This month also saw our Head of Commercial, Ben Disley (below, right), speak at BVNK’s conference Currency LDN, where he shared insights on the current and future state of the B2B payments landscape, and where the current opportunities lie. 

B2B payments has undergone significant change over the past few years, but there’s far more to come. Here are the main highlights from Ben’s talk:

• The pandemic had a powerful impact on B2B payments when finance teams had far fewer expense receipts to process and so were able to step back and review pain points. It also saw an explosion of B2B ecommerce.
• The industry increasingly shifted to B2B as a result of the pandemic, with many companies looking to the sector to increase revenue streams. This led to a number of key M&As and major investors also focusing on the sector, for example Tiger Global and Stripe. The industry also saw consolidation, however it remains highly fragmented – no single non-bank player has more than 1% of the market. 
• As the decade continues, we expect to see the B2B payments market growing considerably, with B2B ecommerce being the biggest driver of growth. Our own data indicates it will see 120% growth to 2030.
• By 2030, small businesses will be increasingly important to B2B payments, as SMBs begin to have cross-border footprints similar to enterprises and so have increasingly sophisticated needs. Increased digitisation will help companies respond to this, including through technologies such as blockchain, which may be used to improve settlement capabilities.
• Macroeconomic trends, including ongoing supply chain disruption, increased use of formerly exotic currency pairs and reduced reliance on the dollar are also going to shift global flows, which will create new market opportunities for providers.
• Increasingly, the focus will be on sophisticated, seamless experiences, and instant settlement will be an expectation for businesses of all sizes, rather than just a nice-to-have. 

How is the B2B market set to change by 2030?

Lucy Ingham

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Lucy is Head of Content & Editor-in-Chief at FXC Intelligence, overseeing all content and taking deep dives into the trends and data driving changes in payments. Before joining FXC Intelligence, Lucy worked as a technology journalist and editor, interviewing CEOs and major names across enterprise technology, including fintech. She has an MSc in Development Anthropology from Durham University.