Compared with consumer payments, B2B payments are still slow, hard to track and expensive. Many large companies run accounts payable on systems designed before mobile payments existed, over bank rails with per-transaction fees that consumers would not accept. The tools that cut costs here are specific, since not everything that works for consumers transfers to B2B, and in the GCC regulation and correspondent banking add further complexity.
Open banking and supplier account verification
In B2B, open banking matters less for payment initiation than for account data, verification and reconciliation. Checking a supplier's account details automatically before paying removes a slow manual step that is also a favourite target of business email fraud. It is one of the clearest near-term benefits of open banking for companies.
Saudi Arabia's move to formal open banking licensing, with the first licence issued in March 2026, makes this capability available through licensed fintechs there. For companies that onboard many new suppliers, automated verification reduces both fraud and processing time.
Virtual accounts and reconciliation
Virtual account structures give one physical bank account many virtual IBANs, each assigned to a specific payer or purpose. Incoming payments can then be matched automatically rather than by hand. For marketplaces, platforms and financial institutions with high volumes of incoming payments, this cuts reconciliation costs sharply. Several GCC banks and payment institutions now offer virtual IBANs, although the market is less developed than in Europe, where both banks and payment institutions commonly provide them.
Instant transfers for B2B: where they work
SARIE in Saudi Arabia and Aani in the UAE make instant B2B transfers possible, and use is growing where same-day settlement has clear value, such as construction payment chains, perishable goods supply and urgent procurement. Where credit terms are not needed, instant transfers are a much cheaper way to settle than card-based B2B products.
Instant payments have not yet replaced existing products where the transaction needs credit, dispute handling or complex settlement terms. Cards and invoice finance still have structural advantages there that instant rails do not offer.