FXC Intelligence, a data platform specializing in the cross-border payment and e-commerce sectors, has released its annual selection of the world’s top cross-border payment companies, recognizing the leading publicly traded companies, startups and private companies operating in the space worldwide.
Top 100 Cross-Border Payment Companies for 2024, Source: FXC Intelligence, Apr 2024
The Top 100 Cross-Border Payment Companies for 2024 list encompasses companies operating across consumer money transfers and remittances, business-to-business (B2B) payments, e-commerce companies, payment processors, mobile payments players and beyond. These companies span all major regions, including Asia-Pacific (APAC), Europe, North America and Latin America, and were selected among over 15,000 entities based on their global significance, market relevance, the centrality of cross-border payments to their operations, and growth trajectory.
This year has seen a number of changes, the ecommerce section, which they created last year, has grown to include Shein and Temu
Among the 100 featured companies, 13 are headquartered in APAC. Today, we delve into these APAC-based companies, shedding light on their portfolio of products, scale, and growth trajectories.
Ant Group
Established in 2004 as part of the Chinese multinational tech company Alibaba and formerly known as Ant Financial and Alipay, Ant Group is a prominent player in the cross-border payment landscape in APAC. The company operates one of China’s largest digital payment platforms Alipay, which boasts over 1 billion users.
Ant Group’s role in the cross-border payment landscape is multifaceted. Besides its ownership of Alipay, Ant Group offers Alipay+, a platform serving as a comprehensive suite of cross-border mobile payment and digitalization technology solutions.
Introduced in 2020, Alipay+ connects over 88 million merchants in 57 countries and regions to 1.5 billion consumer accounts on over 25 e-wallets and banking apps, allowing consumers to travel and pay worry-free globally, and merchants to boost revenue through a growing portfolio of digitalization tools.
Ant Group has been named among FXC Intelligence’s Top 100 Cross-Border Payment Companies for six years in a row.
Shein
Shein, a major player in the Chinese e-commerce landscape, has emerged as a significant force in the APAC cross-border payment landscape and was newly introduced to the list this year as part of FXC’s inclusion of e-commerce platforms
Headquartered in Singapore and founded in 2008, Shein is a online fashion retailer serving customers in over 150 countries, with operational centers in the US, Brazil, Ireland, and Southern China. With a strong foothold in the US fast fashion market, Shein has been expanding its presence into new territories, including Australia, New Zealand, the UK, and the broader Latin American region.
To enhance its global e-commerce operations, Shein has strategically partnered with various payment service providers such as Adyen, PayPal, Nuvei, and Klarna, facilitating shopping for its global customer base through seamless payments and cutting-edge technology. Reports claim that Shein did more than US$30 billion in sales in 2023, boasting an estimated 88.8 million active shoppers.
Temu
Established in 2022 and owned by Chinese e-commerce giant PDD Holdings, Temu is a significant player in the global e-commerce and cross-border payment landscape. The company specializes in discounted consumer goods, and offers a diverse array of payment methods, including major credit cards like Visa, Mastercard, and Discover, digital wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay, PayPal, as well as and buy now, pay later (BNPL) arrangements.
Temu’s growth has been notable, with its expansion into 51 global markets since its inception. Marketplace Pulse estimates Temu has more than 100,000 merchants based in China that sell goods on its platform. Factories act as merchants and ship their products to Temu warehouses in China, which are then delivered directly to consumers around the globe.
Tencent
Tencent, a prominent Chinese multinational tech and entertainment conglomerate, is renowned for its ownership of Weixin, China’s largest messaging app, commonly known internationally as WeChat.
Weixin Pay, the payments solution integrated within Weixin, has become a dominant digital wallet for both businesses and consumers in China, with a combined 1.3 billion+ monthly active users for Weixin and WeChat as of the end of 2023.
Since 2016, Tencent, in collaboration with industry partners, has been dedicated to simplifying cross-border remittance through Tenpay Global, its cross-border payment business. Taking on a collaborative model, Tenpay Global has partnered with over 40 global remittance partners such as Visa, Wise, Panda Remit, and Remitly to connect with Weixin. The integration allows recipients in the Chinese Mainland to receive money directly to their Weixin Pay wallets within Weixin from over 60 countries and regions.
Beyond remittance into the Chinese Mainland, Tenpay Global is also empowering remittance for domestic workers in Hong Kong, enabling them to send money home through WeChat Pay HK, a local digital wallet.
Tencent has been named among FXC Intelligence’s Top 100 Cross-Border Payment Companies for six years in a row now.
DBS Bank
DBS Bank is a leading financial services group in Asia with a presence in 19 markets. Headquartered and listed in Singapore, the group has established itself as a key player in the APAC cross-border payment landscape, being named as one of the Top 100 Cross-Border Payment Companies in the world for six consecutive years as well.
Founded in 1968, DBS Bank offers a comprehensive suite of services, including payment, foreign exchange (FX), and banking services to other financial institutions and fintech companies. It serves over 17 million customers and employs more than 40,000 individuals.
One of DBS Bank’s notable offerings is its DBS Globesend solution for cross-border payments, covering 132 currencies and 190 countries. The bank is also known for its pioneering initiatives in the financial sector, which include a collaborative effort with UBS and SBI to launch the world’s first repurchase transaction with a natively issued bond on a public blockchain in November 2023.
Airtel
Founded in 1995, Airtel is a prominent telecommunications company from India with over 500 million customers in 17 countries across South Asia and Africa. The company offers an array of services including high-speed 4G/5G mobile broadband, Airtel Xstream Fiber, digital payments, financial services, and enterprise solutions such as secure connectivity, cloud services, cybersecurity, the Internet-of-Things (IoT), and more.
Airtel has forged partnerships with leading money transfer operators like Western Union, enabling real-time payments across millions of bank accounts in India and Africa. The company also collaborates with industry giants like Meta and Google to advance a global connectivity project and enhance digital inclusion in India. In 2023, Airtel’s African division launched a remittance transfer service with Mastercard, allowing customers in 14 African countries to send and receive money across over 145 markets worldwide.
Airtel has been named among FXC Intelligence’s Top 100 Cross-Border Payment Companies for four consecutive years.
Airwallex
Founded in 2015 in Australia, Airwallex is a global financial platform serving modern businesses. The company offers comprehensive solutions including payments, treasury management, spend management and embedded finance.
Leveraging its proprietary infrastructure, Airwallex aims to streamline global payments and financial operations, empowering businesses of all sizes to seize new opportunities and expand their reach beyond geographical borders. The company’s payment network spans across more than 150 countries and supports over 60 currencies, enabling businesses to efficiently manage payments, funds, and payouts on a global scale.
Airwallex claims more than 100,000 business customers, including brands such as Brex, Rippling, Navan, Qantas and Shein. The company is one of the world’s most valuable fintech startups with a valuation of US$5.5 billion, according to CB Insights.
Like Ant Group, Tencent and DBS, Airwallex has been named among FXC Intelligence’s Top 100 Cross-Border Payment Companies for six consecutive years.
LianLian Global
LianLian Global is an independent cross-border payments fintech headquartered in China, specializes in facilitating e-commerce and marketplace payouts. With a presence in over 100 countries and regions worldwide, supporting transactions in more than 130 currencies and serving approximately 3.2 million customers, LianLian Global has established itself as a prominent player in the cross-border payment industry, ranking among the world’s Top 100 Cross-Border Payment Companies for six consecutive years.
LianLian Global’s overarching mission is to facilitate cross-border commerce worldwide by creating a digital payment and service collaboration network for businesses, organizations, and individuals. To achieve this goal, the company has partnered with major banks such as Citi, Deutsche Bank, and JP Morgan to power its solutions, which are utilized by e-commerce giants like Amazon, Shopify, and Walmart.
Like Ant Group, Tencent, DBS and Airwallex, LianLian Global has been named among FXC Intelligence’s Top 100 Cross-Border Payment Companies for six years in a row.
Nium
Founded in 2014 in Singapore, Nium is a leading provider of cross-border payment services catering to a diverse clientele including corporates, fintech companies, and financial service companies. The company is known for its real-time, cross-border payments infrastructure, which is designed to meet the demands of the global economy. Its payout network supports 100 currencies and spans over 190 countries, with real-time capabilities in 100 of these markets. Nium’s card issuance business is also rapidly expanding, currently available in 34 countries.
Nium claims more than 130 million customers, and is valued at an estimated US$2 billion, data from CB Insights show. The company holds regulatory licenses and authorizations in more than 40 countries, enabling seamless onboarding, rapid integration, and compliance.
PingPong Payments
Founded in 2015, PingPong Payments is a Chinese company that helps e-commerce merchants make cross-border payments. The company specializes in optimizing cross-border payments, value added tax (VAT) payments, and supplier payments. With a free account, sellers can immediately reduce costs associated with receiving and making international payments, manage marketplace profits and beat the rates traditional banks offer when converting funds. All of these features come housed under a single platform that organically increases operational efficiencies and saves time.
With a track record of processing over US$90 billion in cross-border payments for more than 100 e-commerce merchants from more than 200 counties, and facilitating daily transfers exceeding US$150 million on behalf of international sellers, PingPong Payments has earned the trust of merchants worldwide. The company works with reputable brands such as Citibank, BNP Paribas, JP Morgan and Wells Fargo that have won licenses to operate efficiently and are subject to strong regulatory and supervisory frameworks across the Europe, US and Asia.
PingPong Payments has been in the Top 100 Cross-Border Payment Companies list for six consecutive years.
Sunrate
Established in 2016, Sunrate is an intelligent global payment and treasury management platform for businesses worldwide. The company is recognized as a leading solution provider and has enabled companies to operate and scale both locally and globally with its cutting-edge proprietary platform, extensive global network, and robust application programming interfaces (APIs).
Sunrate allows businesses to make payments to more than 190 countries and regions, transact in 130+ currencies, settle card spends in over 15 currencies. Businesses also enjoy global collection services available in over 30 currencies and can collect funds in over 10 major global currencies. In addition, Sunrate offers effective treasury management tools such as TreasuryOS and RiskOS, to enable businesses to manage and oversee their financial assets, liabilities, and liquidity.
Sunrate is headquartered in Singapore with additional offices in key financial hubs such as Hong Kong, Jakarta, London, and Shanghai. The company collaborates with top-tier global financial institutions like Citibank, Standard Chartered, Barclays, and JP Morgan.
Thunes
Established in 2016, Thunes is a global payment innovator enabling seamless, instant and transparent money movement. Through its expansive network, Thunes empowers its customers to accept and pay in real-time, closing the gap between payment systems worldwide.
Thunes currently facilitates payments in 84 currencies across 133 countries, using over 550 payment methods, including 129 mobile wallets like PayPal, M-Pesa and Orange Money, gig economy giants like Uber and Deliveroo and super-apps like Grab and WeChat.
Headquartered in Singapore, Thunes has offices in 14 locations, including Beijing, Nairobi, Riyadh, Dubai, San Francisco, Sao Paulo, London, Paris, Barcelona and Manila.
Thunes has been featured in the Top 100 Cross-Border Payment Companies list for six consecutive years.
OFX Group
Founded in 1998, OFX Group, previously known as OzForex, is an Australian online FX and payments company facilitating international money transfers to over 170 countries across more than 50 currencies. The company provides money transfer services to individuals such as migrants and expatriates and small businesses as well as providing white-label international transfer services for Travelex, MoneyGram, Xero, Capital One 360 and Macquarie Group.
OFX Group relies on a “digital + human” business model, allowing the company to provide 24/7 client support to complement its global digital platform. The company’s services span web, apps, phone, and APIs for corporate and enterprise clients, with more than 90% of all transactions completed digitally. These digital channels are complemented by the opportunity for clients to talk to real persons, referred to as OFXperts, which has proven to be a very successful and much-loved combination.
OFX Group has offices in Sydney, Singapore, Hong Kong, London, Dublin, Toronto, Edmonton, San Francisco and Auckland, and employs more than 700 people in nine countries.
The company has been featured in the Top 100 Cross-Border Payment Companies list for six consecutive years as well.
