B2B Payments in Europe

A payment between businesses is usually larger than a consumer payment and carries more process. TreviPay names approval processes, integration with the back office and payment terms that give the buyer weeks to pay. Guides written for the United States, such as the ones by Shopify and Wise, start with checks, ACH and wires. In the euro area the invoice is paid by bank transfer in the SEPA formats.

The SEPA credit transfer is the default. Under Regulation (EU) 2024/886, every payment service provider in the euro area that offers it must also offer the instant version, credited within ten seconds at any hour, and must check the payee's name against the IBAN before a transfer leaves. The verification of payee page explains what that check means for a supplier payment file with thousands of items.

For recurring collections between businesses there is the SEPA B2B direct debit. It gives the payer no right to a refund for an authorized collection, and the payer's bank must confirm the mandate before the first collection, as described on the SEPA direct debit page. Payments outside the euro or outside Europe go through correspondent banks or other rails, the subject of the B2B cross-border payments page.

Payment terms between businesses are limited by EU law. The Late Payment Directive sets 60 days as the limit unless the parties expressly agree otherwise and the term is not grossly unfair to the creditor. German law implements it in section 271a of the Civil Code (in German), and a business that pays late owes interest of nine percentage points above the base rate plus a flat fee of 40 euros under section 288 (in German). Suppliers who cannot wait use supply chain finance or factoring.

E-invoicing between domestic businesses in Germany is mandatory in steps until 2028, and each e-invoice carries the payee's IBAN and a reference for matching. Accounts payable can build the payment file from it, and accounts receivable can match the money. The weak point is the change of bank details. A fake instruction from a manager or an invoice with a new IBAN is how criminals divert B2B payments, which the CEO fraud page and the fraud prevention page cover.

Finance Loop is the meeting place for the banks, payment institutions and finance teams that move money between businesses. It connects the finance, IT and AI communities in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, with events in Frankfurt, Munich, Berlin and Hamburg.

Finance Loop supports When Banks Say 'No', a half-day payments seminar in Frankfurt for compliance, treasury, finance, export and legal teams on blocked payments, de-risking and sanctions. Finance Loop is also media partner of Capital & Code, a Frankfurt conference whose audience includes corporate treasurers who manage liquidity and risk. The report Stablecoins: The Operating Layer for Global B2B Payments by Finance Loop and Venturebloxx looks at stablecoins in cross-border business payments.

B2B payments are payments between businesses for goods, services or other commercial obligations. They usually follow an invoice, have agreed payment terms and pass an internal approval before they are sent.

By SEPA credit transfer, in its standard or instant version, and by SEPA B2B direct debit for recurring collections. Corporate cards are used for purchases and travel.

Under EU and German law, more than 60 days only if expressly agreed and not grossly unfair to the creditor. For public authorities as buyers the limit is 30 days, and in Germany 60 days at most.

It is the direct debit scheme for business payers. The payer's bank checks the mandate before the first collection, and the payer cannot reclaim an authorized collection.