This report mainly discusses the global cross-border payment market, analyzes the current market situation and characteristics of different regions, and also explores future development trends.
1. Current status of cross-border payment development: The global cross-border payment market is continuously expanding, with a total transaction volume of $194.6 trillion in 2024, and is expected to reach $320 trillion by 2032. Among them, B2B payments are mainstream, and large enterprises are the core of the scale. In terms of demand, the total import and export volume of B-end trade continues to grow, and the demand for cross-border tourism and studying abroad on the C-end is gradually recovering after the pandemic.
2. China’s cross-border payment market: The scale of RMB payments has been rising year by year, ranking fourth in the global payment currency ranking in February 2025, accounting for 4.3%. The RMB Cross-border Interbank Payment System (CIPS) is continuously improving, with more participants and expanding business coverage. Cross-border e-commerce is developing rapidly, with trade volume growing more than tenfold in the past five years, driving the growth of cross-border payment demand. At the same time, China has introduced multiple policies to support the development of cross-border payments.
3. Regional characteristics of the global cross-border payment market
- Mature markets: In North America, digital wallets are growing rapidly in e-commerce payments, and offline POS payments rely on card payments; in Europe, the e-commerce payment landscape is diverse and structurally stable, POS payments are mainly card-based, and the usage rate of digital wallets is expected to double in the future.
- Emerging markets: The Middle East has close trade relations with China, electronic payments are accelerating, and the cross-border payment system is gradually improving; Africa has weak traditional financial infrastructure but a high penetration rate of digital payments; Southeast Asia is popularizing QR code payments, and the trend of super apps is emerging, driving the use of digital wallets.
4. Future trends in cross-border payments: Technological innovation is driving new trends in cross-border payments, with real-time payments enabling fast transfer and settlement, improved interoperability reducing transaction costs, and AI empowerment enabling fraud detection and regulatory compliance. In terms of development direction, in 2025, the cross-border payment industry will see changes in corporate financing, policy regulation, etc., such as accelerated delisting in public markets, increased PE shares, and stricter interchange fee reviews.
