This post was originally published in February 2021 and was updated in August 2025 to reflect the latest strategies in digital B2B payments.
The transformation of digital B2B payments
Finance leaders are recognizing that outdated payment processes create unnecessary friction in customer relationships while slowing cash flow. Traditional payment methods—paper checks, manual invoice processing, and time-consuming reconciliation—no longer meet the expectations of modern buyers or the operational needs of growing businesses.
Digital B2B payments represent more than just technological advancement; they are strategic tools that help finance teams reduce costs, accelerate cash flow, and improve the buyer experience. By implementing end-to-end automation from payment processing to cash application, businesses can reduce Days Sales Outstanding (DSO) while creating positive experiences that strengthen customer relationships.
Modern accounts receivable operations leverage digital payment solutions to eliminate manual bottlenecks and provide customers with the flexibility they expect. From AI-powered payment portals to automated payment processing, these solutions transform AR from a cost center into a competitive advantage that drives business growth.
When you make it easy to pay you, you get paid faster. So, simply by improving your payments processes your business can possibly lower its days sales outstanding (DSO) and improve its cash flow.
The main ingredients to an easier, more customer-centric payments process are more electronic billing and digital payments. By modernizing and digitizing your accounts receivable processes, you’ll make your customers love paying you. Here’s how:
Read the blog → B2B payment processing: Simplifying payments for your business
1. Provide a Centralized, Self-Service Buyer Portal
A branded, buyer-facing portal gives your customers a single place to manage their AR relationship with you. They can view and pay their invoices from anywhere, and even log disputes—all without picking up the phone. In today’s remote/flexible work environment, that’s a major benefit.
Your customers will also love the self-service portals’ history feature. Did they lose track of an invoice? No problem. Did they forget if they’ve paid a bill? The history is all there, and it’s available 24/7.
For your finance team, this immediate invoice delivery and instant payment capability is the first step in accelerating cash flow. The faster invoices are delivered and made accessible, the faster they get paid. This self-service model also frees up your team from manual effort, allowing them to focus on higher-value activities.
2. Automate Invoicing into Customer AP Portals
Many of your largest buyers, typically enterprise buyers, require you to submit invoices directly into their accounts payable (AP) portals. Fulfilling these mandates manually is not scalable and often leads to errors and payment delays.
Instead of dedicating staff to manual data entry, a third-party vendor or solution can allow you to automatically invoice into hundreds of different AP portals. This eliminates a major point of friction for your most important customers and ensures your invoices are in line for payment without delay.
Billtrust’s AP Portal Delivery automates this entire process. Our solution automatically submits invoices into over 260 AP Portals on your behalf, ensuring they are uploaded swiftly and in the correct format, all within a two-business-day SLA.
3. Offer Flexible and Frictionless Payment Options
Accounts payable teams, much like your own AR team, are slowed down by manual work and friction. The key is to offer a range of digital B2B payment options that cater to different buyer segments.
- Mid-Market Buyers: These customers are often receptive to using your self-service portal for ACH or credit card payments.
- Small Business Buyers: For infrequent purchasers, offer a frictionless payment experience with payment links directly on emailed invoices. This provides a “guest checkout” experience, allowing them to pay instantly without needing to log into a portal. These buyers are not as interested in signing up for and maintaining credentials on multiple suppliers’ self-service platforms.
By supporting multiple payment modalities—including EFT, credit cards, virtual cards, and even international options like SEPA Direct Debit—you meet your customers where they are and make it easier to do business with you.
4. Automate Virtual Card Processing
Virtual credit cards are one of the fastest-growing digital payment methods in B2B, but manually processing them from emailed remittance advice is a major drain on resources and a security risk.
An automated solution like Billtrust’s Digital Lockbox eliminates this burden entirely. It automatically captures and processes virtual card payments from any provider, saving your team hours of manual work, reducing acceptance costs, and enhancing security by eliminating employee access to raw card data. For example, one client, Cooper Electric, saved $120,000 in annual processing fees and reallocated staff to more strategic work after implementing this automation.
5. Implement Smart, Configurable Payment Policies
Adopting digital B2B payments doesn’t mean losing control. A sophisticated AR platform allows you to set highly configurable payment policies aligned with your business goals.
Imagine setting rules that:
- Apply a surcharge for credit card payments only for specific customer segments.
- Block certain high-fee credit cards.
- Offer early-payment discounts exclusively through low-cost methods like Automated Clearing House (ACH).
- Allow certain customers to set up autopay.
This level of granularity allows you to strategically guide buyers toward more cost-effective payment channels, reducing card processing costs by up to 30% and optimizing your working capital.
Read the blog → Electronic payment processing: Strategies for modern finance
Getting started with digital B2B payments
Successfully implementing digital B2B payments requires an approach that minimizes disruption while maximizing customer adoption. Finance leaders who follow a structured process achieve better outcomes and faster ROI.
Assessment of current processes
Start by evaluating your existing payment mix and identifying bottlenecks in your cash flow cycle. Document time spent on manual payment processing, exception handling, and customer payment inquiries. This analysis reveals the true cost of manual processes and helps prioritize areas where automation delivers the greatest impact.
Phased implementation approach
Begin with collaborative customers who are already interested in electronic payment options. Phase one focuses on self-service payment portals and basic electronic payment acceptance. Phase two expands to include Pay on Email for infrequent buyers and automated payment scheduling. The final phase addresses complex integrations like AP portal connections and advanced features such as dynamic discounting.
Change management for customer adoption
Develop communication strategies that emphasize convenience, security, and flexibility benefits of digital payments. Create educational materials and consider offering early payment discounts to encourage adoption. Personal outreach from account managers can be particularly effective for key customers hesitant about changing payment routines.
Measuring success metrics
Track key performance indicators, including DSO reduction, electronic payment adoption rates, and customer satisfaction scores. Monitor operational improvements such as reduced processing time and decreased exception handling. Cost metrics should capture reductions in paper processing, postage, and manual labor that result from automation.
A customer-centric approach is profitable
Effective customer retention strategies drive higher profits across industries. Research shows that increasing customer retention by just 5% can boost profits by up to 95%. Technology has changed consumer expectations in every way. If the buying process is cumbersome and clunky, people may look elsewhere.
Unfortunately, many B2B companies have generally ignored this trend as it relates to taking their customers’ payments. Delivering your customer’s invoices and taking their payments are customer-facing activities. They are just as important to the customer as browsing your inventory or getting great service.
Many B2B sellers don’t even have a portal where you can log on, view invoice/billing history, make payments and log disputes. This forces customers to do business over the phone with a customer billing specialist, with long hold times between the hours of 9 am – 4 pm. This process not only aggravates customers; it also takes valuable employee time and money. If your business has a recurring customer base that frequently purchases from you, this process is all the more critical.
Make digital B2B payments your competitive advantage
The transition to digital B2B payments doesn’t have to be complex or disruptive. Modern AR platforms integrate with existing systems while providing the flexibility to accommodate diverse customer preferences and business requirements. The key is partnering with experts who understand both the technical implementation and the business outcomes you’re trying to achieve.
Why finance leaders choose Billtrust
At Billtrust, we’ve been transforming how businesses manage their accounts receivable operations for over two decades. As the leading provider of order-to-cash solutions, we understand that digital B2B payments represent more than just technological upgrades—they’re investments in your company’s financial future. Our unified AR platform processes over $1 trillion in invoice dollars annually for 2,400+ customers worldwide, giving us unique insights into what works across more than 40 industries.
Billtrust’s payment platform offers the flexibility and sophistication that modern finance teams demand. Our solutions support multiple payment modalities, including ACH transfers, credit card payments, virtual cards, and wire transfers, all managed through configurable business rules that align with your cash flow objectives.
Don’t let outdated payment processes limit your business growth. Billtrust’s digital B2B payment solutions help finance teams achieve measurable improvements in DSO reduction, cost control, and customer satisfaction. Connect with our AR experts today to learn how Billtrust can optimize your payment processes and accelerate your cash flow.
Frequently Asked Questions
Check out the FAQs for general questions. Find helpful answers quickly to get the information you need.
What are digital B2B payments and why should finance teams prioritize them?
Digital B2B payments encompass electronic payment methods including ACH transfers, commercial credit cards, virtual credit cards, and automated payment processing through self-service portals. Finance teams should prioritize these solutions because they accelerate cash flow, reduce manual processing costs, and provide customers with the flexible payment options they expect, ultimately improving customer satisfaction.
How do digital B2B payments help reduce Days Sales Outstanding (DSO)?
Digital payment methods eliminate the delays associated with paper checks and manual processing. Automated payment portals enable instant payment processing, while features like Pay on Email allow customers to pay directly from invoice notifications. This acceleration of the payment cycle, combined with better payment tracking and automated reminders, helps finance teams significantly reduce DSO and improve working capital.
How can businesses handle different customer payment preferences effectively?
Successful digital B2B payment strategies recognize that enterprise customers often require AP portal integrations, mid-market buyers prefer self-service portals, and smaller customers benefit from simple Pay on Email solutions. The most effective approach uses a unified platform that can automatically route invoices and payments through the appropriate channels based on customer preferences and business rules.
