What Earnings Season Reveals About the B2B Payments Opportunity

It’s a new year, and that means it’s a new quarter. One that could signal a new era of digital transformation for B2B payments.

Across earnings calls and investor discussions, executives from major players in financial services and FinTech consistently pointed to a rising appetite for efficiency in B2B transactions. The themes emerging from these conversations reflect a strategic shift. Businesses are looking to digitize outdated, paper-based processes, reduce costs and improve working capital management.

Across all payment flows, Visa CEO Ryan McInerney said on his company’s first-quarter conference call with analysts that Visa’s quarterly volume of about $4 trillion was being driven by the shift to digital payments, which now account for more than 60% of volume.

As for American Express, the company’s fourth-quarter earnings results revealed that commercial spending was on the upswing as year-over-year growth was 4%. Spending by small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in the United States was 3% higher, and spending by U.S. large and global businesses was 7% higher.

According to Mastercard’s fourth-quarter earnings results and commentary from CEO Michael Miebach, commercial flows represent an $80 trillion opportunity, given that only about $3 trillion of that spend takes place on cards. In 2024, commercial debit and credit volumes were 13% of Mastercard’s total gross dollar volumes, and they were 11% higher as measured year over year.

As businesses continue to prioritize digital transformation, the race to capture the B2B payments opportunity is only just beginning.

Read also: 3 Ways FinTechs Are Transforming B2B Payments

The Inefficiencies That Persist in a Market Poised for Growth

Traditional B2B payment systems remain riddled with friction. Many businesses still rely on paper checks, wire transfers and ACH transactions that lack transparency and real-time reconciliation. Cross-border payments, in particular, are often costly and slow, with multiple intermediaries adding complexity to transactions. The absence of streamlined digital solutions has led to inefficiencies that impact businesses’ bottom lines, making automation and embedded finance critical priorities.

While only a fraction of B2B spending currently takes place on cards, there is growing momentum behind virtual cards and commercial card-based payments. Mastercard and Visa have been expanding their virtual card offerings to enhance accounts payable automation and improve liquidity management for businesses.

During its earnings call, Visa emphasized its push into B2B payments through its Visa Direct and B2B Connect initiatives, signaling increased investment in digital-first solutions.

The growing appetite for efficiency in B2B transactions is also driving convergence between financial services firms and enterprise technology providers. Companies are increasingly looking to embed payments functionality into their platforms, forging partnerships with payment networks and FinTechs to facilitate seamless transactions.

Ohio-based Fifth Third Bancorp, for example, reported seeing gains in its business banking and commercial services offerings in part thanks to the digitization of its platform. On its own earnings call, KeyCorp took note of commercial payments-related revenues, which grew in the mid-single-digit percentage points.

“Over the last decade, payments has been an area of focus and an area of consistent investment,” KeyCorp CEO Christopher Gorman said. “We were one of the first banks to build embedded banking capabilities. We will continue to develop our differentiated platform with plans to invest in additional software advisors and relationship bankers, enhanced digital and analytics tools, while concurrently continuing to invest in embedded banking.”

See also: Digitizing the B2B Payments Landscape Starts With … Sales?

The Convergence of Financial Services and Enterprise Tech

Regions Financial Corp. CEO John Turner said on his company’s fourth-quarter earnings call with analysts that Regions’ treasury management products and services generated record revenue in 2024.

Truist Financial’s fourth-quarter and full-year 2024 earnings results highlighted B2B initiatives like Truist One View — a consolidated web and mobile app for business clients — that helps the bank simplify user experiences while providing actionable insights.

U.S. Bancorp Chief Financial Officer John Stern also highlighted his organization’s growth and momentum in treasury management.

Additionally, the shift to ISO 20022, a new global payments messaging standard, is expected to enhance interoperability and data-rich transactions, further accelerating digitization efforts.

Still, as Jenny Lee, head of U.S. Wire Product at Bank of America, told PYMNTS last year, the potential of the ISO 20022 format cannot be fully realized without the participation of all market players, including banks, corporates and financial institutions.

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