Simplifying cross-border payments in Latin America and South Korea

Latin America is one of the world’s most promising markets when it comes to digital payments. Despite an under-developed banking system, the countries in this region have one of the highest smartphone adoption rates. Availability of technology and growing mobile penetration pose a robust opportunity for Nium to create a cost-efficient and secure payment infrastructure in Latin America. Similarly, South Korea’s burgeoning e-commerce sector coupled with the growing popularity of contactless payments in the country call for an effective payments solution that can facilitate quick and convenient cross-border transactions.

Through Nium’s global remittance platform, businesses looking to expand in Latin America and South Korea can now streamline their payment systems and transact funds with ease and efficiency.

Latin America, an untapped market for financial service providers

Data suggests that 70% of the Latin American population does not have access to a bank account; only 30% of the adult population has an account with a major financial institution. However, the unbanked sector of Latin America represents a huge potential market for companies offering financial services. Additionally, larger central banks are also launching initiatives to develop an open banking ecosystem, to support the shift towards digital payments . The digitisation and initiatives in banking have opened the market to international players like Nium that can collaborate with local financial institutions to offer better coverage, and reduce wait time and costs across countries in the region.

The global pandemic has further boosted the uptake of digital payments in countries such as Brazil and Mexico. The gap left by the traditional banking system combined with the digital thrust provided by high internet and smartphone penetration presented a fertile environment for Nium to bring in overseas payments solutions to Latin American countries. Businesses are now enhancing their cross-border capabilities with one simple integration by using Nium’s APIs, to make effortless financial transactions.

South Korea presents challenges and opportunities for growing digital payments

South Korea boasts of a strong e-commerce market, with its retail e-commerce volume estimated at 90.5 billion by 2024. The use of cashless payments and contactless banking had been gaining prominence in South Korea, but its dominance has been consolidated by the global pandemic. This, in turn, has boosted opportunities for companies that can integrate seamless cross-border payment services with e-commerce platforms.

Nium, through new partnerships in South Korea, offers global businesses and their customers access to convenient cross-border payment solutions.

In recent years, technological advancement and the advent of smartphones have opened doors for companies offering financial transactions in the country. But despite a strong domestic digital infrastructure, South Korea’s international payments are yet to catch up, due to legacy system complexities like compliance with stringent requirements depending on the mode of transfers, and charges involved in currency conversion.

Through its revolutionary platform, Nium addresses these challenges, enabling businesses to expand their offerings in a highly competitive South Korean market. Nium, via its pay-in solution, allows businesses to transfer funds to their vendors and suppliers in 40+ currencies. Beneficiaries can receive payouts in their local currency through major banks in South Korea. Businesses looking to expand into the South Korean market can benefit from automated payments flows, embedded with advanced foreign exchange capabilities and real-time monitoring of transactions.

Latin America and South Korea are emerging markets for businesses looking to optimise their international revenue. With Nium’s footprint expansion into these two regions, Nium’s customers can tap into these high growth markets, connect with a wider range of vendors and suppliers, and have access to seamless transactions.

More About Nium

Nium is a next-generation financial services platform that enables companies around the world to unlock new revenue opportunities and improve cash flow economics.

Nium is a leader in its geographical and payment service breadth, owning licenses in the world’s largest and fastest-growing economies. Our modular platform allows banks, payment providers, travel companies, and other businesses to collect and disburse funds in local currencies to over 100 countries, plus issue physical and virtual cards globally. Our proprietary set of APIs embeds financial services and can bring to life multiple B2B and B2C use cases in a matter of weeks.

Nium is part of CB Insights Fintech 250, which highlights the most promising Fintech companies globally. Today, Nium serves over 130 million customers and enables platforms to provide access to financial services to over 3 billion people across the world.