Why Small Businesses Are Rethinking How They Pay Overseas

Jessica Albright · 2026-09-28

It used to be that cross-border payments were something only the big players worried about. Not anymore. Today, even the smallest shop might be buying materials from overseas, paying a contractor on another continent, or selling to customers halfway around the globe. The world's your market, right? But here's the catch: actually moving that money across borders can still be a real headache. It's often expensive, confusing, and frankly, a bit of a black box. A recent report from Javelin Strategy & Research highlights this exact challenge. Senior Analyst Ian Benton points out that small businesses are now navigating a whole new landscape of options. They're looking beyond the traditional bank wire to platforms like Wise, PayPal, and Airwallex, even considering services like MoneyGram for certain needs. It's a sign of the times. ### The Growing Need for Global Payments Let's talk numbers for a second. According to that Javelin data, 26% of U.S. small businesses are now using cross-border payments in some way. That's more than a quarter. And the bigger the business, the more likely they are to be involved. For companies pulling in over $2.5 million in revenue, that number jumps to over half. But here's something interesting. Even for those businesses, international payments are often just a small slice of the pie. We're talking maybe one in five transactions. As Benton puts it, "Even among those that are using cross-border payments, it's still a limited capability." He believes that'll change as costs come down and businesses get more comfortable working with teams and suppliers spread across the globe. For now, though, it's a niche—but a growing one. ### When Traditional Banking Makes Sense (And When It Doesn't) For decades, if you needed to send money overseas, you went to your bank and did a wire transfer. It's a system built for big commercial clients, and it shows. The fees can stack up fast, and if you're not savvy about exchange rates or managing multiple currency accounts, it's easy to get lost. Benton notes that using commercial banking for cross-border payments is often a sign you've moved up a tier. "You typically have a CFO or internal financial expertise," he says. It's for businesses that have the scale and the know-how. For a small business sending just a few payments a month, it might be overkill. That's where things get interesting. ### The Fintech Alternative: Clarity Over Cost This is where companies like Wise, Revolut, and PayPal have carved out a huge space. They saw the gap and jumped in. Their appeal isn't just about being cheaper—though they often are. It's about something even more valuable: transparency. Think about it. When you use one of these platforms, you usually know exactly what you're getting: - How much the transfer will cost, upfront. - The exact exchange rate you'll get. - A clear estimate of when the money will land in the recipient's account. That clarity is a game-changer. It turns a mysterious process into a straightforward transaction. You're in control. ### Receiving vs. Sending: Two Very Different Worlds Here's a key distinction most business owners discover quickly. *Receiving* international payments is often the easy part. If you're selling online, your e-commerce platform probably handles it automatically. Or you might invoice through PayPal and get paid right there. The system is built-in. *Sending* money, especially for B2B purposes, is a whole other ball game. Paying an overseas supplier involves more steps, more compliance checks, and more potential for hiccups. It's why many still default to the international wire, despite its flaws. They know it works, even if it's not ideal. So, what's the takeaway? The landscape for cross-border payments is shifting fast. Small businesses are no longer stuck with one expensive, opaque option. They have choices now. The trick is figuring out which tool fits your specific needs—whether you're receiving payments from a customer in London or paying a developer in Bangalore. It's about finding the right balance of cost, convenience, and, above all, clarity.