The world of cross-border payments is complex, to say the least. When such payments or remittances need to be made across 100+ countries across the globe, the complexity is further compounded.

Worldwide, as steps are underway to boost financial inclusion, the measures are benefitting millions of underbanked people. Finally, underserved cohorts are gaining access to savings accounts, investments, loans, and other financial products. To achieve an objective based on user convenience, technology is being used to drive financial inclusion across all geographies, including remote regions.

Contrary to what many people automatically assume, the beginning of any partner relationship in the payments industry is not only about KYC and compliance. Although KYC is a cornerstone of our industry, and we won’t survive long if we don’t get it right, the start of the relationship is much more.

In a global economy, the ability to make borderless payments is essential for businesses and consumers alike. Moving money successfully across borders is fundamental to international commerce as it drives and sustains economies in developed and emerging markets. Cross-border payments are the oil that keeps the globalization machine going.

Over the last few years, there’s been a lot of buzz around interoperability. Getting payment products to ‘speak to each other’ or be interoperable is one of the biggest challenges facing digital payments.

Global payments will continue to grow and evolve as borders become increasingly irrelevant to consumers, whether you’re in the Business-to-Consumer or Business-to-Business market. While most people think of e-commerce and online shopping in the Business-to-Consumer market as the most relevant, Business-to-Business global payments have been growing rapidly.

The global digital payments market is evolving rapidly. Africa is one of the key regions at the forefront of this evolution with digital payments methods steadily rising across the region.

The mobile wallet market is slated to increase at a 25% CAGR between 2022 and 2028. One of the major drivers for this universal rise is the increasing number of smartphone users globally. As per Statista, global smartphone subscriptions in 2022 have already *surpassed six billion, with the highest number of subscribers in China, India and the US.

For us, International Women’s Day is not just a celebration of women’s history but also an opportunity to start a dialogue. This year we did exactly that and discovered what our global workforce has to say about breaking stereotypes and enabling equality.