"Standards are just suggestions unless they are adopted."

That's what I heard at Sibos in Frankfurt, and honestly? It explains everything about why cross-border payments are still broken in 2025.

Startups capture headlines with groundbreaking innovation, but 2025 demonstrated that established players are aggressively advancing their own cutting-edge technologies.

Working in venture capital, I spend my days with founders who assume everyone sees what they see: that Mastercard is a card company, that cross-border payments work seamlessly, and that banks have figured out how to serve small businesses internationally.

But walk the halls of Sibos and you'll hear a different story.

You'll hear about the 15-20% rejection rates on cross-border transactions in Africa. The AML/KYC friction that turns a simple payment into a multi-day investigation. The small businesses locked out of global commerce because legacy correspondent banking wasn't built for them.

These realities matter. And they reveal something critical: Mastercard isn't the company most people think it is anymore.

Most people still associate Mastercard with the card in their wallet. Swipe. Tap. Done.

But here's what's actually happening: nearly 40% of Mastercard's total revenue now comes from value-added services and solutions that extend far beyond traditional card transactions.

The company has spent the last decade deliberately repositioning itself from a consumer card network to a multi-rail payments infrastructure provider. In that vein, it has added account-to-account transfers, real-time bank payments, and open banking capabilities to its platform.

At Sibos, this transformation was on full display.

The hidden business of Mastercard

The headline from the conference was Mastercard's expanded partnership with Corpay—adding 22 new markets to a deal that started with exclusive access in April 2025. But the real story isn't about one partnership. It's about how Mastercard has built a parallel business that most people never see.

Mastercard Move is the keystone of this strategy. It's a platform that reaches 200+ countries, handles 150+ currencies, and connects to 95% of the world's banked population. But it's not trying to replace existing payment rails -it's orchestrating them. Move sits on top of legacy correspondent banking, real-time payment networks, blockchain ledgers, and card rails to route transactions intelligently based on speed, cost, and compliance requirements.

Think of it as the Waze for money movement: same destination, but the route adapts in real-time to avoid traffic jams.

2️⃣ Why cross-border payments are still broken.

The numbers are staggering. Cross-border B2B payments alone represent a $250 trillion opportunity, yet the infrastructure is still built like it's 1973. Correspondent banking chains can involve 5-7 intermediary banks, each taking a cut and adding delay. In emerging markets, the friction is even worse.

During my conversations at Sibos, several themes emerged:

3️⃣ SMBs as the battleground

This is where Mastercard's strategy gets interesting.

Rather than trying to convince every bank to rebuild its infrastructure, Mastercard is offering a turnkey bundle. Through Mastercard Move, banks can offer their SME customers cross-border payments without building bilateral correspondent relationship and without hiring specialized compliance teams.

The pitch to banks is simple: "Your SME customers are demanding better cross-border payment options. We can turn it on for you in months, not years."

And it's working. The Corpay expansion—from one market to 22 in less than six months—shows how quickly this model can scale when the infrastructure is already in place.

4️⃣ AI as the new layer

One of the quieter storylines at Sibos was how AI is being embedded into payment infrastructure.

Mastercard is using machine learning for:

This isn't the flashy, consumer-facing AI that dominates headlines. It's the unglamorous work of making payments faster, cheaper, and more reliable—the kind of innovation that matters when you're moving trillions of dollars.

Of course, Mastercard doesn’t operate in a vacuum.

Swift is building a blockchain-based ledger to modernize correspondent banking. Visa is making aggressive bets on agentic commerce and AI-powered payment experiences. Fintech challengers like Wise and Payoneer have built businesses by making cross-border payments transparent and affordable for consumers and SMEs.

But Mastercard has a different advantage. Banks trust it. Regulators know it. And crucially, in lieu of disintermediation, its aim is to make everyone's existing infrastructure work better.

At Sibos, I watched Mastercard executives meet with central bankers, fintech founders, and legacy banks - often in the same day. That ability to operate across the entire ecosystem is rare.

What this means globally

One conversation that stuck with me was about regulatory nuance. In Latin America, real-time payment networks like Pix in Brazil have exploded, but cross-border interoperability is still a nightmare. In Africa, mobile money dominates, but connecting those closed-loop systems to global rails remains a challenge.

Mastercard's strategy is to engage regulators early—helping shape frameworks rather than just complying with them. They export learnings from one market to another, accelerating adoption where regulatory clarity exists and moving cautiously where it doesn't.

Can it convince the world that it's more than a card company?

The rebranding is real: the revenue mix proves it. But perception lags reality. When I mention Mastercard to founders, they still think consumer payments. When I mention it to banks, they think card networks.

The opportunity—and the challenge—is owning the narrative of global money movement before someone else does.

Peak Bank offers an all-digital banking experience, providing all the tools and tips you need to make your way to the top. Take advantage of competitive rates on our high-yield savings account and get access to a suite of smart money management tools. Apply online and start your journey today.

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Why they matter: NALA is attempting to raise $120 million in its next funding round, signaling strong traction in solving the exact problem highlighted at Sibos: making cross-border payments accessible for everyday users and SMEs in Africa. NALA became the first African startup to roll out Google Pay, allowing users to make payments from the US and UK directly to Africa.

The opportunity: While Mastercard Move focuses on B2B and institutional partnerships, NALA is capturing the consumer-to-business and remittance layer that feeds into local commerce ecosystems.

Why they matter: Pomelo raised $35M in Series A funding from Vy Capital and Founders Fund in 2024, pioneering a unique "send now, pay later" model that combines credit with international money transfers. The platform allows immigrants to send funds to loved ones abroad at a fraction of the cost while simultaneously helping senders build their credit score through transaction history

The opportunity: While traditional cross-border providers focus on instant transfers, Pomelo is solving the dual problem of financial inclusion. This enables both remittances AND credit building for immigrant communities, a market overlooked by institutional players.

Why they matter: Mesta secured $5.5 million in seed funding led by Village Global and has processed over $140 million in total payment volume in just 11 months since launch. Its hybrid fiat + stablecoin rails reduce cross-border payment costs by more than 50% and settle transactions within minutes. Mesta enables enterprise-grade cross-border payments across multiple use cases such as bill payments, payroll, supply chain payments and same name On/Off ramps

The opportunity: While established players like Mastercard Move and Swift focus on upgrading legacy infrastructure, Mesta is building native blockchain-stablecoin rails that bypass correspondent banking entirely. By bridging Web2 fintechs with Web3 rails, they're positioning themselves as the "middleware" that lets any payment company tap into instant, low-cost settlement—without having to choose between traditional banking or crypto-native solutions.

👀 My landlord story will be featured in Business Insider. If you know me personally, you've heard this story—but rarely in public. My hope is that it inspires others to take the leap, and more importantly, encourages a few folks to rescue beautiful historic properties.

🎧 New Spanish Money Memories episode is live, featuring Ximena Aleman, the founder of Prometeo. Listen & subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts.

❗ Paid tiers are live! If you want to support and get access to exclusive content and deeper dives, you can do so here.

📌They Got to Live a Life of Luxury. Then Came the Fine Print. A (very long) exploration into the world of BNPL.

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Till next week,
Ilona