Behind FXC’s Global Most Promising Cross-Border Payments Companies for 2024
Last week, we launched the second edition of our market map tracking emerging players in cross-border payments: The Most Promising Cross-Border Payments Companies for 2024. This week, we’ve put together further insights based on the companies awarded a spot on our list this year.
2024’s map displayed companies from a greater variety of countries, with this year’s participants having headquarters in North America, Latin America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia. We tracked companies based on their primary businesses, as well as the decade they were founded, CEO genders and the number of employees they have. Here are some interesting takeaways:
- The majority of companies on our list are focused on consumer money transfers and remittances, an area that is continuing to see disruption in 2024. On the consumer side, companies like Mama Money and Pomelo are emerging with unique product offerings, while the launch of HSBC’s Zing this year is an indictment of big banks’ recognition of digital challengers.
- In terms of primary product focus, the next most frequent was B2B payments, with companies on this list serving corporate payment needs across a variety of offerings, from enabling transfers to payment acceptance to payroll for employees. Payment infrastructure platforms and processors were also prominently featured, with four companies having these as a primary business offering.
- While most companies on our list were founded in the 2010s, over a third have been founded since 2020. Just under 30% of them are from Europe while a quarter are based in Asia. Five companies are based in the UK, with four apiece in the US and Singapore.
- With regards to CEOs (or CEO equivalents), there continues to be a distinct lack of gender diversity in the space. Having said this, there were four female leaders out of 24 companies for 2024, versus just one in our list of 30 last year. Note that this includes Ascend Money and Prometeo, which have co-leadership roles with one person being male and one being female.
- Over half of the companies on the list have employee numbers in the range of 51-200, while five of them currently appear to have under 50 employees. Many companies are still in their early stages, but LinkedIn analysis shows that in some cases headcounts have expanded by over 100% in the last two years. With rapid growth ongoing, it will be interesting how far these companies can penetrate their respective markets in the coming years.
Who are the most promising cross-border payments companies in 2024?
Joe is a Senior Copywriter at FXC Intelligence, writing and editing reports, news and analysis to support the company’s weekly content and client projects. Before joining FXC Intelligence, he worked as a B2B copywriter, journalist and editor covering a broad range of topics, including technology, transport, retail and the food and beverage industries. He has a BA in Philosophy from the University of Warwick.
