How Value-Added Services Are Transforming B2B Payments

B2B payments are famously never just payments, but a sophisticated combination of workflows and data.

With the news Thursday (July 11) that Bank of America has added a transaction search engine to its CashPro banking platform, B2B solutions that bundle value-added services is gaining ground among buyers and suppliers alike.

Having everything in one place makes it increasingly easier to operate a business, whether it’s B2B payments, banking, cards, embedded lending or expense management. In today’s fast-paced business landscape, efficiency and streamlined operations have become paramount.

The traditional approach to business payments has been somewhat fragmented. Companies often relied on multiple platforms and providers to handle various aspects of their financial operations. While this method worked, it was far from efficient. Each system operated in silos, requiring separate management and often leading to disjointed processes, data discrepancies and increased administrative burdens.

But bringing together multiple financial services under one umbrella and providing a seamless experience for businesses is gaining prominence in the marketplace, with B2B innovation being driven by the need for simplicity, efficiency and a growing demand for comprehensive financial solutions.

Read more: Buyer-Supplier Relationships Are Being Reshaped in a Crucible of Convenience

Is Bundling the Future of B2B Payments?

PYMNTS Intelligence in “Accounts Payable Cycles: The Potential for AI,” a collaboration with Ottimate drawing upon data from 60 CFOs spanning more than 10 sectors, revealed that many big companies have not streamlined their AP cycles and rely on too many tools — with nearly 60% of large firms using at least five different AP systems.

“Businesses are left with so many different variations of how they have to transact with their customers that it’s almost become a full-time job for them to keep up with all the different levels of sophistication from fully integrated, automated, digitized down to smaller or less sophisticated customers that still require snail-mailed invoices and paper checks and things of that nature,” Corcentric CEO Matt Clark told PYMNTS last summer.

And while some firms still offer accounts payable (AP) as a standalone service, there is a noticeable trend toward selling a comprehensive suite of payment and financial products. Having everything in one place simplifies operations. Businesses no longer need to juggle multiple platforms and providers. A single integrated solution can handle everything and not only save time but also reduce the complexity of managing financial operations.

That’s in large part because consolidated platforms help facilitate better data integration. When all financial services are interconnected, data flows seamlessly between them. This integration provides a holistic view of a company’s financial health, enabling better decision-making and more accurate financial reporting.

“There’s a lot of messiness around payments, particularly very large B2B payments that might house hundreds or thousands of invoices with hundreds of associated line-item details,” Boost Payment Solutions founder and CEO Dean M. Leavitt told PYMNTS last month. “Large enterprises on both the AP and AR side are looking for ways to automate those processes, digitize them and reduce their cost as well.”

Read more: Japan Ditched Floppy Disks, but Can Businesses Ditch Paper Checks?

A comprehensive suite of services provides a more cohesive user experience. Employees can navigate a single platform with ease, accessing all the tools and features they need to perform their tasks. This can lead to higher satisfaction and productivity.

The latest PYMNTS Intelligence in “Main Street SMBs’ Expanding Technology Preferences: An Engine for Growth,” a collaboration with i2c, finds that small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) prefer financial institutions that offer complex payment solutions with sophisticated features.

“Many folks don’t want to buy from 30 or 40 different vendors,” Dave Haase, president at ChemDirect, told PYMNTS in a conversation in November. “They want to be able to consolidate that with a few vendors, as few as possible.”

And many of the older, fragmented systems B2B firms have traditionally relied upon are no longer making muster or moving the needle much as the global operating landscape enters the second quarter of the 21st century. The PYMNTS Intelligence report in “Getting Paid: Digital Payments for Improving Cash Flow and Customer Experience” found that 79% of B2B suppliers want to receive digital payments, including wire, ACH and virtual cards. Faster payment processing is not the only impetus, as 76% of firms believe that buyers are likelier to pay on time when they pay electronically.

At the same time, PYMNTS Intelligence in “The Treasurer’s Guide to AR Payment Optimization,” a PYMNTS Intelligence and CheckAlt collaboration, noted that 40% of all B2B payments in the U.S. are still made via check.