Paysend Launches Instant Cross-Border Payments for Just $1

Paysend, the UK-based fintech with more than seven million customers, has announced the launch of Instant Account Payments, that give consumers and businesses the ability to send instant cross-border payments of up to $100,000 to accounts for just $1 per payment.

Users can quickly connect to Paysend’s global payments network and instantly and cost-effectively send funds to 25 countries and currencies seven days per week, 365 days per year.

Instant payments volume reached $70.4billion in 2020 and is expected to reach $200billion by the end of 2024, according to GlobalData. The rise of instant payments has shifted the expectations of consumers and businesses alike who have experienced greater speed, ease and reliability when making domestic payments and now expect a similar experience when making payments to other countries.

Instant cross-border payments are expected to grow at a CAGR of over 30 per cent by 2024, surpassing 200 billion by 2024 and the key drivers include the Covid-19 pandemic, an increase in global remittances and trade and the rise of global on-demand services and e-commerce marketplaces.

Alexander Budyakov, head of enterprise at Paysend, said: “While the demand for instant cross-border payments is clear, legacy cross-border payment services are still hampered by long-standing challenges of the correspondent bank model. Cross-border payments are costly due to high fees charged by banks throughout the payment chain and expensive FX rates applied on currency conversions.

“Both result in recipients receiving less than expected and being left out of pocket. Payment speeds are also inconsistent and slow, with typically a three to five day settlement period for a payment to credit the recipient’s account.”

Paysend’s Instant Account Payments helps to solve these issues through a $1 flat fee for any cross-border transfer up to $100,000 as well as transparent FX rates at the time of payment to avoid any hidden fees. Paysend’s Open Payment Network is central to Instant Account Payments and orchestrates the end-to-end payment flow including payment initiation, processing, FX and settlement.

The Open Payment Network has connections to local network partners and domestic instant payment schemes to enable consumers and businesses to send instant cross-border payments accounts globally. It increases interoperability between instant payment systems around the world and enables real-time cross-border payments by reducing the number of intermediaries in the payment chain.

Users can quickly and easily connect and send payments through Paysend’s Instant Account Payments through a self-service API or Paysend dashboard which removes friction and increases accessibility. Businesses can send funds instantly to 25 countries and currencies across the world with new currency corridors being continuously added to Paysend’s global payments network.

Budyakov continued: “Sending funds around the world should be simple, instant and low-cost. Our new Instant Account Payments extends this benefit to both our consumer and business users, enabling anyone to connect to our network and immediately benefit from low cost, secure, instant cross-border payments to accounts worldwide.”