Payments companies
357 companies assessed. 188 of them, 52.7%, sit in the two least protected bands, against 53.3% across all 10,525 companies assessed.
The picture
Payments splits sharply between companies that own a piece of national or global infrastructure and companies that sit on top of someone else's rails. Visa, Mastercard, UnionPay, SWIFT, NAPAS, M-Pesa, Experian and Zelle's operator all carry pressure scores of 2-4 because nobody can route around them cheaply, and none show named customer losses. Everyone else is fighting for the same merchant or the same borrower using near-identical AI-driven scoring and checkout tools, so the fight comes down to distribution: who already owns the app on the phone. Super-apps like Alipay, WeChat Pay, PayPay, Kakao Pay and ShopeePay are pulling volume from card issuers, gateways and standalone wallets across China, Korea, Japan and Indonesia. In China specifically, regulators capping lending rates are squeezing an entire tier of lenders (Qifu, Lufax, LexinFintech, FinVolution, 360 DigiTech) regardless of how good any single one is. The weakest spots are single-purpose tools that never built their own user base, like Bolt, Fave, TNG Wallet, Deserve and 9F Group, now getting replaced by bigger platforms' native features or in-house tech teams. The dynamic that decides survival is simple: control the transaction relationship directly, or rent it from someone who does.
All 357 companies, most protected first
| Company | Standing |
|---|---|
| Adyen Adyen runs one payments system that banks, sells online, and processes cards for large global merchants. | Hard to displace |
| Bitso Latin American crypto exchange running cross-border payment rails for banks and businesses | Hard to displace |
| Brex Corporate card and spend management platform for startups and enterprises, now owned by Capital One | Hard to displace |
| Broadridge Financial Solutions Runs proxy voting, shareholder communications, and post-trade processing for banks and brokers. | Hard to displace |
| ClearBank UK regulated clearing bank giving fintechs and banks embedded, real-time payment rails | Hard to displace |
| Column Column runs a chartered national bank as API infrastructure for fintechs like Brex and Mercury | Hard to displace |
| dLocal Payment processor connecting global merchants to local payment methods across 26 emerging markets | Hard to displace |
| Early Warning Services (Zelle) Bank-owned operator of Zelle, the US real-time person-to-person payments network | Hard to displace |
| Equifax Equifax is one of three companies that decide if you can get a loan, in America | Hard to displace |
| Euronet Worldwide Global cash payout, money transfer (Ria/Xe), and card processing network across ~200 countries | Hard to displace |
| Experian Global credit bureau selling consumer credit files and data infrastructure to lenders | Hard to displace |
| Fawry Egyptian e-payments network running cash-in/cash-out kiosks, mobile wallets, and merchant billing | Hard to displace |
| Fidelity National Information (FIS) FIS runs the core banking software that moves money and holds accounts for most U.S. banks | Hard to displace |
| GCash GCash is the Philippines' top mobile wallet, run by Mynt, used by about 40 million people monthly | Hard to displace |
| GHL Systems Malaysian payment terminal and gateway operator, now wholly owned by NTT DATA Japan | Hard to displace |
| GMO Payment Gateway Japan's largest online payment processor, running settlement rails for 150,000+ merchants | Hard to displace |
| Gusto Payroll, benefits and HR platform for small businesses, files taxes as agent of record | Hard to displace |
| InComm Payments Prepaid card and payments network linking retailers, banks, and brand issuers | Hard to displace |
| Jack Henry & Associates Core banking and payments technology provider for community banks and credit unions | Hard to displace |
| JCB JCB is Japan's own global payment card network, owned by major Japanese banks | Hard to displace |
| M-Pesa Mobile money network run by Safaricom and Vodacom across Kenya and Africa | Hard to displace |
| Mastercard Global card network linking banks, merchants, and cardholders across 210+ countries | Hard to displace |
| Maya (PayMaya) Philippine digital bank and wallet, formerly PayMaya, licensed by BSP. | Hard to displace |
| Mercury Banking and finance platform built for startups and growing companies | Hard to displace |
| Money Forward Japanese cloud accounting, payroll, and personal finance SaaS platform | Hard to displace |
| Monzo UK digital bank with 15.2 million customers and a full banking license | Hard to displace |
| NAPAS Vietnam's sole state-licensed operator of the national payment switch and clearing network | Hard to displace |
| Naver Pay Naver Pay is Korea's top mobile payment app, built into Naver's search and shopping. | Hard to displace |
| Network International MENA payment processor and merchant acquirer, formed by Network-Magnati merger | Hard to displace |
| Nubank Nubank is Latin America's largest digital bank, serving 135M+ customers across Brazil, Mexico, Colombia | Hard to displace |
| OakNorth UK digital bank lending to small and mid-sized businesses using proprietary credit data | Hard to displace |
| Octopus Holdings Hong Kong's transit fare card and wallet, majority owned by MTR since 1997 | Hard to displace |
| Paychex Paychex runs payroll, benefits, and HR/PEO services for about 800,000 US and European businesses | Hard to displace |
| PayPay PayPay is Japan's largest QR-code mobile payment app and financial super-app, backed by SoftBank | Hard to displace |
| Perfios Perfios builds data analytics and underwriting infrastructure for Indian banks and lenders | Hard to displace |
| Q2 Holdings Q2 Holdings makes the online and mobile banking software banks and credit unions run their digital front end on | Hard to displace |
| Rakuten Card Japan's top credit card issuer, tied to Rakuten's shopping and points ecosystem | Hard to displace |
| Ramp Ramp issues corporate cards and software to automate company spending | Hard to displace |
| Revolut UK digital bank and super-app offering payments, trading, and banking to 70M+ users | Hard to displace |
| SBI Holdings SBI Holdings runs Japan's largest online brokerage plus banking, insurance, and crypto arms | Hard to displace |
| Shopify Global commerce platform letting merchants run stores, checkout, and payments | Hard to displace |
| SS&C Technologies SS&C runs the back-office software and fund infrastructure banks and asset managers can't easily rip out | Hard to displace |
| Stripe Stripe runs the payment infrastructure behind millions of online businesses worldwide | Hard to displace |
| SWIFT SWIFT runs the global messaging network banks use to send money instructions across borders | Hard to displace |
| TabaPay US processor that routes instant push-to-card payments for fintech apps | Hard to displace |
| Temenos Swiss maker of core banking software that runs accounts, payments, and loans for banks worldwide | Hard to displace |
| Toast Toast makes point-of-sale, payments, and management software for restaurants | Hard to displace |
| Touch 'n Go Digital Malaysia's biggest e-wallet, run by Ant Group and CIMB, tied to toll roads and fuel subsidies | Hard to displace |
| TransUnion One of three major US credit bureaus, selling risk and identity data on about a billion consumers | Hard to displace |
| TRM Labs TRM Labs sells blockchain intelligence and crypto compliance tools to governments and banks | Hard to displace |
| UnionPay State-backed monopoly clearing network for bank cards inside China, now a top global processor by volume | Hard to displace |
| Visa Visa runs the global card payment network connecting banks, merchants, and cardholders | Hard to displace |
| Wave Mobile Money Wave runs low-cost mobile money and cash agent network across West Africa, now a bank too | Hard to displace |
| WeChat Pay Tencent's mobile wallet built into WeChat, used by most of China to pay for everything daily | Hard to displace |
| WEX Inc. WEX runs fleet fuel cards and corporate payments for over 600,000 commercial customers | Hard to displace |
| XTransfer Shanghai-based cross-border trade payments and FX platform for SME exporters | Hard to displace |
| Zopa Zopa is a profitable, licensed UK digital bank offering loans, credit cards, and now a current account | Hard to displace |
| 2C2P Southeast Asia payments processor now rebranded '2C2P by Antom', majority owned by Ant International | Defensible for now |
| ACI Worldwide ACI Worldwide runs the software banks use to switch and clear real-time payments. | Defensible for now |
| Alkami Technology Cloud platform powering online and mobile banking for community banks and credit unions | Defensible for now |
| Alloy Alloy runs identity and fraud decisioning software banks plug into their signup flows | Defensible for now |
| Anchorage Digital Regulated bank that custodies crypto assets for institutions under an OCC trust charter | Defensible for now |
| Ascend Money (TrueMoney) Thai e-wallet and payments group behind TrueMoney, backed by CP Group and Ant Group | Defensible for now |
| Banking Circle Luxembourg-licensed bank running cross-border payment and clearing rails for fintechs and banks | Defensible for now |
| Block Block runs Square merchant payments, Cash App consumer finance, and lending under one bank charter. | Defensible for now |
| BVNK Licensed stablecoin payments rails for businesses, being bought by Mastercard | Defensible for now |
| Chime Chime is a US neobank offering fee-free checking, debit, and early-pay banking apps | Defensible for now |
| Coda Payments Coda runs Codashop and merchant-of-record payments for game publishers across emerging markets | Defensible for now |
| Coinbase Largest US crypto exchange, custody, and stablecoin infrastructure provider | Defensible for now |
| ComplyAdvantage London firm selling AML screening and financial crime risk data to banks and fintechs | Defensible for now |
| Corpay Runs fuel cards, corporate expense, and cross-border payment networks for businesses worldwide | Defensible for now |
| Cross River Bank FDIC-chartered bank that lets fintechs like Stripe and Affirm offer banking products | Defensible for now |
| Currencies Direct UK FX and international payments specialist for individuals and property buyers since 1996 | Defensible for now |
| Cybersource Visa-owned payment gateway and fraud screening platform for online merchants worldwide | Defensible for now |
| Dunamu (Upbit) Dunamu runs Upbit, South Korea's largest crypto exchange by trading volume | Defensible for now |
| Enova International Enova runs online subprime and small-business lending brands like NetCredit and OnDeck, underwriting with its own data models | Defensible for now |
| Feedzai Portuguese platform that uses AI to catch bank fraud and money laundering in real time | Defensible for now |
| Fibe (EarlySalary) Fibe is an Indian licensed NBFC running app-based personal loans and short-term credit. | Defensible for now |
| Fireblocks Fireblocks runs custody and settlement infrastructure banks and exchanges use to move crypto and stablecoins | Defensible for now |
| Flutterwave Licensed payments infrastructure moving money across 34+ African countries for banks and enterprises | Defensible for now |
| Flywire Flywire moves cross-border payments for schools, hospitals, and travel firms | Defensible for now |
| Freee Cloud accounting and finance software for Japanese small and midsize businesses | Defensible for now |
| Geidea Saudi payment tech firm running POS terminals and merchant payment acceptance | Defensible for now |
| Grab Southeast Asia's ride-hailing, delivery, and fintech super-app across 8 countries | Defensible for now |
| Griffin Griffin is a UK licensed bank that lets other companies embed banking and cards via API | Defensible for now |
| i2c Inc. Private, profitable global card-issuing and payment-processing platform operating in 216+ countries | Defensible for now |
| Increase Increase gives fintechs direct API access to Fed, card, and bank rails for payments. | Defensible for now |
| iPASS Corporation Runs Kaohsiung's transit card and the iPASS MONEY e-wallet across southern Taiwan transport and retail. | Defensible for now |
| Juspay Juspay routes and processes payments for large merchants and banks across India and Asia | Defensible for now |
| Kakao Pay Mobile payments and financial services app built into KakaoTalk in South Korea | Defensible for now |
| KG Inicis Korean online payment gateway processing card and bank transactions for 100,000+ merchants | Defensible for now |
| KreditBee App-based lender giving small unsecured loans to India's thin-file borrowers | Defensible for now |
| LendingClub Digital bank (rebranded Happen Bank) that makes personal and home loans using proprietary credit data | Defensible for now |
| LINE Pay Mobile payment wallet tied to the LINE app, run as separate entities across Japan, Taiwan, and Thailand | Defensible for now |
| Mercado Pago Fintech arm of Mercado Libre, offering payments, credit and banking across Latin America | Defensible for now |
| Modulr UK-licensed payments infrastructure firm powering embedded banking and money movement for fintechs and businesses | Defensible for now |
| Mollie Dutch licensed payment processor letting SMBs accept cards, wallets, and bank transfers online | Defensible for now |
| MoMo Vietnam's leading e-wallet and super app for payments, transfers, and daily services | Defensible for now |
| nCino Cloud software banks use to originate loans and open accounts | Defensible for now |
| Nequi Nequi is Colombia's biggest digital wallet and neobank, backed by Grupo Cibest | Defensible for now |
| NHN KCP Korean payment gateway processor handling online and offline card, transfer, and QR payments for merchants | Defensible for now |
| Payhawk European spend management and card issuing platform for mid-market and enterprise finance teams | Defensible for now |
| Paymob Egypt-based payments platform giving merchants across MENA a way to accept cards and digital payments | Defensible for now |
| Paystack Nigerian payments API platform letting businesses accept and move money online, owned by Stripe | Defensible for now |
| Plaid Plaid connects bank accounts to fintech apps, powering data, payments, and fraud checks. | Defensible for now |
| Qonto European neobank providing business accounts and finance tools for SMEs | Defensible for now |
| Razorpay India's online payment gateway and merchant financial software platform. | Defensible for now |
| Remitly Digital app for sending money across borders, licensed in 170+ countries | Defensible for now |
| Ria Money Transfer Ria runs a global cash and digital remittance network, owned by Euronet Worldwide | Defensible for now |
| Robinhood Markets Robinhood is a licensed retail brokerage app for stocks, options, crypto, and prediction markets | Defensible for now |
| SBI Sumishin Net Bank Japan's internet-only bank with 8M+ accounts, now majority owned by NTT DOCOMO | Defensible for now |
| Socure Socure runs identity verification and fraud fighting for banks, fintechs, and government agencies | Defensible for now |
| Stitch South African API platform for payments, account linking, and bank transfers | Defensible for now |
| SumUp European card reader and payments platform for small merchants, 4M+ users in 35+ markets | Defensible for now |
| Tabby Gulf region buy-now-pay-later app letting shoppers split payments at 65,000+ retailers | Defensible for now |
| Thought Machine Builds Vault Core, a cloud-native core banking ledger used by banks to run accounts | Defensible for now |
| Thunes Singapore-based cross-border payments network linking banks, wallets, and cards in 140+ countries | Defensible for now |
| Tink Tink links banks and apps across Europe so money and data move between them, owned by Visa | Defensible for now |
| Tipalti Tipalti automates global accounts payable and mass payouts to 200+ countries | Defensible for now |
| Toss (Viva Republica) Korean super-app for banking, payments, and insurance with 25M+ users | Defensible for now |
| Venmo Venmo is PayPal's peer-to-peer payments app with 100M+ accounts and a debit card business | Defensible for now |
| Wise Wise runs a licensed platform for cheap cross-border money transfers and multi-currency accounts | Defensible for now |
| 5paisa Capital Indian discount broker holding a SEBI/NSE license, dwarfed by Groww and Zerodha | Protection under test |
| Airbase Corporate card and spend management platform, now Paylocity's finance product line | Protection under test |
| Airwallex Cross-border payments and banking infrastructure with 85+ licenses across markets | Protection under test |
| Aspire Singapore-based business banking and finance platform for SMEs across Asia and beyond | Protection under test |
| Backbase Backbase makes software banks use to run their online and mobile banking. | Protection under test |
| Banco Inter Brazilian digital bank with 44M customers, payments, credit, and investing under one license | Protection under test |
| Bottomline Technologies Bottomline runs B2B payment processing and cash management software for banks and businesses | Protection under test |
| Checkout.com UK payments processor handling online card acceptance and settlement for large global merchants | Protection under test |
| Coastal Financial Corporation Bank holding company running CCBX, a sponsor bank platform for fintech partners | Protection under test |
| CRED App that pays your credit card bills and rewards you for having good credit in India | Protection under test |
| Currencycloud Cross-border payments infrastructure firm, now a Visa subsidiary being folded into Visa Direct | Protection under test |
| Danal Korean mobile carrier-billing and identity-verification firm pivoting into stablecoin payments | Protection under test |
| Diebold Nixdorf Maker of ATMs, self-checkout, and payment terminals for banks and retailers worldwide | Protection under test |
| Dwolla ACH and bank-transfer API provider, now absorbed into NMI's embedded payments platform | Protection under test |
| EBANX EBANX processes cross-border payments and local payment methods for merchants across Latin America and beyond. | Protection under test |
| Ebury Cross-border FX and payments firm for SMEs, majority owned by Santander since 2020 | Protection under test |
| eToro eToro is a regulated multi-asset broker known for CopyTrader social trading | Protection under test |
| Galileo Financial Technologies Card issuing and banking-as-a-service platform, owned by SoFi, now rebranding as SoFi Technology Solutions | Protection under test |
| Global Payments Global Payments runs card payments and software for 6M+ merchants worldwide | Protection under test |
| GoCardless UK platform for recurring payments and direct debit, moving 38M+ accounts across 30+ countries | Protection under test |
| Interswitch Nigerian payments switch running Verve cards, POS rails, and bank/government processing | Protection under test |
| Kredivo Licensed Indonesian BNPL lender and digital bank offering installment credit at checkout | Protection under test |
| LinkAja State-backed Indonesian e-wallet handling government payouts and everyday transactions | Protection under test |
| Mambu Cloud-native core banking and lending platform used by banks to run accounts and loans | Protection under test |
| Melio Melio runs bill pay and B2B payments software for small businesses, now owned by Xero | Protection under test |
| MFS Africa Onafriq (MFS Africa) runs a hub linking mobile money, banks, and cards across 41+ African countries | Protection under test |
| MoneyLion Personal finance app for underbanked Americans, now owned by Gen Digital (Norton/LifeLock) | Protection under test |
| Moniepoint Nigerian fintech running banking, payments, and POS terminals for small businesses | Protection under test |
| Navan Navan runs corporate travel booking and expense management, formerly TripActions | Protection under test |
| Nuvei Nuvei processes and acquires payments for merchants across 190+ markets worldwide | Protection under test |
| OKX Global crypto exchange and Web3 platform now pushing into tokenized stocks and institutional custody | Protection under test |
| OPay Nigerian mobile money and payments super-app with agent network and bank licence | Protection under test |
| Open Financial Technologies Digital business banking and payments platform for Indian SMEs | Protection under test |
| Priority Technology Holdings B2B payments processor handling card acquiring, payables, and merchant services for US businesses | Protection under test |
| Riskified Riskified guarantees ecommerce merchants against fraud losses and eats the chargeback risk itself | Protection under test |
| Sardine Fraud and compliance detection platform for banks, fintechs, and crypto firms | Protection under test |
| Signifyd Signifyd protects online stores from fraud and guarantees payments it approves | Protection under test |
| Starling Bank UK licensed digital bank whose growth now hinges on Engine, its B2B banking software arm | Protection under test |
| Tamara Saudi buy-now-pay-later lender letting shoppers split payments at checkout | Protection under test |
| Tide UK digital banking and admin platform built for small business owners | Protection under test |
| Upgrade Upgrade is a profitable online lender offering personal loans, cards, and BNPL to consumers | Protection under test |
| Veem Veem runs a cross border B2B payments platform built for small business wire transfers | Protection under test |
| Veriff Veriff verifies identities and businesses online for fintechs, marketplaces, and gig platforms | Protection under test |
| Volt UK fintech running a real-time open banking payments network across Europe | Protection under test |
| Worldpay Worldpay processes payments for merchants worldwide, now owned by Global Payments | Protection under test |
| Xendit Xendit runs licensed payment processing rails and checkout infrastructure across Indonesia and Southeast Asia | Protection under test |
| Zeta Cloud based card issuing and core banking platform for banks, built in India | Protection under test |
| 360 DigiTech Qfin Holdings (ex-360 DigiTech): Chinese app-based platform linking borrowers to bank lenders | Losing its protection |
| Affirm Affirm lends installment loans at checkout on Shopify, Amazon, and other retail sites | Losing its protection |
| Akoya Bank-owned network that lets apps like Venmo pull your bank data securely | Losing its protection |
| Akulaku Indonesian BNPL and digital lending app tied to a 27%-owned listed digital bank | Losing its protection |
| Amartha Peer-to-peer lender giving small loans to rural women entrepreneurs in Indonesia | Losing its protection |
| Angel One Indian discount stockbroker and fintech app for trading, investing, wealth | Losing its protection |
| Ant Group Ant Group runs Alipay, China's dominant mobile payments and fintech super-app | Losing its protection |
| Arc Startup banking and treasury platform now being absorbed into Axos Financial | Losing its protection |
| Astra Astra runs a payments API for instant bank transfers, card funding, and payouts | Losing its protection |
| AvidXchange AP automation and B2B payments platform running invoice-to-pay workflows for mid-market companies | Losing its protection |
| Banked Banked runs pay-by-bank payment links, now fully owned by Australia's NAB after May 2026 | Losing its protection |
| Beforepay Group ASX-listed Australian app giving cash advances and personal loans against upcoming pay | Losing its protection |
| BharatPe Indian fintech running merchant QR payments and lending through its own NBFC and bank stake | Losing its protection |
| Bill.com Bill.com runs the payment network and AP/AR automation used by 494K small businesses and their accountants | Losing its protection |
| Billdesk BillDesk runs bill payments and online transaction processing for Indian banks and merchants. | Losing its protection |
| Billtrust B2B invoice-to-cash and AR automation platform handling over $1 trillion in invoices a year | Losing its protection |
| Binance Binance is the world's largest crypto exchange, running spot, derivatives, and Binance Pay for 300M+ users. | Losing its protection |
| Blackhawk Network Runs the network behind gift cards and prepaid, linking 1,000+ brands to 400,000+ retail spots | Losing its protection |
| BlueVine Bluevine offers business banking, credit lines, and payments for small businesses via a partner bank | Losing its protection |
| Boku Inc. Boku runs a network linking carriers, wallets, and merchants for mobile phone bill and wallet payments | Losing its protection |
| bolttech Runs an embedded-insurance exchange linking insurers, retailers, and OEMs across 35+ markets | Losing its protection |
| Boost Axiata-backed Malaysian e-wallet that pivoted into a licensed digital bank | Losing its protection |
| Braintree Braintree is PayPal's payment gateway, letting merchants accept cards and digital wallets online. | Losing its protection |
| Branch Branch runs instant pay and earned wage access for hourly and gig workers | Losing its protection |
| Bread Financial Bread Financial issues private-label and co-brand store credit cards and BNPL loans for retailers. | Losing its protection |
| Bybit Bybit is the world's #2 crypto exchange for spot and derivatives trading | Losing its protection |
| Cashfree Payments Indian payment gateway and payouts API for businesses, RBI-licensed across three categories | Losing its protection |
| CCAvenue Indian online payment gateway processing card, UPI, and net-banking transactions for merchants. | Losing its protection |
| Cellulant Pan-African payments aggregator connecting banks, mobile money, and enterprises across 35+ countries | Losing its protection |
| Chipper Cash Mobile app for cross-border money transfers and payments across Africa | Losing its protection |
| Circle Circle issues USDC, the dollar stablecoin, and runs payment rails on top of it | Losing its protection |
| Clear (ClearTax) India fintech running GST e-invoicing and consumer income-tax filing software | Losing its protection |
| Coins.ph Philippine crypto exchange and e-wallet licensed by the central bank | Losing its protection |
| Convera Convera moves cross-border B2B payments and FX for businesses, banks, and schools worldwide | Losing its protection |
| Crypto.com Global crypto exchange and payments app with 100M+ users and its own coin | Losing its protection |
| Current A US neobank offering fee-free mobile checking, savings, and credit-building tools | Losing its protection |
| DailyPay DailyPay lets employees access earned wages before payday through employer payroll integrations | Losing its protection |
| Dave Dave is a US neobank offering small cash advances and banking tools via app | Losing its protection |
| Discover Financial Services US card network and issuer now absorbed into Capital One after a $35.3B acquisition closed May 2025 | Losing its protection |
| Doku Indonesian licensed payment gateway processing card, QRIS, and e-wallet transactions | Losing its protection |
| EasyCard Corporation Operator of Taiwan's dominant contactless transit and small-payment card, EasyCard | Losing its protection |
| Elavon Elavon is U.S. Bank's merchant acquiring arm, processing card payments for 2M+ businesses worldwide. | Losing its protection |
| Emburse Emburse sells expense and corporate spend management software, built from eight acquired firms | Losing its protection |
| Enfuce Nordic-based card issuing and payments processing platform for banks and fintechs | Losing its protection |
| Envestnet | Yodlee Yodlee links bank accounts and transaction data to apps for 1,200+ financial institutions | Losing its protection |
| Expensify Expensify makes expense management software and a corporate card for businesses | Losing its protection |
| Fazz Singapore/Indonesia payments group formed from PayFazz-Xfers merger, now running stablecoin arm StraitsX | Losing its protection |
| FICO FICO sells the credit score used in most US lending and mortgage decisions | Losing its protection |
| Finastra UK-based maker of banking software for payments, lending and (until recently) core banking | Losing its protection |
| Fincra Nigerian API platform for African payment collections, payouts, and settlement licenses | Losing its protection |
| Finix Finix lets software platforms embed and monetize card payment processing directly. | Losing its protection |
| FinVolution Group Chinese online lender connecting borrowers with capital, now expanding into Southeast Asia and beyond | Losing its protection |
| Fiserv Fiserv runs core banking software, debit rails, and Clover payment terminals for banks and small merchants | Losing its protection |
| Flip Indonesian app for cheap interbank transfers and business payments | Losing its protection |
| Form3 Cloud-native infrastructure that connects banks directly to UK, European, and US payment rails | Losing its protection |
| Forter Forter runs AI fraud detection and chargeback guarantees for large online retailers | Losing its protection |
| Funding Societies (Modalku) Digital lending platform giving SME loans across Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand | Losing its protection |
| GoTo Group (GoPay) GoPay is the digital wallet and lending arm inside GoTo, Indonesia's ride-hailing and e-commerce super-app | Losing its protection |
| Green Dot Corporation Prepaid card issuer and banking-as-a-service platform behind Apple, Uber, and Intuit banking features | Losing its protection |
| Highbeam Highbeam is a bank platform built for e-commerce sellers, handling cash, cards, and financing. | Losing its protection |
| Highnote A platform that lets companies issue cards and manage payment programs | Losing its protection |
| JD Technology (JD Digits) JD.com's fintech, cloud, and AI affiliate behind Baitiao consumer credit | Losing its protection |
| Jenius Jenius is Indonesia's early digital banking app, run by Bank SMBC Indonesia (formerly BTPN) | Losing its protection |
| JKOPay Taiwan mobile wallet app with 6.5M users and a licensed FSC payments network | Losing its protection |
| Jumio Swiss-based provider of AI-powered identity verification and eKYC compliance checks | Losing its protection |
| Justworks Justworks is a private PEO and payroll platform serving 12-14K US small businesses | Losing its protection |
| K Bank South Korean internet-only bank running on a banking license and an Upbit crypto exchange deal | Losing its protection |
| Khatabook Khatabook is an Indian app merchants use to track credit and payments like a digital ledger | Losing its protection |
| Klarna Klarna is a Swedish buy now pay later bank with 118M customers worldwide | Losing its protection |
| Kraken Kraken is a 15-year-old US crypto exchange offering trading, custody, and payments | Losing its protection |
| Kuda Bank Kuda is a Nigerian licensed digital bank offering free accounts, savings, and business banking via app | Losing its protection |
| Lakala Lakala is a licensed Chinese payment processor competing under Alipay and WeChat Pay's shadow | Losing its protection |
| LemFi Remittance and multi-currency banking app for immigrants from emerging markets | Losing its protection |
| LexinFintech Licensed Chinese app lending small consumer loans to underbanked borrowers via bank partners | Losing its protection |
| LianLian DigiTech Hangzhou-based licensed cross-border payments processor for Chinese SME exporters and large enterprises | Losing its protection |
| Lightspeed Commerce Canadian point of sale and payments platform for retail, hospitality and golf businesses | Losing its protection |
| Lithic Lithic runs card-issuing infrastructure so companies can launch their own payment cards via API | Losing its protection |
| M2P Fintech Indian banking and payments API infrastructure provider linking banks, fintechs, and Visa | Losing its protection |
| Marqeta Marqeta runs the card-issuing infrastructure behind Cash App, Block, and other fintech card programs | Losing its protection |
| MatchMove Singapore-based banking-as-a-service platform issuing prepaid cards across Southeast Asia | Losing its protection |
| Method Financial API for verifying consumer debts and paying creditors directly from linked accounts | Losing its protection |
| MobiKwik Indian digital wallet app for UPI payments, bill pay, and small consumer loans | Losing its protection |
| Modern Treasury Modern Treasury makes software that runs business bank payments, ledgers, and money movement. | Losing its protection |
| MoneyGram Global cash remittance network with 500,000 agent locations, now pivoting into stablecoins | Losing its protection |
| Moov Moov builds licensed payment infrastructure APIs for embedding money movement into other products | Losing its protection |
| MX Technologies MX links banks and apps so financial data moves safely between them | Losing its protection |
| N26 N26 is a German licensed digital bank serving 5.6M customers across the Eurozone | Losing its protection |
| Nala African cross-border remittance app now pivoting into B2B stablecoin payment rails | Losing its protection |
| NCR Voyix Legacy point-of-sale and payments software provider for retail and restaurant chains | Losing its protection |
| Nexi Nexi processes card payments and merchant services across 25+ European countries | Losing its protection |
| Nium Cross-border payments infrastructure firm licensed in 190+ countries | Losing its protection |
| Niyo Niyo is an Indian travel-forex neobank issuing zero-markup cards via partner banks like DCB, SBM, Yes | Losing its protection |
| Nova Credit Cross-border credit data platform helping lenders assess immigrants and thin-file borrowers | Losing its protection |
| Novo Novo runs digital business checking for small businesses, deposits held by Middlesex Federal Savings | Losing its protection |
| OFX OFX moves money across borders for businesses and consumers, and is now up for sale | Losing its protection |
| Onfido UK identity verification firm for fintech onboarding, now a subsidiary of Entrust | Losing its protection |
| Opn (Omise) Thai-founded payment gateway processing online payments across Southeast Asia and Japan | Losing its protection |
| OSL Group Hong Kong exchange, custodian and stablecoin/payments platform under an SFC license | Losing its protection |
| OVO Indonesian e-wallet now 90% owned by Grab, shifting from consumer app to Superbank data plumbing | Losing its protection |
| PagBank (PagSeguro) PagBank is a Brazilian digital bank and payments platform with 34M customers and its own banking license | Losing its protection |
| Papaya Global Israeli platform for global payroll and cross-border workforce payments in 160+ countries | Losing its protection |
| PAX Technology PAX makes payment terminals and POS hardware used by banks and merchants in 120+ countries | Losing its protection |
| Paxos Regulated issuer of PYUSD and USDG stablecoins, plus blockchain clearing infrastructure | Losing its protection |
| Payactiv Payactiv lets hourly workers pull earned wages early via employer payroll links | Losing its protection |
| Paymentology Card issuing and processing platform for banks and fintechs across 68+ countries | Losing its protection |
| Payoneer Payoneer runs cross-border B2B payments and payouts for freelancers, marketplaces, and SMBs | Losing its protection |
| PayPal Holdings Runs PayPal and Venmo, the online checkout and money-transfer network for $1.79T in yearly volume | Losing its protection |
| Paysafe UK payments firm processing cards and e-wallets for gambling, crypto, and other high-risk merchants | Losing its protection |
| Paytm Indian digital payments company running UPI, merchant devices, and lending distribution | Losing its protection |
| PayU PayU processes payments and consumer credit across India and emerging markets, owned by Prosus. | Losing its protection |
| Persona Persona verifies identities online for fintechs, marketplaces, and AI platforms | Losing its protection |
| PhonePe PhonePe runs India's top UPI payments app, plus lending, insurance, and quick-commerce arms | Losing its protection |
| Pine Labs Runs card machines and payment software for about 1 million merchants across India and Asia | Losing its protection |
| PingPong Payments B2B cross-border payments platform running on 60+ global financial licences | Losing its protection |
| Pleo Pleo makes corporate cards and expense software for European small businesses | Losing its protection |
| PPDai Group FinVolution/PPDai runs online consumer credit marketplaces in China, Indonesia, Philippines and beyond | Losing its protection |
| Qifu Technology Qfin Holdings runs China's biggest licensed AI credit-scoring and loan-facilitation platform | Losing its protection |
| Rabbit LINE Pay Thai mobile wallet inside the LINE app, tied to Rabbit transit and LINE MAN delivery | Losing its protection |
| Railsr UK bank-as-a-service and embedded finance provider, now rebranded Equals | Losing its protection |
| Rapyd Rapyd runs a global payments and card-acquiring network for cross-border merchants | Losing its protection |
| Repay Holdings REPAY runs payment processing for vertical software platforms and utility bill pay via KUBRA | Losing its protection |
| Rho Rho runs business bank accounts, cards, and spend software for startups and mid-size companies | Losing its protection |
| Ripple Ripple runs a blockchain-based cross-border payments network and issues the RLUSD stablecoin | Losing its protection |
| Routable Routable automates accounts payable and payouts for mid-size businesses via API and software | Losing its protection |
| Sezzle Buy-now-pay-later lender letting shoppers split purchases into installments online | Losing its protection |
| Sift Sift makes fraud detection software that scores transactions across 34,000+ sites to catch scams. | Losing its protection |
| SoFi SoFi is a chartered digital bank offering lending, banking, and investing in one app | Losing its protection |
| Solaris German licensed banking-as-a-service platform powering fintechs' accounts and cards | Losing its protection |
| Spendesk French platform for company cards, expense reports, and spend approvals | Losing its protection |
| Splitit Card-linked installment payment technology plugging into existing merchant checkouts | Losing its protection |
| Stone Co. Brazilian payments company processing card transactions for small merchants. | Losing its protection |
| Sumsub Sumsub verifies identities and runs KYC/AML checks for banks, exchanges, and platforms worldwide. | Losing its protection |
| Swan Swan is a French licensed banking-as-a-service platform embedding accounts and cards into SaaS products | Losing its protection |
| Synctera Banking-as-a-service platform linking fintechs to sponsor banks for card and account programs | Losing its protection |
| TerraPay TerraPay runs a licensed cross-border payments network moving money between banks and mobile wallets in 210+ countries. | Losing its protection |
| Tether Issuer of USDT, the top dollar stablecoin used in crypto trading and payments | Losing its protection |
| Thredd Thredd runs card issuing and processing tech for fintechs and digital banks worldwide | Losing its protection |
| TransferGo Lithuania-based app for cheap, fast money transfers to Eastern Europe and beyond | Losing its protection |
| Treasury Prime Treasury Prime runs a bank-side API platform (BankOS) linking fintechs to sponsor banks | Losing its protection |
| TrueLayer UK open banking payments infrastructure connecting bank accounts directly to merchants for checkout | Losing its protection |
| Trulioo Global identity verification and KYC/KYB platform for banks, fintechs, and crypto firms | Losing its protection |
| Trustly Swedish open banking company letting shoppers pay merchants straight from bank accounts | Losing its protection |
| Ualá Argentine neobank offering prepaid cards, loans, and digital banking across three countries | Losing its protection |
| Unit Unit gives fintechs bank accounts, cards, and payments via API, backed by partner banks | Losing its protection |
| Upstart AI lending platform that scores borrowers and routes loans to 100+ banks and credit unions | Losing its protection |
| Upstox Indian discount stock brokerage app for trading and investing | Losing its protection |
| Varo Bank Varo Bank is a US chartered digital bank offering checking, savings, and loans by app | Losing its protection |
| Verifone Verifone makes payment terminals and checkout software for stores, gas stations, and banks | Losing its protection |
| Verto B2B cross-border payments and FX platform for African and emerging market trade | Losing its protection |
| VNPay Vietnamese QR payment and bank-integration network linking 40+ banks to 500,000+ merchants | Losing its protection |
| VNPT Pay State-backed Vietnamese e-wallet and mobile payment app under VNPT telecom | Losing its protection |
| Waterdrop Inc. Waterdrop runs a Chinese medical-crowdfunding platform that converts donors into insurance buyers | Losing its protection |
| Weavr UK startup providing embedded finance infrastructure so SaaS platforms can offer banking features | Losing its protection |
| Western Union Global cash-based money transfer network operating in about 200 countries | Losing its protection |
| Worldline French giant processing card payments for European banks and merchants | Losing its protection |
| Yapily UK fintech that pipes bank-account data and payments into apps via open banking APIs | Losing its protection |
| Yeahka China-based digital payment processor and merchant services provider | Losing its protection |
| Yeepay Chinese licensed payment processor handling enterprise, travel, and cross-border merchant transactions since 2003 | Losing its protection |
| Yellow Card Stablecoin on/off-ramp network for African businesses moving dollars across 20+ countries | Losing its protection |
| YouTrip Singapore-based app and prepaid card for spending and holding many currencies | Losing its protection |
| Yubi Yubi runs India's biggest neutral marketplace matching companies to lenders for debt | Losing its protection |
| ZaloPay Vietnamese e-wallet app built into the Zalo messaging platform, licensed for payments | Losing its protection |
| Zeller Zeller sells card terminals, business accounts, and POS software to Australian small businesses | Losing its protection |
| Zepz UK parent of WorldRemit and Sendwave, digital cross-border remittance to 130+ countries | Losing its protection |
| Zero Hash Zero Hash runs the licensed crypto custody and settlement plumbing behind brokerages and fintech apps | Losing its protection |
| Zilch UK regulated buy-now-pay-later network and debit card, 5.5m customers | Losing its protection |
| Zip Co Australia's buy now, pay later lender expanding into the US market | Losing its protection |
| 9F Group Nasdaq-listed Chinese fintech lending and wealth platform now a shrinking nano-cap | Little protection left |
| AZA Finance African cross-border payments and FX infrastructure firm, formerly BitPesa | Little protection left |
| Bolt Bolt sells one-click checkout tech to merchants trying to compete with Shop Pay and PayPal | Little protection left |
| CurrencyFair Irish platform for peer-to-peer and standard international money transfers | Little protection left |
| Curve UK card-linking wallet app now being absorbed into Lloyds Banking Group after a distress sale | Little protection left |
| Deserve Card-issuing tech for co-branded credit programs, absorbed into Intuit in 2025 | Little protection left |
| Du Xiaoman Financial Baidu-spun-off Chinese online lender linking borrowers to partner banks | Little protection left |
| Evolve Bank & Trust A banking charter that lets fintech apps offer bank accounts and cards under its hood. | Little protection left |
| Fave Fave runs a deals, cashback, and rewards app in Malaysia and Singapore, owned by Pine Labs | Little protection left |
| Gemini Gemini is a crypto exchange and custodian founded by the Winklevoss twins | Little protection left |
| Kyash Kyash runs a Japanese digital wallet and prepaid Visa card app built on cashback rewards | Little protection left |
| Lendingkart India SME lending platform, fighting internal collapse more than outside rivals | Little protection left |
| Lufax Lufax connects Chinese borrowers with banks and investors, majority owned by Ping An Insurance | Little protection left |
| NICE Payments Korean payment gateway and VAN processor now being folded back into its parent, NICE I&T | Little protection left |
| OneConnect Financial Technology China-based tech vendor selling banking/insurance software to financial institutions across Asia | Little protection left |
| Petal Credit-building card brand now wound down inside Tilt after Empower's 2024 buyout | Little protection left |
| Qudian Inc. Former Chinese online micro-lender, now a renamed cash shell with no real operating business | Little protection left |
| Small World Financial Services Defunct UK remittance firm that ceased operations and entered administration in June 2024 | Little protection left |
| Till Payments Australian omnichannel payments platform, now a small Nuvei subsidiary after a distressed sale | Little protection left |
| TNG Wallet Hong Kong mobile e-wallet licensed for stored-value payments since 2016 | Little protection left |
| Zai (Assembly Payments) Zai runs licensed account-to-account payment rails for Australian marketplaces and proptech platforms | Little protection left |
Questions people ask
- Are Chinese payment companies losing ground to Alipay and WeChat Pay?
- Yes, smaller licensed processors like Lakala and Yeahka are seeing real revenue declines, with Lakala down 11% year over year in H1 2025, because Alipay and WeChat Pay control roughly 96% of merchant payment volume between them.
- Which Korean payment companies are under the most pressure?
- KG Inicis, NHN KCP and NICE Payments all face pressure in the 5-6 range as Toss Pay, Kakao Pay and Naver Pay increasingly own the checkout relationship and route transaction volume around traditional gateways.
- Is Angel One or Groww winning in Indian retail brokerage?
- Groww is winning right now, having overtaken Angel One in both active NSE client count and market cap following its November 2025 IPO, while Upstox has also lost 7.6 lakh accounts in the same period.
- What happened to Small World Financial Services?
- It shut down entirely in June 2024 and entered administration. Its former remittance customers have moved to Western Union, Wise, Remitly and WorldRemit/Zepz.
- Which Chinese online lenders are shrinking the fastest?
- Lufax's loan book fell from RMB 217 billion to 167 billion under regulatory pressure, and Qifu, LexinFintech, FinVolution and 360 DigiTech are all facing the same rate-cap driven contraction rather than losing to one specific rival.
- Can Expensify compete with Ramp?
- Expensify is losing paid members and revenue as Ramp, a card-first AI-native competitor valued at $44 billion, pulls small business customers away with faster expense and card tools.
What to watch
- Any named enterprise customer wins or losses for Visa, Mastercard, or SWIFT
- Further Chinese lending rate caps or NFRA rule changes
- Groww or Zerodha announcing new client and revenue milestones against Angel One and Upstox
Head to head in this sector
2C2P vs GHL SystemsAirwallex vs GHL SystemsKG Inicis vs NHN KCPKG Inicis vs NICE PaymentsLianLian DigiTech vs XTransferKakao Pay vs Naver PayNaver Pay vs Toss (Viva Republica)Airwallex vs PingPong Payments
Sectors with a similar picture