Cross-border payments,  considered the engine that facilitates global trade, commerce, remittances, and investments, have witnessed significant growth in recent years, fuelled by technological advancements and rising demand for international financial services.

The total addressable market for cross-border payments reached $194 trillion in 2024, and is projected to grow to $320 trillion by 2032, according to FXC Intelligence. Despite this immense scale, many cross-border transactions are still handled inefficiently, leaving significant gaps in the market—gaps fintechs are well-positioned to address with innovative solutions, faster and cheaper services.

A new Finextra webinar report, “Cross-Border Payments as the Next Fintech Frontier”, produced in association with Visa Direct, highlights the critical role of fintechs in this evolving landscape:

“In today’s rapidly evolving economic landscape, cross-border payments are a critical focus for fintechs. The complexities of these transactions are heightened by currency volatility, regulatory changes, and technological advancements. To enhance cross-border payment solutions, fintechs must navigate strategic considerations and challenges, including the impact of tariffs, sanctions, and supply chain adjustments on local foreign currency reserves.”

With more than half of webinar respondents expecting a surge in cross-border payment volumes, the call to action is clear: fintechs must move quickly to overcome existing barriers while seizing new opportunities.

Here are the key takeaways from the webinar report:

Primary focus areas for cross-border payment expansion in the next 12 months

Fintechs view infrastructure as the cornerstone of cross-border payments growth. Nearly half (46%) of webinar respondents identified enhancing existing payment infrastructure as their primary focus for the next 12 months, underscoring the industry’s emphasis on scalability, efficiency, and resilience.

Beyond infrastructure, 17% of participants cited developing specialized cross-border payment solutions for specific industries as a way to maintain a competitive edge. Forming strategic partnerships with local financial institutions ranked next at 13%, as such collaborations “Help businesses navigate the regulatory landscape, access local payment networks, and build trust with customers in new markets.” Expanding into new geographical markets was ranked least important, with only 8% prioritizing it.

Together, these findings suggest that fintechs are concentrating on strengthening the foundations of cross-border payments before pursuing wider market expansion.

Biggest concerns surrounding economic uncertainty in cross-border payments

Economic uncertainty in cross-border payments is most concerning to the webinar audience in two areas: increased competition from new market entrants (32%) and currency volatility (27%). Fluctuating exchange rates remain a core risk for businesses engaged in cross-border transactions, directly affecting margins, forecasting accuracy, and settlement effectiveness.

Other concerns included changing trade policies and tariffs (18%), which reflect the geopolitical and regulatory headwinds influencing global commerce. Customer adoption challenges in uncertain times (14%) also featured prominently, pointing to the difficulty of encouraging businesses and consumers to embrace new payment methods when broader market confidence is low. Finally, potential recession impacts on transaction volumes (9%) rounded out the list, calling attention to worries that an economic downturn could slow cross-border flows altogether.

Taken together, these insights suggest that while macroeconomic forces like exchange rate volatility and tariffs remain significant, competitive disruption from new entrants is now the most pressing issue shaping decision-making in cross-border payments.

Fintechs have the technology edge over traditional financial institutions

Although fintechs depend more on funding than traditional financial institutions, their key advantage lies in technology.

“They don’t have any legacy systems, right?” remarked Stephan Münch, Head of Strategy & GTM at Visa Direct Europe. “So they can actually start from scratch. And they can simultaneously focus on the UX and catering to niche segments. When it comes to cross-border payments, there is still a lot of opportunities. [It’s not just about speed, but also about transparency.]”

Münch explained that traditional banks face more constraints: “Correspondent banks and traditional banks need to balance out their existing ecosystem, the rails they’re using, and the legacy system they are operating. So of course for them, it’s a bit more difficult to move as fast and as niche as a fintech can do. And internally, we speak about 65 different use cases when it comes to cross-border payments, so there are ample opportunities to go after.”

Stable coins, CBDCs, and other innovations gaining momentum in cross-border payments

Emerging technologies are poised to drive further innovation in cross-border payments, addressing longstanding challenges. Stablecoins, cryptocurrencies, and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) are gaining traction as alternative payment methods alongside fiat currencies, the webinar report notes.

“That’s the next frontier, right?” said Ramon Villarreal, Payments Industry Global Lead at Red Hat and a panellist in the webinar. “If you’re in North America, you may have a different position on whether [CBDCs] are going to happen or not. But the UK is working in a digital Pound. Europe has made announcement around digital currency. Brazil has a full roadmap that started with the creation of open banking, the implementation of the Pix network, and then the next step is a digital currency. We already have digital currencies in China and other places. This is something that’s coming”, he added.

Among various cryptocurrency options, North American CFOs are showing particular interest in stablecoins, viewing them as “A practical entry point for the adoption of digital currency,” as per Deloitte’s Q2 2025 North American Signals survey.

The survey indicates that 15% of finance executives expect their organizations to begin accepting stablecoins as a payment method within two years. Among companies with annual revenues of US$10 billion or more, this figure rises to 24%.

Stablecoin-based payments enable near-instant settlement for cross-border transactions, unaffected by time zones, weekends, or holidays. This speed translates into tangible financial benefits, including more accurate cash flow forecasting, lower counterparty risk, improved traceability, reduced cash reserves in transit, and quicker redeployment of capital. These advantages make stablecoins “an increasingly attractive proposition,” especially for corporations with global teams or international suppliers—a trend that is likely to capture fintechs’ attention as well.

The growing interest in stablecoins is also driven by factors such as enhanced protection of customer privacy (cited by 45% of CFOs) and improved facilitation of cross-border transactions (39% of finance chiefs). These features, combined with speed and operational efficiency, reinforce the case for broader integration in the finance and payments sector.

Furthermore, the recent signing of the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act—the “GENIUS Act”—into law by U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to accelerate corporate and fintech uptake. The Act establishes the nation’s first comprehensive federal regulatory framework for payment stablecoins, enabling organizations to confidently hold and transact in stablecoins on their balance sheets in the years ahead.

In conclusion, cross-border payments are at the heart of the global financial system, powering trade, remittances, and investments. With transaction volumes climbing, the demand for faster, more transparent, and cost-effective solutions is stronger than ever—and fintechs, unburdened by legacy systems, are uniquely positioned to deliver.

Success in this landscape will require agility, robust infrastructure, and interoperability of payment systems. Fintechs that can innovate rapidly, streamline operations, and respond to shifting regulatory and economic conditions will be best placed to meet the demands of global commerce.

As Gary Palmer, President & CEO of Payall Payment Systems, stressed during the webinar: “In the world we live in today, perhaps more than in recent memory, with the addition of tariffs, with the addition of sanctions, with the changes to supply chains—these effects are trickling down to local foreign currency reserves. And at the end of the day, if you’re a bank or fintech in this space, you have to be agile and adaptable, and your technology and your partners must also be agile and adaptable.”