B2B e-commerce payments are becoming increasingly important as businesses expect online purchasing experiences to offer the same convenience and flexibility they encounter as consumers. However, business transactions often involve more complex payment requirements, including ACH, wire transfers, invoicing, payment terms, and higher transaction values that can make a traditional consumer-style checkout inadequate.
Balance is seeking to address this gap with a digital checkout platform designed specifically for B2B transactions. By combining multiple payment methods, flexible terms, risk assessment, and faster merchant payments within a single platform, the fintech aims to simplify the online purchasing process for merchants, marketplaces, SaaS providers, and their business customers.
This release in Cision PR Newswire reports a funding round for a fintech named Balance, a 2020 startup based in Tel Aviv, specializing in the improvement of B2B e-commerce buying experiences. Given the expected strong growth in e-commerce to continue on the B2B side over the next five years, focusing on things like checkout options, speed and flexibility would seem to be quite logical.
‘Balance today officially launched the industry’s first self-serve digital checkout platform to transform the online payments experience for B2B companies. Leveraging state-of-the-art payments and risk-assessment technology, any merchant, marketplace or SaaS company that sells goods and services online and offline can now offer their buyers a wide array of payment methods and terms, and get paid instantly — all in a single platform.’
Readers and members of CEP will understand the more challenging e-commerce environment for B2B uses versus the C2B interaction. The B2B market is demanding a similar experience to that of a consumer, including the increased use of mobile devices and better payments options. Typically in a C2B case, use of a card or wallet-based payment option will suffice.
Companies buying online will want to utilize other payment types besides cards, especially as one moves up the chain of average ticket value, where ACH and wire transfers are the preference. There is also the expected use cases associated with Request-to-Pay in real-time payments, which allows for instantaneous issuance of supplier invoices and a return approved payment within seconds. Over the next few years this can also be made into real-time experiences in cross-border as well, a key use in e-commerce.
‘”B2B online payments, and E-commerce specifically, far outpace their counterparts in B2C. Yet, the digital experience lags behind, creating missed opportunities for growth,” said Bar Geron, CEO and co-founder, Balance. “Most online business purchases today are made via credit card, while transactions via the preferred methods for most businesses — like wires, checks, and ACH — remain offline. This is because the process is incredibly challenging, often involving offline quotes and invoices, multiple phone calls and emails, and long payment delays. Balance manages all of this complexity behind an elegant checkout experience and makes offering flexible payments methods and terms as easy as using a credit card.”….Bar continues, “We initially set our sights on offline businesses looking to make the shift to digital, but quickly realized that even tech companies with self-serve products and services wanted a way to offer their customers flexible payments and terms. We’re excited at the early momentum we’re seeing, and this round of financing will help us accelerate product innovation and adoption of the Balance platform worldwide.”
Creating a more streamlined checkout experience could become increasingly important as more B2B commerce moves online. Business buyers want convenient digital experiences, but they also need access to payment methods and terms that reflect the complexity of commercial transactions rather than simply replicating consumer checkout.
Platforms designed specifically for B2B e-commerce payments can help bridge that divide by bringing traditionally offline processes such as invoices, ACH payments, wires, and payment terms into a digital environment. As B2B e-commerce expands, providing buyers with greater payment flexibility while helping sellers receive funds efficiently could become an important competitive advantage.
Overview by Steve Murphy, Director, Commercial and Enterprise Payments Advisory Service at Mercator Advisory Group
