Cross-Border Payments Vendors

Digital payment has become a common method of transferring finance both domestically and internationally. Cross-border payments allow making purchases worldwide, with no region or currency restrictions, and more and more businesses have started to include cross-border online payments in their fintech or other digital products. 

To reveal the increasing popularity of digital cross-border payment, let’s take a look at statistics from a report by Visa. 60-70% of remittance users globally prefer using digital apps for international payments. Visa also states that the adoption of app-based digital payments is high, with low barriers to usage. This corresponds to other statistics that reveal that 75% of all financial transactions in the world are now made digitally. 

In this post, you’ll discover the exact role of cross-border vendors in transaction processing and what the top 10 cross border payment companies of 2024 are. Besides, you’ll find out how to choose a perfect-fit cross-border payment vendor for your business, and why you can largely benefit from requesting a tech partner to assist with cross-border payment integration.

The Role of Cross-Border Payment Processing Vendors

Cross border payment processing vendor is a financial institution that facilitates international transactions between businesses or individuals in different countries.

Typically, a cross-border payment processing vendor, is a licensed bank, authorized to conduct transactions internationally. Alternatively, it can be a neobank, which handles customer-facing part of cross-border payment, letting the bank behind it to process transactions behind the scenes.

You can discover more about cross border payments and money exchange from another blog post by DashDevs. 

Businesses often have the need to integrate cross-border payment functionality in their digital apps, to send or receive payments worldwide. For this, they need assistance from a provider of B2B cross-border payment integration. 

Integration of cross-border payment processing is conducted via banking APIs. This technology channels your digital product with a provider’s payment infrastructure. This way, you only need to offer cross-border payment services and gather customers’ data while all the back-end procedures are handled by the vendor. 

You can discover more about the integration of banking API and how this technology works in detail from another blog post by DashDevs. 

Now, take a look at the infographic below, depicting cross-border payment processing flow integrated into a digital app via banking API:

The functions of the cross-border payment vendor in transaction processing are:

• Transaction initiation. Cross-border payment vendors conduct the initial capture and validation of payment details from the customer, starting the transaction process.
• Data encryption. Vendors implement encryption algorithms to make transaction data unreadable and useless in case of data breach. Data is secured on all transaction phases from the point of initiation to the final settlement.
• Routing. Since the transaction is often processed by numerous partners in the banking network, the vendor is to determine the most efficient and secure path for transaction data to travel from the merchant to the acquiring bank.
• Currency conversion. Vendors handle the conversion of transaction amounts from the customer’s currency to the merchant’s banking account’s currency.
• Fraud prevention. Providers of cross-border payment solutions are to implement security measures to comply with regulations and minimize fraud risks. 
• Authorization request and response. Vendors send the transaction details to the bank and receive a response that either approves or denies the transaction based on the availability of funds and validation of the transaction details.
• Transaction settlement. Finally, vendors reconcile the transaction details, ensuring all parties receive the correct amounts, and updating accounts accordingly.

More information about how cross-border payments work and cross border payment methods is available in another our blog post. 

Top 10 Cross-Border Payment Companies of 2024

Cross-border vendors on the market are many. The DashDevs team has tested the integration with lots of them through the years. Based on that experience we can reccomend you the following well-established and reputable companies:

#1 Wise 

Wise, initially launched as TransferWise, disrupts the traditional financial sector by utilizing a smart, peer-to-peer network to reduce costs associated with international money transfers.

Founded: 2011

Headquarters: London, United Kingdom

Employees: 5,000+

Annual payment volume: $76.6 billion

Payment infrastructure: Proprietary, peer-to-peer platform. Operates utilizing existing banking networks

Main service lines:

• Multi-currency account covering 55+ currencies
• Multi-currency debit and expense card
• Business account features
• Batch payments for up to 1,000 online payments at once
• Embedded finance services
• API integration for automated payments
• P2P remittance/money transfer

Website: https://wise.com 

Software integrations:

• Integrations with accounting platforms like Xero, QuickBooks, FreeAgent
• Direct integration with platforms such as Shopify for seamless payment processing.

#2 Banking Circle

Banking Circle is a global scale financial infrastructure built for payments companies and banks. It offers direct clearing access with no intermediaries, thus enhancing speed and reducing costs in international banking and payments.

Founded: 2013

Headquarters: Luxembourg

Employees: 400+

Annual payment volume: $332 billion

Payment infrastructure: Direct access to international clearing systems

Main service lines:

• Real-time Cross-Border Payments
• FX Services
• Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS)
• SME Lending Solutions
• Account Issuing
• Payment Card Solutions

Website: https://www.bankingcircle.com

Software Integrations:

• Integrations with major ERP systems for streamlined financial operations.
• Seamless connection capabilities with major e-commerce platforms to enhance transaction processing.

#3 Airwallex

Airwallex is a fintech platform that simplifies international transactions for businesses. It offers API-driven financial services to enable cross-border integrated payments, forex solutions, and integrated financial management.

Founded: 2015

Headquarters: Melbourne, Australia

Employees: 1,200+

Annual payment volume: $50 billion

Payment infrastructure: Proprietary global financial network

Main service lines:

• Multi-currency Accounts
• International Money Transfers with FX Conversion
• Payment Links
• Multi-currency Expense Cards for Employees
• Embedded Finance Services
• End-to-end Payment Solutions

Website: https://www.airwallex.com

Software Integrations:

• Integrations with accounting platforms like Xero.
• Direct integration with platforms such as Shopify, Amazon, and eBay.

#4 Corpay

Corpay is a provider of corporate payments solutions, offering financial tools to streamline payment processing internationally, enhance expense management, and simplify the handling of currency environments.

Founded: 2011 (as part of FLEETCOR since 2022)

Headquarters: Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Employees: 1,500+

Annual payment volume: $108.5 billion

Payment infrastructure: Utilizes proprietary technology integrated with existing global financial networks

Main service lines:

• Corporate payments management
• Cross-border payments
• Payments including batch processing
• Currency risk management including forward contracts and limit orders
• Automatic invoice reconciliation

Website: https://www.corpay.com 

Software Integrations:

• Integrations with Quickbooks and Zapier and leading ERP and accounting platforms like SAP, Oracle, and NetSuite

#5 Checkout.com

Checkout.com is a partner for businesses looking for digital payment solutions for their software. It provides a flexible and robust payment gateway enabling cross border online transactions.

Founded: 2012

Headquarters: London, United Kingdom

Employees: 1,000+

Annual payment volume: $237.2 billion

Payment infrastructure: Proprietary payment platform with global payment processing capabilities

Main service lines:

• Payment gateway services
• Fraud detection and risk management
• Card issuing
• Direct debit services
• Data and analytics reporting
• Multi-currency processing

Website: https://www.checkout.com

Software Integrations:

• Integrates with popular e-commerce platforms like Shopify, WooCommerce, and Magento

#6 FIS

FIS is a large, well-established financial services technology company. It offers a wide range of solutions aimed at increasing the efficiency and security of financial transactions for banks, businesses, and merchants worldwide.

Founded: 1968

Headquarters: Jacksonville, Florida, USA

Employees: 55,000+

Annual payment volume: $2.2 trillion

Payment infrastructure: Comprehensive suite of payment processing tools and technologies integrated across global financial systems

Main service lines:

• Merchant solutions
• Banking and payments technology
• Capital market services
• Risk and compliance solutions
• Consultancy and transformation services
• Wealth and retirement solutions

Website: https://www.fisglobal.com 

Software Integrations:

• Integrated with major ERP systems like SAP and Oracle
• Compatible with leading banking software including Temenos, Jack Henry, and Finastra

#7 Currencycloud

Currencycloud specializes in simplifying business payments and enabling international transactions. It provides robust APIs that allow companies to integrate global payment functionalities into their products and services.

Founded: 2012

Headquarters: London, United Kingdom

Employees: 500+

Annual payment volume: $75 billion

Payment infrastructure: Advanced API-driven platform with access to international banking networks

Main service lines:

• FX management
• Global wallet
• International payments
• Currency exchange
• Payment automation

Website: https://www.currencycloud.com

Software Integrations:

• Integrated with platforms like Tradeshift and Klarna to facilitate seamless financial transactions

#8 Payoneer

Payoneer connects businesses, professionals, countries, and currencies with its global payments platform. It simplifies payments for a wide range of industries, facilitating seamless international transactions.

Founded: 2005

Headquarters: New York, USA

Employees: 1,500+

Annual payment volume: $66.0 billion

Payment infrastructure: Global payment network designed to handle mass payout capabilities

Main service lines:

• Cross-border payments
• Marketplace payments
• Freelancer payments
• Vendor payments
• Capital advance services

Website: https://www.payoneer.com

Software Integrations:

• Integrated with e-commerce giants like Amazon and eBay
• Compatible with popular freelance platforms such as Upwork and Fiverr

#9 Ebury

Ebury is a financial services company specializing in international transactions and currency exchange for businesses. It provides tailored solutions that support trade, manage risks, and facilitate access to foreign markets with its innovative platform.

• Founded: 2009
• Headquarters: London, United Kingdom
• Employees: 900+
• Annual payment volume: $21 billion

Payment infrastructure: Comprehensive network that integrates with international banking systems

Main service lines:

• International cash management
• Trade finance
• Foreign exchange
• Payments including batch processing
• FX risk management
• Whitelabel platform 

Website: https://www.ebury.com

Software Integrations:

• Integrated with NetSuite, Salesforce CRM
• Compatible with accounting software for streamlined financial operations

#10 XE

XE is a trusted leader in global foreign exchange, offering a comprehensive suite of currency-related services to individuals and businesses. It provides tools for currency conversion, international money transfers, and up-to-date exchange rate information.

Founded: 1993

Headquarters: Newmarket, Ontario, Canada

Employees: 300+

Annual payment volume: $115 billion

Payment infrastructure: Utilizes a network of global financial institutions for money transfers

Main service lines:

• Currency conversion tools
• International money transfers
• Exchange rate information
• Business FX services
• Travel currency services

Website: https://www.xe.com

Software Integrations:

• Integrated with personal finance applications and business accounting systems to provide seamless currency data

You may be interested in exploring the top 10 payment processing vendors from another blog post by DashDevs.

How to Choose a Cross-Border Payment Vendor for Your Business

Here’s what a person responsible for picking cross border payment companies should consider when creating a shortlist of such vendors:

• Payment processing fees

Assess the vendor’s fee structure for cross border transactions, currency conversions, and any hidden charges. It’s worth remembering that excessive or non-transparent fees of the chosen vendor will affect the reputation of the company in the eyes of their customers. 

• Region coverage

Verify that the vendor supports cross border transactions in all regions where the business operates, including any specific local payment methods. For example, even different US states have varying policies towards obtaining money transmitted licenses, so particular providers may have different terms regarding international payment to or from various states. The same trouble is faced on a more global scale.

• Features offered

Evaluate the vendor’s capabilities, such as multi-currency support, preferred payment method, mobile payments, risk management tools, etc., as per your business needs.

• Customization

Ensure the vendor offers customizable solutions, such as different UI of customer-facing payment portals, payment methods, currency options, language support, etc. These opportunities must be tailored to the specific requirements of your business and customer base.

• Ease of integration 

Choose a vendor that provides straightforward integration options with your existing systems to minimize disruption and technical challenges. Remember that despite it’s often possible to conduct nearly any integration of most providers, some cases can happen to be troublesome, extending the development time and cost. 

• Processing time

Consider the speed at which the vendor processes transactions in different regions, as low processing can worsen customer satisfaction and result in an increased load on customer support. 

• Technical support

In the case of integrating a provider of international payment solutions, both you, as a partnering business, and your customers using third-party services, will depend on the vendor’s support. Ensure that any related constraints are minimized, and response times as well as timelines for fixing errors are satisfactory. 

• Compliance

While a vendor definitely complies with requirements imposed on them, they may still be non-compliant with your and your customers’ native regions’ laws and regulations. Ensure that your chosen vendor operates according to local requirements. Otherwise, even in case of successful integration, you may face legal consequences. 

Fintech firms can help choose a perfect-fit cross-border payment company during a fintech consulting session, or when providing fintech development services, as a part of the complete project flow. 

Why You Need a Tech Partner to Integrate Cross-Border Payment Vendor

As explained previously, cross-border payment functionality is enabled via banking payment API. Integration of this technology requires substantial development effort. 

So, in most cases, you need a trusted fintech partner to handle integration for you. 

Even if you have an in-house dev team specializing in fintech, you still can benefit from requesting assistance from a fintech agency. Here’s why:

• External expertise. A fintech partner brings specialized knowledge and experience in cross-border payments that may be beyond the scope of an in-house team. They can help avoid common mistakes and achieve better cost efficiency. 
• Knowledge of compliance and security requirements. Payment processing is involved with dealing with sensitive personal and financial customer data. So, there’s a scope of regulations, such as PCI DSS and other national and local requirements, imposed on apps offering this functionality. Penalties for PCI DSS non-compliance can reach $500,000 per case and more, so regulations are not to be neglected. Trusted providers can help meet external requirements. 
• Flexible development resources. Unlike in-house teams, fintech partners can offer to scale their resources assigned to your project quickly to meet rising demands.
• Experience integrating particular cross-border payment vendors. Fintech partners have established relationships with specific vendors, facilitating smoother and faster integrations.

Should you consider integrating cross-border payment functionality in your business, don’t hesitate to reach out to DashDevs. With over 12 years of experience and more than 500 projects under our belt, we can help your achieve your project’s objectives with flying colors.

Final Take

To wrap up, digital cross-border payments are shaping the way businesses operate globally. They enable companies to distribute their products and services worldwide, thus expanding their customer reach. Among established providers of cross-border payments for business are Wise, Banking Circle, FIS, Payoneer, and others. Make your choosing based on processing fees and time, region coverage, features, customisation, technical support, and compliance. 

Having an experienced development agency contributing to your project is half the battle. The DashDevs team has multiple successful projects in our portfolio, and we assisted many companies in integrating cross-border payment functionality and other banking and fintech services. Discuss your needs with our experts. 

Contact us