At the end of the day, the most important thing is getting paid. But why are AR teams still drowning in manual work trying to collect payments from operators? 

In our recent webinar, Nick Ziech-Lopez joined Alvaro Soltero to discuss how Pepper is helping modernize payment infrastructure with NEW enhancements including statement emails and flexible payment plans. Here's a recap of what B2B SaaS companies and distributors alike can learn from their latest developments:

Trends in Distributor Payments

One of the most striking trends shared during the webinar is the rapid adoption of digital payment methods in B2B distribution. While online ordering has become a norm, digital payments have traditionally lagged. That is changing quickly. As B2B buyers increasingly expect experiences that resemble B2C (fast, seamless, and secure), distributors are modernizing how they accept and manage payments.

Alvaro explained the "snowball effect" that took place in B2B eCommerce is now extending into payments. Buyers want intuitive tools that feel like consumer apps like Google Maps or Instagram - not clunky portals or offline processes.

Another major shift is the use of Plaid, a bank-linking tool that allows operators to log in with their bank credentials and authorize payments securely. By checking for account validity and sufficient funds before a transaction processes, Plaid dramatically reduces chargebacks (by over 90%, according to Pepper's internal data). This real-time validation adds a layer of protection for distributors, while making it easier for operators to pay directly from their bank accounts without needing routing numbers or manual entry.

Payment Plans: Flexibility Without Losing Control

Late or delinquent accounts are a reality for any distributor. Rather than resorting to collections or cutting ties, Pepper has introduced Payment Plans, a feature designed to help distributors recoup outstanding balances while maintaining long-term relationships.

Payment plans are structured agreements where a customer pays down their debt in set increments (e.g., $500 weekly). Distributors can create these plans directly in Pepper Management Center, selecting the customer, frequency, and amount. The tool is fully integrated with Pepper’s payments stack, so every installment is tied back to specific invoices and reconciled with the ERP automatically.

Critically, payment plans don’t prevent customers from making additional payments outside of the plan. This allows businesses to stay current on new invoices while settling older debt over time. With payments being linked to invoices, payments are applied to the oldest invoices first.

This feature has already shown real-world success: in some cases, customers receive a payment plan email and simply decide to pay off the full amount immediately. It turns out that just presenting a clear, structured path to resolution is often the nudge needed.

Statement Emails That Drive Payment

Traditional customer statements—especially PDFs sent by email—do little more than inform. Pepper's new interactive statement emails aim to turn communication into action.

Here's how they work: at a set frequency (weekly, monthly, etc.), customers receive an email showing their current outstanding balance and a "Pay Balance" button. Clicking it takes them to a web page (branded with the distributor’s logo) where they can select which invoices to pay and submit payment instantly.

This experience closes the gap between awareness and action. Instead of printing a PDF or logging into a separate system, customers can pay in seconds. As Alvaro points out, “You can’t pay by a PDF”. Pepper even supports saving payment methods and syncing payments directly with the ERP, ensuring AR teams don’t have to manually post transactions.

Best of all, this feature is designed to scale. Distributors can apply statement emails to all customers by default, ensuring ongoing visibility into balances without creating additional administrative work.

Wrapping Up  

Our approach to payments at Pepper underscores an essential lesson that we’ve learned ever since we first began: product-led collections must be seamless, secure, and tightly integrated. From Plaid-powered payments to flexible recovery plans and real-time statement interactions, these features aren’t just “nice to have” - they’re becoming expectations.

Distributors who modernize their payment workflows will not only improve cash flow and reduce operational friction, but also deepen trust with their customers by making it easy to pay, stay current, and move forward.