B2B cross-border payments refer to the digital tools used by businesses to send and receive payments from vendors and customers in other countries. B2B cross-border payments can be used for a variety of purposes, including global payments, supply chain financing, and remittances. In recent years, there has been a surge in the use of B2B cross-border payments, driven in part by the increasing globalization of business. B2B cross-border payments are typically facilitated by banks or specialist payment providers. However, there is a growing trend towards the use of digital currencies and blockchain-based solutions for B2B cross-border payments.
For those interested in what’s happening in the UAE, this piece from the national news business section discusses a recent report from Mastercard (borderless payments) that covers consumer and small business cross-border payments across multiple markets. This particular posting is about the UAE, which is also covered in the same report. Readers who have been following the subject will have picked up on the increased interest in e-commerce and reaching across the borderless (somewhat) internet for more personal and client access.
‘Up to 44 per cent of SMEs in the Emirates said business has been better, with 66 per cent posting growth in online sales and 77 per cent planning to tap into more international markets moving forward, MasterCard said in its annual Borderless Payments Report…
Cross-border payments were a critical component in this rise in activity, with almost two thirds (64 per cent) saying it enabled their business to grow and 53 per cent claiming they are now leveraging this platform more than in the pre-pandemic era…
“With international travel halted and government boundaries sealed tight, cross-border payments helped keep millions of people and businesses afloat,” Stephen Grainger, executive vice president for cross-border services at MasterCard, wrote in the report.’
While we have covered e-commerce in the B2B space in member research, this particular piece is more oriented towards consumer and small business activity. However, the common ground is the surge in comfort with using the digital tools being made available by vendors sensitive to more global payments needs. Where this is most clearly seen is in merchant acceptance capabilities (pay how you wish) and the growing ease of use and lower cost of remittances during the past several years. Some readers may wish to review and click through to the broader study to gain some valuable insight.
‘Businesses and consumers across the region and the world continue to shift towards online economic activity as technological advancements have provided safer and more convenient ways of fulfilling transactions…
The UAE’s e-commerce sector is forecast to grow 60 per cent to more than $8 billion by 2025, from 2021, according to a recent report by Euromonitor International…
Globally, the market is expected to hit $55.6 trillion by 2027 at a compound annual growth rate of about 27.4 per cent, from an estimated $13tn in 2021…
The growth in earnings of UAE SMEs is almost at par with the global average of 46 per cent, up from 39 per cent in the prior year, with two thirds saying they have recovered to at least pre-pandemic levels, the study added.’
Overview by Steve Murphy, Director, Commercial and Enterprise Payments Advisory Service at Mercator Advisory Group