A bank can retain a corporate customer, maintain its credit relationship and still lose a substantial share of that customer’s payment volume. The reason often lies with the suppliers receiving those payments.
Banks traditionally grow commercial payment volume by acquiring new corporate customers or expanding existing programs. But there’s another opportunity within their current portfolios: purchases their customers already make with suppliers that don’t accept commercial cards.
Suppliers determine which payment methods they’ll accept, and their preferences don’t always align with a bank’s commercial card program. When a supplier requires invoicing or payment terms instead of cards, the corporate buyer still makes the purchase, but the bank may not capture the transaction through its payment program. The bank retains the customer relationship while missing an opportunity to serve more of that customer’s spending.
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Banks typically track customers won and the amount of credit extended. But neither figure shows how much supplier spending occurs outside their commercial payment programs. Understanding where that spending goes, and why, creates an opportunity to grow payment volume within established relationships.
Why Spending Stays Outside the Bank
Commercial cards work well for many transactions, but they don’t always meet suppliers’ operational or financial needs. Processing costs, reconciliation requirements and receivables management can make invoicing and established payment terms more attractive to suppliers than commercial cards, even when buyers are accustomed to paying by card.
This creates a challenge for banks. A commercial card program may meet the buyer’s needs, but it can’t capture purchases from suppliers unwilling to accept cards. Expanding payment volume therefore requires banks to consider both sides of the transaction: how corporate customers want to pay and how their suppliers want to get paid.
Invoicing also aligns with how many business buyers prefer to purchase. Research shows that 68% of B2B buyers are more likely to choose suppliers offering invoice terms, up from 51% in 2023. And 77% said offering trade credit alongside credit cards increases their preference for a supplier. Banks focused exclusively on card adoption may overlook transactions where invoicing and terms are central to the commercial relationship.
Start Inside the Existing Portfolio
Banks can start by examining where their corporate customers pay suppliers outside existing payment programs. A corporate buyer may have an established credit facility but routinely pay certain suppliers through traditional invoicing arrangements. A pay-by-invoice solution allows the bank to support those purchases while preserving the supplier’s preferred billing process. The buyer manages more spending through its banking relationship and the bank earns on spending that sat outside its portfolio.
Through a bank-supported pay-by-invoice program, the supplier can continue using its preferred invoicing process while the buyer accesses an approved payment arrangement. Depending on the program structure, the bank can participate in more of the customer’s B2B spending, creating opportunities for incremental payment volume and revenue within an established relationship.
Supplier enablement should follow the same spending-based approach. Instead of pursuing acceptance across as many suppliers as possible, banks should prioritize the supplier relationships that represent the most existing spending. A handful of high-volume suppliers can offer more opportunities than hundreds with limited transaction activity.
Supplier participation depends on whether the program addresses their financial and operational needs. A bank-backed pay-by-invoice program can preserve existing invoicing processes while offering more predictable payment timing and reducing receivables administration. For example, a program that pays suppliers within two days and delivers electronic invoices compatible with buyer payables systems can make participation more attractive without requiring suppliers to accept commercial cards.
Make Better Use of Credit Already Extended
Once banks identify supplier spending they can support through pay-by-invoice programs, the next consideration is how to fund those transactions. Existing corporate credit relationships may provide a starting point.
Consider a corporate customer with a $10 million credit facility using only a fraction of its available limit. Depending on the program structure and available capacity, supporting additional supplier payments through an approved facility could generate incremental payment volume and revenue.
The economics depend on program structure, available capacity and bank risk requirements. Greater utilization also carries capital and risk implications. But using existing facilities to support more commercial spending is a practical starting point before banks commit resources to acquiring new customers or extending additional credit.
Growth Starts with the Spending Banks Don’t See Yet
Banks don’t need to build every capability themselves. Specialized B2B payments partners can handle supplier onboarding, invoicing and payment workflows while banks keep their corporate relationships and existing credit arrangements. The goal is a program that works for both buyers and suppliers without adding complexity.
Customer acquisition will remain an important source of commercial payments growth. Banks should also measure how much of their existing customers’ supplier spending they currently serve. A bank may have a strong lending relationship and still participate in only a fraction of the customer’s commercial transactions.
The opportunity is to close that gap by supporting the payment methods suppliers already use. Banks that can accommodate supplier invoicing requirements while connecting more purchases to their existing corporate relationships have another path to commercial payments growth, without relying solely on acquiring new customers.
Tony Alvarez is President and Chief Business Development Officer at TreviPay.
