For many entrepreneurs invoices not being paid or invoices not being paid on time is something they have experienced time and again. Many surveys have found that this is one of the top worries of many entrepreneurs. A recent survey that was conducted by Atradius Collections indicates that half of all Business to Business (B2B) invoices had not been paid at the time of polling. And 8% of invoices eventually slip into bad debt, according to the data that were published by Atradius Collections.
Rising Bad Debt Among B2B and B2C
This indicates that bad debt is on the rise. In other words, an increasing number of business owners are struggling to pay their invoices. This trend in the B2B segment is in line with data from the business to consumer (B2C) segment. In 2025, a study by the Netherlands’ Authority for Financial Markets (the AFM for short) found that the majority of consumers who used deferred payment options paid on time. But the percentage of consumers who did pay on time was in decline. Specifically, they found that between 54% and 77% paid within the original payment term. Reports by the Netherlands’ AFM from earlier years indicate a curious trend. Payment discipline among Dutch consumers who opted for deferred payment plans was worsening, the report stated. Similar data emerge from the United States of America. A 2025 report by the United States Household Bill Pay found that approximately 1 in 3 U.S. Americans did not pay their utility bills on time. Similar data emerge from the U.S. Federal Reserve (the Fed for short). In their ‘Diary of Consumer Payment Choice’ report they reported that while in 2021 the percentage of consumers who were able to pay their bills on time was 86%, it has since come down.
The data from the B2B and the B2C segments dovetail to indicate a worsening ability to pay and/or a worsening payment morale. This growing challenge presents risks to entrepreneurs and institutional players around the world. This includes startups, small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), multinational corporations, energy providers, internet and telecomproviders, the governments around the world and other public sector players. An important reason is that the global economy has been battling inflation since 2022. Possible underlying causes include be the Ukraine war. Also the war in other parts of the world, such as Israel and the Palestinian territories could play a role. The supply chain disruptions that started during the covid years could play a role. The central banks have also been printingmoney. And also other actions have taken by central banks and for example the U.S. government which have affected the economy. This has significant implications for the B2B debt collection sector.
The sector itself is also seeing significant changes in how it does business. Up until a few decades ago the work involved picking up the phone and sending out reminders by mail. If things would escalate legal documents would be sent out by mail and then the parties would see each other in the court room. With the advent of email, much of this has changed. This has made collecting debts a lot more efficient. For many debtors this also means that it has become easier to gain an overview of how much they owe which party. They can just search within their email boxes to see how much they owe which party.
Technological Innovation in B2B Debt Collection
The B2B debt collection sector is subject to significant technological innovation. Their have also been increased pressures from regulators. And now the payment morale and/or the ability to pay among debtors also appears to be on teh way down.
Now with the advent of artificial intelligence (AI) and other computer-based trends, such as data science, the B2B debt collection landscape is expected to evolve even further. One effect these trends will have in the near term is that they allow agencies to prioritize their efforts more effectively. This allows the B2b debt collection companies to use their employees’ time more effectively. The future has more in store for this sector. Automated reminders are one avenue companies like Atradius Collections are exploring. Then there is also the potential for digital self-service portals.
Despite this technological innovation, however, experts emphasize that it is important to make sure that the rise of technological innovation does not eat away at the human aspect of B2B debt collection practices. They stress that it is important to retrain empathy for situations of actual distress the debtor may experience. The debtor may struggle to juggle several aspects of their financial situation. Approaching things from a sense of understanding helps B2B debt collection professionals find mutually beneficial situations that work for both the debtor(s) and teh creditor. Too much technological innovation could erode this, which would ultimately be against the interests of the creditor as well. This is especially true when dealing with long term B2B client relationships; relationships which are important to the creditor. Replacing human B2B debt collection services with technologically innovative solutions could help erode those types of relationships.
Regulatory Developments in B2B Debt Collection
On the regulatory front there have also been a few significant developments for the B2B debt collection sector. Especially in the European Union, the introduction of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has entailed for B2B debt collection companies that they need to compy with stricter privacy standards. There are also various U.S. statutesj, such as the The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) regulations, that place boundaries on what B2B debt collection agencies can and can’t do vis a vis debtors. For example, aggreesive contact with debtors has been prohibited by these acts. It also regulates how B2B debt collection agencies need to regulate data in a secure manner.
These changes require transparency from B2B debt collection agencies. They require that they change the way they conduct themslves. For this reason, many of the established players in the sector are making heavy investments to prepare themselves for the changes that are on the hands.
Atradius Collections and B2B Debt Collection Innovation
In this changing B2B debt collection landscape, Atradius Collections is one of the oldest players in the field. The company has offices in dozens of countries and can help its customers with arrears in almost a hundred countries. The company specializes in commercial B2B debt collection and debt recovery. Atradius is at the forefront of the technology-driven change. Examples of them driving technological innovation include Credit-IQ, a software program whihc keeps its users from having to monitor whether payments have come in. The software also automatically sends out payment reminders. This saves the businesses that have signed on to this service significant amounts of time. Atradius has also been busy integrating predictive analytics capabilities into the software that its employees use. Human eforts now tend to focus on complex cases. They revolve primarily around the more complex of accounts, the most serious of cases. One trend that can be observed in this regard, is that of flexible payment terms. These types of terms offer debtors alternative ways of paying their debts. This includes installment plans or discounts for early settlement. This means a continuiing evolution in the collections strategy of various B2B debt collection players.
Market Growth and Challenges in the B2B Debt Collection Sector
These trends are mirjrored by the overall B2B debt collection market. These trends can be seen with many other players in the market. The British Business Bank’s Small Business Finance Markets 2024/25 report as well as the U.S. Fed’s 2024 Small Business Credit Survey indicated at the time of publishing that the market size was about to grow beyond $8 billion in value in 2024. And the repors expected steady growth for the sector in the years following 2024. A major driver that was cited in these reports is the fact that B2B credit usage continues to grow.
However, challenges remain for the sector as well as for the economy as a whole. Debt volumes continue to rise. This is drivne, in apart, by economic uncertainty and the pressure tha tputs on companies. The emergence of these new innovative techniques there fore represent an opportunity amid a trend of increasing bad debt in both the B2B and the B2C segment.
