B2B Payment (Business-to-Business Payment) is a transfer of money from one company to another, usually to settle an invoice for goods or services. Compared with consumer payments, it involves larger amounts, longer credit terms, approval workflows on the payer's side and reconciliation against invoices and purchase orders on the payee's side. In the euro area most B2B payments are SEPA credit transfers, now subject to instant payment and Verification of Payee rules aimed at invoice-redirection fraud. The EU Late Payment Directive sets a default maximum of 60 days for terms. Providers earn on FX spreads, transaction fees and float, and holding client funds requires a payment institution or e-money licence.
How do B2B payments work
The supplier issues an invoice with payment terms, such as net 30. The buyer's accounts payable team matches it to a purchase order and goods receipt, routes it for approval, and schedules payment. On the due date the buyer sends funds, and the supplier's accounts receivable team must match the incoming money to the right invoice. Remittance data that does not travel with the payment is the most common cause of unmatched receipts and manual reconciliation.
B2B payment methods
Within the euro area, most B2B payments are SEPA credit transfers. Under the EU Instant Payments Regulation, euro-area banks have had to send instant euro transfers since 9 October 2025, at no higher price than a standard transfer, and to run Verification of Payee, which checks that the payee name matches the IBAN and returns a match, close match or no match. That check targets invoice-redirection fraud, where criminals impersonate a supplier and send new bank details.
Cross-border payments in other currencies typically go through correspondent banks on the Swift network. Swift ended the coexistence period for payment messages on 22 November 2025, so cross-border payment instructions now use ISO 20022 formats, which carry structured remittance data. Cards, including virtual cards for supplier payments, and direct debits for recurring services make up the rest.
B2B payment terms and late payment rules
In the EU, the Late Payment Directive 2011/7/EU sets a default maximum of 60 days for business-to-business terms unless the parties expressly agree otherwise and the term is not grossly unfair to the creditor. If a buyer pays late, statutory interest accrues at the ECB reference rate plus 8 percentage points, and the supplier can claim at least €40 in recovery costs per invoice. A 2023 proposal to replace this with a strict 30-day regulation stalled among member states.
Example: the cost of terms
An illustrative supplier with €10 million of annual sales on 60-day terms has roughly €1.6 million tied up in receivables at any time. Moving to 30 days frees around €800,000. At a 7% borrowing cost, that is €56,000 a year, which is why invoice financing and supply-chain finance exist.
B2B payments in fintech deals
B2B payment businesses earn on FX spreads, transaction fees and float. When buying one, check its licence perimeter (holding client funds requires a payment institution or e-money licence), safeguarding arrangements, client concentration and readiness for e-invoicing: the EU's VAT in the Digital Age package makes structured e-invoices mandatory for intra-EU B2B supplies from 1 July 2030.