Why Customers Expect Better Cross-Border Payments

By Jeff Koyen

For all the modern marvels of today’s global digital economy, one experience remains stubbornly complex: cross-border payments. Whether it’s fluctuating exchange rates, incompatible interfaces or debilitating clearance delays, moving money between countries can still be difficult.

For many banking customers, that’s no longer acceptable. The ease of digital banking has influenced expectations. If we can send money to our friends across town with just one click, why not across 12 time zones in a flash as well? More than ever, payment delays feel outdated and obsolete.

“Digital, cross-border and real-time [payments] are now expected,” says Rich Meszaros, head of Cross-Border Money Movement at Visa Direct. “Consumers expect to control their payments experience from their phones, from anywhere in the world, whenever they want.”

To meet growing demands, financial institutions are turning to partners like Visa Direct to offer cross-border remittances to their customers that are fast, flexible and could be embedded within their digital banking platforms.

“Visa Direct enables a simple remittance experience for both banks and their end customers by leveraging its extensive global network and robust partner ecosystem,” says Jane Huynh, senior director of commercialization at Visa Direct.

Such partnerships benefit both the bank and its customers.

“Enhancing cross-border payment systems would not only simplify operations and reduce costs for banks, but also improve customer satisfaction,” says Yanilsa Gonzalez-Ore, senior vice president and head of Visa Direct, North America.

Read on to learn how Visa Direct can help financial institutions meet—and exceed—customer expectations by simplifying global payments.

Instant Remittances Make Life Easier

According to EPAM’s Consumer Banking Report 2024, real-time payments are the single most important digital feature consumers expect their banks to offer in the next three years.¹ Similar expectations are held for sending and receiving money across borders. This is especially important for U.S. residents who frequently send funds to support families, friends and investments in another country.

“Remittance volume out of the U.S. has been steadily increasing for years, and it’s anticipated to grow 3% to 6% per year from the current $200 billion volume,” Meszaros says.² “As volume grows, so does the demand [for real-time payments].”

There is an enormous opportunity to meet this demand, but working with the right partner is proving to be critical. When they connect to Visa Direct, banks gain access to Visa’s established global payments network. Their customers can collect and send cross-border funds between accounts in real-time*.

The Visa Direct network connects to over 195 countries and territories, and the platform can support the full life-cycle of moving money—which includes collecting, holding, converting and sending money. Customers can create “virtual multi-currency balances” for international transactions: In other words, they can receive payments and maintain balances in different currencies, converting these funds when foreign exchange rates are most favorable.

“These virtual multi-currency accounts [provide] many benefits for customers located in the U.S. with links to other nations,” Huynh explains.

Customers also have access to multiple payout methods, including card credentials, bank transfers and digital wallets.

“This versatility is particularly beneficial in regions where digital wallets are becoming the primary financial tool,” Huynh says. “Gig economy and freelance workers, who rely on timely payments from international clients, can also benefit significantly.”

International Financing Is Better When Its Frictionless

Since the birth of modern banking, financial systems have evolved with little or no standardization. Even today, technological and regulatory compatibility can cause friction between international banking partners.

With tens of thousands of banks worldwide, it’s unrealistic to expect the banks themselves to hash out the protocols for smoother payments. Instead, they rely on fintech companies and digital banking platforms to ensure compatibility. Visa Direct, for example, covers more than 195+ enabled countries and territories and supports 150+ different currencies.

This is key to creating a frictionless international financial system.

“Visa Direct’s extensive partnerships and collaborations with leading fintech companies and digital banking platforms are key to its global reach and effectiveness,” Huynh says. “Our fintech partners offer solutions such as multi-rail payment orchestration, processing and managed compliance, which simplify the launch and management of cross-border payment services.”

Simple transactions become even more important when you consider payment method preferences. Often, receivers will specify how they want their funds; this will naturally influence how money is sent.

“When money moves … there is a transaction before the transaction,” Meszaros explains. “Maybe it’s a … message from a mother telling her daughter that she feels unsafe picking up cash. How could that not influence the method by which the daughter chooses to send money?”

By supporting this “transaction before the transaction” in their digital platforms—offering receiver-directed payouts for cross-border remittances, for example—banks can further reduce friction. This, in turn, can increase customer engagement and retention.

Trust In Secure, Global Networks Offers Peace Of Mind

Identity fraud and other cybercrimes are on the rise. By one estimate, 93% of organizations faced two or more identity-related breaches in between 2023 and 2024.³ Nearly one in five consumers were told their personal data was compromised in the past year.⁴

Yet banks remain the most-trusted institutions in terms of sharing one’s data.⁵ To maintain this high degree of trust, financial institutions rely on an experienced partner to ensure their entire global network is protected. Visa Direct supports more than 2,800 programs for global banks, remitters, fintechs and merchants to secure more than 7.5 billion traditional endpoints, such as eligible bank accounts and card credentials.

In countries where traditional banks aren’t as widely used—in which populations are mobile-first or cash-dominant, for instance—Visa Direct secures connections to more than 3.5+ billion digital wallets.

No matter how they connect to this sprawling network, banks have opportunities to better protect their customers. For example, Visa Direct employs advanced security protocols and fraud prevention measures such as data encryption, payment tokenization and real-time fraud monitoring.

“Visa Direct’s robust security measures and compliance with international regulations provide customers with peace of mind, knowing their transactions are secure and reliable,” Huynh says. “These features collectively enhance customer satisfaction, loyalty and the overall competitiveness of the bank’s offerings in the global payments market.”

*Actual funds availability depends on receiving financial institution and region.

¹ EPAM, “Consumer Banking Report 2024, Key Consumer Insights to Help Banks Plan Their Digital Innovation Roadmap”, Spring 2024. https://www.epam.com/insights/research/2024-banking-report

² The World Bank, Personal remittances, received (current US$), 2018-2023. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/BX.TRF.PWKR.CD.DT

³ Forbes, “Alarming Cybersecurity Stats: What You Need To Know In 2024”, June 2024. https://www.forbes.com/sites/chuckbrooks/2024/06/05/alarming-cybersecurity-stats-what-you-need-to-know-in-2024/

⁴ Thales, “2025 Thales Digital Trust Index, Understanding How Digital Experiences Affect Consumer Trust, Consumer Edition”, 2025. https://cpl.thalesgroup.com/digital-trust-index

⁵ Cloud Security Alliance, “Betting on the Bank: Why People Trust Banks with Their Data”, September 2024. https://cloudsecurityalliance.org/blog/2024/09/25/betting-on-the-bank-why-people-trust-banks-with-their-data