B-to-B payments

If the European Commission's revamped Payment Services Directive had a goal of enticing more innovation and, thus, more startups to enter financial services, Modulr Finance Ltd. CEO Myles Stephenson got the message.

Business-to-business payments network provider Viewpost will encourage more small and mid-size clients to convert to electronic payments through Visa virtual commercial cards.

The business-to-business payments market is one of the laggards in transaction automation, and a reason often given is the lack of customization options. Businesses are using consumer-style technology for business purposes, and the fit isn't right.

The surge of students seeking an overseas education in recent years powered rapid growth for Flywire, a Boston-based payments technology firm that handles cross-border tuition payments. It must now test whether the global network it built can serve the B-to-B market as well.

For the music industry, which globalized quickly as its products moved online, payment processes haven't kept up.

Just as Intuit has to find a way to meld consumer and business technology for accounting in the 1990s, financial institutions have the same challenge, and opportunity, today with small business payments technology.

Oro Inc., a rising force in the emerging $7 trillion business-to-business e-commerce market, is teaming with PayPal to streamline transactions as more global suppliers move their sales online.

Technology and payment companies are both trying to get businesses to automate supply chain payments, but for years their efforts have stalled.

Everybody thinks business travel payments and bookings are a headache, until consumer-style rewards are thrown in.

The payments industry has been overrun with innovation in mobile, wearable and cloud-based digital payments. But many niches are years — if not decades — behind this trend.