How cross-border B2B payment solutions are empowering businesses to connect globally

Published on July 1, 2021 by Rahul Kajla

In an interconnected world, businesses of all sizes – from multinational corporates to small and medium-size enterprises – are reaching out to their customers and suppliers across the globe. They engage in buying and selling, irrespective of their location, and can conveniently make cross-border payments. All this has been enabled by new-age fintech players that are now offering customised cross-border corporate payment alternatives, addressing the key pain points related to the cumbersome processes and high transfer costs associated with traditional wire transfers and correspondent banking networks.

New-age alternatives to traditional cross-border corporate payments

1. Multicurrency/borderless/global accounts for corporates

The business account provides access to a number of local currencies and enables corporates to transact in different currencies with suppliers, manufacturers and others across the globe. Similarly, freelancers are provided with receiving accounts in multiple currencies, enabling them to receive local bank transfers from freelance platforms in a particular country that are then transferred to the freelancer’s account in another country.

2. Billing services and payment requests

This enables small businesses to send invoices or payment requests to clients across the globe; this is done through payment service providers that send payment requests on behalf of clients via email. Once a payment is made by the cross-border client, it is credited to the corporate’s local account. Payment service providers also generate business payment links that businesses or freelancers share with their customers through chat or social app platforms.

3. Cross-border payment platforms such as Visa B2B Connect and Citi Global Collect

Blockchain-based platforms such as “Visa B2B Connect” enable direct cross-border transactions between banks connected to the platform. Visa B2B Connect links over 15,500 financial institutions across 200+ countries and in 160+ currencies.

Similarly, leveraging its international presence in 160+ countries, Citibank provides the “Citi Global Collect” platform that enables its multinational clients to collect funds from overseas payers. The platform also automates the entire workflow, including international billing, automated payment, currency selection and reconciliation services.

4. Multicurrency virtual commercial cards

B2B payment platform service providers and payment technology providers such as Visa are collaborating to enable businesses to make cross-border payments and small suppliers and service providers across the globe to accept payments using Visa’s virtual commercial cards.

5. Cross-border batch or mass payment services

These enable small and medium-size corporates and freelance platforms to make payments in different currencies to a number of suppliers or freelancers across the globe through a single click of a button. The technology requires corporates and freelance platforms to download a template file in Excel (from the payment service provider’s website), fill in transfer details (such as the recipient’s name, transfer amount and currency) and upload the file (.CSV format) on the Batch Payments Page.

6. API integration platforms

These help large businesses with multiple cross-border transactions on a regular basis to directly integrate the payment service providers’ payment technology with their current systems (such as treasury, accounts payable or ERP systems). Cross-border payment service providers partner with businesses and integrate their services on the client’s platform, enabling them to automate invoice processing and global invoice payments.

With several low-cost and customised cross-border B2B payment options available, businesses can, based on their size and requirements, select the most feasible option to make or receive payments across the globe in multiple currencies. With this increase in the number of payment alternatives, Juniper Research expects the value of the market to grow to USD35tn by 2022 from USD27tn in 2020.

Acuity Knowledge Partners works closely with companies in the global B2B payments space to address their research and consulting requirements. Using our deep domain expertise, we help them grow by keeping abreast of trends and developments in the sector, and assisting with functions such as studying market attractiveness, competitor analysis, macroeconomic profiling, and technology and financial services infrastructure profiling.

Sources:

Citi launches cross-border B2B payments platform (finextra.com)

A game changer for cross-border payments – Article | the-new-rules-of-money | BBC StoryWorks

B2B Payments Guide and the Top 10 B2B Payment Solutions in 2021 | Tipalti

Visa B2B Connect | Visa

B2B cross-border payments may recover 30% by 2022 | Payments NEXT

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