The world of real-time payments is rapidly evolving, yet the B2B sector still faces significant challenges – especially when it comes to cross-border transactions. Many businesses that want to expand find themselves stuck in a system that simply cannot keep up. While these hurdles have long been accepted as 'status quo', PingPong is determined to change that by creating a faster, more transparent way to move money across borders.
Since the introduction of real-time payments, consumer transactions have radically transformed. Individuals can transfer funds from one bank account to another in seconds, with payments processed 24/7/365. Unsurprisingly, this industry has seen explosive growth and is expected to reach $4.7 trillion by 2032.
Yet, as international trade has also grown (and positively impacted the economy with a more optimized supply chain and improved cash flows), the same need for fast, transparent, and cost-effective solutions has yet to be met.
In 2020, global corporations incurred roughly $120 billion in transaction charges, excluding FX fees. A recent study found that 14% of cross-border payments are never completed. While businesses have historically accepted slow, costly payment systems, fintech companies like PingPong now offer more affordable, scalable, and customisable solutions.
Every region has differences, but the growing need for real-time, cross-border payments is getting harder to ignore. PingPong is focused on solving this problem by creating a network with embeddable payment solutions, paired alongside relationships with key partners within the financial ecosystem.
B2B cross-border payments have different challenges that have caused them to lag behind their B2C counterparts in executing real-time transactions. With more significant amounts of money within each transaction, the stakes are raised, and risks are higher.
Several key challenges need to be addressed to achieve widespread adoption comparable to that of instant consumer payments:
Global B2B transactions bring several increased payment complexities. Many of the traditional systems used today struggle to keep up with multiple currency conversions and ongoing fluctuations in exchange rates. Currency exchange often slows down and increases the cost of transactions, particularly for large sums of money. The ‘move fast and break things’ mentality doesn’t quite translate when dealing with various currencies, countries, and corridors.
As borderless opportunities grow, high-value B2B transactions have become a prime target for fraud. Juniper Research estimates that cross-border payment fraud losses will reach $46.1 billion globally by 2027.
The sheer volume and complexity of cross-border transactions make them a prime target for criminal activity. Top scams plaguing the industry include fake invoice scams sent to businesses for goods and services, phishing scams targeting bank details and login credentials, and overpayment scams posing as fraudulent invoices. As AI technology evolves, payment fraud continues to gain momentum with faster methods and trickier techniques.
Navigating the regulatory requirements for B2B cross-border payments has become nothing short of a headache across multiple jurisdictions. With a lack of consistency between regulators, each country brings its own set of rules to the table. Anti-money laundering (AML), Know Your Customer (KYC), sanctions screening, data privacy laws and reporting requirements all make it extraordinarily challenging to achieve real-time transactions on a global scale.
While transactions are inherently global, regulations remain primarily local.
Today, more than 70 countries offer instant local payment schemes and nearly as many real-time payment domestic systems worldwide, such as SEPA Instant, TARGET Instant Payment Settlement (TIPS) and FedNow.
These schemes, however, remain siloed, benefitting only local transactions. PingPong recognises the growing demand for cross-border payments that are not only interconnected, but instant and secure.
With more than 60 financial licences and $250 billion USD processed to date, PingPong leverages domestic innovations within its network, connecting local payment rails at both ends of each transaction. Our platform, supported by local expertise, ensures a faster, more transparent payment process across key regions and emerging markets, connecting money movers at scale. Each licence we hold is strategically acquired, enabling businesses to transact confidently with one another across the globe.
As more jurisdictions align their regulations and standards for real-time payments, the pace at which global payments flow will accelerate, further reducing friction for businesses. Our DNA is cross-border payments, and our vision is to digitize trade in every corridor we can find.
Collaboration between banks and fintechs is reshaping the B2B payments landscape.
For fintechs like PingPong, partnering with Tier 1 banks brings operational strength and resources. Our recent work with J.P. Morgan ’s Kinexys team allows us to facilitate 24/7 internal treasury movements with tokenized deposits, increasing liquidity and enabling faster money movements.
These partnerships allow fintech and banks to deliver secure, reliable, and efficient solutions, working to complement each other beyond mutual benefit. To make cross-border payments truly effortless, a shared commitment is needed to ensure these aspects become the norm rather than the exception.
We’re excited to play a key role in this transformative journey of bringing near-instant payments to every major market in the world alongside partners who share our vision of agility, flexibility, and innovation.
Instant payments have the potential to completely transform global trade. But with escalating challenges, we’ll need new innovations, industry-wide collaboration, and a robust ecosystem of companies to facilitate the effortless global flow of money.
Faster and simpler transactions improve cash flow and liquidity management, create fewer intermediaries, and lower costs. The demand for faster, more cost-effective, and transparent payments is critical as the cross-border payments market is projected to exceed $250 trillion by 2027. At PingPong, we believe that sending and receiving money across borders should be as easy as possible, and we’re building an ecosystem of solutions, relationships, and expertise to make that idea a reality.
