This Week in B2B Was About Unlocking Trapped Payments Data

The B2B payments industry is on a compelling growth trajectory, and sector stakeholders can’t let paper processes jam the runway as B2B innovation takes off. A digital revolution is continually unfolding and advancing, transforming how businesses transact, manage cash flow and optimize financial operations.

Beyond mere efficiency and cost reduction, this shift is helping enable businesses to tap into vast amounts of payment data, offering strategic insights that can fuel growth. Automation, powered by other advanced technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), is increasingly playing a pivotal role in this back-office revolution.

Despite the clear advantages of digital payments, adoption barriers persist. Many organizations are held back by legacy systems that can require significant investments to upgrade. Additionally, cultural resistance to change, especially in industries accustomed to traditional processes, can slow digital transformation efforts.

Still, as the industry news this week shows, the technology for a more streamlined and productive B2B landscape is being brought to market, and the business case for its use is becoming clearer. Now, as 2025 marches on, it may be about integrating and executing.

PYMNTS on Wednesday (Feb. 26) covered how data is increasingly becoming a critical asset in shaping the future of B2B payments. With advanced analytics, businesses can gain insights into payment behaviors, optimize cash flow management and enhance decision-making processes. Predictive analytics enable companies to anticipate payment trends, manage risks proactively and negotiate better terms with suppliers.

At the same time, data-driven solutions can improve the customer experience by offering personalized payment options and streamlining transactions. By leveraging big data and machine learning, businesses can identify inefficiencies and automate routine tasks, driving greater efficiency and accuracy in payment processing.

And that data can be fed into and unlocked by solutions like Vayu’s no-code billing and revenue management platform. This platform enables B2B tech companies to implement hyper-dynamic pricing models, allowing finance teams to adopt various pricing strategies without relying on engineering resources. On Wednesday Vayu announced it had secured $7 million in seed funding.

These emerging opportunities are influencing other aspects of payments. PYMNTS heard from Adam Gray, chief transformation officer at Stax, in an interview posted on Wednesday about how independent software vendors (ISVs) are shifting their perspective on payments from a mere checkbox item to a strategic differentiator. By embedding tailored payment solutions that align with specific industry needs, ISVs can enhance customer experiences and open new revenue streams.

At the same time, chief financial officers (CFOs) are using payments data as they employ innovative strategiesto balance their capital stacks effectively. By adopting digital financial tools like virtual cards and supply chain financing, businesses can maintain liquidity, profitability, and stability, even amidst fluctuating interest rates and global uncertainties, the “2024-2025 Growth Corporates Working Capital Index: Industry Factbook,” a PYMNTS Intelligence and Visa collaboration.

As industries race to modernize, the pressure is on to streamline payments, yet many companies remain grounded by legacy systems and paper-based processes that hinder growth and efficiency. For businesses that hesitate, the risks may not just be operational inefficiency but also competitive disadvantage, as they may struggle to meet the speed and efficiency that customers and partners increasingly expect.

There was some marketplace activity on Tuesday (Feb. 25) as Madrid-based treasury management solutions provider Embat acquired U.S. banking connectivity company Necto. The acquisition will enable Embat to provide finance teams in medium and large companies with better banking connectivity via Necto’s integration of more than 30 banks and nearly 100 API services.

Still, for banks and FinTechs, the graveyard of failed efforts to modernize the payments journey is crowded, Neil Mumm, senior vice president, general manager and head of Visa DPS, told Karen Webster in an interview posted Thursday (Feb. 27), noting that a successful journey doesn’t always have to be about things like migrating to cloud.

And digital transformation isn’t a cure-all. Security remains paramount. Data from a recent PMYNTS Intelligence report, conducted with Coupa, confirmed what should already be keeping C-suite leaders up at night: middle-market firms, which already self-report operating in high-uncertainty environments where cybersecurity risks and operational uncertainty intersect, are among the most exposed to procurement fraud.

“If you have not operationalized your procurement process appropriately, [and] if you don’t have a certain level of maturity, you’re receptive to fraud,” Michael van Keulen, industry principal, procurement at Coupa, told PYMNTS in an interview posted Tuesday. “Fraud prevention isn’t just a finance problem or a procurement problem — it’s a business imperative.”

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