ADDRESSING THE B2B OPPORTUNITY

Five actions issuers can take to unlock the growth opportunity in commercial payments by advocating B2B card acceptance

Thanks to working capital benefits, simplified procurement, and greater visibility over spend, commercial card use has become increasingly popular among B2B buyers. Yet, despite this, suppliers’ card acceptance for commercial payments is lagging behind, hindering buyers’ attempts to pay by card.

Suzanne Carter and Riaan van Niekerk

This triggers the knock-on effect of hindering issuers from tapping into the huge opportunity B2B payments present, with the B2B payments market estimated to be worth $145T globally.¹ Without suppliers offering card acceptance, issuers wanting to increase payment volumes can potentially miss out on these high-value B2B transactions and suffer from reduced customer satisfaction, while also experiencing limitations on their ability to expand their card issuance. In addition to this, they risk losing access to revenue opportunities.

Despite this hurdle, issuers have a clear motive to drive change. By facilitating supplier education and enablement through effective collaboration, issuers may not only increase revenue and build stronger supplier relationships, but can also ultimately create a win-win situation by helping all parties in the payments ecosystem unlock the full benefits of commercial cards.

Acceptance hurdles

There are multiple reasons suppliers may not currently accept cards for B2B transactions, including:

The perceived high cost

Many suppliers – particularly those with tighter margins – think the processing fees of commercial card transactions outweigh any operational benefits. Additionally, internal and external costs associated with set-up can be a barrier.

A lack of understanding

There’s a significant gap in knowledge around how the benefits and costs of commercial cards compare; many believe the costs outweigh the benefits when, in fact, the opposite is true.

A complex setup

With many organizations bound by process and cost considerations, driving change is difficult. Yet there are actions issuers can take to set the wheels in motion.

One way is to incentivize buyers with rebates to primarily spend with suppliers who accept commercial cards – which, in a highly competitive landscape, could be lucrative. But to have a more sustainable, long-term impact, issuers should look at how they can work with acquirers and payments networks to facilitate education on the full spectrum of benefits commercial card acceptance can deliver.

Five steps to greater card acceptance

To drive greater card acceptance that benefits everyone, issuers should consider taking the following steps:

Step 1: Facilitate education on how card acceptance can result in increased revenue

Accepting commercial cards as a payment method can offer suppliers multiple ways to increase revenue. In fact, according to studies commissioned by Visa in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), and in Central Europe, Middle East, and Africa (CEMEA), 76% of interviewed suppliers experienced an increase in revenue through card acceptance – achieved through new sales, an increase in loyal customers, and improved sales conversion.2,3

In Asia-Pacific and Europe, the percentages were slightly lower but still significant at 50% and 54% respectively.4,5 What’s more, suppliers who accept card payments are more likely to attract additional business, increasing revenue as a result. According to the same studies, between 33%-47% of suppliers who did not accept commercial cards reported loss in sales.

Step 2: Help the ecosystem understand the cost reduction impact of card acceptance

Reduced DSO (Days Sales Outstanding) via accelerated payments from buyers can help cut down the need for working capital, delivering significant savings on funding costs. This also enables that money to be reinvested in other areas of the business quicker, ultimately unlocking more value and opening revenue streams. Plus, with commercial cards, late payments – a significant problem for suppliers – can become a thing of the past, as almost 100% of purchases made with commercial cards avoid being past due – meaning card acceptance significantly improves suppliers’ debt collection, with suppliers implementing reduced payment terms to their buyers.⁶

Process efficiencies can also contribute to cost reductions thanks to card acceptance offering benefits such as reduced invoice handling, improved reconciliation processes, and faster onboarding of new customers.

Step 3: Highlight the security and fraud protection benefits

With fraud an evergreen threat, suppliers may be more inclined to accept cards if they understand how it can reduce the risk of payment fraud compared to other methods. This includes card transactions being processed through secure, encrypted payment networks, built-in controls such as transaction limits, and the availability of detailed audit trails. Issuers should collaborate with the ecosystem to ensure suppliers are aware of how virtual cards feature a single-use or limited-use card number issued for specific transactions for enhanced security.

Step 4: Quantify the benefits of card acceptance

The best way to demonstrate the value of card acceptance is to conduct a tailored cost vs. benefit analysis. There are several variables that impact the level of value a supplier can extract through card acceptance. Things like the number of AR invoices a supplier processes annually, current payment acceptance methods and payment terms, corporate tax rate, and percentage of bad debt of total sales all determine what the net benefit of card acceptance may be.

Step 5: Participate in custom interchange programs

With so many suppliers citing fees as their main concern around commercial card acceptance, a custom interchange programs could offer a solution. Custom interchange programs empower issuers to protect and grow card acceptance by providing flexibility and control over interchange rates. This means card issuers can negotiate custom interchange rates, structure programs that reward merchants for higher volume, or offer specialized discounts for certain industries, helping to drive up overall card volume and satisfaction as a result.

Championing the role of the buyer

Commercial card acceptance is highly situational and relationship driven. Another step issuers can take is to advise and support their own corporate clients with the role buyers play in the process, to encourage their suppliers to accept cards. Buyers who are heavily invested in their card program can have a significant impact – being able to pay faster can be hugely appealing to suppliers. A key strategy involves buyers stepping up supplier outreach, clearly communicating that card is their preferred payment method; an expectation rather than a nice-to-have. This could involve asking procurement teams to bolster discussion around card acceptance with suppliers, ensuring they understand the full range of benefits of accepting cards, including a potential for increased purchases.

A further move issuers can take is to encourage buyers to ensure card payments are written into their agreement with the supplier, alongside offering ‘preferred vendor status’ to suppliers that are card friendly.

Educate suppliers, unlock benefits

While depending on supplier card acceptance to increase payment volume has its drawbacks, issuers are in a strong position to support effective supplier education by collaborating with the wider ecosystem. By facilitating a better understanding of the benefits of card acceptance, issuers stand to drive improvements not just for themselves, but for the entire payments ecosystem.

Visa is here to help

Visa’s card payment experts are available to support issuers in their efforts. Issuers can actively engage Visa in any cost or benefit analysis they wish to carry out, as we have tools in place to help with these bespoke and sometimes complex calculations.

In addition, our Visa Supplier Enablement as a Service offering brings together Visa’s data, robust analytics, and expertise into an outsourced, end-to-end approach to help expand commercial card acceptance. We work closely with issuers and their buyers to analyze spend data, identify key acceptance opportunities, and shape targeted enablement strategies. This approach can help issuers translate insight and analysis into action—which can help unlock unrealized card spend and drive sustainable acceptance growth without adding operational burden.

Here to help

Visa supports issuers in their efforts to promote card acceptance. Contact us to learn more about how we can help.

About the authors

Suzanne Carter

Global Head of Supplier Enablement Services, Visa Commercial Solutions

Riaan van Niekerk

Regional Head of B2B Acceptance, Visa Commercial Solutions

1. McKinsey Global Payments Map 2022, 2022 EY Visa Direct Global Market Sizing Study, Visa analysis.
2. B2B Commercial card acceptance in Latin America and the Caribbean - Economic implications, benefits, and challenges. Visa commissioned study conducted by RGX. September 2024.
3. From Transaction to Transformation: Quantifying the Value of B2B Card Acceptance to Large Suppliers in Africa, Central Europe and the Middle East. Korefusion. June 2025.
4. Understanding the value of commercial card acceptance in Asia Pacific (AP). Visa commissioned study. 2024.
5. Understanding the value of commercial card acceptance in Europe. Visa commissioned study. 2024.
6. Drive Commercial Card Growth With Custom Interchange Empower The B2B Payment Ecosystem With A Value-Centric Approach. A Forrester Consulting Thought Leadership Paper commissioned by Visa. September 2024.