This post was originally published in June 2017 and was updated in August 2025 with additional information on key takeaways for suppliers, FAQs, and more.
Fifty years ago, B2B payments were relatively straightforward: buyers received invoices, and sent suppliers checks in the mail for virtually every product or service they purchased. The process was simple, predictable, and universal.
Today, that landscape is unrecognizable. Your buyers now expect to pay through multiple digital channels—ACH, virtual cards, digital wallets, wire transfers and more. While this flexibility improves the buyer experience, it creates significant payment challenges for suppliers. Finance leaders are now tasked with managing the complexity of accepting, processing, and reconciling diverse payment methods across their accounts receivable operations.
At Billtrust, we believe these complex challenges represent an opportunity for transformation.
Read the blog → Accounts receivable challenges and how to solve them
The new reality: Why payment acceptance has become so complex for finance teams
The conversation around payment challenges is often driven by the credit card surge. Large enterprise buyers increasingly demand that suppliers accept cards because these methods offer their accounts payable (AP) teams greater visibility, control, and streamlined workflows.
However, the true complexity for suppliers comes from the explosion of all digital payment types. While accommodating buyer preferences is crucial, it creates a web of process inefficiencies, costs, and risks for your accounts receivable (AR) team.
Read our ebook: Gen Z’s payment revolution: How Gen Z is driving a payments revolution in 2025
1. Operational drag and manual workloads
The biggest challenge isn’t just accepting different payments; it’s what happens next. Many AP-centric card programs automatically email suppliers with card information and remittance details. The issue is that your AR team is left having to manually retrieve the card number, process the payment through a terminal, and then apply the cash in your ERP system. This slows down your cash application process and forces your team into a cycle of manual work and:
- Hunting for data: Manually retrieving payment and remittance information from countless emails and portals.
- Manual entry: Keying in card numbers and matching payments to open invoices in the ERP.
- Increased errors: Facing a high risk of human error, leading to misapplied cash and frustrating disputes.
This is especially true for virtual cards. A solution like Billtrust’s Digital Lockbox automates the capture of virtual card payments and remittance from any source, eliminating hours of manual work and allowing your team to focus on higher-value activities.
2. What credit card acceptance really costs your business
Accepting card payments from buyers leaves you in a predicament for a number of reason: for one, card payments typically require the merchant (the supplier) to pay an interchange fee on every single transaction. Interchange fees vary widely based on the card type used to make the purchase, but in general, these fees cost you an average of 2.5% per transaction and directly impact your margins. Without a strategic approach, you’re left reacting to buyer preferences rather than guiding them toward a payment mix that benefits both parties.
Modern payment platforms give you back control. By processing Level 2 and 3 data, you can significantly lower interchange fees, achieving up to a 30% reduction in card processing costs. Furthermore, with configurable payment policies, you can set granular business rules to steer customers toward more cost-effective payment methods like ACH, striking the perfect balance between buyer convenience and your bottom line.
With typical B2B profit margins around 10%, typical credit card fees of 1.5-3.5% are eroding 15-35% of profits.
3. Security risks and compliance burdens
Finally, a major payment challenge relates to security. As card volume grows, so does your risk profile. Maintaining PCI compliance is costly and complex for many suppliers, and manually handling card data via email is not only inefficient but also exposes your organization to greater fraud vulnerability and the risk of a data breach.
A centralized, secure payment platform is essential. By leveraging a PCI Level 1 certified solution, you can implement tokenization for sensitive data, reduce your organization’s fraud exposure, and lower the ongoing operational costs associated with compliance.
Read the blog → The three payments challenges holding you back
How to turn payment challenges into competitive advantages
Navigating the complexity of modern B2B payments doesn’t have to be a defensive game or create barriers for your organization. With a strategic, technology-first approach, you can turn your payment acceptance process into a driver of efficiency, cost savings, and customer satisfaction.
The value from AR automation software is real. 42% of finance teams have seen optimized payment processing fees and policies. (Billtrust Vanson Bourne study 2025)
Here are four key steps you can implement today:
- Centralize and Automate All Payment Channels: Stop managing ACH, checks, wire transfers, and cards across multiple platforms or in silos. A unified payment acceptance platform that automates the entire payment lifecycle —from acceptance to cash application— provides a single source of truth. This streamlines reconciliation, reduces the errors and wasted time from manual entry, and accelerates your entire cash flow cycle.
- Strategically Manage Transaction Costs: Don’t let processing fees eat into your margins. Leverage an AR automation platform to qualify for lower interchange fees by processing Level 2/3 data. More importantly, implement configurable payment policies to intelligently route transactions and guide buyers toward more cost-effective payment methods, giving you direct control over your profitability.
- Implement an Intelligent, AI-Powered Strategy: The future of AR isn’t just about automation; it’s about intelligence. Modern solutions now include AI-powered tools, like Billtrust’s Autopilot, that provide insights into payment trends and help you make data-driven decisions. This transforms your AR team from a reactive cost center into a proactive, strategic function.
- Enhance the Buyer Experience: Meeting your customers where they are is key. By offering a wide range of payment options through a frictionless, secure buyer portal, you make it easier to do business with you. This not only improves customer satisfaction but also encourages faster payments.
Frequently Asked Questions
Check out the FAQs for general questions. Find helpful answers quickly to get the information you need.
What are the most common B2B payment challenges finance leaders face today?
Finance leaders typically struggle with managing multiple payment channels, high processing fees from credit card transactions, manual cash application processes, and security risks. These challenges often result in delayed cash flow, increased operational costs, and reduced team productivity.
How do payment challenges impact cash flow management?
Payment challenges can extend your Days Sales Outstanding (DSO) when manual processes slow down payment processing services and reconciliation. Complex payment acceptance methods also create bottlenecks in your cash application process, delaying revenue recognition and impacting your ability to forecast cash flow accurately.
How can automation help solve B2B payment challenges?
Automation eliminates manual data entry, reduces errors, and accelerates payment processing across all payment methods. An automated payment platform can handle everything from credit card processing to cash application, freeing your AR team to focus on strategic activities while improving your cash flow.
