Digital platforms spread technology and product development across millions of customers, a model that makes adding another market attractive. However, international expansion brings more local infrastructure with it: licenses, regulated entities, bank relationships and connections to domestic payment systems.
Recent moves by PhonePe and Revolut provide two examples.
As reported last week, PhonePe has received in-principle approval from the Central Bank of the UAE for Retail Payment Services and Card Schemes and Stored Value Facilities licenses. Its plans call for working with regional banks and licensed payment providers while exploring connections to Aani, the UAE’s instant payment platform, and Jaywan, its domestic card scheme.
Revolut, meanwhile, received approval from Argentina’s central bank to acquire Banco Cetelem Argentina from BNP Paribas Personal Finance. After closing, the bank is expected to become Revolut Bank Argentina. Revolut said it won’t immediately offer products through the bank as it completes regulatory and operational preparations.
PhonePe is pursuing licenses while assembling relationships and payment connections around them. Revolut is buying an existing regulated institution. The divergent approaches put local financial infrastructure inside an expansion strategy that otherwise benefits from technology developed once and distributed across markets.
For PhonePe, the UAE requires a different payments setup from the one underlying its Indian business. The company’s domestic scale was built in a market where UPI provides a widely used interoperable payment layer. Its UAE announcement identifies Aani and Jaywan among the infrastructure it is considering supporting and regional banks and licensed payment service providers among the institutions it plans to work with.
PhonePe already has a narrower bridge between the two markets. Its arrangement with NPCI International Payments Limited allows Indian travelers to use UPI at participating UAE merchants. Serving UAE customers adds another layer: local regulatory authority, relationships with domestic financial institutions and decisions about which local payment infrastructure to support.
Licensing places regulatory and compliance responsibilities directly on the provider. Connecting to domestic schemes requires technical and operational work. Partnerships put some capabilities outside the company but introduce counterparties into the delivery of the product.
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Revolut’s Argentina strategy moves further toward ownership. Acquiring Banco Cetelem provides a regulated banking entity through which Revolut intends to establish its local operation. It also brings the obligations associated with operating a bank into a company whose international growth has relied on a mix of banking licenses and other regulatory structures across markets.
Local Payments Shape the Expansion Model
The case for building that infrastructure becomes clearer in markets where payment behavior is already highly localized.
In the UAE, 86% of consumers say acceptance of their preferred payment method affects where they shop, according to the September PYMNTS Intelligence Global Digital Shopping Index: UAE Playbook. The research also found that 72% used artificial intelligence during their most recent purchase and 71% expect to use an AI shopping agent within two years.
Brazil offers the region’s clearest example of domestic infrastructure reaching mass scale. PYMNTS Intelligence reported that Pix is used by roughly 70% of Brazil’s population and processes more transactions than Visa and Mastercard combined.
Separate PYMNTS Intelligence research found that 65% of Brazilian consumers say acceptance of their preferred payment method influences where they shop. The Global Digital Shopping Index: Brazil Edition also found that 57% used a mobile device during their most recent in-store purchase.
The build, partner and buy choices also determine where expansion costs land.
Buying a bank brings regulated infrastructure onto the balance sheet and adds capital, governance and operating requirements. Obtaining licenses avoids an acquisition but still requires compliance capabilities and the systems needed to satisfy local regulators. Partnerships reduce the infrastructure a FinTech owns while sharing economics and operational control with other providers.
PhonePe and Revolut’s expansion plans show what has to be added to those strategic efforts. The technology may travel globally, while the regulated and payments infrastructure supporting it remains substantially local.
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