B2B Payment Security: How to Protect Your Business from Payment Fraud in 2026

B2B payments are a prime target for fraud, and many businesses don’t realize they’re exposed until it’s too late.¹ With large transaction volumes, complex approval chains, and growing reliance on digital tools, every weak spot becomes an opportunity for attackers. That’s why b2b payment security is more important than ever.

In this guide, we’ll break down the most and least secure payment methods, show you how fraud happens, and share expert strategies to protect your financial operations. We'll also discuss the Wise Business account. The global account that can help your company with all things cross-border.

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Comparing B2B Payment Methods: Security Strengths and Weaknesses

Every payment method has its trade-offs in terms of speed, cost, and fraud risk. Understanding where your business is most exposed helps you focus your defenses.

Traditional payment methods such as checks and wire transfers expose businesses to preventable risks. Secure digital payment methods, especially virtual cards and integrated platforms, offer superior protection, but only when adopted with proper controls.

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How Payment Fraud Happens in B2B Environments

B2B fraud tactics have grown more sophisticated in recent years. Attackers have evolved from just looking for weak links to actively creating them.

• Business email compromise (BEC) is one of the most damaging schemes.² Fraudsters impersonate executives or suppliers to redirect legitimate payments to false bank accounts.
• Fake vendor onboarding and invoice manipulation often succeed when businesses lack proper vendor verification protocols.³
• Internal fraud can occur when access rights and approval layers aren’t clearly defined or enforced.⁴
• Social engineering exploits human trust and urgency, particularly in fast-moving finance teams handling large sums.⁵

These tactics thrive in environments where data is outdated, workflows are manual, or payment systems lack real-time oversight.

Why Securing B2B Payment Methods Is Still a Challenge

Many businesses understand the risks but still struggle to enforce strong b2b payment security. A major reason is system fragmentation—vendor data, payment approvals, and bank account records often live in silos, limiting visibility and control.

Traditional payment methods like checks continue to expose businesses to unnecessary risk. They're slow, difficult to trace, and easily exploited. Even wire transfers carry significant risk; once sent, funds are nearly impossible to recover. Without layered approvals and real-time validation, one phishing attempt can result in a major loss.

Cross-border transactions add more complexity. Varying compliance rules, currencies, and banking standards make it harder to maintain consistent security across payment methods.

Proven Strategies to Improve B2B Payment Security

B2B payment security is most effective when prevention is built into every layer of the payment process, from vendor onboarding to final approval.

1. Establish a Strong Vendor Validation Process

Fraudsters don’t need to hack your systems if they can slip through the front door with false vendor data. A surprisingly high number of successful scams stem from weak controls around bank account updates and vendor onboarding.

To fix this, every vendor should be vetted through trusted, third-party tools. Use automation platforms that validate tax IDs, bank accounts, and addresses. Set rules that block any payment until changes to vendor data are confirmed by multiple people, and never rely on contact info from a fresh email thread. A quick confirmation call to a known number can stop a six-figure wire transfer from vanishing.

2. Automate Where You Can

Manual steps invite mistakes. Fat-fingered bank details, skipped approvals, and invoice mismatches all increase your exposure to payment fraud. Worse, human errors are difficult to trace and easy to exploit.

Automation tightens these gaps. It enforces consistent rules, flags outliers, and leaves behind clean audit trails. With the right system, payments that deviate from typical amounts, timelines, or suppliers will trigger alerts before they go out.

3. Invest in Secure Payment Infrastructure

The tools you use matter. Legacy systems and spreadsheets might get the job done, but they won’t protect you when payment methods are under attack. Fraudsters move fast. Your infrastructure needs to move faster.

Choose a digital payment platform that supports tokenization, encryption, and role-based access. Link your payment system directly with your ERP to reduce handoffs and maintain full visibility over approvals and payment history.

4. Train Every Employee Involved in Payments

Even the strongest systems can be undermined by a single click. Phishing scams and social engineering attacks often bypass technology entirely by targeting people who don’t know what to watch for.

Train staff to question unusual payment requests, recognize phishing red flags, and follow escalation protocols without hesitation. When the whole team is alert, your defenses become exponentially stronger.

Save Time and Money On Overseas Payments With Wise Business

Wise Business can help you save big time on international payments.

Wise is not a bank, but a Money Services Business (MSB) provider and a smart alternative to banks. The Wise Business account is designed with international business in mind, and makes it easy to send, hold, and manage business funds in currencies.

Signing up to Wise Business allows access to BatchTransfer which you can use to pay up to 1000 invoices in one go. This is perfect for small businesses that are managing a global team, saving a ton of time and hassle when making payments.

Some key features of Wise Business include:

• Mid-market rate: Get the mid-market exchange rate with no hidden fees on international transfers

• Global Account: Send money to countries and hold multiple currencies, all in one place. You can also get major currency account details for a one-off fee to receive overseas payments like a local

• Access to BatchTransfer: Pay up to 1000 invoices in one click. Save time, money, and stress when you make 1000 payments in one click with BatchTransfer payments. Access to BatchTransfer is free with a Wise Business account

• Auto-conversions: Don't like the current currency exchange rate? Set your desired rate, and Wise sends the transfer the moment the rate is met

• Free invoicing tool: Generate and send professional invoices

• No minimum balance requirements or monthly fees: US-based businesses can open an account for free. Learn more about fees here

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Frequently Asked Questions

What Are the Most Secure Payment Methods for B2B?

Virtual cards and encrypted digital payment gateways are among the most secure options available today. They reduce the risk of interception, unauthorized reuse, and human error. ACH transfers⁶ are also secure when combined with proper vendor verification and multi-layered approval processes.

How Can I Prevent Wire Transfer Fraud?

To protect your business during wire transfers, enforce strict internal controls. Always require multiple approvals and confirm bank account details by contacting vendors using previously established channels, not new information from an email request.

Why Are Checks Still Used if They're So Insecure?

Despite their drawbacks, checks remain in use due to supplier habits, internal comfort with manual processes, and legacy systems that haven’t yet migrated to digital alternatives. However, more businesses are shifting away from checks to reduce fraud risk and improve processing efficiency.

Final Thoughts

In 2025, the goal of protecting your business is to make security integral to how payments are approved, initiated, and completed. Every time your company sends money, via ACH, wire transfer, or digital payment, you’re putting trust in the system behind it. That system should be built for visibility, resilience, and control.

Before your next payment run, ask: Is this process secure from end to end? If the answer is uncertain, the time to act is now.

Sources:

1. B2B Payments: What They Are and How They Work – Wise
2. What Is Business Email Compromise (BEC)? – Microsoft Security
3. Watch Out for These 5 Examples of Vendor Fraud – Trustpair
4. Internal Fraud: The Threat Within – Barclays Corporate
5. What Is Social Engineering? – Cisco
6. ACH Transfers: What Are They and How Do They Work? – Investopedia