Growing Momentum in B2B Payments
How Embedded Finance, Virtual Cards and Cross-Border
B2B payments are evolving, but not at the same pace. While consumer payments have become faster and more flexible, many business transactions still rely on fragmented systems, manual processes and delayed settlement.
Recorded live at MPE Berlin 2026, this panel brings together senior payments leaders, including Rapyd’s VP of Acquiring Partnerships, Sarel Tal, to explore what’s actually changing in how businesses pay and get paid. The discussion covers embedded finace, B2B marketplaces, virtual cards, invoice financing, cross-border complexity and the role AI is starting to play in payment infrastructure.Key takeaways:
- B2B payments are still evolving
Progress is happening, but many workflows remain manual and inefficient. - The Platform is becoming the payment layer
Payments are being built into workflows rather than added on afterwards. - Virtual cards and financing are expanding use cases
- They’re making it easier for businesses to control spending and unlock capital.
- Cross-border remains a core challenge
Regulatory differences, currencies and infrastructure shifts complicate global payments. - AI influences how payments move
From routing to risk, AI is shaping decision making in money movement.
Show notes
B2B payments have been slower to evolve than consumer payments, and that gap sets the tone for this session. While consumers have grown used to fast, flexible payment experiences, many businesses are still dealing with manual processes, fragmented systems and delayed settlement.
A big part of the discussion focuses on how embedded finance is starting to close that gap. What was once treated as an add-on is becoming part of the infrastructure behind how businesses operate. Payments are no longer something that happens at the end of a process, instead they are being built directly into platforms.
Sarel Tal, Rapyd’s VP of Acquiring Partnerships, points to the growing need for businesses to manage the full flow of money, not just the transaction itself. That includes collecting funds, reconciling them and moving money across markets without delays. As more businesses expand internationally, that end-to-end view becomes critical.
The conversation also highlights how virtual cards and financing are expanding B2B use cases. These models give businesses more control over spend, improve visibility and help unlock working capital, particularly in areas where traditional processes are still slow or manual.
Cross-border payments remain one of the most complex challenges. Different regulations, currencies and local infrastructures make it difficult to standardise how money moves globally. Rather than a single solution, the panel points to a more flexible, multi-rail approach, where payments are routed based on what works best in each market.
Infrastructure comes up repeatedly as a key enabler. Better APIs, ledger systems and embedded financial services are making it easier for platforms to integrate payments into their workflows, rather than treating them as a separate layer.
Looking ahead, the discussion touches on how AI is starting to influence payment decisions, particularly in areas like routing and risk. There is also growing interest in stablecoins for cross-border payments, although adoption is still at an early stage and comes with its own challenges around regulation and trust.
Overall, the session makes it clear that B2B payments are not changing in one single leap. Instead, they are being reshaped step by step — through embedded finance, better infrastructure and new ways of managing how money moves.
Adoption depends on liquidity, regulatory clarity, reliable on and off ramps, and strong compliance frameworks. Reserve transparency and consumer trust remain critical. Without these components, stablecoins remain limited in scope.
In the interview, Sarel explains why stablecoins and digital wallets represent a structural shift rather than a speculative trend, and what merchants should consider before integrating them into their payment stack.