Economic turmoil opens a door for AI-powered B2B payments

• Key insights: Bank of America reported 20% growth in its B2B payments app. 
• What's at stake: The bank says the technology can address challenges that businesses face due to geopolitical and economic challenges. 
• Forward look: The bank plans added upgrades over the next few months. 

The war in Iran has had an obvious impact on oil shipments, but there are also impacts to global supply chains, which are already stressed by President Trump's tariffs. These stresses could drive demand for artificial intelligence and mobile-driven payments technology, according to Bank of America executives.

"Mobile serves as a powerful companion to established treasury operations as clients navigate market volatility, evolving workforce expectations, and rapid advancements in mobile-native security and AI," said Jennifer Sanctis, CashPro Product Executive at Bank of America, in materials provided to American Banker. "These forces are reshaping how treasurers work."

Bank of America plans enhancements to its CashPro business payments software for deployment later this year, including a redesigned payment approval and a new digital identity verification experience for corporate administrators. This will add to other recent upgrades, including AI-driven analysis of payment trends, biometric login and in-app push alerts and approvals, that have contributed to 20% growth in the usage of CashPro, with $1.2 trillion processed in 2025. CashPro's upgrades are not a direct response to the Iran war, but could address challenges businesses face as a result. The variety of economic pressures that businesses face require faster decisions on when and how they pay vendors and other suppliers, according to Sanctis.

"Treasury teams are operating with smaller timing windows than in the past," BofA's Sanctis told American Banker in an interview.

War fallout

While the war in Iran has created volatility in oil prices, the impacts on other commodities, and thus payment terms, is less clear. The effects of the Strait of Hormuz closure won't be immediately apparent for most industries, according to the Institute of Supply Chain Management.

If the war is prolonged, suppliers will need to determine where they have dependencies on items that are produced or shipped through Hormuz, and the impact on shipments that are routing around the Cape of Good Hope to avoid the Red Sea and Suez Canal, which could add up to two weeks to transit times, and thus delivery, according to the ISCM. Construction materials such as cement, concrete, steel, aluminum, sand and stone are produced in the Middle East. And other goods such as jewelry and food products like nuts, olive oil and spices are imported from the Middle East, the ISDM says, adding there could be a "significant squeeze on specialty items."

The Iran war adds to existing pressure from tariffs. Consumer prices for non-food and energy core products rose 2.3% in 2025 through January 2026, according to Yale University, which notes prices for these goods fell 0.1% for the prior 13 months. For durable goods, the prices rose 2.5% from 2025 to January 2026, compared to a 2% decline in the prior 13 months, dating to November 2023, according to Yale.

How does this affect payments?

Payments technology can help companies better gauge incoming revenue and bills against inventory, staffing and other business needs, and determine if they need more credit.

Rather than performing payments faster, the processing improvements help businesses realize they need credit. "I think these stressors are more likely to drive short-term borrowing and alternative payments like buy now, pay later," Tony DeSanctis, a senior director at Cornerstone Advisors, told American Banker. "The extent to which mobile wallets are enabled for things like buy now, pay later may drive adoption."

CashPro, which has about 35,000 clients, connects companies and institutions to each other and to BofA's business banking unit. Its products include an AI-driven algorithm for capital markets. The algorithm produces a score that quantifies the macro backdrop that corporate debt issuers are faced with before deciding on the viability of an investment-grade issuance at a given time. "It's about making sure businesses have visibility into their cash flows, to ensure they react timely and with an informed decision," Sanctis said.

Another product uses AI to analyze account data compared to global cash positions, forecasting and insights in a few minutes. There's also a virtual assistant that aids transaction tracking and vets service performance.

"It provides access to information when the decision can't wait," BofA's Sanctis said, noting the mobile app also aids in flexibility. "Mobile helps staff access this information at any time, when they are not at their desks, for example."

Other firms are also adding AI to ease supply chain management. Oracle recently released Fusion Agentic Applications, which uses AI agents to make business decisions based on enterprise data, workflows, policies, approval hierarchies and other context. Fusion agentic applications operate against business objectives and continuously move the work forward toward payment with coordinated reasoning.

Oracle did not return a request for comment. "The way work gets done no longer matches the speed, complexity, or expectations of modern business as too much time is spent managing processes instead of driving outcomes," said Steve Miranda, executive vice president of applications development at Oracle, in a release.