The Green Sheet Online Edition
July 14, 2025 • 25:07:01
Why you and your merchants need B2B payments
It's a wonder why so many businesses accept only checks and cash from clients and vendors. I explored the world of B2B payments in a May 2, 2025, episode of B2B Vault: The Biz to Biz Podcast, with Roger McNamara, who has served as director of B2B acceptance at Visa for the past three years, managing a portfolio of $60 billion in commercial card spend.
I've known Roger for nearly three decades, ever since he visited my Boca Raton restaurant and convinced me to accept American Express. His payments journey has included leadership roles at American Express and ADP and establishing Guide2Interchange, a training and consulting company. Here are key takeaways from our discussion.
Untapped market
I was surprised to learn that 35 percent of B2B payments are made by check and only 8 percent are made by card. From Roger's perspective, this creates a massive opportunity for ISOs and merchant level salespeople (MLSs) to educate merchants on the cost savings and value of commercial card acceptance. "MLSs and ISOs who focus on consumer payments are swimming in a crowded pool," he said, adding that B2B is a $25 trillion and mostly untouched market that offers an array of merchant benefits, including the following:
- Accelerated cash flow: Stop being the bank for customers and reduce Net 30/60/90 to Net 15 or faster terms for commercial card transactions. Focus on your core business, not chasing receivables.
- Reduced risk of fraud: Eliminate the need to extend credit and mitigate bad debt through payment card acceptance. Reduce risk of fraud with e-signature tools and full authorization forms for high-ticket items.
- Lower interchange rates: Reduce interchange costs with B2B processing solutions that collect additional data on qualifying Level 2 and Level 3 transactions. Including sales tax, purchase order number, and other details can lower transaction costs by as much as 30 to 100 basis points.
- Maintain compliance: Avoid fines and penalties by continuously upgrading and enhancing processing systems to meet everchanging security, regulatory and compliance trends, such as Visa's recent mandate for fast dynamic data authentication (fDDA).
- Streamline operations: Improve efficiency with virtual cards and payment integrations into ERP, CRM and accounting systems. Tax benefits: Deduct credit costs to offset fees associated with credit card acceptance.
Considering all the value and benefits that credit cards have to offer business owners, Roger noted, it would be a mistake to view them only as a cost of doing business. And yet, numerous merchants overlook how payment cards drive customer insights, improve cash flow, and help businesses differentiate between legitimate customers and fraudsters, he added.
In addition, he pointed out that payment cards can be a highly effective collection tool. "When you factor in the time value of money, payment acceleration, and reduced administrative costs, card acceptance often beats waiting 30 days for an ACH," he said.
He went on to say that merchants can reduce acceptance costs by incentivizing customers with early-pay discounts or passing along modest 1 and 1.5 percent convenience fees.
Improved user experience
Roger and I also discussed new tools, such as no-code payment portals, payment links, and virtual terminals that have simplified the user interface and enabled merchants to integrate B2B payments directly into ERPs, CRMs and accounting platforms like NetSuite, QuickBooks Enterprise, Salesforce and Acumatica.
These tools eliminate the need to store card data or send manual invoices. Using one-time payment links and virtual card support, businesses can automate AR, improve security and reduce PCI scope.
As Roger noted, you can't scale your business on paper, and businesses that are managing receivables the old way, using checks, ACH-only payments, and net 30+ terms, are ready for an upgrade. Advanced technologies will help them improve cash flow by speeding up collections and reducing billing cycles. It will also enhance operations by automating manual tasks such as invoicing and recurring payments.
In this multitrillion-dollar market, having the right SIC code, a compliant gateway, and ability to transmit enhanced Level 1 and Level 2 transaction data to a processing host are critical requirements for businesses that accept commercial payments. These high-quality, mostly A-paper merchants are ready to build long-term, mutually profitable relationships. Let's educate them on B2B acceptance, compliance and best practices.
"B2B card acceptance isn't just about taking plastic," Roger said. "It's a strategic cash flow tool that can increase sales, lower your risk, and improve your customer experience."
To view the entire episode on B2B Vault, visit www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqlWiCIAM7o&t=1s.
Want to know more? Keep reading The Green Sheet and consider following me on LinkedIn, where we can share ideas and support each other. 
Allen Kopelman, a serial entrepreneur, is co-founder and CEO of Nationwide Payment Systems Inc. and host of B2B Vault: The Biz to Biz podcast. Email him at allen@npsbank.com and connect on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/allenkopelman/ and Twitter @AllenKopelman.
Notice to readers: These are archived articles. Contact information, links and other details may be out of date. We regret any inconvenience.
