Technology Helps Teams Drive Digital Cross-Border Payments Progress

Ramana Satyavarapu, chief technology officer of Nium, told PYMNTS that we’re living in unprecedented times in which the very nature of money movement, especially cross-border money movement, is changing.

As to what might be top of mind for a CTO, it boiled down to one word: digitization.

“Like globalization,” said Satyavarapu, “the rapid rise of digitization is tremendous — indeed, unprecedented.”

In the realm of payments, CTOs must contend with the fear of missing out (FOMO) as economies move away from cash directly to digital transactions, sometimes with no card networks. Given the fact that so many companies are global in terms of reach and are always on the lookout for new markets, the trend will continue.

Today, roughly two-thirds of all adults across the globe use at least some form of digital payment, and therein lies some real opportunity as consumer behavior changes.

Technology can help companies meet the expectations of users that money movement is seamless and done in real time, marked by contactless options and security features like facial recognition as they interact with mobile devices.

See also: As Remote Work Goes Global, Paying Workers Gets Complex

Global Frictions

But in some sense, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Satyavarapu noted that FinTechs’ issues in money movement aren’t new — getting money from place to place has always been a challenge, all the way back to barter systems and up to the present day.

But in the 21st century, he said, the challenges and frictions are exponentially larger, and technology has to be applied to address those pain points. As such, the CTO must work with all manner of executives within an enterprise, across departments, to convince them that the returns on investment in various technologies will pay off.

“At the same time, we’ve got to be realistic on how every dollar, every resource, and how every minute can best be spent wisely,” he said, walking the fine line between moving the needle right now versus longer-term strategic investments.

The long-term potential total addressable market for FinTechs is in the trillions of dollars. Partnering with platforms such as Nium, he said, can streamline integrations and make it easier for companies large and small to deliver cross-border payments to far-flung countries across any number of currencies.

Related: Cross-Border Payroll Complexities Demand a Partnership Approach

Strategic investments should keep sight of some of the most pressing concerns in payments, such as having standardization in place without losing localization, Satyavarapu said. They should also bring stakeholders throughout the organization together.

“That’s easier said than done,” he noted, “and I put a lot of emphasis, and a lot of my time and energy partnering closes with HR, R&D and other teams to ensure the core ‘tenets’ are preserved across the company globally.”

But with those joint efforts in place, with collaboration governing current and long-term payments initiatives, Satyavarapu said customers win out.

“They wind up having a delightful payments experience,” he told PYMNTS, “with technology at the epicenter to drive all this change toward digitization.”