How COVID-19 has changed B2B payments

One of the main changes businesses have adopted since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic is a faster move to contactless and cashless payments. For some businesses, it was a health and safety precaution, but the bigger picture shows us that these changes to the way in which payments are accepted has provided greater opportunity for businesses.

At a time when payments are changing quickly, it’s important for businesses to be proactive and get the right payment tools and systems in place now to support their future growth. In this article, we outline how COVID-19 has driven transformation in B2B payments and how businesses can take advantage of this change to strengthen their cash flow.

Contactless and cashless payments are here to stay

A recent Gartner report found that by 2024, the use of mobile proximity payments (tap and pay) will double to almost 2 billion users. Further, global cash circulation will decrease for the first time after decades of continuous increases. And since the start of the pandemic, digital payment volumes have grown rapidly with as much as 10 years’ worth of volume obtained within four months. This shift was likely driven by the rise in remote working and the increase in sales — both B2C and B2B — through online channels.

With technological change comes challenge

The rapid change that’s occurred since the start of the pandemic has resulted in challenges with digital security, fraud and customer experience.

Digital security in cashless payments is a key concern for businesses. When payments are completed where a network or payment provider’s gateway is compromised, it can lead to sensitive details such as credit card and bank account information being exposed.

Fraud is another key challenge for businesses as they digitise their payment systems. One of the most common types of fraud in B2B payment is business email compromise (BEC). To combat this threat, it’s critical that companies have strong protections in place for all parties in a transaction. Adopting eInvoicing and features such as Spenda’s ledger-to-ledger integration ensures both parties are working from a single source of truth in every transaction.

Better data and systems to efficiently process refunds has become a priority for many businesses to reduce friction in cancelling or updating payment details. Direct B2B collaboration frameworks can help businesses address these friction points, provide payment flexibility to customers and boost cash flow across the supply chain. 

Take advantage of B2B payment opportunities and boost your cash flow

While many organisations have cited the development of digital payment portals to be the biggest change in B2B payments since the start of the pandemic, there are opportunities beyond digitising payments that will benefit suppliers and their customers. For those organisations that are proactive and looking for more ways to leverage the digital transformation that’s occurred throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses can:

• Introduce an integrated payments system
• Provide more flexible payment options to customers.

An integrated payments system will address some of the challenges outlined above, particularly security and fraud. By using ledger-to-ledger reporting and full integration with your business’s accounting software, businesses can reduce errors in their transactions, collaborate directly with their customers in a secure environment, and reduce the risk of fraud.

Change your B2B payment game with Spenda

Spenda’s payment features allows businesses to transform their payments through integration, a range of flexible payment options and all of the tools and systems you need for stronger cash flow. Our technology is designed to be user-friendly, efficient and powerful in making you a more strategic business owner. Integration and automation features also allow you to get a more detailed and accurate picture of your cash flow, so you can strengthen your business’s finances and keep growing.

Click here to download our latest white paper to learn how your business can take advantage of automated digital solutions to accelerate growth.