FXC Intelligence, a data platform specializing in the cross-border payment and e-commerce sectors, has released its annual selection of the world’s most promising cross-border payments companies in 2024.
This year, the list spotlights six companies from Asia, recognizing them for their rapid growth, increasing market significance, and strong potential for future success.
FXC Intelligence’s Global Most Promising Cross-Border Payments Companies 2024 highlights emerging players in the international payments space. These players are smaller in scale than those featured in the Top 100 Cross-Border Payment Companies, but are experiencing notable growth.
The 24 companies selected in the 2024 list were selected from an analysis of up-and-coming international payment companies spanning regions around the world. These companies achieved significant milestones this year, securing financial backing from major industry stakeholders, achieving strong financial results, growing their headcount, or changing executive leadership to reflect a new company strategy.
Singapore: A Hub of Cross-Border Payment Leaders
Among the Global Most Promising Cross-Border Payments Companies 2024, six hail from Asia, with Singapore leading the pack with four companies, followed by Hong Kong and Thailand, with one each.
One of Singapore’s entries is Partior. Founded in 2021, Partior utilizes blockchain technology to transform clearing and settlement, and redefine the way value moves globally. The company operates a blockchain-based unified ledger for payments, enabling real-time clearing and settlement for instant liquidity and transparency, and overcoming challenges commonly associated with sequential processing in legacy payment systems, including settlement delays, limited transaction transparency and high operating costs.
Partior’s platform is live with prominent currencies, such as USD, EUR and SGD, and is used by major banks and firms, including DBS, JP Morgan, Standard Chartered, Siemens and iFAST Financial.
Another company from Singapore featured on the list is Tazapay. Established in 2021, Tazapay is a leader in cross-border payment solutions, serving small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and business-to-business (B2B) marketplaces from around the world. The company provides solutions such as checkout, payment links and escrow services to simplify international transactions and reduce risks for both buyers and sellers. Its platform covers payments in 173+ countries with local payment options in 70+ markets and offers global business accounts in 60+ currencies.
Tazapay has achieved significant milestones these past years, securing a Major Payment Institution (MPI) license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) in 2023, being included in the 2023 CB Insights’ Fintech 100 list, and securing a US$16.9 million Series A funding round led by Sequoia Capital Southeast Asia. The company is now looking to scale its business across Asia, as well as expand into the Middle East and Europe.
Triple-A is another Singaporean company included in FXC Intelligence’s Global Most Promising Cross-Border Payments Companies 2024 list. Triple-A is a digital currency payment institution that allows businesses to pay and get paid in both traditional and digital currencies, volatility-free. From API to no-code integration, the company’s frictionless, white-label payment solutions are designed to blend smoothly into existing business operations, all while upholding the highest standards of security and compliance.
Triple-A is licensed by MAS in Singapore and Banque de France in the European Union. It’s also registered with the US Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). It claims more than 20,000 business customers.
The fourth and last Singaporean company featured on the list is YouTrip. Founded in 2016, YouTrip is a mobile financial platform that offers a multi-currency mobile wallet and a contactless Mastercard to make payments in over 150 currencies with no fees. YouTrip doesn’t charge any transaction fees nor dynamic currency conversion fees, and claims reasonable exchange rates. The company prioritizes seamless and secure user experiences, emphasizing transparency, real-time notifications, 24/7 customer support, and robust fraud protection mechanisms.
In 2023, YouTrip acquired millions of users across Southeast Asia and showcased robust business metrics, achieving 180% revenue growth year-on-year (YoY) and reaching profitability goals, Juthasree Kuvinichkul, founding partner of YouTrip Thailand, told the Bangkok Post. The company recorded a total payment volume of around US$10 billion. In 2024, YouTrip continued its growth trajectory, reporting an 80% YoY increase in spending on its platform, driven by markets in Singapore and Thailand in the travel, e-commerce and insurance categories.
Ascend Money and Currenxie Recognized for their Growth
Besides Singapore, Thailand is another country represented in this year’s Global Most Promising Cross-Border Payments Companies 2024 list through Ascend Money. The fintech arm of Charoen Pokphand Group, Ascend Money is Thailand’s largest digital financial services provider and a prominent fintech player in Southeast Asia, serving also Cambodia, Myanmar, Vietnam, Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia.
Ascend Money’s flagship TrueMoney platform offers a wide range of financial solutions, including e-payment, lending, buy now, pay later (BNPL), investment and insurance, serving a broad customer base through an extensive network and strategic partnerships with leading corporations, businesses, and merchants in both online and offline landscapes.
Ascend Money says it has processed US$14 billion worth of transactions across Southeast Asia so far, and claims 50 million customers, 21 million e-wallet users and a network of 88,000 agents across seven countries.
Finally, the last Asian player in the list is Hong Kong’s Currenxie. Founded in 2014, Currenxie provides businesses with a comprehensive solution to collect, exchange and send money worldwide. Through its Platform API, enterprises and financial providers can access Currenxie’s payment network to collect, exchange and pay out around the world at scale. For businesses seeking a simple, all-in-one solution, Currenxie’s Global Account offers an effortless website and mobile app that gives them access to worldwide virtual accounts, foreign exchange and bank transfers. Currenxie also supports businesses by integrating popular payment methods like BNPL services, allowing companies to reach a broader audience.
Currenxie claims more than 12,000 clients and over US$15 billion in funds moved.
Featured image credit: edited from freepik