Cross-border B2B Payments to Surpass $40 Trillion Globally by 2024

The global spend on B2B cross-border payments will exceed $40 trillion by the end of 2024; increasing from $37 trillion in 2022.

This growth of $3 trillion (9%) will be driven by the rising popularity of eCommerce marketplaces, where eCommerce merchants are based in international locations; selling goods internationally via locally based eCommerce services.

A cross-border B2B payment is any payment between businesses for goods or services made internationally; irrespective of the different payment methods involved.

Instant Payments Improve the B2B Cross-border Experience

Cross-border transactions have typically been slow, expensive and difficult to track, a problem that has been exacerbated by the complex accounts payable processes common with larger enterprises. However, the rise of cross-border instant payments, where payments are transacted in 10 seconds or under, is significantly improving this difficult situation. Currently, instant payments are restricted to certain cross-border destinations.

Research co-author Nick Maynard explained further: “While cross-border instant payments are not yet widespread, only accounting for 8% of cross-border transactions by value globally in 2024, significant progress is being made in linking up national instant payment schemes. This can unlock substantial improvements for B2B transactions. B2B payment vendors must be driving further integration of the instant payment rails they support on a national level to solve the difficult challenges with legacy payment channels.”

Marketplace Model Promising, but Creates Challenges

The research found that the marketplace model within eCommerce is driving growth within both cross-border B2B payments and the eCommerce payments market. However, given the marketplace model involves multiple different vendors, all paying each other at different times in different ways, this creates considerable complexity and difficulties in reconciliation, FX (Foreign Exchange) and fraud prevention.

As such, the report recommends that B2B payment vendors offer features such as integrated virtual cards and virtual IBANs (International Bank Account Numbers) for local payments, to correctly address these challenges.