千峰访谈Payful CEO Jonathan Ye：跨境支付正从“费率竞争”转向“本地化深度竞争”

Summary 1: The most notable point is that the logic of cross-border payment competition is changing: AI and globalization are turning payments from a channel business into intelligent infrastructure, and fee-based competition is shifting to deep localization competition.

1. Payful positions itself as a financial specialist for global emerging markets, using Hong Kong as an anchor to connect Chinese enterprises with emerging markets, with about 10 years of international business development. It holds multiple local payment licenses, covers local collection in markets such as Brazil and Mexico, supports 30+ currencies, covers 100+ countries and regions, and serves 180,000+ merchants.

2. Its business focuses on four customer groups: cross-border e-commerce, foreign trade B2B, service trade, and corporate global spending. It offers multi-currency virtual cards and corporate spend management, allowing customers to complete collection, exchange, payment, and settlement on the same platform.

3. AI has been applied in four areas: merchant services, risk control and compliance, fund routing, and business automation. Ask AI covers seven business scenarios with 7x24 responses, and AutoFlow can break down trigger conditions and execution actions from a single natural-language instruction.

4. The practical recommendation is to first make compliance thorough in selected markets before pursuing scale, apply AI starting from the highest-frequency and most labor-intensive links, and make good use of ecosystem partnerships rather than going it alone.

Summary 1: On brand positioning and competitive barriers, Payful positions itself as a financial specialist for global emerging markets, using Hong Kong as an anchor to connect Chinese enterprises with global emerging markets, and emphasizes a governed financial infrastructure network by region and scenario. Its brand differentiation relies not on a single fee rate but on deep localization and compliance experience.

1. On price competition, the industry is shifting from fee-based competition to deep localization competition. Mature markets in the US and Europe are red oceans, while growth is in emerging markets. The barrier lies in licenses, clearing networks, and compliance systems, which are difficult to achieve quickly through subsidies.

2. On product R&D, Payful became a Visa card-issuing member in 2025. Payful Card covers card networks including Visa, Mastercard, and Diners Club, and provides multi-currency virtual cards and corporate spend management. It launched Ask AI and AutoFlow, turning collection, exchange, payment, settlement, and fund management into platform capabilities.

3. On channel development, it cooperates with global financial infrastructure providers such as Flutterwave, GME, and DBS Bank, emphasizing embedding into local financial and commercial ecosystems and leveraging partner network qualifications and cultural understanding for implementation.

4. On users and trends, cross-border e-commerce, foreign trade B2B, service trade, and corporate global spending are the base. AI-native companies such as AI short dramas and AI tools have become important customer groups. Emerging-market e-commerce is growing fast, but payment infrastructure is weak. Localized experience includes local-currency payment without intermediary bank fees and settlement as fast as T+0.

Summary 1: For sellers, the growth markets and opportunities highlighted in the article are in emerging markets, with Southeast Asia, Latin America, and Africa as priorities, while mature markets such as North America, Europe, Japan, and South Korea are also covered. Emerging-market e-commerce is growing fast, but payment infrastructure is weak, with small currencies, fragmented clearing, and large regulatory differences.

1. On opportunities, the local collection network covers markets such as Brazil and Mexico, supports 30+ currencies and mainstream local payment methods, allows local buyers to pay in local currency, frees merchants from intermediary bank fees, and enables settlement as fast as T+0. Unified multi-currency account management helps reduce friction in cross-border collection and payment.

2. On risks, regulatory fragmentation is the biggest external obstacle. The same business model may require rebuilding the compliance architecture in different countries. In emerging markets, the barrier is not price but licenses, clearing networks, and compliance systems, and cannot be achieved quickly through subsidies.

3. The lesson is compliance first: obtain qualifications and build local partnerships before entering a market, and prefer to move one step slower than to cross the line. Adopt a license matrix plus local collection and payment channels plus a full-chain closed loop to solve collection, exchange, payment, and management in one place.

4. On cooperation, work with local banks, clearing networks, e-commerce platforms, and partners such as Flutterwave, GME, and DBS Bank, leveraging local networks and cultural understanding for rapid implementation. Also note that AI-native companies use virtual cards to pay for overseas advertising, cloud services, and subscriptions.

Summary 1: Factories can see a practical path toward digitalized and e-commerce-based cross-border operations. The core is not buying a single payment channel, but linking multi-currency accounts, local collection, foreign exchange, global payment, corporate spend management, and compliance risk control into one capability chain.

1. On business opportunities, Payful focuses on cross-border e-commerce, foreign trade B2B, service trade, and corporate global spending, serving 180,000+ merchants, covering 100+ countries and regions, and supporting 30+ currencies. When factories engage in foreign trade B2B or cross-border e-commerce, they can use local collection accounts and local payment channels to enter emerging markets such as Southeast Asia, Latin America, and Africa.

2. On product and design demand, Payful Card provides multi-currency virtual cards and corporate spend management, covering card networks including Visa, Mastercard, and Diners Club. It can be used for corporate spending such as overseas advertising and cloud service subscriptions, indicating that payment products are extending toward scenario-based card products and spend management.

3. On digitalization implications, AI is already used for multi-jurisdiction KYC and AML review, transaction background screening, fund routing, and business automation. AutoFlow can break a natural-language instruction into trigger conditions, execution conditions, and execution actions. Open APIs can embed collection, payment, exchange, and card capabilities into ERP and business systems, enabling payment data to directly drive business decisions.

4. The implementation reminder is compliance first: thoroughly establish qualifications and local partnerships in selected markets before discussing scale, apply AI starting from the highest-frequency and most labor-intensive links, and use the ecosystem rather than going it alone.

Summary 1: Service providers should note that the cross-border payment industry trend has shifted from channel count and fee competition to deep localization competition. AI and globalization are reshaping payments into an intelligent infrastructure business, with competition keys being compliance automation, intelligent fund routing, and real-time settlement.

1. Customer pain points include small currencies in emerging markets, fragmented clearing systems, and large differences in regulatory rules. Regulatory fragmentation means the same business model must rebuild its compliance architecture in different countries. Composite talent is scarce. Merchants previously relied on manual work to find answers and on manual experience for fund scheduling.

2. On solutions, Payful builds capabilities through a license matrix plus local collection and payment channels plus a full-chain closed loop. Localization has three layers: localized qualifications, localized channels, and localized partnerships. It supports 30+ currencies, covers 100+ countries and regions, and serves 180,000+ merchants.

3. On new technology, Ask AI is based on the official help center knowledge base and covers seven business scenarios with 7x24 natural-language responses. AutoFlow breaks a natural-language instruction into a When-If-Then automated workflow. The self-developed risk control system automates multi-jurisdiction KYC and AML review and transaction background screening. The system automatically matches the optimal fund path by currency, amount, and destination.

4. The service implication is to first turn compliance and operational experience into system capabilities, adopt a model of headquarters experts plus local teams, open APIs to embed into merchants' ERP and business systems, and cooperate with ecosystem partners such as local banks, clearing networks, e-commerce platforms, Flutterwave, GME, and DBS Bank.

Summary 1: For platform providers, the article shows that merchants' demand for payment platforms has upgraded from a single collection channel to one-stop global fund management. They require multi-currency accounts, local collection, local payment, foreign exchange, global payment, corporate spend management, and compliance risk control to be completed on the same platform.

1. The latest platform practice is license localization plus a full-chain closed loop. In 2025, Payful became a Visa card-issuing member. Payful Card covers card networks including Visa, Mastercard, and Diners Club. Its business covers 100+ countries and regions, serves 180,000+ merchants, and builds its base around four customer groups: cross-border e-commerce, foreign trade B2B, service trade, and corporate global spending.

2. On operations management, Ask AI covers seven scenarios: e-commerce collection, foreign trade B2B, Payful card services, service trade, currency exchange, global payment, and global acquiring, with 7x24 natural-language responses. AutoFlow supports automatic breakdown of trigger mechanisms, execution conditions, and execution actions from a single natural-language instruction. Risk control, compliance, and fund routing are automated by the system. Open APIs can be embedded into merchants' ERP and business systems.

3. For merchant recruitment and customer expansion, attention can be paid to AI-native companies such as AI short dramas and AI tools; they use Payful Card to pay for overseas advertising, cloud services, and subscriptions. Emerging markets focus on Southeast Asia, Latin America, and Africa, while mature markets cover North America, Europe, Japan, and South Korea.

4. On risk avoidance, treat compliance first as an expansion discipline: obtain qualifications and build local partnerships before entering a market, and prefer to move one step slower than to cross the line. Under regulatory fragmentation, avoid seeking quick success through subsidies, and value licenses, clearing networks, and local ecosystem partnerships.

Summary 1: Researchers can note a new development in the cross-border payment industry: AI and globalization are jointly driving payments from a channel business to an intelligent infrastructure business, and industry competition is shifting from fee-based competition to deep localization competition. Industry differentiation may intensify significantly over the next two years.

1. New issues include regulatory fragmentation: regulatory rules in emerging markets update quickly and differ greatly, and the same business model may require rebuilding the compliance architecture in different countries. Composite talent is scarce: people who understand payment compliance, local markets, and can also manage technology systems are rare. Emerging markets also face problems such as small currencies, fragmented clearing systems, and weak payment infrastructure.

2. On the business model, Payful has formed a license matrix plus local collection and payment channels plus a full-chain closed loop. Localization has three layers: qualifications, channels, and cooperation. Its capability chain consists of multi-currency accounts, local collection and payment method coverage, foreign exchange, global payment, corporate spend management, and compliance risk control. It also advances two-way digital-intelligent transformation: internally, it uses AI to restructure service operations; externally, it becomes a payment partner for the AI industry.

3. The policy and regulatory implication is compliance first: licenses and compliance systems are the 1, while technology, products, and marketing are the zeros after it. Before entering a market, obtain qualifications and build local partnerships; prefer to move one step slower than to cross the line. Turn compliance and operational experience into system capabilities, using a model of headquarters experts plus local teams.

4. Industry implications also include starting AI deployment from the highest-frequency and most labor-intensive links in the business chain. The moat is not the model itself but scenario data density, and it is better to use ecosystem cooperation than to build everything in-house.