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In the business payments space where transactions are often high-value, recurring, and complex, this evolution presents a powerful opportunity to strengthen commercial relationships by modernising the customer experience (CX).
Traditionally, business payments have been slow, ambiguous, and heavily reliant on manual processes. Batch processing, delayed settlements, and reconciliation issues have long been accepted as the cost of doing business. But with the rise of the New Payments Platform (NPP), PayID, and PayTo, that cost is no longer necessary. These technologies enable instant settlement, simplified payment initiation, and greater transparency – capabilities that are fundamentally reshaping expectations across the business landscape.
Before embarking on any finance transformation or customer experience redesign, it’s essential to begin with a comprehensive payments stocktake. Understanding your current payments ecosystem – including all payment types, providers, costs, and operational pain points – lays the foundation for meaningful change. Without this clarity, businesses risk layering new technologies over inefficient processes of batch processing, missing opportunities for cost savings, and failing to meet service standards goals. A clear view of your payments ecosystem ensures that transformation efforts of migration to real time payments are targeted, measurable, and capable of delivering real value.
In this new environment, payment is no longer just a back-office function. It’s a strategic touchpoint that reflects a company’s reliability, innovation, and commitment to service. For example, onboarding a new client no longer needs to involve days of waiting for account setup and payment clearance. With PayID, businesses can receive their first payment instantly using a mobile number or email address, accelerating the start of the relationship and improving cash flow from day one.
Real-time confirmation of payments builds trust and reduces the need for follow-up communication. This is particularly valuable in industries where timing is critical – such as logistics, construction, or wholesale supply – where a delayed payment can stall operations and damage relationships. With real-time payments, both parties gain immediate clarity on the status of a transaction, enabling faster decision-making and smoother collaboration.
The benefits extend beyond speed. Rich data fields embedded in NPP transactions simplify reconciliation, reducing the burden on finance teams and lowering the risk of errors. This not only improves internal efficiency but also enhances the experience for clients, who benefit from faster invoicing, fewer disputes, and more accurate records.
Security and control are also enhanced. PayTo introduces a new level of transparency for recurring or scheduled payments, allowing businesses to establish pre-authorised agreements that both parties can view and manage in real time. This reduces the risk of unauthorised transactions and fosters a more collaborative, accountable approach to financial interactions.
To fully realise these benefits, businesses must rethink how they measure and manage the customer experience. Traditional metrics like invoice ageing and payment success rates remain important, but new indicators – such as payment cycle time, dispute resolution speed, and adoption rates of modern payment methods – are becoming essential for tracking performance in a real-time world. Real-time payments introduce new dimensions to CX analytics. For example, tracking ‘time to first payment’ post-onboarding or ‘payment friction rate’ – the percentage of transactions requiring manual intervention – can reveal hidden inefficiencies and opportunities for improvement. Such measurement data can also be integrated into existing CRM or ERP reporting.
Getting started requires a strategic approach. Businesses should begin by mapping their current payment lifecycle, identifying friction points, and engaging with their financial institutions to understand the capabilities of NPP, PayID, and PayTo. Updating contracts, training internal teams, and aligning payment terms with new technologies are all critical steps in the transition.
While the benefits of real-time payments are compelling, the transition is not without its challenges. One of the most significant hurdles is resistance to change from finance teams, who may be accustomed to legacy processes and wary of disrupting established workflows. Additionally, integration complexity with existing ERP and accounting systems can pose technical and operational risks, especially for businesses with deeply embedded batch-based infrastructure. Ensuring robust cybersecurity protocols is also critical, as real-time transactions increase exposure to fraud and require advanced threat detection and response capabilities. Without careful planning, these risks can undermine the efficiency gains and customer experience improvements that real-time payments promise.
Ultimately, offering a seamless, secure, and modern payment experience is no longer a nice-to-have – it’s a competitive advantage. In a market where trust, speed, and efficiency are paramount, businesses that embrace real-time payments will be better positioned to attract and retain clients, improve operational agility, and drive long-term growth. As the NPP evolves, we may see integration with AI-driven fraud detection, cross-border real-time capabilities, and embedded finance solutions that further streamline B2B interactions.
Real-time payments are more than a technical upgrade – they’re a catalyst for better B2B relationships. By redesigning the payment experience with business customers in mind, companies can reduce friction, improve cash flows and margins, and build stronger, more resilient supply arrangements. Now is the time to modernise the business payment journey – and turn it into a strategic asset.
