Author: Ryan Whiteley, Director, Corporate Treasury Services, FNBO
- B2B ACH adoption is accelerating as businesses digitize AP/AR workflows and modernize ERP systems.
- Predictability, cost efficiency and workflow integration make ACH a natural fit for business-to-business payments.
- The next phase of growth will focus on orchestration, with smarter risk management, remittance matching and software integration.
B2B ACH has quietly, consistently, and steadily outperformed expectations. It doesn’t trend on social media. It isn’t the star of fintech conference keynotes. But the data from the Federal Reserve Payments Study and Nacha’s ACH Network Annual Reports tell a clear story: businesses are migrating to ACH faster than any other payment rail, and this growth is structural, not cyclical.
Why ACH Fits B2B Payments So Well
For decades, businesses clung to paper checks out of habit, but the rise of B2B ACH is no accident. As accounts payable (AP) and accounts receivable (AR) teams digitize and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems modernize, ACH has become the natural endpoint of these workflows. What once required envelopes, lockboxes and manual reconciliation is now automated, structured and integrated into financial systems.
ACH aligns closely with how businesses operate:
- Predictability over speed: Most B2B payments don’t need to be instant. They need to be scheduled reliably and reconciled cleanly — something ACH delivers consistently.
- Invoice-driven workflows: ACH supports structured remittance data, enabling automated matching in accounting systems.
- Cost efficiency for high-value payments: When sending $25,000 to a supplier or collecting hundreds of recurring payments, card fees can become economically impractical. ACH avoids this.
- Business-first dispute handling: Unlike card rails built for consumers, ACH is designed for intent-driven transactions between businesses, reducing operational friction.
This alignment explains why ACH is growing across industries, from property management and construction to professional services and software-led verticals that control both workflow and payment.
Where the Growth Is Coming From
The adoption pattern is consistent:
- Vertical SaaS platforms: Embedding ACH directly into workflows such as rent collection, contractor payouts, invoicing, and membership billing. Digital workflow adoption naturally leads to ACH.
- Mid-market companies upgrading accounting systems: Platforms like NetSuite, Sage Intacct, QuickBooks Online and their ecosystem extensions often default to ACH for efficiency.
- Accounts payable teams reducing costs: ACH minimizes negotiation and eliminates card interchange costs for hundreds of suppliers.
- Suppliers valuing predictability: Suppliers prefer steady cash flow. A Thursday 9:03 a.m. ACH credit can be more valuable than a card payment subject to acceptance and reconciliation delays.
The Untapped Value: Workflow Efficiency
The strongest B2B payments organizations focus less on transaction fees and more on administrative overhead eliminated by ACH. Embedding ACH into workflows reduces friction, including:
- Time spent matching invoices to payments
- Manual cash application
- Errors in aging reports
- Supplier onboarding issues
- Forecasting and working capital challenges
- Unpredictability of paper checks
This operational efficiency drives the consistent year-over-year growth of B2B ACH. Businesses aren’t migrating because the rail is new, they’re migrating because it solves real problems.
ACH Isn’t Old — It’s Mature
ACH is often dismissed as “the old rail,” but in B2B payments, maturity is a strength. Businesses adopt payment methods that improve predictability, reduce risk and integrate seamlessly into existing operations. Today’s ACH capabilities include:
- Same day ACH for faster settlement
- Stronger account validation requirements
- Reliable reporting of commercial credits by the Federal Reserve
- API-led origination and real-time monitoring
These enhancements make ACH more data-rich, more capable and more integrated than ever.
The Path Forward
B2B payments evolve slowly — until they accelerate. Digitization in AP/AR departments is accelerating, and ACH is the foundational rail for these workflows. The next wave won’t replace ACH; it will orchestrate it more intelligently, with:
- Improved risk scoring
- Enhanced remittance matching
- Deeper integration in industry-specific software
The B2B ACH boom isn’t hype. It’s a structural shift toward the most predictable, efficient and business-friendly rail in the U.S. economy — and it’s just getting started.
About the Author
As Director of Corporate Treasury Services, Ryan partners with companies across the bank’s footprint on cash management solutions designed to better control liquidity and risk.
