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New Mastercard research with 1,100-plus global procurement leaders shows embedded finance is transforming procurement and B2B payments.
In fact, 74% say adoption will grow significantly in the next five years; 79% say digitizing procurement is a top organizational priority; and 83% agree embedded finance will shape the future of procurement through more speed, transparency, and control.
Key takeaways:
- Embedded finance delivers measurable business value (according to current users). 73% report improved cash-flow visibility/control; 71% report reduced costs or meaningful cost savings; and 69% report increased working-capital flexibility.
- Benefits grow over time, with long-term users seeing stronger impacts across supplier relationships, process efficiency, and security.
- 78% trust AI-driven payment decisions; 79% are willing to use agentic AI for payment processing within the ERP.
- 74% of users say embedded finance significantly reduces fraud risk.
- Card program users in particular report stronger fraud controls and better compliance.
- Digitization enhances visibility and helps organizations adapt to changing regulations.
- 84% say embedding payments directly into procurement platforms strengthens supplier relationships; 73% say it significantly improves the supplier experience; and 74% expect at least 25% of their transactions to shift to virtual cards within three years
- 69% see better alignment between procurement and finance teams, while 73% report improved compliance with procurement policies.
- Manual processes are the top challenge for non-users.
- Among users, 73% say embedded finance significantly reduces manual work; and 73% report improved accuracy and reliability, especially valuable for companies managing high volumes of cross-border transactions.
