Payment Processing Leads Charge in Modernizing B2B Financial Ecosystems

Game-changing innovations like artificial intelligence (AI) don’t discriminate. They reshape industries across the board.

“Generative AI has the potential to change multiple industries, and the payment industry is no exception,” Boost Payment Solutions Chief Technology Officer Rinku Sharma told PYMNTS during a discussion for the series “What’s Next in Payments: Memo to the GenAI Companies.”

AI offers a transformative opportunity to streamline, optimize and elevate operations, particularly B2B payments that have traditionally been steeped in intricate workflows and tend to be reliant on manual, legacy processes.

“It’s about balancing innovation with stability and compliance to ensure we’re delivering value while protecting our ecosystem,” Sharma said of Boost’s own approach to leveraging AI.

“Public AI systems, like chatbots, can’t simply be lifted and shifted for sensitive applications. Private AI offers greater control over data access and compliance,” he said, underscoring the importance of private AI models for enterprise use cases.

From automating invoice reconciliation and fraud detection to enhancing real-time decision-making in transactions, AI has the potential to unlock new payments efficiencies that were previously inaccessible through legacy methods. But as the payments landscape shifts, precision and responsibility in AI implementation should be paramount.

Revolution on the Horizon

At Boost, the focus is on leveraging generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) to tackle key challenges and enhance efficiency across payments workflows and data.

“We are actively adopting it in our day-to-day activities,” Sharma said, noting that the company is exploring various applications, including finding ways to further enhance their proprietary technology’s fraud prevention, automation and dynamic pricing.

Fraud detection is a top priority, Sharma told PYMNTS.

“GenAI can analyze transaction patterns in real-time and identify anomalies, flagging potential fraudulent activities more accurately than traditional methods,” he said. “This enhances security, reduces financial losses and builds customer trust.”

Automation is another area ripe for innovation. Boost has long prioritized efficiency through its core straight-through processing technology, and now the company is delving into how AI can take these automated solutions to the next level, unlocking even greater potential.

“Our buyers and suppliers process hundreds of payments daily, often in various formats,” Sharma said. “GenAI will dramatically reduce the time to market and operational load by adapting quickly to new platforms and formats.”

Boost is also enhancing its dynamic pricing optimization tool, Dynamic Boost, through AI. “With GenAI, we can adjust prices in real time, maximizing revenue while considering market conditions, competitive pricing and customer demand,” Sharma said.

Personalization has long been a challenge in the complex B2B payments ecosystem, where workflows and business relationships vary widely.

According to Sharma, GenAI is poised to bridge these gaps. “At Boost, personalization is at the forefront of what we do,” he said. The company uses natural language processing (NLP) and optical character recognition (OCR) to extract relevant data from payment notifications, match them with purchase orders and automate payment processing.

“This ensures timely payments, reduces manual effort and strengthens supplier relationships,” Sharma said.

On the accounts receivable (AR) side, Boost is exploring predictive analytics.

“By analyzing historical payment data, GenAI can forecast which customers are likely to delay payments,” Sharma said. “This allows businesses to proactively engage with customers, offering personalized payment plans or reminders.”

Future of Responsible AI

AI advancements bring both opportunities and risks. Sharma emphasized the need for responsible adoption: “We are adopting a Responsible AI framework, focusing on robust strategies and control mechanisms to address cybersecurity threats.”

Education and collaboration are key. Boost works closely with clients to ensure their systems are resilient to cyber threats and compliant with evolving regulations.

As fraudsters become increasingly sophisticated, GenAI is a critical tool in the fight against financial crime. Sharma stressed the importance of staying ahead: “The same tools we have today, bad actors also have. It’s about staying several steps ahead and detecting fraud in real time.”

Boost integrates GenAI with predictive analytics to monitor transactions for fraud and recommend preventative actions. Looking ahead, Sharma sees potential in combining GenAI with blockchain. “An immutable payment transaction system powered by blockchain and GenAI could significantly reduce fraud opportunities,” he said.

“GenAI has tremendous potential, but we must tread cautiously,” Sharma added. By integrating AI responsibly and innovating across fraud prevention, personalization and industry-specific solutions, Boost Payment Solutions is setting a new standard for the industry.