What’s the Best Enterprise Platform for Cross-Border Payments? All Major Competitors Ranked

Who stands out and why Rapyd might just be your best bet

Businesses today recognize the importance of Cross-Border Payments. According to Rapyd’s own research, 93% of enterprises consider cross-border commerce to be a top priority.  As markets become increasingly interconnected, the ability to transact seamlessly across borders isn’t just a luxury—it’s a necessity. 

Businesses need an international payments solution to support:

• Global Expansion: Cross-border payments facilitate entry into new markets, allowing businesses to tap into diverse customer bases, supply chains and revenue streams.
• Customer Satisfaction: Modern consumers expect a frictionless payment experience, regardless of where they’re located. Offering localized payment methods can significantly boost conversion rates.
• Operational Efficiency: Handling multiple currencies and adhering to varied financial regulations can be daunting. A robust cross-border payment platform streamlines these complexities, ensuring smooth operations.

With so many payment service providers claiming to offer similar solutions and global coverage, how do you choose the best one? 

Full disclosure, we think our own solution is pretty great. We also want to help you make the best decision and consider all your options. With that in mind, we’ve created this guide that lists and compares the leading platforms.  

The Strengths and Weaknesses of Leading Cross-Border and Global Online Payment Platforms

Over the last decade, several platforms have emerged as frontrunners, each bringing its unique strengths to the table. In this article we’ll review the following options: 

• Rapyd
• Adyen
• Airwallex
• Checkout.com
• dLocal
• EBANX
• Nium
• Payoneer
• PayPal
• Wise

Rapyd Cross Border Payments

Rapyd stands out as a global fintech partner, aiming to simplify and advance commerce in every market. With a vision to be the world’s largest fintech, Rapyd’s Global Payments Network offers unparalleled reach, with the ability to send and receive payments from virtually anywhere on the planet. With over 900 local payment methods and global card acquiring, Rapyd ensures businesses can cater to customers’ diverse payment preferences.

Rapyd lets businesses seamlessly integrate a vast array of payment and payout capabilities into existing systems. From collecting and disbursing funds in local currency to creating virtual accounts and managing KYC and compliance processes, Rapyd ensures businesses can operate efficiently without getting bogged down by payment challenges.

Accept Payments:

Rapyd allows businesses to accept payments virtually anywhere

Accept credit/debit cards and 900+ local payment methods worldwide

Integrate payments your way with our API, hosted checkout, developer toolkit, virtual terminals, payment links and plugins

Built-in fraud monitoring, foreign exchange and dispute management

Send Payouts:

• Single and mass payouts to recipients in 190+ countries
• Support for multiple payout methods including bank transfer and push-to-card
• End-to-end transaction monitoring and visibility
• Built-in foreign exchange, send payouts in recipients’ preferred currencies

Stripe Cross Border Payments

Stripe focuses primarily on payment acceptance. They offer a plethora of tools and services that cater to diverse payment needs and market to the developers and technical leaders who implement payment technology.

Capabilities for Cross-Border Payments

Accept Payments: 

• Streamlined transactions for eCommerce and digital platforms. Stripe provides a variety of options for integrating payments, including hosted checkout, customizable elements to build your brown interfaces, payment links and invoicing. 
• Stripe provides a range of products to support its core payments offering, including syncing solutions for data warehousing, reporting tools, incorporation solutions for start-ups, and tax tools. 
• Stripe has a presence in around 47 countries and can work with businesses domiciled in those regions. 

Learn more about Stripe’s capabilities here.

Checkout.com Cross Border Payments

Checkout.com offers a wide range of services that cater to both payments and payouts. With a focus on providing extensive international coverage and a suite of tools designed to optimize transactions, Checkout.com ensures businesses can operate efficiently in the global market.

Capabilities for Cross-Border Payments and Payouts

Accept Payments:

• Support for over 150 processing currencies and nearly 20 settlement currencies
• Accept cards, alternative payment methods (APMs) and digital wallets
• Local Acquiring Hubs: Direct local acquiring in major markets
• Checkout.com also provides fraud protection with risk scoring and customizable rules

Send Payouts:

• Send bank payouts from the UK and EEA and card payouts from Singapore
• Reach up to 170 countries
• Global Currencies: Deliver funds in 100+ currencies with FX

Learn more about Checkout.com’s capabilities here.

PayPal Cross Border Payments

PayPal, a household name in the digital payment industry, has been at the forefront of online transactions for decades. With tools designed to cater to both businesses and consumers, PayPal remains a top choice for international transactions.

Unlike other options in this article, PayPal works best when your customer or recipient has a PayPal account. While there are options to use PayPal without an account, it’s not always the smoothest checkout experience. For this reason, PayPal is a great addition to a merchant’s cross-border payment stack, but it can be beneficial or even necessary, to use an additional international payment gateway to accept payments and a partner that offers a variety of payout methods from sending money cross-border. 

Capabilities for Cross-Border Payments and Payouts

Accept Payments:

• Global Reach: PayPal allows businesses to accept payments in over 200 markets and 130 currencies

Send Payouts:

• Global Payouts: Businesses can send money to individuals and other businesses in nearly 200 markets

Learn more about PayPal’s capabilities here.

Adyen Cross Border Payments

With a strong presence in European markets, Adyen provides tools that cater to both online and in-person transactions.

Capabilities for Cross-Border Payments and Payouts

Accept Payments:

• Online and in-person payments
• Adyen provides comprehensive and user-friendly documentation
• They offer card-acquiring and support for alternative payment methods
• Their service offering is strongest for European merchants 

Send Payouts:

• Adyen provides a payout network with the ability to payout 24/7 in the EU, UK and US 
• While they claim the ability to payout virtually anywhere, their capabilities may not be as strong outside of these regions 

Learn more about Adyen’s capabilities here.

AirWallex Cross border Payments

Airwallex is designed to simplify international transactions for businesses. With a core wallet and API for integration. Airwallex has the most robust support for businesses located in Europe and North America. 

Capabilities for Cross-Border Payments and Payouts:

Accept Payments:

• Accept payments in 160+ payment methods and 180+ countries

• Built-in FX

Send Payouts:

• Send payouts in 148+ countries and 40+ currencies 

More details on AirWallex’s global presence can be found here.

dLocal Cross Border Payments

dLocal is a specialized payment platform that focuses on providing businesses with the tools they need to transact seamlessly in emerging markets. With a strong presence in Latin America, Asia, and Africa, dLocal offers solutions that include preferred payment methods in these regions. However, dLocal does lack coverage in major markets in North America and Europe.

Capabilities for Cross-Border Payments and Payouts

Accept Payments:

• Payment methods tailored to emerging markets, such as local cards, installments, and cash

Send Payouts:

• Local Currency Deposits: Pay local sellers and partners by depositing local currency directly into their local bank accounts

Learn more about dLocal here.

Payoneer Cross Border Payments

Payoneer offers a suite of solutions that cater to both receiving and making payments globally. You can sign up for the service almost anywhere worldwide. The platform works well for freelancers and small businesses.

Capabilities for Cross-Border Payments and Payouts:

Accept Payments:

• Payoneer lets you make payments with no fees to other Payoneer accounts
• The Payoneer Billing Service allows you to use a credit card to pay existing Payoneer customers — if you live in the United States, you can make payments via e-check
• Other than sending payouts, Payoneer only allows transfers to other Payoneer accounts 

Send Payouts:

• Payoneer customers can send money to their suppliers and contractors using ACH bank debit, credit card, local bank transfer, or transfer from the business’s Payoneer Account to a recipient’s Payoneer Account.

More details on Payoneer’s global presence can be found here

Wise Cross Border Payments

Wise, previously known as TransferWise, provides users with an international account for sending international transfers. Setting up an account on the peer-to-peer platform is free and transferwise offers low and transparent foreign exchange rates, but they may still be a more expensive option due to high transaction fees. 

Transferwise tends to work best for individuals and small businesses who are willing to trade higher fees for quick convenience.

Accept Payments or Send Payout:

• You can set up a Wise account to accept or send payments
• You can make payments with a credit or debit card, wire or bank transfer
• Fees can be considerable but there is a calculator that lets you know what you pay upfront
• There are fewer than 100 countries where money can be sent

More details about Wise can be found here.

Nium Cross Border Payments

Nium is a financial technology platform that offers a broad spectrum of payment solutions, from payouts to card issuing and crypto services. Nium’s payment solution is much more limited than its payouts and primarily offers support for emerging markets. 

Capabilities for Cross-Border Payments and Payouts

Accept Payments

• Accept payments in 30+ emerging markets 
• Support for local and alternative payment methods

Send Payouts:

• Nium supports payouts to 190+ countries worldwide 
• Supports multiple payout methods including bank transfers, eWallets and real-time payment networks (RTPs) 

Details about Nium’s network coverage are available here.

EBANX Cross Border Payments

EBANX is a leading payment processing platform tailored for the Latin American market. With support for a wide array of payment methods, EBANX helps enterprises tap into the Latin American market.

Capabilities for Cross-Border Payments and Payouts

Accept Payments:

• EBANX has a strong presence in Latin America, catering to the unique payment preferences of the region
• EBANX acts as a payment facilitator for enterprise brands, processing transactions on their behalf in 15 Latin American countries
• They collaborate with multiple payment processors to facilitate payments 

Send Payouts:

• EBANX offers a range of payment methods for global businesses to pay contractors, sellers, and other recipients in Latin America.

Learn more about Nium here.

Rapyd’s Unique Proposition for Global Businesses

International commerce is riddled with complexities, and the choice of a payment platform can make or break a business’s global aspirations. From the options above you can see that there are many companies that take different approaches to facilitating cross-border payments. 

But global payments aren’t just about facilitating transactions. It’s about creating great experiences for customers, fostering trust, and building bridges through frictionless commerce. 

Rapyd delivers both comprehensive global coverages for the businesses we support and local commerce expertise to help your business navigate consumer preferences and global compliance.

Our Customers Say It Best: 

“We really have found a partner. Rapyd understood the complexity of what we’re trying to achieve and they’re really helping us to innovate and to achieve those goals.” – Robyn Walker, Head of Operations, Kadmos | Case Study

“Rapyd recognised the strength of Littlepay’s proposition as a fledgling startup and took a risk in supporting us, becoming our first acquiring partner. Their indispensable industry knowledge and assistance played a key role in our successful launch strategy.” – Pual Griffin, Head of Commercial, Littlepay | Case Study

“SEA Gamer Mall began integrating Rapyd with our business in early March 2020. The service itself has proven to provide competitive fee rates and excellent FX rates. The whole integration process was handled with ease.“ – Tommy Chieng, Co-founder and COO, SEA Gamer | Case Study