To enter Brazil's highly protected banking sector, Nubank employed a patient, two-track strategy. They launched a credit card for immediate market entry while simultaneously spending four years navigating complex politics to obtain a full banking license, which required a presidential decree to bypass constitutional restrictions on foreign ownership.

Stripe data shows the median top AI company operates in 55 countries by its first year, double the rate of SaaS companies from three years prior. This borderless nature from day one requires financial infrastructure that can immediately support global payment methods and compliance.

Instead of funding another stablecoin protocol, the more viable investment is in the tooling layer. This includes payment systems, SDKs, and accounting software (like triple-entry bookkeeping) that enable small businesses globally to integrate stablecoin payments into their existing fiat workflows.

Despite the rise of mobile payments, even digital-first companies like Coinbase and Robinhood are launching premium metal cards. This trend validates the physical card's enduring status as a powerful tool for acquiring high-value customers, countering the narrative of immediate digital disintermediation.

SeaMoney wasn't a planned business pillar. It was born out of necessity to solve payment challenges for its own gaming and e-commerce platforms in underbanked markets. This internal tool, which started with manual cash card distribution, evolved into a massive digital lending business.

Learning from Flipkart's constant catch-up cycles, PhonePe's founders rejected the scrappy MVP approach. They invested nine months upfront to build a payment stack capable of future scale, ensuring technology was never a blocker to business growth.

To serve its largest customers, Square's open platform is crucial. It allows enterprises to integrate their preferred third-party tools with Square's core services. This flexibility prevents churn by allowing customers to customize their tech stack instead of being locked into a closed ecosystem.

To avoid premature scaling, Nubank required three conditions before entering a new country: 1) Profitability in its core market (Brazil), 2) Secure banking licenses and funding, and 3) A tech platform that could launch a new market as a "call option," not an "all-in" bet.

For global operators, the core complexity of international payments lies in the final "on-ramp and off-ramp" to local fiat currencies, not the underlying transfer rails. The real customer value comes from minimizing foreign exchange (FX) fees by keeping revenue and expenses within the same local currency.