B2B debts. What are their particular features?

In this type of debt, both the issuer and the beneficiary must be companies or self-employed and must specify in the direct debit order that they agree to operate under the Business-to-Business (B2B) scheme.

When we instruct our bank to service the invoices of any company or person, we normally specify whether it is a one-off debt or a recurring debt, such as an invoice, without having to authorise payment each month. In contrast, in the B2B scheme it is necessary for the debtor's institution to obtain prior consent from its customer, payment by payment. And, in addition:

• Each institution shall inform the debtor of the different possibilities available to it to grant the authorisation, and the procedure for obtaining such authorisation shall be agreed. 
• The debtor waives the right to return the invoice. 
• The invoice may be rejected or returned by the institutions because of an insufficient balance, invalid mandate or incorrect file format, among other reasons, up to two business days after maturity.

Lastly, you should know that the B2B modality is voluntary for institutions and, therefore, not all of them offer it to their customers.