Can CFOs Ace the B2B Card Payments Math Problem?

Digital transformation has evolved what were once tactical, back-office workflows into strategic levers.

And chief financial officers are among the biggest beneficiaries of this new playing field.

Across accounts payable (AP) and accounts receivable (AR) functions, the operational layers surrounding corporate payments are becoming margin-sensitive calculations. The operating landscape today is an increasingly uncertain and dynamic one, where every transaction carries embedded economics around processing costs, rebates, float advantages, supplier incentives and liquidity implications.

As these variables multiply, card acceptance has evolved into something closer to a financial equation than a payment choice. For CFOs, the question is increasingly no longer whether to use cards, but how to optimize them.

When cash leaves the business, when it arrives, and how predictable those movements are have moved B2B payments from static bet on timing to a dynamic math problem where the net impact of a single commercial or virtual card transaction can vary depending on how it is structured.

However, this emerging transformation of B2B card payments into a math problem is not a burden. It is an opportunity.

CFOs are numbers-driven executives. For organizations that can embrace the analytical complexity of today’s B2B card landscape, often with the help of external relationships, from issuers to suppliers to technology providers, they can frequently find themselves able to unlock meaningful value by improving margins, enhancing liquidity and strengthening supplier relationships.

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Turning B2B Card Math Into a Balance Sheet Advantage

The traditional logic behind B2B card payments emphasized operational efficiency. Cards reduced manual processing, accelerated settlement and simplified reconciliation. These benefits still matter, but they no longer define the full value equation.

Today, card payments influence three critical financial dimensions simultaneously: cost, liquidity and revenue offsets. The convergence of these forces is reshaping how payments behave on the balance sheet.

“Now you’ve got this weapon that you can use as a buyer to uniquely manage cash flow,” David Bork, senior vice president of Boost 100 at Boost Payment Solutions, told PYMNTS in an interview posted Monday (May 4). “You can preserve liquidity, and now you’re using credit intentionally as a working capital tool.”

“I’m seeing a heavy appetite amongst buyers to use cards for the exact same reasons that consumers use cards,” he added. “It’s a trusted system. It allows for working capital. There can be rewards behind it, and it’s secure.”

Read also: Earnings Signal Power Shift as Smaller Banks Push Into Office of CFO

On the cost side, interchange fees remain the most visible factor, but they are increasingly nuanced. Rates can differ based on transaction size, industry classification and the method of authorization. On the liquidity side, cards can extend payment cycles, effectively providing short-term financing. On the revenue side, rebates and incentives can partially or fully offset costs.

The interplay among these dimensions is what transforms card usage into a math problem. A CFO must weigh whether the liquidity gained from delaying cash outflow exceeds the cost of interchange, and whether available rebates tilt the equation further in favor of card use. This is not a static calculation. It changes with scale, timing and supplier behavior.

The goal is not to maximize card usage indiscriminately, but to deploy it selectively where it creates net financial benefit.

“Payment choice in B2B is not about offering more methods; it’s about delivering the right method in the right workflow at the right moment,” Marc Pettican, global head of corporate solutions at Mastercard, told PYMNTS in an interview posted Tuesday (May 5).

“The payment bit is the last mile,” Pettican added, but “delays are all around the processes.”

See also: B2B’s New Battlefield Is Everything Before the Button

Supplier Enablement Is Crucial as B2B Payments Become a System

Supplier behavior adds another layer of complexity to the equation. While buyers may see cards as a tool for optimizing working capital, suppliers often view them through the lens of acceptance cost.

“The suppliers are a lot more in the driver’s seat now for these discussions, as it relates to the operational challenges they’re facing,” Wells Fargo Head of Commercial and Corporate Banking Merchant Services Paul Uher told PYMNTS last week.

One key area of opportunity, Uher added, is optimizing how virtual cards are integrated into existing workflows, ensuring payments and remittance data flow seamlessly.

In some cases, suppliers are willing to accept cards in exchange for faster payment, effectively trading margin for liquidity. In others, they resist due to interchange fees, pushing buyers toward alternative methods. For CFOs, this dynamic can turn payment strategy into a cross-functional exercise involving procurement and vendor management.

According to the PYMNTS Intelligence report “Time to Cash™: A New Measure of Business Resilience,” 77.9% of CFOs see improving the cash flow cycle as “very or extremely important” to their strategy in the year ahead.

The growing complexity of payment economics has fueled investment in platforms that promise visibility and optimization. These tools can aggregate transaction data, model costs and rebates, and recommend payment methods based on predefined criteria.

A separate PYMNTS Intelligence report found that nearly half of small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) said they would pay for tools that let them adjust payment timing based on when they actually have money.

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