Your Ultimate Guide to B2B Payment Solutions

Discover everything you need to know about B2B payments and the B2B payment solutions currently changing how buyers, sellers, platforms, and customers interact and engage. 

Business-to-business (B2B) payments refer to the exchange of funds between buyers and sellers in return for services, products, or goods. It’s that simple, and that interesting. Because B2B payments have evolved, transactions are increasingly taking place on digital platforms using digital solutions, pathways, and ecosystems. 

The new world of B2B payments is frictionless, fast, and rich with functionalities that create seamless customer experiences.   

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B2B Payment Methods

There are many different B2B payment methods. They vary by type, industry, platform, sector, customer, and environment but even though most B2B payment solutions are automated and designed to facilitate the payment process, they are not as smooth nor as easy to use as they should be, as they could be. 

There are numerous, existing B2B payment methods, including:

• Credit cards
• Wire transfers
• Digital payment platforms
• Cheques
• Cash, and 
• Automated payments across entities such as banks.

Each of these has proven its worth over the years, but as digital needs evolve, they are unable to deliver the immediacy that most customers demand today. 

Most B2B payments are lagging behind because they are managed through a patchwork of standalone solutions with proprietary integrations, individual logins, and account requirements. This patchwork quilt of tech and systems makes most payment experiences frustrating, time-consuming, and slow; they also make it cumbersome and difficult to manage payments. 

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The necessity to simplify B2B payment services

Due to the limitations and challenges introduced by more traditional payment methods such as credit cards and cheques, there has been an evolution in digital B2B payment services that have used online platforms to build out a variety of payment options. Platforms such as PayPal, Venmo, and Google Pay are well-known thanks to their ability to provide payment services across countries and entities. However, they too have their limitations. 

Many of these B2B payment services are only accessible on a mobile device, making it difficult for businesses to stay on top of their payments and manage them effectively. Others are more accessible but expensive to use and are often the target of high-profile security threats and attacks. Customer relationships are put at risk, especially with platforms where the checkout process is entrusted to a third party. 

Other complexities encountered by digital B2B payment platforms

Users often have to take long and complicated routes to complete payments, and this can result in user fatigue or reduced conversion rates. Often, users are redirected to their online banking website, where they have to log in, fill out a form with all their payment details, and only then is payment completed. 

Of course, once the customer has finished the payments process, a new set of challenges arises for the payments platform. Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) and finance teams then have to undertake time-consuming and expensive manual reconciliations and payouts. Manual processing of payments is a tedious hurdle for all B2B payment platforms and can prevent the platform from scaling its operations, especially for larger B2B platforms with thousands of transactions to process. 

When B2B payment services are filled with friction, customer experiences tend to suffer, and that knocks on the business and its potential – and there is a lot of potential. 

Changing the shape of B2B payment platforms 

B2B payment platforms stand to win immense market share if they can transform payment processes and make it easier for customers to connect, spend and stay. This is already evidenced by how the more traditional B2B payment methods, such as cheques and cash, have significantly declined in popularity and use case. In some countries, cheques have been completely discontinued. 

Instead, there has been a shift towards embedded payment solutions that have evolved out of the need to create financial ecosystems that retain customers while building loyalty, engagement, and traction. These embedded, real-time finance solutions are opening up new distribution channels and opportunities, providing inclusive and accessible digital transactions that can be added to any third-party environment to create seamless and frictionless B2B payments. 

The future isn’t complicated and time-consuming; it’s embedded and engaging. And it is already here… 

Digital B2B payment solutions transformed

UNIPaaS has created unique and accessible embedded online payment solutions that perfectly fit the B2B payment platform. With UNIPaaS, B2B payment platforms can create ecosystems that connect with their customers and deliver integrated digital journeys that simplify financial transactions. 

In fact, B2B payment platforms will also get the following benefits from UNIPaaS: 

• The ability to transform B2B payments while creating new financial distribution models
• New revenue streams that can rest on top of their existing revenue models
• A higher average revenue per user
• Seamless payment experiences
• Access to B2B payments technology that’s accessible and easy to use
• B2B payment automation functionality and seamless B2B payment processing, and
• B2B marketplace payments

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Benefits of the UNIPaaS multi-vendor eWallet System

With the UNIPaaS multi-vendor eWallet System (MVWS) B2B payment platforms gain access to a flexible eWallet infrastructure that uses open banking to deliver faster and more secure real-time payment experiences. It also introduces increased operational efficiencies in payments management and comes with the following four key capabilities: 

1. Embedded B2B pay-in with multiple payment methods that include pay-by-bank, and that are all embedded within the platform user journey and brand
2. A single check-out experience that uses multi-vendor orders from various payment methods in a single check-out experience features bank transfers alongside credit cards and APMs.
3. An MVWS that provides B2B payment platforms with real-time control and a comprehensive view of their entire payment operations on one centralised dashboard. With MVWS, CFOs and finance leaders can manage balance and automate payment processes, including reconciliations and pay-outs, to optimise operations and support the business as it scales.
4. Dynamic pay-outs that leverage UNIPaaS so B2B payment platforms can deliver instant global payouts to a bank, card, or digital wallet. These can be automated and dynamically scheduled through the API or the UNIPaaS system interface.

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How UNIPaaS brings B2B payment solutions into the future 

UNIPaaS is built on a flexible payment gateway architecture that enables the faster implementation of B2B, SaaS and Fintech products and services: payments as-a-service (PaaS), banking as-a-service (BaaS), and lending as-a-service (LaaS) in one unified platform. 

UNIPaaS provides the ability to rapidly add financial services so that B2B payment platforms can generate additional revenue streams and grow their businesses. 

Say goodbye to traditional B2B payment methods that aren’t capable or fast enough to meet customer expectations, and hello to UNIPaaS, where embedded finance meets innovation to deliver transformational B2B payment solutions. 

 Meet with UNIPaaS to take your B2B payment platform to the next level