How to Choose the Right Embedded B2B Payments Partner

Imagine streamlining your B2B financing process, improving cash flow, and strengthening customer relationships with one strategic partnership. Integrating an embedded lending solution across your sales channels can do just that (and more!).

There’s a growing number of embedded payment options out there for B2B. We know it can feel overwhelming to try and figure out which one will align best with your business, as well as giving your customers a fantastic user experience.

In this guide, we’ll walk you through the key factors to think about when you’re choosing an embedded B2B payments partner, so you can make a confident decision that sets your business up for growth and long-term success.

Benefits of adding embedded payments to your business

The way businesses get paid has been changing steadily since COVID-19. Merchants offering financing services via ACH, credit card payments, or clunky loan applications are now turning to more automated payment solutions.

Both B2C and B2B customers prefer the ease and speed of eCommerce-style checkouts and buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) financing. BNPL removes the lengthy waits for loan approval, and it makes getting B2B financing as easy as ordering an Uber.

37% of SMBs say they are interested in switching to vendors that offer embedded lending options. These smaller businesses are particularly looking for more flexible payment terms that can keep their costs down and their cash flowing. 

Merchants are responding to this shift, with BNPL payment adoption predicted to accelerate in the next few years. A compound annual growth rate of 27.4% is expected between now and 2029 in the B2B sector. 

Put simply, the BNPL landscape is heating up. Merchants who implement this technology and offer seamless, real-time lending at the point of sale will have a big competitive advantage over those who stay reliant on legacy lending and billing methods.

Read more: Increase Your Conversion Rates With Embedded Lending Technology

9 key factors to consider when you’re comparing embedded lending providers

Integrations

The embedded lending software you choose should play well with all the existing technology you use to run your business. Otherwise, it can end up causing a strain on your time, resources and budget trying to stitch everything together so you can finally launch.

Make sure you ask payment providers about their native integration capabilities and developer APIs, and what their setup and integration process looks like. Will it be fast and unobtrusive to launch? Or is there a risk of downtime and extra expenses for your company to get things running?

Many payment companies have complicated implementation procedures, which can cause bottlenecks for your business. At Credit Key, we’ve designed a straightforward five-step launch process so you can launch your new embedded payment offering in as little as one day, and start seeing increased sales immediately.

Reputation 

When you’re looking for a new payments partner, the easiest place to get started is an industry review site. Sites like G2 and Trustpilot provide in-depth user ratings and reviews about B2B software so you can quickly narrow down your top contenders.

These sites make it simple to compare the features and pricing of payments providers, as well as ongoing aspects such as customer support, ease of use, and scalability. 

It’s a good idea to spend some time reading up on the products that look like a good fit, and then filter for user reviews that are from companies who are similar in size and use case to your own business.

Other trust factors to consider include:

• Case studies - does the payment provider have a good library of case studies to read? Are you able to see what the before, during, and after looks like for similar companies who are using this payments partner?
• Performance metrics - does the software meet your expectations in terms of efficiency and speed?
• Uptime - does the provider have consistent system uptime to provide your customers with consistent and reliable service?

As well as making sure a payment partner is trustworthy, it’s a good idea to check that their company goals and values align with your own business strategy and culture. Booking a product demo with their team is an ideal time to evaluate this. 

You should also pay attention to the ease of communication and amount of collaboration a payments partner can provide, to make sure you can establish a productive and harmonious working relationship.

Pricing

Make sure you’re crystal clear about all the costs involved with partnering with a new embedded lending provider. Transparency about pricing is one of the most important aspects of choosing the right payments partner. 

All too often, the monthly pricing looks good on a provider’s website, but merchants can be tripped up with things like setup and implementation fees, and other hidden costs. 

Understanding the full cost of embedded lending software can help you evaluate the product more critically. Do the total costs balance affordability with functionality? And will you see time to value quickly?

If you have an eye on a vendor that charges more than other similar vendors, it’s important to check whether they have any extra benefits that will make partnering with them worthwhile, such as higher approval rates, extended terms, or a higher likelihood of increasing sales for you.

Regulatory compliance

Compliance with regulatory requirements and updates is always a challenge when it comes to customer financing. But by keeping compliant, your business can run smoothly, without any lengthy audits, investigations, or legal hassles.

As lending activities are heavily regulated, even a smidgeon of non-compliance in your operations can result in serious fines or legal action for your business. These compliance headaches can skyrocket when you add a third-party digital lending provider to the mix.

Regulations such as the Bank Secrecy Act and the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) are designed to protect your customers. You’ll need to make sure you’re always on the right side of these regulations, and you’ll need reassurance that any payment provider you work with is too.

In the B2B financing space where compliance is critical, it’s incredibly important that you look for an embedded payments partner that complies with all necessary regulations. This reduces the risk of your company being implicated in their non-compliance issues, and can help you avoid potential financial losses and reputational damage.

Customer support

Once you’re up and running, it’s essential that your payments provider is there to help you whenever you need it. For example, is personal customer support available? What are the support channels available, and are you able to get 24/7 assistance if you need urgent help?

You should ask to check the service level agreements of any payment partner for their response and resolution times to make sure they can meet your business needs and provide fast fixes from their side.

The Credit Key team understands the importance of premium support, and our support team is just a click away for both you and your customers.

When we work together, we’ll meet with you for a thorough kickoff call and match you with a dedicated account manager. They will proactively help your business with project management and team training to make sure everything runs smoothly from day one. 

Payment risk

Credit risk is an unavoidable part of most B2B transactions. Even though you can’t eliminate it completely, choosing the right payment partner can give you more peace of mind than other traditional lending solutions.

When your B2B customers check out using a BNPL option, you’ll typically receive a swift payment from your embedded payments partner. This eliminates all the hassles of delayed payments, improving your cash flow and liquidity.

Another key benefit of partnering with an embedded lending platform is that instead of extending credit directly to your customers, you hand over this responsibility to the lending partner. So when it comes to unpaid invoices and bad debtors, the bulk of your risk is reduced.

With a payment provider like Credit Key, it’s possible for your customers to instantly receive a line of credit up to $50K, with Net 30 terms and payment options up to 12 months. We assume 100% of the payment risk and pay your business within 48 hours.

Security 

Data security and privacy concerns are a growing concern for every business (and every customer too). As we mentioned earlier, companies in the lending space need to be extra vigilant about compliance to avoid heavy penalties. 

Regulations like the GDPR in Europe, the CCPA in California, and other similar global laws require strict controls over the handling of personal data. This means you need to have absolute confidence in any third-party providers that will be collecting, processing, or storing your customer data.

Your payments provider should have robust security and privacy measures in place to protect against internal and external breaches. This will make sure you stay on the right side of regulations, and can build trust and credibility with customers who are eager to use your new embedded lending service!

Flexibility and scalability

Many companies fall into the trap of choosing a technology partner that can solve their current problems, without giving too much thought to what their business might look like in five years, or 10 years from now. 

When it comes to choosing a payments partner, it’s smarter and more cost-effective to find one that has the flexibility to scale alongside you as you grow.

For example, you might want to ensure they are able to seamlessly meet your future projections around:

• Transaction volume
• Transaction frequency
• Order size
• Customers expectations about extended credit
• Flexible payment terms
• The ability to serve all of your customers, from sole proprietors through to enterprise

Last but not least, it’s important to listen to what your customers want when you’re choosing an embedded lending provider. Ask your sales and support teams about the questions they hear most from customers who are weighing up different financing options.

Your customers might be asking about whether they can get extended net terms or higher lines of credit. 30 to 90 day terms are standard for financing, but many small businesses need to make larger orders or urgently purchase equipment that will take much longer for them to pay off. 

At Credit Key we provide net 30 terms up to 12 months for borrowers. We also underwrite the borrower’s business and not the borrower as an individual, which is how most other companies do it. Because we directly underwrite your customer’s business, we're able to offer them higher credit lines, and we have higher approval rates.

Credit Key also prioritizes ease of use for your customers. Our application, approval, and payment processes are straightforward and speedy, meaning that your customers can get approved and start buying in minutes, not days.

Once your customers are approved, they can quickly place new orders and use their line of credit. All they need to do is select Credit Key at checkout and log in to make fast, repeat orders.

Wrapping up

Shifting expectations from your B2B customers means that it’s vital to look for alternatives to frustrating legacy models when it comes to lending. Embedded payments such as BNPL solutions are rising in popularity with consumers, and they have many advantages over credit cards and traditional loans.

To get maximum ROI from your embedded technology investment, it’s important to choose a payment provider that can actively participate in your long-term growth strategy. This means doing your due diligence and finding a B2B payments solution that can help you stay competitive, win more customers, and drive serious bottom-line results for your company.

Credit Key checks all the boxes when it comes to choosing an embedded B2B payments partner. Your customers can enjoy payment options from net 30 terms up to 12 months, while we assume 100% of the payment risk.

We pay our merchant partners within 48 hours. Our BNPL solution is proven to boost revenue for merchants, while enabling borrowers to better manage cash flow and grow their business.

Talk to our team to learn more.