Crypto Becomes New Standard for Global Payouts

Global payouts can be delayed and riddled with fees, affecting not only companies but also contractors. This gap between real-time work and delayed compensation is particularly pronounced in cross-border payments, where settlement delays, hidden costs, currency conversion, regional regulations, and limited visibility into the flow of money create significant friction.

However, digital assets can provide a more effective solution to these operational challenges. In a recent podcast on PaymentsJournal, Kate Lifshits, CEO of NOWPayments, and James Wester, Director of Cryptocurrency at Javelin Strategy & Research, discussed how leveraging digital assets for payouts can create a more efficient system.

According to Lifshits, the issues with cross-border payments intensify as organizations scale high-volume international payouts. 'It's not the payout itself that costs a lot,' she said, 'it's the operational overhead that comes with this payout.' This includes reconciliation, operational failures, and support tickets associated with failed payouts, as well as manual operations needed to manage multiple banks and fiat currencies.