In today's evolving global business landscape, B2B platforms have emerged as key players, driving innovation and connectivity across various industries. People are moving towards B2B platforms, be it vertical SaaS platforms, business services platforms, or marketplaces. Many of these platforms require a robust international payments solution to keep up with the demanding needs and expectations of their customers.
By embedding a payment facility in their software platform, businesses have accelerated their growth beyond their original remit. In 2020, the revenue Shopify derived from fees for its merchant services accounted for 69% of Shopify’s total revenues. With results like this in the B2C space, no wonder many B2B platforms are embedding payments (and from that other financial services) into their offerings, from marketplaces to vertical SaaS, to business services platforms. It’s not just the significant amount of revenue that having a payment facility embedded in a software platform provides, it’s also about keeping the customer sticky, offering another item they might like to buy, giving them a more personal service, all on top of a frictionless payment experience.
To play with a 2019 quote by Andreessen Horowitz’s Angela Strange, ‘one day every company will be a Fintech company,’ we believe that it’s possible that one day, every software company will be a payments company. Why? We are seeing many of our clients take this route. We are not trying to make it sound easy. But it doesn’t have to be difficult either. By working with the right payment solutions provider you can ensure you are offering the best of all possible worlds to your customers - and getting the most out of it financially - when it comes to payments.
Hundreds of B2B platforms are taking the opportunity to offer in-platform embedded payments processing to customers who already use their software to accept payment from their customers. They process payments on behalf of these customers, marking up the transactions as they go through. This not only makes life easier for their customers, but they also create a whole new revenue stream, just see the Shopify stat above.
Give businesses the ability to move money as they need
“All businesses large and small have increasing international payment and FX needs in our globalized world. Small businesses aren’t well provided for in the current market - getting a poor customer experience with high fees from traditional banks. For the B2B platforms servicing these customers, foreign exchange and payment fees are a recession-proof revenue opportunity, especially in a high interest rate environment”. Scott Ernenwein, Strategic Partnerships Lead, Currencycloud, North America
In a report from Unit, 84% of small business owners said that they would be open to getting their financial services from a provider other than a traditional bank, such as a software or technology company. That report highlighted many things traditional banks lack including “a single platform to manage my business and finances.”
B2B platforms have emerged to help businesses improve their day-to-day operations with better financial tools, including payments. Consider a B2B platform that helps technology companies get started. The platform helps the business incorporate, get funding, manage equity, and more. Many of the businesses activities require them to move money in and out of their business banking account: paying to get incorporated, receiving funding, receiving funds for early exercised stock, paying vendors, and more.
Traditional banks may offer some of the money movement required, however they provide a one-size-fits-all solution instead of specializing in the needs of specific businesses. This is where the B2B platform can provide a better experience. By enabling money movement how the business needs it, including to and from international accounts, the B2B platform can create a more tailored and complete solution.
“Helping businesses accomplish their money movement needs can be very valuable, but only if you truly understand their needs and meet them. For many different types of businesses, that means enabling international payments. Creating a simple way to allow cross-border and currency money movement can be part of the solution that helps you delight customers.” - Kieran Pasco, Head of Platform, Unit
Making seamless cross-border payments possible
Vertical SaaS Platforms such as healthcare, travel or real estate, can give their customers a comprehensive suite of cross-border payment capabilities by having embedded payment facilities into their platform. Business services platforms which provide a range of financial services such as invoicing and payroll management to an increasingly global client base, need international payment functionalities. For marketplaces such as B2B ecommerce platforms or global sourcing marketplaces, connecting global buyers and suppliers securely and efficiently to make international payments is critical for facilitating seamless transactions.
By integrating Currencycloud into their platform, business services, marketplaces, and vertical SaaS platforms have a suite of payment options - providing these platforms with a seamless cross-border payment solution, with the ability to access multi-currency accounts, real time foreign exchange rates, and efficient payment routing.
Be ahead with B2B payments
As these platforms grow and the demand for B2B payments increases, so will the need for integrated international payment services to be part of the payment process. Businesses and Fintechs with global ambitions will need to ensure that their payment systems are robust enough to integrate and operate with international payment systems, factoring in compliance, whether they can operate in certain jurisdictions, and their ability to access a wide range of currencies. To compete, B2B platforms must also provide banking services that rival the offerings of traditional banks and neo banks by including embedded banking capabilities.
Currencycloud’s APIs ensure that companies embedding B2B payments into their platforms can provide a best in class multi-currency payments experience that will grow with them as they expand globally. To explore more how Currencycloud can help you, get in touch with an expert.
