diff --git a/API_changes.rst b/API_changes.rst
index 4dc9bccef..6e3ade98e 100644
--- a/API_changes.rst
+++ b/API_changes.rst
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ Version 3.3.0
 - Clients have an optional parameter: on_reconnect_callback, Function that will be called just before a reconnection attempt.
 - general parameter unit= -> slave=
 - move SqlSlaveContext, RedisSlaveContext to examples/contrib (due to lack of maintenance)
+- :code:`BinaryPayloadBuilder.to_string` was renamed to :code:`BinaryPayloadBuilder.encode`
 
 -------------
 Version 3.2.0
diff --git a/pymodbus/payload.py b/pymodbus/payload.py
index 00439cbc1..776f91e3f 100644
--- a/pymodbus/payload.py
+++ b/pymodbus/payload.py
@@ -81,19 +81,16 @@ def _pack_words(self, fstring, value):
 
         return payload
 
-    def to_string(self):
-        """Return the payload buffer as a string.
-
-        :returns: The payload buffer as a string
-        """
+    def encode(self) -> bytes:
+        """Get the payload buffer encoded in bytes."""
         return b"".join(self._payload)
 
-    def __str__(self):
+    def __str__(self) -> str:
         """Return the payload buffer as a string.
 
         :returns: The payload buffer as a string
         """
-        return self.to_string().decode("utf-8")
+        return self.encode().decode("utf-8")
 
     def reset(self):
         """Reset the payload buffer."""
@@ -131,10 +128,10 @@ def build(self):
 
         :returns: The payload buffer as a list
         """
-        string = self.to_string()
-        length = len(string)
-        string += b"\x00" * (length % 2)
-        return [string[i : i + 2] for i in range(0, length, 2)]
+        buffer = self.encode()
+        length = len(buffer)
+        buffer += b"\x00" * (length % 2)
+        return [buffer[i : i + 2] for i in range(0, length, 2)]
 
     def add_bits(self, values):
         """Add a collection of bits to be encoded.
diff --git a/test/test_payload.py b/test/test_payload.py
index 140a00ee6..5f411f903 100644
--- a/test/test_payload.py
+++ b/test/test_payload.py
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ def test_little_endian_payload_builder(self):
         builder.add_16bit_uint(1)  # placeholder
         builder.add_string(b"test")
         builder.add_bits(self.bitstring)
-        assert self.little_endian_payload == builder.to_string()
+        assert self.little_endian_payload == builder.encode()
 
     def test_big_endian_payload_builder(self):
         """Test basic bit message encoding/decoding"""
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ def test_big_endian_payload_builder(self):
         builder.add_16bit_uint(1)  # placeholder
         builder.add_string("test")
         builder.add_bits(self.bitstring)
-        assert self.big_endian_payload == builder.to_string()
+        assert self.big_endian_payload == builder.encode()
 
     def test_payload_builder_reset(self):
         """Test basic bit message encoding/decoding"""
@@ -86,10 +86,10 @@ def test_payload_builder_reset(self):
         builder.add_8bit_uint(0x34)
         builder.add_8bit_uint(0x56)
         builder.add_8bit_uint(0x78)
-        assert builder.to_string() == b"\x12\x34\x56\x78"
+        assert builder.encode() == b"\x12\x34\x56\x78"
         assert builder.build() == [b"\x12\x34", b"\x56\x78"]
         builder.reset()
-        assert not builder.to_string()
+        assert not builder.encode()
         assert not builder.build()
 
     def test_payload_builder_with_raw_payload(self):
@@ -166,7 +166,7 @@ def test_payload_builder_with_raw_payload(self):
         builder = BinaryPayloadBuilder(
             [b"\x12", b"\x34", b"\x56", b"\x78"], repack=True
         )
-        assert builder.to_string() == b"\x12\x34\x56\x78"
+        assert builder.encode() == b"\x12\x34\x56\x78"
         assert builder.to_registers() == [13330, 30806]
         coils = builder.to_coils()
         assert _coils1 == coils
@@ -174,7 +174,7 @@ def test_payload_builder_with_raw_payload(self):
         builder = BinaryPayloadBuilder(
             [b"\x12", b"\x34", b"\x56", b"\x78"], byteorder=Endian.Big
         )
-        assert builder.to_string() == b"\x12\x34\x56\x78"
+        assert builder.encode() == b"\x12\x34\x56\x78"
         assert builder.to_registers() == [4660, 22136]
         assert str(builder) == "\x12\x34\x56\x78"
         coils = builder.to_coils()