Instant Payments Rewrite Treasury Playbooks

Instant payments are set to disrupt B2B transactions as businesses adapt around their speed, WEX President of Corporate Payments Eric Frankovic writes in the new PYMNTS eBook, “Halftime 2025: Charting the Future of Payments.”

The second half of 2025 will challenge the payments industry to meet expectations that were once considered futuristic — speed, transparency and control as the norm, not the exception. We’re not just watching payment trends evolve; we’re seeing them converge. And that convergence is changing how money moves in the business world.

Instant payments are set to disrupt B2B transactions in a way we haven’t fully seen yet. While consumer adoption has paved the way, business users are now demanding the same immediacy — not just for convenience, but for liquidity and decision-making. The ability to send or receive funds in real time opens up new ways to manage cash flow, reduce supplier friction and eliminate costly float. But the real disruption will come from how businesses adapt their processes around this speed. They’ll be forced to rethink the workflows that connect them.

Digital wallets are also entering a new phase in the corporate space. Formerly seen as a consumer convenience, wallets are becoming efficient tools for managing business spend, especially for remote teams, gig workers and frontline employees. We’re seeing increased demand for mobile wallet integration with virtual cards, giving companies more control over who can spend, where and how — without issuing a traditional plastic corporate card. As more organizations explore “mobile-first” payment strategies, this will fundamentally change how business payments are issued and tracked.

Virtual cards continue to gain traction as a flexible, secure alternative to checks and ACH. But the disruptive potential lies in how they’re being used — not just for one-off payments, but embedded into automated AP workflows. With the right systems in place, businesses can issue thousands of virtual cards per month with unique controls and reconciliation baked in. This transforms payments from a back-office task into a source of insight and even revenue.

Together, these technologies are redefining what companies expect from a payment solution. Flexibility, speed, transparency and security are no longer trade-offs — they’re requirements. As we see adoption accelerate across industries, the players who will lead the next era of payments are the ones who can integrate these capabilities into everyday business operations without adding complexity.

In short, the rest of 2025 will be shaped not by new tools, but by how well we integrate multiple technologies to simplify business. The real disruption will come when modern payment technologies stop feeling like innovation — and start feeling like the way business just gets done.