Emerging in Q2: What’s trending in B2B finance

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We’ve settled into Q2, which means we’re back with the folks at Paystand to see what’s trending in-quarter.

In our first article in this series, we dove into finance’s Q1 trends to keep CFOs in the know. We’ll be continuing our trend talks here in Q2 to keep ourselves up-to-date. The leaders at Paystand, whose mission is to decentralize commercial finance, are along for the ride to outline three pertinent finance trends for us.

Here’s to staying on the right financial foot in 2026. Q2, we’re coming for you.

1. Let’s get autonomous: But can it work for finance?

Paystand notes that a 2022 Juniper Research report projected that global B2B payment transaction value will exceed $111 trillion by 2027.

With numbers like these, manual intervention can become quite the handful—literally. As a result, mistakes can be made inadvertently, and that’s one thing businesses can’t afford amid the influx.

That’s where AI-driven systems could prove their value. They can autonomously manage B2B payments, treasury, and reconciliation, reducing manual intervention by handling adaptive routing and fraud in real time. So AI can not only handle the legwork but also catch potential security issues.

The result? Paystand shares that 99% of AI-using finance leaders cut days sales outstanding (DSO) by six-plus days. Juniper Research also projects that AI agents will automate 34 billion customer interactions by 2027 (1,000% growth from 2025), extending to payments.

Another study by Juniper Research projects that agentic commerce spending is projected to hit $1.5 trillion by 2030 (with B2B leading), making autonomous finance not just a nice-to-have but a crucial decision for the C-suite and its finance pros. Paystand notes that the challenge right now is that most companies are trying to bolt AI onto infrastructure that was never designed for autonomy, which just makes inefficient processes run…faster?

The office of the CFO is being rebuilt from the ground up: Money moves like software, reconciliation happens at the moment of settlement, and the economics fundamentally change because intermediaries and transaction fees disappear.

2. Cross-border payments: Is there flexibility?

It’s time to come to a consensus—or close to one—on cross-border payments. Companies are scaling, and freelancers are global.

Paystand shares that while the world is converging on real-time, low-cost, borderless B2B payments, CFOs who stick to legacy guardrails could be structurally disadvantaged.

Cross-border payments—projected to grow from ~$150 trillion in 2017 to over $250 trillion by 2027—are potentially becoming core financial infrastructure, not just a back-office function. At this scale, the real issue isn’t growth; it’s the system breaking under it as legacy rails, FX friction, and intermediaries turn into a direct tax on global expansion.

At the same time, Paystand explains that stablecoins are emerging as settlement rails, fostering same-day, low-cost global transactions and helping reduce strict reliance on correspondent banking systems.

So if your business is scaling and you’re trying to be Mr. Worldwide with your payment plan, simplifying it (i.e., offering payment in local currency and even stablecoins and cryptocurrencies) may soon become the necessary wave of the future. Global payments and payroll aren’t meant to move at a snail’s pace, and finance leaders looking to upgrade should consider the platforms making speed, accuracy, and flexibility possible.

3. Revamp regulations: Are you familiar with ISO 20022?

If there’s one thing you want to be sure about, it’s compliance.

ISO 20022 could become the universal B2B messaging standard, enabling richer data for reconciliation and straight-through processing. Swift alone processes 53 million+ messages daily, and Juniper Research projects that by 2027, the average business will make 1,400+ domestic payments annually, making data quality and automation competitive necessities.

Paystand notes that 2026 marks a pivotal regulatory moment, where ISO 20022’s maturation on traditional rails is converging with emerging rules around AI, stablecoins, and digital resilience. This pushes compliance frameworks to work across both traditional and nontraditional infrastructure.

This convergence is giving CFOs something they haven’t always had with nontraditional rails: clarity. As stablecoin regulation matures globally through frameworks like the EU’s MiCA and advancing US stablecoin legislation, finance leaders are gaining clearer guardrails for what has historically been an ambiguous space. For CFOs weighing stablecoins as a legitimate treasury or payment tool, this regulatory structure isn’t a burden. It could be the green light.

How do you do, Q2

With the quarter well underway, keep these trends in your back pocket as you face the finance world. Another quarter brings another array of opportunities to get ahead.

Break a leg in Q2, and we’ll see you in the next one.

And if you’d like to learn more about AR and AP automation software that’s tailor-made for businesses, start here with Paystand.