Just before 2019 draws to a close, here’s a brief overview of the relevant stories that marked this year in the B2B cross-border payments space, accompanied by some food for thought for 2020
We live in a strange but wonderful time, when tech innovation in payments and finance has become, more than ever, a part of our lives and our very own back pockets. The end user is finally starting to get the attention they fully deserve in the webbings of fintechs’ decision-making process and there is no shortage of creativity employed to make payments fast, easy, secure, and seamlessly integrated in our lives.
However, if we start thinking in terms of transaction volumes and where the most high-stakes mobile for change lies, Business-to-Business – especially focused on financial mobility across geographical borders – is the backstage king of innovation-drivers. In 2018, SWIFT and McKinsey & Company found that B2B cross-border transactions accounted for USD 125 billion in revenues, while the next-highest category, consumer-to-business (C2B) cross-border payments, paled in comparison at just USD 54 billion. Just for contrast, Juniper Research data shows that the total value of B2B cross-border payments – and just the ones immutably stored on blockchain – will exceed USD 4.4 trillion by 2024; up from USD 171 billion in 2019.