Reducing payment friction through enhanced security, transparency, and predictable cash flow strengthens supply chain resilience, helping businesses adapt to disruptions and maintain operational continuity.
- Nearly 90% of U.S. businesses still use checks for B2B payments, while late payments cost the UK economy £11 billion annually and contribute to 14,000 business closures yearly.
- Three key strategies reduce payment friction: implementing robust security and fraud protection, providing real-time payment visibility, and enabling predictable cash flow through supply chain finance solutions.
- Only 47% of organizations have comprehensive real-time payment visibility, despite transparency being essential for trust and operational efficiency.
- Predictable payments enable suppliers to better manage inventory, payroll, and production while allowing buyers to optimize cash outflow and plan strategically.
- Companies with strong payment practices and supply chain resilience are better positioned to adapt during disruptions, from rising costs to geopolitical conflicts.
Believe it or not, almost 90% of U.S. businesses still use checks for at least some of their B2B payments, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. Meanwhile, UK government research estimates that late payments cost the UK economy almost £11 billion annually and contribute to 14,000 business closures each year.
Outdated systems and delayed cash flow are persistent sources of friction in B2B payments, and in buyer–supplier relationships across the supply chain, that friction is only amplified.
Friction in supply chain payments takes many familiar forms:
● A request to change a supplier’s bank details triggers urgent calls and manual checks, holding up payment while both sides verify the instructions.
● An unusual transaction goes unnoticed until a payment is interrupted, leaving both parties to investigate what happened after the fact.
● Suppliers send repeated emails to find out whether their invoices have been approved, where they stand in the process and whom to contact for an answer.
● Invoice discrepancies linger because buyers and suppliers lack a shared view of the problem or a clear understanding of who should resolve it.
● Payments arrive at inconsistent times despite agreed terms, forcing suppliers to hold extra cash or delay material purchases, payroll and production.
Fortunately, buyers and suppliers can take steps to ease that friction. Security, transparency and predictability are three places to start.
Security and fraud protection: Non-negotiable in 2026
Payment fraud is on the rise, according to a May 2026 report from Federal Reserve Financial Services. From impersonation attempts to manipulation of trusted communications to blind spots in verification processes, there are numerous threats putting companies and their supply chain relationships at risk, as AI-driven fraud tactics become increasingly sophisticated. The good news, however, is that companies can make a deliberate effort to strengthen their payment programs as well as assess how prospective payment and verification partners build protections against these risks in their services.
Non-negotiable safeguards begin with identity verification, which confirms that those involved in a payment are who they claim to be. But an initial check is not enough. Continuous verification, which is too often overlooked, helps organizations catch changes that a one-time review would miss. Meanwhile, the most important safeguard of all is, and will remain, clear human oversight and accountability. When something goes wrong, who investigates, who makes the call and who helps resolve it?
These capabilities must be examined closely when choosing a payments partner.
Transparency: The foundation of trust
Uncertainty has been a defining theme of the 2020s. When circumstances are volatile, trust and transparency become all the more important. Yet 2025 research by APQC found that only 47% of organizations had comprehensive real-time payment visibility.
A truly transparent buyer–supplier relationship gives both sides clear visibility into invoice status, approvals, exceptions and payment progress. That information should be accessible without suppliers having to chase updates or accounts payable teams fielding the same questions repeatedly. When an exception arises, both sides should know what changed, what needs to happen next and who is responsible for resolving it.
The costs of poor payment visibility add up substantially, ranging from longer lead times and disrupted operations to extra work for finance and procurement teams. But when both sides have that visibility in real time, operations become simpler, waste is reduced and decisions rest on a clearer picture of each side’s needs.
Predictability: Crucial for long-term planning
While security measures protect cash flow and transparency provides a real-time view into where that cash flow stands, predictable cash flow gives buyers and suppliers a reliable basis for planning ahead. In turn, both sides gain a clearer understanding of their short- and long-term needs.
There are various working capital solutions that make liquidity more accessible and cash flow more predictable, including supply chain finance and dynamic discounting. For buyers, such tools can help manage when cash leaves the business while giving suppliers access to the funds they need to keep orders on schedule. For suppliers, earlier access to cash makes it easier to manage inventory, payroll and production. Over time, steadier cash flow supports firmer production schedules, earlier purchases of materials and less reliance on last-minute financing when costs rise.
That breathing room allows companies to look beyond day-to-day cash needs and plan for investment, growth and the future of the business.
Resilience: The ultimate payoff of easing friction
When buyers and suppliers take steps to strengthen security, improve transparency and make cash flow more predictable, the impact is tangible:
● Changes to a supplier’s bank details follow an established verification process, allowing payments to proceed without a last-minute scramble.
● Unusual transactions are flagged early, giving buyers and suppliers time to resolve concerns before a payment is interrupted.
● Suppliers can see whether their invoices have been approved, where they stand in the process and whom to contact if they need help.
● Both sides can see an invoice discrepancy, identify who owns the next step and resolve it before it holds up payment.
● Payments arrive when expected, allowing suppliers to plan purchases, payroll and production with greater confidence and less need for extra cash reserves.
These benefits extend well beyond smoother payments. Time is saved, problems are resolved sooner (if not prevented altogether) and both short-term and long-term planning become easier. Together, those improvements add up to something much greater than the sum of their parts: resilience.
In 2020, companies that already had these practices in place were better positioned to adapt, tap into available liquidity and even plan for growth amid the uncertainty. This has held true through each wave of disruption since, from rising costs to geopolitical conflict and unpredictable tariffs.
No one knows what the next disruption will be, but we can be certain it won’t be the last. The real test is whether buyers and suppliers can rely on their payment processes, and on each other, when familiar assumptions no longer hold. When that test comes, the companies that have reduced payment friction and built resilience into their supply chain relationships will be best positioned to navigate the headwinds.
