B2B eCommerce Guide to Online Payments

Technology and faster communications, secure encryptions of financial information and growing acceptance of mobile payments are influencing business-to-business organizations to offer more payment options to their customers. Integrating multiple payment solutions not only leads to faster payments and better cash flow but also simplifies accounting and provides backup verifications of customer payments for taxes, financial reporting and borrowing capital for business expansions.

Consumer buying behavior drives the mobile payment industry, and companies like eBay and Amazon have encouraged greater consumer acceptance of paying for goods and services with mobile payments and new technologies like Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, Google Wallet and Bitcoin.

PayPal now handles vast numbers of online payments, and anyone can use its system to send or receive money. Some B2B eCommerce implementations still require using the traditional payment processes of negotiating prices, submitting purchase orders and invoicing clients, but more and more companies and buyers are taking advantage of omnichannel payment options. Paper checks are subject to theft, generate high processing costs and are often returned by banks for insufficient funds.

Most B2B companies struggle to implement electronic payment systems primarily because of the challenges of integrating with out-of-the-box accounting software and antiquated legacy systems. However, 98 percent of U.S. adults now own a cellphone and can easily pay companies directly with debit checking cards, credit cards or other mobile payment options. Customizing an eCommerce B2B website for multiple payment options provides long-term benefits that will only increase with time and enable increased automation of company processes.

These include automated options for recurring billing, interactive voice response or IVR technology for confirming orders and taking credit card or billing information and Virtual Negotiation technology for speeding agreements and handling payment disputes.

Accepting multiple payment types increases the value of any eCommerce platform by empowering customers and simplifying the billing-payment cycle. It’s a new world for B2B companies that stand to benefit from these technologies, but there are issues to consider. Most mobile payment services charge percentages of transactions, fees for each transaction and standard monthly charges that can increase product costs and reduce profits.

New regulations also increase the standards of care that companies must provide to ensure that financial information stays secure. B2B companies that also sell retail products usually have multiple payment systems in place, but companies that only sell to businesses might need to learn the ins and outs of mobile payments, POS software and using credit card intermediaries. Most businesses find that integrating these payment systems are worth the extra effort. The benefits of doing so for B2B organizations include:

• Satisfying customer demand for alternative ways to pay
• Enabling mobile payments from anywhere at anytime from any device
• Speeding payments with mobile invoicing
• Increasing customer convenience and fostering better user experiences
• Enhancing data-mining intelligence gathering
• Optimizing sales reporting and income verifications
• Improving financial transparency
• Customizing every B2B invoice to your needs
• Strengthening traditional B2B billing practices
• Allowing salespeople to accept payments in the field without asking customers for confidential financial information
• Empowering proprietary app users to view invoices and remit payments directly from within their apps
• Accepting multiple currencies and performing automatic conversions through payment-provider intermediaries

Mobile payment options become increasingly important for B2B companies to remain competitive, and most companies should offer their buyers the most popular payment options at a minimum. The easier that companies make paying for products, the faster they get paid and the more customers they attract and satisfy.

Visa, Mastercard and American Express are pushing for universal adoption of a tokenization system in all online transactions — both B2C and B2B — where all credit and debit transactions are replaced with token that’s associated with the 16-digit primary account number. B2B companies can register with a PCI-compliant processor that assigns a token for each transaction. Customers enter their credit card information on the website as usual, and the purchase is authenticated, but the third-party vendor stores the information, assigns a nickname for the transaction (the token). The B2B site uses the token to receive their funds but never stores financial information, so it remains protected from hacking, employee theft and even company mismanagement. The approach complies with PCI regulations, but companies might need customizations or payment plugins to integrate these features into their business systems and link seamlessly to ERP and CRM software.

Some companies provide open accounts for their employees to buy products up to preset cash limits, and some bulk buyers might need to bill separate store accounts. Each of these scenarios requires back-office customizations, careful management, excellent tracking and full transparency, and B2B companies often need special capabilities to manage these processes.

Fortunately, technology and software can be customized to handle all kinds of billing strategies, integrate with other payment options, generate a synchronized accounting of purchase and payment activity and generate warnings and holds based on spending limits. Customizations can also speed up invoicing and billing in the following ways:

• Sending invoices automatically to multiple addresses or routing them to decision-makers for approvals
• Splitting invoices among different shipping addresses
• Enabling authorized users to access account information
• Encrypting financial data to comply with financial regulations
• Gathering tax information and forwarding payments to the appropriate taxing authorities
• Generating automatic reminders
• Assessing late fees, fast-pay discounts, interest charges and collection fees
• Following up on customer service issues to boost payments
• Processing check payments with remote-capture deposits to speed availability of funds
• Streamlining the traditional PO system to accelerate invoicing and payments
• Managing electronic fund transfers

Even the classic B2B invoicing and billing methods become more efficient with customizations to the API layers of back-office software and front-end customer management features. Company decision-makers can automate billing, reduce staffing needs and billing errors, reduce payment processing costs and still receive payments faster.

Today’s expanded payment options are essential for companies that want to build a versatile eCommerce platform that connects with all types of buyers and third-party associates. Our experienced engineers can help your company fine-tune integrations with the most popular payment options while addressing any security problems that arise from accepting mobile payments such as limiting access to staff and stakeholders to confidential buyer financial information. We’ll help you customize your platform for related issues like offering better mobile invoicing, optimizing traditional B2B payment methods, integrating new payment options and ensuring regulatory compliance. Call or contact us today at Clarity Ventures for answers to your mobile payment questions or to schedule a consultation about any issue involving building a better eCommerce platform with design and function customizations.