Digital B2B Payment Trends Rule 2021

The past year has radically changed the B2B landscape and some clear payment trends have emerged that will likely unfold over the next twelve months. B2B merchants should take note of these payment automation trends that will influence how they conduct business in the future.

Payment Trends to Watch for This Year

1. Checks Continue to Lose Ground

Payment automation has focused on cost savings, account payable (AP) efficiency, and has surged as companies did not want to send employees into the office to cut checks during the pandemic. Hopping on this digitization bandwagon – suppliers. With more suppliers asking buyers to start making payments electronically, the check is becoming more obsolete.

2. ACH Fraud is on the Rise

Traditionally, banks have been able to offer check protection, but have not focused on ACH. The fraud risk is greater than with checks because the ACH payment process is much faster. It is almost impossible to recover stolen funds if you don’t recognize the problem before the funds reach the bad actors.

3. Ripple Effects from Making Payments More Digital

B2B merchants had to pivot and shift very quickly to ensure their business stayed afloat during the pandemic. Many merchants did not have the proper time to plan for these changes which will likely lead to a second wave of digital payment transformation. And this one will be more strategic and include automation that addresses emerging needs.

4. AR Process Accelerated by Electronic Payments

As payment automation continues to take hold in the business world, many merchants are seeing the AR process becoming much quicker and more streamlined. This simplicity and ease will continue to be adopted across platforms to help businesses save time and money.

5. Digital Payments Provides Supply Chain Cash Flow

When it comes to supply chain financing, the U.S. has a massive opportunity to create more fluency and working capital for suppliers and buyers by using data to accomplish these goals. Smarter systems with access to the whole data stream – from PO issuing to payment transacting – can support preapproved discount and financing options that were previously unavailable.

6. Buyers and Suppliers Build a New Business Model

The days of thinking of the B2B world as buyers and suppliers – (AP and AR) – as separate and independent organizations is becoming old-fashioned. Every AP team has a corresponding AR team. All companies are both buyers and suppliers and there is a large network of finance professionals behind the constant exchange of funds, POs, invoices, contracts, and other documents.

Some financial companies are using the B2B social networking concept to build proto versions of a “Facebook for Business” into their product. Whether a collection of technology firms share their vast network, or a single company creates and markets the right solution, the market is ready for a new business standard.

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