Business-to-business (B2B) payments comprise a huge market. Today, they outstrip all other types of payments and are on a steady growth trajectory. According to BI Intelligence research, B2B payments totaled $18.5 trillion in 2016, compared with $5 trillion in business-to-consumer payments and $709 billion in consumer-to-consumer payments. And consulting firm Deloitte reported that B2B payments have been expanding at a combined annual growth rate of 5.8 percent over the last several years and will exceed $23 trillion by 2020.
Yet businesses still overwhelmingly prefer checks for B2B payments, a highly specialized market, for two primary reasons: pricing and perceived workflow efficiencies. Payment professionals attracted to B2B payments, however, see plenty of opportunity for transitioning the B2B sphere to card payments, both plastic and virtual. The lead article in this issue delves into the nature and size of this opportunity, pain points that need to be addressed, and the benefits to businesses of converting from checks to card payments.
The discussion continues elsewhere in the issue when one contributing writer questioned whether corporate purchasing cards can truly enable buyers and sellers to exchange invoice information quickly, easily and cheaply, which is a primary benefit check payments provide. Other industry experts shared insights and information on how the element of surprise can work well in sales; the use of on-demand video for marketing in payments; the likely expectations of Generation Z and their impact on payments; and factors to consider when evaluating cash discount programs.
Stories highlighted in news include the debate on the proposed ENCRYPT Act in Washington; Token.io's end-to-end payment done through a public bank API; Paysafe's open banking card; Visa and Mastercard's settlement with New Mexico over interchange fees; Ripple's blockchain-to-blackboard initiative; an arrest in connection with the Yahoo spear-phishing campaign; and the FBI's router reboot request issued to halt VPNFilter malware.
This issue also contains articles to inspire you; wisdom from our archives; company and product profiles; and updates on the latest industry developments of particular interest to ISOs and MLSs, including appointments, acquisitions, partnerships research, awards, investments, new initiatives, litigation and more. To be a consistently reliable resource for your professional development is our primary goal. Please let us know how we're doing. What do you like about this magazine? What would you like to see more of? Tell us at greensheet@greensheet.com. And, as always, we'll welcome your news at press@greensheet.com. 
The Green Sheet Inc. is now a proud affiliate of Bankcard Life, a premier community that provides industry-leading training and resources for payment professionals. Click here for more information.
Notice to readers: These are archived articles. Contact names or information may be out of date. We regret any inconvenience.
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