Five Trends in Global Payments for 2017

As our worldwide economy becomes increasingly interconnected, the demand for a frictionless, efficient, and global outbound payment solution has grown substantially.

Many of today’s businesses need to pay people and partners that are dispersed all around the world.

Unfortunately, the technology to facilitate these cross-border payouts is years, even decades behind the acquiring-side equivalents.

Global disbursements remain costly and complex, largely due to very limited worldwide ACH interoperability and unsatisfactory transactional traceability.

As a result, most international payments are still done using traditional methods: checks and wires. Even if we forgive the inconvenience and expense associated with these methods, they often come with restrictions and delays.

While the volume of payments to global partners, resellers, and contractors is expected to increase, the process of sending payments by check or wire remains fraught with bottlenecks.

Nonetheless, there’s reason to be optimistic about improvements to global payouts in the near future. Recent years have seen the emergence of new players and notable disruptions in many areas of payments—and, while cross-border disbursements have been largely neglected, the coming year could lay the groundwork for real innovation in the outbound payments space.

Where’s the Solution?

One thing is certain: a fast, efficient, secure, and transparent global solution is needed. But how do we get there? What will it take to build a solution for payments distribution that resembles that which already exists in payment acceptance?

At Hyperwallet, we’ve devoted a tremendous amount of time and resources to surveying the global financial landscape, searching for answers to this very question. We’ve compiled the findings of that research in our new analysis, Top 5 Trends in Global Payments 2017, which examines the key developments that we expect will drive change in cross-border payouts into next year. Below is a snapshot of some trends affecting the future of cross-border disbursements:

1. Demand for single, integrated payout solutions—a ‘network of networks.’

The future of B2B/B2C disbursements will be a network of networks that constantly adapts to technology innovation and evolving requirements—spanning banking, credit cards, mobile money, and digital payment platforms. More and more, CFOs and treasury teams will look for one simple solution that enables them to pay anyone, anywhere.

2. Desire for greater transparency at every level of the global payments value chain.

The next generation of outbound payment solutions will be purpose-built platforms that provide cost control, data visibility, operational efficiency, and friction-free delivery methods. Equipped with integrated payment tracking, compliance, and management tools, platforms like these can help change the way people and businesses get paid in the global economy.

Innovation is Inevitable

We’re nearing a tipping point in global disbursements. Over the coming year and beyond, the amount and velocity of global payouts will continue to expand. The need for businesses to pay partners, resellers, and contractors across borders will continue to increase. At some point, the legacy infrastructure that has dictated the rules of cross-border payments for decades will become intolerable. Maybe that point has already passed.

Innovation in global payouts is inevitable. It’s only a question of how and when.