As 2024 gives way to 2025, the payment landscape is set to pivot from uncertainty to a focus on strategic sophistication. It’s a goal that informed a recent conversation between PYMNTS’ Karen Webster and Boost Payment Solutions founder and CEO Dean M. Leavitt during a discussion for the series “PYMNTS Outlook 2025: Navigating the Future of Banking and Payments.”
Leavitt dubbed 2024 “The Year of Uncertainty,” noting that interest rates wavered unpredictably, inflation saw unexpected spikes and macro-political dynamics remained volatile. These factors collectively hampered business stability and left many organizations hesitant to commit to long-term plans, curtailing in many ways both innovation and momentum.
For enterprise-level B2B payments, the cost of money directly impacted procurement and cash flow decisions. While there’s optimism around interest rates continuing to decline, Leavitt acknowledged that 2025 may not bring complete stability. Instead, businesses must adapt to lingering uncertainty by embracing resilience and agility — qualities that modern CFOs are increasingly bringing to the table.
One of the most profound trends heading into 2025 is the growing sophistication of the CFO’s office. “As the CFO’s office becomes more institutionalized,” Leavitt said, “we’re seeing a trickle-down effect of this sophistication to how companies pay and get paid.”
Historically, payments were an afterthought, overshadowed by procurement and strategic decision-making. That’s changing rapidly as finance leaders recognize the operational and strategic importance of digitized payments.
This migration is particularly pronounced in the adoption of commercial card transactions, which offer certainty for both buyers and suppliers. Such tools simplify the complexities of large, multi-invoice transactions while enabling better data sharing and reconciliation — key pain points for B2B transactions.
According to Leavitt, technology companies must rise to the occasion by abstracting complexity and delivering consumer-grade simplicity to enterprise payment workflows.
Despite the push toward digitization, institutional inertia remains a formidable challenge to surmount.
Leavitt gave as a metaphor for legacy systems like checks the physical keys nearly every individual carries in their pockets. Just as physical keys persist in a world of digital locks, checks still account for an estimated $8 trillion in payments annually. While their usage is dwindling, they won’t disappear overnight. He predicted a slow but inevitable migration away from checks as businesses overcome entrenched habits.
“Corporate inertia is a very powerful force,” he said, stressing the need for both technology providers and CFOs to address this head-on. By embedding digitized payment processes within broader procurement workflows, companies can gradually phase out checks while reaping the benefits of efficiency, security and working capital optimization.
Leavitt’s New Year’s resolution for his clients is to think more strategically about payments. By reimagining payments as part of a broader procurement strategy rather than a transactional afterthought, CFOs can unlock significant benefits for both buyers and suppliers. For buyers, the “how” of payments — commercial cards, extended payment terms or automated solutions — can optimize working capital and enhance supplier relationships. For suppliers, timely payments backed by rich data can streamline operations and improve cash flow predictability.
This dual focus is especially critical in cross-border payments, where U.S. companies are increasingly leveraging commercial cards to pay international suppliers. According to Leavitt, the CFO’s office is under mounting pressure to deliver cost-effective, efficient solutions for global transactions while maintaining the working capital benefits associated with card payments.
While digital transformation is often associated with eCommerce and technology sectors, Leavitt highlighted its growing impact on the physical economy — industries like manufacturing, construction, logistics and healthcare. Middleware platforms are playing a pivotal role in digitizing workflows between trading partners, embedding payment technologies that smooth out transaction complexities. These innovations are creating a “second opportunity” for digital transformation in industries that have historically lagged behind.
Leavitt also praised financial institutions for their evolving role in fostering payment innovation. Through partnerships with solution providers like Boost, banks are increasingly engaging in sophisticated conversations with corporate clients about optimizing payment processes. This collaborative approach benefits all stakeholders, driving progress across the payments ecosystem.
Interestingly, cryptocurrency remains a low priority for Boost’s enterprise clients. Leavitt reported minimal interest in crypto unless tied to a central bank-backed digital currency. For now, the focus remains on tried-and-true innovations like commercial cards and digitized payment workflows, which offer immediate, tangible benefits.
In Leavitt’s words: “It’s not just about digitizing the process; it’s about embedding finance and payment strategies into every workflow. That’s where the real opportunity lies.”