTS in a separate April interview. “The first is cross-border payments mechanisms that are cost-effective and efficient in paying their suppliers abroad. That’s a clear desire on the enterprise B2B level. And the other thing is just broadly digitizing the ways in which businesses pay and get paid.”

The post The Convenience-Compliance Conundrum in Cross-Border B2B Payments appeared first on PYMNTS.com.

And they are choosing to embrace innovation rather than stand still and fall behind. In a era marked by rapid technological advancements and evolving regulation, companies of all sizes must adapt to stay competitive.

PYMNTS is tracking the latest advances shaping business-to-business (B2B) transactions, from the importance of small to mid-sized businesses (SMBs) and the emergence of artificial intelligence (AI), to the power of FinTech partnerships.

SMBs and the Push for Growth

Small businesses have long been the backbone of the global economy. Recent developments highlight the importance of this segment, with large financial institutions and technology firms focusing more intently on SMBs.

For instance, Citigroup is reportedly looking to increase its revenue by adding smaller clients, aiming to double its commercial banking business. Known for serving only the largest clients, the bank has expanded its focus to include SMBs with annual revenues between $10 million and $3 billion, news broke Wednesday (Aug. 28).

Also Wednesday, the buy now, pay later (BNPL) firm Sezzle and embedded finance platform Liberis teamed to help American small businesses get funded. The partnership is centered around Sezzle Capital, designed to help SMBs in the U.S. and eventually Canada get financing without sacrificing equity.

And when it comes to reimagining SMB payments and turning them into a growth engine, Lorenzo Soriano de Teresa, senior vice president, merchant services at American Express (Amex) has just one word of advice.

“Automate, automate, automate,” he told PYMNTS during a recent conversation centered on findings from the latest “B2B and Digital Payments Tracker® Series,” which was produced by PYMNTS Intelligence in collaboration with American Express. “The right automation solution, or the right partner, can help businesses move past their current payments concerns to see tangible benefits.”

Elsewhere, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) rule requiring lenders to gather demographic information about small business borrowers has leapt another legal hurdle after a federal judge rejected a banking industry-backed challenge that argued that the rule’s data collection method was flawed, it was reported Monday (Aug. 26).

AI’s Expanding Role

AI is far from the futuristic concept it once was. The technology is now a reality that is reshaping industries across the board.

Nvidia on Tuesday (Aug. 27) introduced pretrained, customizable AI workflows that will provide a “jump start” for enterprise developers creating AI applications using one or more AI agents. “The enterprise AI wave is here,” Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of Nvidia, said in the release.

On Wednesday, Ramsey Masri, CEO at Ceres AI, chatted with PYMNTS’ CEO Karen Webster about how the use of AI in agriculture has blossomed into a global movement, revolutionizing how crops are grown, financed and insured.

And unions in the U.K. want the country’s banks to be ready to retain workers displaced by AI. At the U.K.’s Trades Union Congress next month, labor organizations will call on lenders, insurance and accounting firms to be prepared to assist millions of workers whose jobs could be impacted by AI.

Elsewhere, spend management company Coupa said on Monday that it has added more than 100 AI-powered innovations to its platform.

Digital Transformation of B2B Payments

The PYMNTS Intelligence report “Getting Paid: Digital Payments for Improving Cash Flow and Customer Experience” examined how digital payments are reshaping accounts receivable (AR), offering insights into reducing days sales outstanding (DSO) and building stronger business relationships.

According to the report, 75% of organizations still use paper checks, despite their high costs and inefficiencies. The manual processing involved with checks results in slower transactions, increased potential for errors and longer DSO, hurting a company’s cash flow and financial stability.

And in that same vein, Karen Webster sat down with Tom Furr, CEO of PatientPay, and Ryan Zemmin, CEO of ClearGage, to discuss the Tuesday (Aug. 27) merger of their two companies and how the future of healthcare payments starts with getting rid of entrenched paper-based billing processes.

Still, leaving paper behind and going digital isn’t as easy as flipping a switch. PYMNTS unpacked on Wednesday why effective change management is a crucial component of B2B automation.

With the news Tuesday that Vault released new functionality for its accounts payable (AP) platform to help Canadian businesses automate vendor payments, adopting new payments technologies to remain competitive is top of mind for both B2B buyers and suppliers.

FinTech Partnerships

FinTech partnerships can help financial institutions thrive, Boost Payment Solutions Founder and CEO Dean M. Leavitt wrote in a new PYMNTS eBook, “Beyond the Horizon: How to Identify Unexpected Threats That Could Impact Your Business.”

And the marketplace is already acting on this fact. Visa has launched a cross-border business payments partnership with London-based FinTech Revolut. The collaboration, announced Tuesday (Aug. 27), allows instant card transfers for Revolut’s business customers via the Visa Direct system.

Also on Tuesday, Galileo Financial Technologies announced that it now enables its FinTech clients to connect their business customers to Mastercard’s expense reporting and analytics suite, Mastercard Smart Data.

And spend management technology is becoming table stakes in every industry, according to the PYMNTS Intelligence report “Better Working Capital With B2B Spend Management.”

For all PYMNTS B2B coverage, subscribe to the daily B2B Newsletter.

The post SMBs, AI, and FinTech Partnerships Headline This Week in B2B appeared first on PYMNTS.com.

With this collaboration, companies that are clients of both partners can embed HSBC Innovation Banking U.K.’s payment and account services via Numeral’s application programming interfaces (APIs), the companies said in a Thursday (Aug. 29) press release.

“Innovative companies for which payments are core to their products, often struggle to find banking partners that understand their unique needs,” Édouard Mandon, co-founder and CEO of Numeral, said in the release. “This is why we’re thrilled to collaborate with HSBC Innovation Banking UK to bring together our unique expertise and offer joint customers and out-of-box integration.”

Hugo Pires, director, global treasury and payments advisor (FinTech) at HSBC Innovation Banking UK, said in the release that this offering will enable the companies’ joint clients to “streamline processes and improve customer experience.”

With the bank’s services integrated through Numeral’s API and payment operations dashboard, companies can send and receive UK Bacs, CHAPS and FPS payments, as well as SEPA and Swift payments, and access their bank account balances and transactions data in real-time, according to the release.

InsurTech Qover is among the joint clients that have adopted this new offering. The firm selected it to streamline its claim payout process, per the release.

“By integrating with HSBC Innovation Banking UK through Numeral’s API, we can automatically initiate claim payouts as soon as they are approved, and track these payouts in real-time,” Qover Chief Customer Officer Ed Ackerman said in the release. “Customers receive their payouts much faster and Qover’s operations have been streamlined.”

British banking giant HSBC launched HSBC Innovation Banking in June 2023 to focus on “innovation companies, their founders and their investors,” HSBC Group CEO Noel Quinn said in a press release announcing the event.

“We will protect this specialism and take it to the next level by combining these capabilities with our financial strength and global reach,” Quinn said.

As for Numeral, it launched support for Swift payments in February, saying this move would enable its customers to benefit from both Swift’s global reach and local payment schemes’ speed, lower cost and local reach.

For all PYMNTS B2B coverage, subscribe to the daily B2B Newsletter.

The post Numeral and HSBC Partner to Enable Embedded Payments for FinTechs appeared first on PYMNTS.com.

Slope’s solution was launched on IKEA.com for business applications and checkout where approved and will be fully integrated into all IKEA U.S. locations for in-store purchasing by October, the retailer said in a Thursday (Aug. 29) press release.

This new offering is part of the retailer’s efforts to expand its IKEA for Business segment, according to the release.

“Our partnership with Slope represents a step forward in our commitment to supporting small and medium-sized businesses in the communities we serve,” Jordi Esquinas Gimenez, chief commercial officer at IKEA U.S., said in the release. “This service is a no-fee solution that’s fast and accessible, making it a special part of our mission to create a better everyday life for the many people.”

The new payment option supplied by Slope eliminates the manual process of traditional invoicing, offers business owners access to capital with 30-day net turns, and provides a streamlined checkout experience, per the release.

Slope offers short-term financing to business customers at the point of purchase, allowing them to extend their working capital, pay using net terms and reduce the manual workload of tracking and managing invoices, according to a web page outline the new offering.

Businesses can apply for Slope in under 10 minutes, get an instant financing decision and proceed with no financing fee and a 30-day term on IKEA purchases, per the web page.

“We are incredibly excited to extend our payments offering to the IKEA U.S. customer base and work with a forward-thinking partner like IKEA U.S. to transition the B2B economy online,” Slope CEO and Co-founder Lawrence Lin Murata said in the release.

Slope secured $65 million in strategic equity and debt funding in July to scale its B2B payments platform for enterprise companies. The funding was provided by J.P. Morgan Payments, Y Combinator, Jack Altman and Max Altman’s new fund, Saga.

The company’s platform is being used by J.P. Morgan Payments to help its clients offer their own business customers a short-term financing solution.

The post IKEA Adds Slope’s Flexible Payment Options for Business Customers appeared first on PYMNTS.com.