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Business executives now understand the potential benefits of B2B payment automation, but fewer than half have yet to take advantage of them, according to 2025 research.
In a March 2025 survey, Forbes Insights (commissioned by American Express) surveyed 520 senior executives from large U.S. organizations, including leaders in the C-suite, for "Safeguarding Security, Unlocking Innovation: Exploring The New Era In B2B Payments." Eighty-three percent of respondents say they believe that automated invoicing and payment processing is key to improving customer and supplier relationships, and 77% say payments innovation is a critical driver of business growth and differentiation.
Adoption challenges persist, however, from security concerns to technology integration. While the report finds that B2B payments have lagged behind innovations in consumer payments, the gap may be narrowing as organizations begin to understand the efficiency and productivity benefits of back-office automation. Business leaders who have yet to automate B2B payments may be able to navigate the challenges they face and start to reap the benefits for their organizations.
Early Automation Adopters Report Efficiencies
Business leaders who identify a connection between B2B payment automation and business benefits may better understand the potential to transform their systems. Some 40% of executives surveyed say they have already enhanced payment efficiency through automation in the past year.
Forward-thinking businesses can embrace tools to help them navigate obstacles to B2B payment processing.
At the same, a gap remains between those who have adopted B2B payment automation and those who recognize its potential, as middle- and back-office innovation has not progressed as quickly over the past two decades as consumer-facing front-office operations, according to the report.
Key automation tools have not yet been embraced by most executives surveyed: Only 47% report utilizing API-driven payment solutions.
Relatedly, just over one in three (34%) of those surveyed say their organization has implemented automated reconciliation and reporting. The report calls invoice reconciliation and policy management "a prime example of a manual process that is an increasing focus of innovation."
Security, however, represented the top concern of surveyed executives, with 65% naming advanced fraud detection and prevention as one of the most important characteristics of the future payment environment. Data breaches, fraudulent transactions, and cyberattacks, specifically, were respondents' top three B2B payment processing security concerns.
B2B Payment Automation Enablers
Forward-thinking businesses can embrace tools to help them navigate obstacles to B2B payment processing. Buyer Initiated Payments (BIP) and virtual cards are some of the potential key tools to help enable B2B payment automation. These solutions may help streamline operations and facilitate working capital.
BIP can offer an alternative to a traditional invoice-driven payment model. It helps allow buyers to initiate automated push payments on their schedule, which may allow for increased control over the payment process, efficiencies in payments, and improved working capital flexibility. Some virtual cards may allow for spending limit controls, helping with expense management.
Virtual cards can offer a tool to use payment automation to help ease security concerns. Instead of relying on the same credit card number for every purchase, a virtual card provides a one-time number that connects to the buyer's credit card account to provide additional security. The number cannot be used again if stolen, and there is also no physical card to track.
BIP and virtual cards can help support businesses in their transition to automated workflows by connecting directly with popular ERP platforms and helping organizations to replace paper checks and manual processes with secure, digital payments.
Photo: Getty Images
Methodology
The survey was commissioned by American Express and conducted by Forbes Insights in May 2025 among a sample of 520 U.S.-based business leaders across the following sectors: financial services, technology and software, manufacturing and industrial chemicals, construction, automotive, food and beverage, healthcare and pharmaceuticals, consulting and accounting, e-commerce, entertainment and events, hospitality and travel, publishing and media, retail, nonprofit, telecom and energy, and oil and gas. Sixty percent of respondents were C-suite executives. All respondents represent organizations with at least $300 million in annual revenue, and 57% are from organizations with an annual revenue exceeding $1 billion. The interviews were conducted online, and results from the full survey have a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points.
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