WEX Survey Reveals 85% of Businesses Face Internal Obstacles to B2B Payment Modernization

Among surveyed organizations, 44% plan to adopt agentic AI within the next two years to automate complex, multi-step workflows.

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10/20/2026 - 09:00 AM EDT

New report highlights how security risks, fraud concerns, and implementation friction stall digital payment adoption despite growing momentum

PORTLAND, Maine--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Organizations are expanding their use of digital payments, but internal barriers continue to complicate modernization, according to a new survey from WEX (NYSE: WEX), a global leader in intelligent payment solutions. Nearly two-thirds increased their use of digital payments over the past year, while 85% report internal obstacles such as implementation costs, integration challenges, and change management hurdles. The findings appear in WEX’s new report, “Modernization of B2B Payment: An Evolution Is Underway.”

While over 80% of organizations acknowledge that payments drive overall business value, a significant execution gap remains. Even so, a clear path forward is emerging, as 94% of organizations are using or planning to adopt AI across their payment lifecycle.

“Financial leaders understand that payments drive organizational value, both as a revenue generator and a strategic growth lever, but having the tools to realize that potential remains a major hurdle,” said Eric Frankovic, President of Corporate Payments at WEX. “Today’s most innovative leaders recognize the question facing their organization is no longer whether to modernize, but how fast they can get there.”

The Problems: Fragmentation, Barriers to Change

As transaction volume grows, manual payment processes can no longer keep up with the workload. Over half of surveyed organizations (56%) now handle more than 1,000 supplier payments monthly, totaling millions in spend. Yet most continue to rely on fragmented traditional methods – managing payments across multiple bank portals and card platforms. For 74% of leaders, juggling these disconnected vendors creates a heavy administrative burden.

However, system fragmentation is only part of the challenge. WEX’s research reveals that 85% of organizations face internal barriers to change, driven by technology implementation costs (51%), integration challenges with existing software (41%), and change management hurdles (38%). Alongside these operational obstacles, 54% of leaders also cite security concerns as a major barrier. With fraud impacting over a quarter of surveyed organizations in the past six months alone, fears surrounding data privacy breaches and payment interception keep many finance teams anchored to familiar, legacy processes.

The Solutions: Digital Infrastructure, Automation

Despite these hurdles with financial infrastructure, WEX’s research reveals that forward-looking organizations are not waiting for legacy friction to resolve itself – they are actively reshaping payment strategies to gain a competitive edge. Nearly two-thirds of organizations increased their use of digital payments over the past year, with finance leaders turning to modern tools to reduce costs (53%), streamline daily workflows (51%), and strengthen security controls (47%).

Automation and artificial intelligence also serve as critical engines driving this shift, with 94% of organizations using or planning to adopt AI across the payment lifecycle. Rather than replacing human oversight, finance teams are deploying AI to solve immediate operational pain points, focusing primarily on fraud detection and risk scoring (64%), invoice processing and reconciliation (51%), and predictive cash flow forecasting (43%). Looking ahead, 44% of organizations plan to adopt agentic AI within the next two years to automate complex, multi-step workflows, transforming payments into a proactive financial growth lever.

With decades of experience managing complex B2B payment infrastructure, WEX Corporate Payments helps organizations replace fragmented, manual processes with seamless, automated workflows built for today's scale. To learn more and download the full report, visit here.

About the Study

The findings in this report are based on a WEX survey of finance, accounts payable, and technology leaders across mid-market (under $1B), upper-mid-market ($1B–$5B), and large enterprise ($5B+) organizations conducted in 2026.

About WEX

WEX (NYSE: WEX) is the global commerce platform that simplifies the business of running a business. WEX has created a powerful ecosystem that offers seamlessly embedded, personalized solutions for its customers around the world. Through its rich data and specialized expertise in simplifying benefits, reimagining mobility and paying and getting paid, WEX aims to make it easy for companies to overcome complexity and reach their full potential. For more information, please visit www.wexinc.com.