B-to-B payments

Businesses are shedding paper checks in favor of electronic payments, but the migration is not as easy as consumer payments.

A full changeout of AML and KYC rules would stress compliance. Working to improve current practices would be better for the financial services and payments industries.

Business still use lots of checks for payments. That may have worked in the past, but it likely won't work in an increasingly digital future.

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.

If you've ever walked past a film shoot, it's easy to see how much more there is to the movies and TV than just the star and director. There's often dozens or even hundreds of other people involved in the production — bit players, stunt performers, musicians and more — and they all have to be paid, at times irregularly and under different rules.

The payments technology revolution of the past few years has given consumers myriad new ways to shop across different channels. Business payments have not enjoyed the same level of attention.

The wave of new technology for CFOs should include easier invoicing and a user experience that resembles consumer e-commerce.

Corporate clients are increasingly asking their banks to help digitize back-office processes. Such a move can help both parties save time and money.

The collaboration gives Apple Pay an entry into the freelance payment market, an industry that's growing fast but underserved.

Merchants and businesses will be able to access shared technology tools to automate payments and other transactions connected to treasury management.

The card network will test a new business-to-business payment service powered by the tech beyind bitcoin.