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SB Payment Service Corp. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Jun Shimba), a subsidiary of SoftBank Corp., conducted a survey on payments and purchasing in B2B transactions. Below are excerpts from the survey results.

<Survey results>
The current method of ordering B2B transactions is "Web ordering system/industry-specific platform" (22.5%), followed by "email" (20.1%).

When asked about all the methods currently used to place orders with business partners, over 30% of respondents answered "email," "web ordering system/industry-specific platform," and "telephone." When asked which of these methods was most commonly used, "web ordering system/industry-specific platform" (22.5%) came in first, followed by "email" (20.1%).

Looking at the results by industry, the proportion of orders placed by email was the highest in the service and wholesale industries, at over 30%, while in the wholesale industry, orders were placed by communication tools such as email, fax, or face-to-face contact, rather than by tools specifically for transactions or contracts, accounting for approximately 70%.

Currently, 26.0% of all invoices are received by paper, accounting for over 30% in the construction, wholesale and service industries.

When asked about all the methods by which they currently receive invoices from business partners, approximately 40% each chose "PDF," "invoice system," and "paper." Of these, the most common method for receiving invoices was "invoice system" (32.3%), followed by "paper" (26.0%).

By industry, more than 30% of construction, wholesale, and service industries receive invoices on paper. In the education industry, PDF is the most popular format (47.6%), while in retail, half of companies use invoice systems.

Current payment methods include cash or bank account payments such as bank transfers, direct debits, cash handovers, and bills and checks for 64.3% of the total and 87.5% of wholesalers.

When asked about all the methods currently used to pay business partners, "bank transfer" and "direct debit" ranked highly, with the most popular method being "bank transfer" (32.9%) and the second most popular being "direct debit" (16.7%), together accounting for roughly half of the total. Overall, 64.3% of respondents most frequently pay by cash or bank account, either "bank transfer," "direct debit," "cash in person," or "bill or check," indicating a high percentage.

By industry, in the wholesale industry, payments by cash or bank account, such as "bank transfer," "direct debit," "cash in person," and "bills and checks," accounted for 87.5%. In the IT/information and communications, trading, and education industries, the introduction of Credit Card Payment," "QR code payments," and "BNPL（Buy now pay later）" was progressing.

49.1% of respondents have experienced delays in payments to business partners. They feel that the time and effort required for the ordering and payment process is an issue.

When asked if they had ever made a payment to a business partner later than the due date, 49.1% answered "yes."

When asked about the challenges involved in placing orders with business partners and receiving invoices, the top answer was "internal processing (confirmation and approval) takes a long time" (26.9%), followed by "manual input and paperwork and communication with business partners is a hassle" (24.5%) and "it's all left up to the person in charge" (24.3%).

Furthermore, when asked about challenges in making payments to business partners, the top answer was "payment procedures are time-consuming" (23.0%), followed by "internal processing of invoices (checking and approving) takes time" (21.7%) and "the payment process is complicated" (19.1%), revealing that businesses are experiencing challenges in the amount of time and effort required in the process from ordering to payment.

Approximately 60% are positive about accepting Credit Card Payment. The benefits are that they are familiar with the method, the hassle of transferring money is reduced, and the burden of paying in advance is reduced.

When asked whether they would be happy if payments to business partners could be made by Credit Card Payment, 58.7% of respondents answered "I would very much like that" or "I would like that," indicating that the majority would be positive about the idea.

When people who are positive about accepting Credit Card Payment were asked why they were so inclined, the top answer was "it's familiar and easy to use" (37.4%), followed by "you get points," "it simplifies payment procedures and reduces the hassle" (32.6%), and "you don't have to advance the payment" (31.3%). In addition to being familiar with Credit Card Payment and reducing the hassle of transferring funds, another advantage cited was that the burden on the person in charge of paying cash is reduced as they no longer have to advance the payment.

SB Payment Service Corp., a PSP agency, offers "business-to-business services" to support business operations between business partners. If you are a business owner experiencing challenges such as cash flow or operational efficiency, please contact SB Payment Service Corp.

Download the full survey results here.

https://service.sbpayment.jp/whitepapers/download/survey-btob/

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・You are free to reproduce both the illustrations and text from this survey.
- The copyright of this survey belongs to SB Payment Service Corp., but permission to use it is granted to those who meet the following conditions of use.

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