The Payments Strategies Digital Economy Startups Need to Go Global

Digital platforms and eCommerce marketplaces that operate worldwide face a host of challenges: managing payments to vendors, suppliers and freelancers; avoiding noncompliance worldwide; and dealing with delayed or missed payments. In a business climate where a one-day delay in payment processing can mean weeks of supply chain issues, the amount of potential pitfalls can overwhelm even seasoned organizations. For startups that must operate across borders, getting off the ground can seem impossible.

“Global Payments and Clearing Strategies: A Guide For Digital Startups,” a PYMNTS and The Bank of London collaboration, examines the global transaction management challenges facing startups and explores available solutions and strategies enabling these startups to optimize their growth.

The digital divide: Clearing, payments and settlement on the global stage

Managing risk and facilitating growth can be difficult for startups to handle — doubly so when they must manage both simultaneously, as the two concepts can work against each other. Accepting greater risks can sometimes power aggressive growth, while avoiding all the risks associated with running a business can hamstring growth. To find a balance, digital startups should understand which risks are most likely to impact the organization’s ability to meet strategic objectives.

Managing risk and spurring growth: A digital innovator’s guide

As startups grow, their leadership must make important strategic decisions, including those balancing growth and risk. For digital startups, in particular, risk management strategies often rely on innovation. New companies have far fewer reasons to adopt legacy technologies than organizations with long histories.

However, all innovations offer a trade-off between risk and return. To minimize risk and unintended consequences, startups must make decisions about innovation rooted in supporting the organization’s infrastructure.

How startups can build to scale

Scaling is often the endgame for digital startups. As these organizations run into challenges such as managing liquidity, clearing, payments and settlement, it pays to know the principles of scalability and partner with a modern clearing bank focused on these issues and fast transaction processes.

To learn more about how startups can successfully scale globally, download the playbook.