Key trends that will shape the 2025 B2B payments landscape

Business payments will become more digital

The shift towards digital payment methods will continue accelerating as companies increasingly replace traditional methods such as checks with digital ones such as ACH transfers, virtual cards, and instant payments. This year, Citizens Bank surveyed C-level executives and found that most think a move away from checks to digital-only will happen within five years.

Cloud-based payment platforms will also gain traction as they offer better scalability and integration with ERP systems. A recent report found that 90% of businesses prioritize instant payments, but many lack the technology to implement them.

Furthermore, businesses are increasingly adopting digital solutions to minimize foreign exchange fees, improve cross-border payment tracking, and prevent fraud. Companies such as Visa are using artificial intelligence to do exactly that.

Blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies are emerging as options for faster, cheaper, and more transparent international transactions. While the long-term effect is still unclear, a 2024 McKinsey and Company report noted that tokenization “can empower financial institutions to capture operational efficiencies, increase liquidity, and create new revenue opportunities through innovative use cases”. It’s more likely to gain traction as a more efficient infrastructure for cross-border payment companies before becoming a common trade currency amongst businesses.

Embedded AP & AR solutions will emerge

Demand for embedded solutions will grow to streamline payments, improve accounting operations, and reduce human errors. 

McKinsey projects that revenues from various “embedded finance” applications could surpass €100 billion in Europe by the end of the decade. In the US, one prediction is $90 billion by 2029, and the number could reach $7 trillion worldwide by that time.

Such solutions will enhance communication between vendors and customers and drive the adoption of digital payments as a whole. Next year, we will likely see increasingly streamlined communication, better balance sheet management, faster payments, and improved net terms management.

Further adoption of real-time payments

Real-time payment (RTP) tools will increasingly enable companies to process financial transactions instantly – helping them to improve cash flow and enhance transparency.

According to one estimate, the value of the RTP market is expected to reach $985 billion by 2032 with an estimated compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 33%. The Clearing House, the operator of the RTP network, will increase the individual transaction limit to $10 million in February 2025 from the present $1 million. More than 336,000 transactions were also settled last quarter on the Federal Reserve Financial Services’ FedNow Service, with consumers and businesses sending an average of $190 million daily.

Virtual card acceptance as a form of faster payments is growing as well. For example, virtual cards are now gaining favor among healthcare firms – one type of business that has historically relied on traditional paper checks, billing statements, and invoices.

Generative AI can be a game-changer for business payments

Generative AI (Gen AI) and large language models (LLMs) are poised to revolutionize business payments. These tools will enable businesses to interact more effectively and efficiently across the entire payment ecosystem.

From connecting purchase orders with invoice data to streamlining the communications of payment terms and optimizing cash flow, AI is about to eliminate some of the biggest friction points. Payments will no longer just be about transferring money—they’ll become a seamless workflow, connecting internal teams like sales, legal, operations, and finance while delivering real impact. By enhancing client-vendor communication, automating reconciliation, and proposing optimized payment methods and speed of payment, Gen AI unlocks massive opportunities to solve long-standing inefficiencies in business payments.

Small and mid-sized businesses can no longer afford to be late adopters of new technologies for their AP functions. Instant payments, artificial intelligence, automation, and data analytics are now available in solutions tailored specifically for smaller companies. Companies that adopt such technologies will gain better control of their cash flow, reduce time spent on payments, strengthen compliance, and improve relationships with vendors.