5 reasons to upgrade B2B payment acceptance methods

Intensifying competition, cost increases and rising customer expectations make achieving profitability more challenging than ever. But embracing technology that enables digital payment acceptance can help by giving your business a competitive edge and boosting its financial performance.

With check volumes declining, digital B2B payments are on the rise. The pandemic accelerated the adoption of digital payments across all business sectors, including B2B, and there’s never been a better time to upgrade your payment acceptance processes.
 
Digital payments help you get paid faster, which helps speed up cash flow. Digital payments also improve workflow by reducing time spent on manual reconciliation and creating a better customer experience.

Read on to learn 5 reasons why you should encourage business customers to pay you digitally.

1. Accelerate cash flow and reduce DSO

Operating cash flow is a key metric of financial performance for most organizations, especially those with large volumes of recurring payments. Replacing check acceptance with multiple digital payment options makes it easier for business customers to pay you on time, leading to an increase in cash flow and reducing your days sales outstanding (DSO).

This is important, because long DSO times impact a company’s bottom line and may require additional resources to track down buyers and collect outstanding balances.

2. Control costs on commercial credit card acceptance

Accepting business credit card payments is an ideal option that can attract new customers, prevent attrition, and increase revenue. Implementing Commercial Card Optimization can lower transaction costs by automatically collecting and transmitting additional data points that help qualify transactions for reduced Level 2 and Level 3 interchange rates.

Because it reduces costs, Commercial Card Optimization can increase leadership’s buy-in for encouraging credit card acceptance, and the additional data points help card brands validate the transaction’s authenticity. This information also helps reduce risk of a transaction dispute, which qualifies the transaction for a lower interchange rate. Data collection is complex. With Level 3 processing, 25 data fields must be correctly entered and arranged for every transaction; with Level 2, there are 9 data points. The data needs to be received correctly, and the transaction must be authorized and settled within 24 hours to avoid costly transaction downgrades. Choosing the right payments partner can help ensure you get the latest data requirements to help control commercial card acceptance costs.

The cost savings from optimizing interchange costs can help your bottom line. If you’re not yet accepting commercial card payments, now is the time to promote it as one of your customers’ B2B payment options.

3. Safeguard your bottom line

The shift from checks to B2B digital payment acceptance is underway. The speed, simplicity and security of digital payments are primary reasons more businesses are switching to digital payment acceptance methods, such as corporate card, virtual card, ACH, RTP and wire transfers. But as companies expand their digital payment options, security risks, including hacking, phishing, and more, are rising — and the related costs can be debilitating. According to IBM’s 2025 Cost of a Data Breach report, the average cost of a single data breach, as reported by more than 600 organizations, was $4.44 million.

Beyond the immediate expense, a high-profile breach can cause long-term damage to your brand reputation. The fallout from breach events can drive away customers and cause stock prices and shareholder value to fall. Implementing advanced payment security strategies with a proven payment provider can help protect your brand, secure payment and transaction data, and reduce business and compliance risks. A certified provider also makes it easier to validate compliance with PCI DSS requirements — the security standard for any business that accepts card payments.

To protect sensitive payment data, look for a provider that maintains a Level 1 PCI DSS certification with assistance and protection for your company. They should also offer a layered security approach that includes EMV 3D Secure, point-to-point encryption, tokenization, and fraud protection solutions.

4. Add to your triple bottom line

Also known as the TBL or 3BL, the triple bottom line is an accounting framework that evaluates performance by three measures: financial, social and environmental. The goal is to gain a better, fuller perspective on a business’s impact on society. Today’s consumers are engaged with sustainability efforts and choose companies that share their values. Many organizations are adopting the “triple bottom line” as part of their corporate social responsibility efforts—and reaping the rewards. A TBL can create a positive brand reputation, help increase revenue, decrease expenses and build customer loyalty.

Accepting B2B digital payments is a sustainable choice that saves resources, time and the expense of billing paperwork, printing and postage. Tax incentives and government rebates for organizations that adopt specific sustainable practices can also help boost your TBL and shareholder value.

5. Improve efficiency while improving quality

• A dynamic and integrated digital payment solution gives your business the opportunity to:
• Increase operational efficiency by reducing manual B2B payment processing and reallocating staff to more important tasks
• Increase cash flow and cash visibility and improve the accuracy of future cash predictions
• Enhance data security to prioritize protection of transaction data at rest and in transit
• Control costs by cutting time spent on check processing, reconciliation and settlement, and implementing Commercial Card Optimization to qualify commercial credit card payments for lower interchange rates 

Change takes time, particularly for B2B organizations. If digital payment acceptance isn’t a business priority, now is the time to start the conversation. Many digital payments are instantaneous or nearly instantaneous, which fuels cash flow and supports improved cash management. You’ll gain additional transparency into how funds are moving, and automating processes can help reduce errors.

Engaging with your buyers is critical to success. Communicate the variety of B2B payment options you offer and educate buyers about the mutual benefits of your preferred methods.

If you’d like to learn more about digital B2B payments, we can help. Complete this form to have one of our specialists contact you.