B2B Payments: Bank Transfers, Instant Payments, Wallets, and What Will Prevail

Why the payment method is a question for sales

An order is only complete when the money is in the account. In the first half of 2026, according to Creditreform, a good 40 days passed on average between invoice and payment, as Late payment and receivables management describes. Part of that time depends on the customer, part on the payment method itself.

At the same time, payment methods are changing faster than they have in a long time: instant transfers are a mandatory bank offering, European wallets are pushing into retail, and the digital euro and stablecoins are in preparation or already here. This article asks: Which payment methods are prevailing in business between companies, and what should a business change now? To answer it, we first clarify the terms and the figures, introduce a thinking model, weigh two views, and derive concrete steps.

Which payment methods exist in B2B

In business between companies, B2B for short, account-based payments dominate. With a credit transfer, the payer initiates the payment; with a direct debit, the payee collects the amount with permission. An instant transfer, also called SEPA Instant, is a transfer that reaches the payee's account within ten seconds, around the clock. A wallet is an app used for payment, often based on a card or account.

What the figures show

The Bundesbank's payment statistics for 2025 show two pictures, depending on whether one looks at the number or the value of payments. By number, cards lead with around 14.5 billion payments, ahead of direct debits with around 10 billion and transfers with around 7.8 billion. By value, transfers dominate with around 66 trillion euros, or about 90 percent of all payments. That is the world of B2B: few but large amounts.

The instant transfer is growing fastest. Its number doubled in 2025 to around 680 million, its share of electronically initiated transfers rose from 4.9 to 9.4 percent, and its value rose by 141 percent to around 610 billion euros. Other countries show where this can lead: in Czechia, according to Trubelík, Karhánek, Malovaná, and colleagues (2026), half of interbank retail payments were already processed instantly in 2024.

What the EU has mandated

The push for instant transfers is a political choice. Under the EU Instant Payments Regulation of 2024, banks in the euro area have had to receive instant transfers since January 2025 and send them since October 9, 2025. They may not charge more for this than for a regular transfer. Since the same day, banks check before every transfer whether the payee's name and IBAN match and notify the payer of discrepancies. This verification of payee is meant to make fraud with false account details harder.

For a business, this has two consequences. Customers can pay in seconds at no extra cost; the excuse that a payment is on its way loses weight. And master data must be correct: if the name on the invoice does not match the account, the customer sees a warning. The e-invoicing mandate describes why clean data on the invoice also matter for e-invoicing.

For the digital euro, the Council and Parliament have been negotiating since July 2026; agreement is targeted by the end of 2026, and the ECB wants to be ready from 2029. The digital euro discusses what it could mean for merchants. MiCA-compliant euro stablecoins reached around 674 million US dollars in mid-2026, as Stablecoins and MiCA shows.

The thinking model: why a payment method prevails

In 1962, the communication scholar Everett Rogers described how innovations spread. According to his diffusion model, the speed depends mainly on five characteristics perceived by users: the relative advantage over the existing solution, compatibility with existing habits and processes, complexity, trialability on a small scale, and observability of results among others.

With payment methods, a network effect comes on top, which The digital euro describes with the two-sided market model: a payment method is only as useful as the number of payers and payees who use it. Górka (2025) compared five instant payment systems, including Pix in Brazil, UPI in India, and European SEPA Instant. As success factors he names regulatory support, an open system with broad participation, network effects on the supply and demand sides, and continuous security improvement.

An analogy: the instant transfer is to the regular transfer what an express letter is to a normal letter. It uses the same address, the same mailbox, and the same filing at the recipient; it is just faster. A wallet, by contrast, is more like a new mailbox that someone first has to set up and empty regularly.

In B2B, it is not the most modern payment method that prevails, but the one for which nobody has to change their accounting.

Two views: upheaval or gradual acceleration?

The first view is supported by the dynamics of the figures and a market study according to which instant payments could overtake regular transfers by 2030. The second is supported by the diffusion model: between businesses, compatibility with accounting and processes matters more than novelty. The instant transfer prevails because it changes almost nothing except speed. Wallets and stablecoins, by contrast, require new processes without a large advantage domestically.

I consider the second view the more realistic one for the coming years. The change is real, but it happens within the account, not beside it. The exception is cross-border payments outside the euro area, where stablecoins can have a real cost advantage. Crypto as a means of payment examines whether crypto is an option for a business. This article is not investment advice.

What you can change now

From this analysis I derive four steps that require no new systems and shorten the time between service and receipt of money.

1. Offer instant payment for down payments

   Explicitly ask customers to pay down payments and installments by instant transfer. It costs them nothing extra, and you can start work immediately without pre-financing materials and wages for long.

2. Match name and IBAN

   Check whether the name on your invoices matches the account holder exactly. Since October 2025, discrepancies lead to warnings for the customer and delay payments.

3. B2B direct debit for recurring items

   Use direct debit for maintenance contracts and regular services. It shifts the initiative to you and makes the payment date predictable.

4. Secure instant payments going out

   Instant payments are practically irreversible. Set approval limits and a four-eyes principle for outgoing payments and always verify changed supplier account details by phone. Cyberattacks on small businesses describes how fraudsters proceed.

Conclusion: what will prevail in B2B

To the guiding question: in business between companies, the instant transfer will prevail above all in the coming years. Since October 2025, it has been available everywhere at the price of a regular transfer, changes almost nothing in accounting and processes, and brings a noticeable advantage where time matters. Rogers' diffusion model explains why: high advantage, high compatibility, low complexity. Wallets, stablecoins, and the digital euro hardly play a role between businesses so far, with possible exceptions for cross-border payments.

A business should therefore change not its payment system but its habits: ask for payment earlier, use instant payment for down payments, keep master data clean, and secure outgoing payments against fraud.

• Ask for down payment by instant transfer on offers and order confirmations.
• Match the name on invoices with the account holder.
• Set up B2B direct debits for recurring services.
• Record approval limits and a callback rule for changed supplier details in writing.