Blockchain Technology Can Take the Sting out of Cross-Border Payments

Cross-border B2B payments can be challenging, with regulatory differences, language barriers and high global remittance costs.

Regulatory differences increase turnaround times for transactions and negotiations, causing operational costs to go up, Tranglo CEO Jacky Lee told PYMNTS.

Language barriers may cause key points to get lost in translation, so companies need to think about whether they need to support multiple languages.

High global remittance costs — with a fee that stands at an average 6.3%, according to World Bank data cited by Lee — exist because of complexities involved in routing and central intermediaries.

Tranglo has experience meeting these challenges. Founded in 2008, the company helps financial institutions (FIs) and businesses pay globally through Tranglo Connect, its proprietary cross-border payments solution.

In addition to challenges, the company sees these opportunities, Lee said: “high potential in business payment in terms of liberating the global commerce and cross-border B2B payments industry through the use of blockchain technology for greater transparency, security and speed.”

Performing a Comprehensive Cost-Benefit Analysis

Tranglo now supports cross-border B2B payments in 25 countries, including several in Asia, Africa and South America, as well as Australia, Russia and Turkey. When there is substantial demand from current partners for a certain corridor, the company performs a comprehensive cost-benefit analysis.

“The few things we usually watch out for before committing: existing infrastructure and regulatory support, the risk appetite involved, any short- or long-term plans that could potentially affect our operations and enough demand from end consumers,” Lee said.

Typically, a company will approach Tranglo for help because it is finding it time consuming and costly to have to negotiate commercial terms as well as service specification with respective payout partners for each market or corridor that it wants to get into.

Furthermore, each payout partner also requires businesses to pre-fund with them, restricting working capital, and without a single partner to streamline and choose the best payout option for each transaction, payments can usually take days to receive.

“Tranglo’s single connection to a wide network allows businesses to enter markets rapidly,” Lee said. “Integrating with RippleNet network and Tranglo payout solutions allows them to move funds quicker and at a lower cost compared to existing banking rails.”

Aiming to Enter European, Middle Eastern Remittance Markets

Lee added that Tranglo’s customers can pre-fund Tranglo using Ripple’s On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) solution, maximizing cash flow and working capital.

“ODL, the new cross-border solution, was launched in September, first to the Philippine corridor and subsequently to our other corridors,” Lee said.

Citing another achievement of the last year, Lee said Tranglo exceeded its total processing value target in 2021 with a 26% year-on-year increase.

Looking ahead, Lee said Tranglo plans to continue to expand its new cross-border solution and move into new markets.

“We call this the year of ODL,” Lee said. “We are also aiming to enter the European and Middle Eastern remittance markets.”