Skip to main content

Corporate SOLUTIONS

Corporate payments as a growth lever

Exploring the evolving role of payments in driving enterprise-wide control, supply chain resilience and customer experience across Europe.

couple standing on top of a mountain
virtual cards

in the virtual cards market, surpassing 16 companies[1]

secured transactions

of firms using virtual cards report faster, more detailed, secure transactions[2]

software solutions

of businesses favour an allin- one software solution to manage B2B purchases[3]

From transactional payments to enterprise-wide control

European organisations face rising complexity as global scale, regulation and working-capital pressure reshape B2B payment priorities. What was historically an operational process (accounts payable and receivable) is becoming a strategic capability impacting liquidity, supply chain resilience, working capital, and customer experience.

As payment flows become more deeply embedded across enterprise operations, finance leaders are re-evaluating how technology and data support visibility, control and decisionmaking at scale.

Capabilities such as virtual cards, payables and receivables automation simplify reconciliation, strengthen governance, and help improve working capital while reducing friction across European business ecosystems. The result is not simply more efficient B2B payments, but a finance function equipped with greater control, faster insight, and a clearer connection between how money moves and how the enterprise performs.

This page brings together perspectives, research and examples that explore how commercial payments are evolving from an operational necessity into a strategic enabler for modern enterprise organisations.

skyline sunset panorama of cambridge city

Inside today’s corporate needs

Streamline and control every supplier payment

Pay suppliers with virtual cards that deliver near real-time, transaction-level control and richer payment data. Automate reconciliation, reduce fraud exposure and improve cash-flow predictability, while strengthening supplier relationships at scale.

Your payments, embedded in one workflow

Embed virtual cards directly into your corporate system, with configurable controls and enriched data. By digitising your payment processes, you can improve visibility and strengthen working capital performance, without changing how your team works.

Centralise your travel spend, get total travel oversight

Route all travel bookings through one centralised lodge account to consolidate and control spend, strengthening policy compliance. Get clearer visibility across travel expenses to improve budgeting and forecasting decisions.

Enable digital-first, automated travel payments, by policy

Issue virtual cards at booking and payment, single-use or pre-approved, for employees and non-employees. Gain realtime control and end-to-end visibility to cut out-of-policy spend, reduce misuse risk, and speed reconciliation and reporting.

Make suppliers card-ready, at no cost

Enable your suppliers to accept virtual cards, at no cost. You can shift procurement spend to controlled virtual card payments, releasing working capital and benefitting from cashback or rebates on card volumes.

Pay global suppliers, with virtual cards built for travel scale

Power cross-border supplier payments with virtual cards designed for travel scale. Designed to streamline travel payment processes, it maximises cash flow while growing your business operations globally.

Featured Insights

Contact us

At Mastercard, we understand the challenges small businesses face. Mastercard helps business cardholders accelerate digital payments with the right tools, expertise, and support. Shall we talk?

Request info

Sources:

[1] Juniper Research, Global Virtual Card Market 2025-2029 - Competitor Leaderboard, March 2025

[2] PYMNTS, Mastercard Commissioned Study, October 2021

[3] PYMNTS Intelligence: Fixing the Tech Industry’s B2B Payments Experience, August 2023