As global payments continue to evolve, one thing remains clear: scaling internationally is far more complex than simply enabling card payments.

Speaking with Rachel Kennedy, Rapyd CEO Arik Shtilman said one of the industry’s biggest misconceptions is that global payments begin and end with card rails.

“People think it’s a 16-digit card number, an expiration date and CVV, and that’s it. The money will move anywhere in the world. The reality is far more complex.”

For Rapyd, that complexity lies in local payment methods, currencies and regulatory requirements, challenges the company has built its growth strategy around.

Shtilman argues that being “global by default” means more than having partners in different markets. It requires local offices, regulatory licences and teams on the ground.

“A lot of companies think that because they have a local partner in a specific country, it means they’re local. But it’s a completely different experience when you’re actually locally licensed and have people on the ground.”

As the company has scaled, it has also had to rethink its infrastructure.

“When you need to move $100,000 a day, you stumble into some challenges. When you move $100 million a day, the challenges are completely different.”

Looking ahead, Shtilman believes stablecoins are moving beyond experimentation and into mainstream financial infrastructure, driven by demand from enterprise customers seeking faster access to liquidity.

“Our clients are actually coming to us and asking to be settled in stablecoin.”

He added that stablecoins’ ability to provide near-instant settlement and reduce the cost of capital is increasingly resonating with CFOs.

“When you get access to capital in minutes instead of waiting two business days, that’s a huge advantage.”

For Shtilman, the long-term trajectory is clear: stablecoins are set to become a core part of how money moves globally, particularly for cross-border payments, as banks and regulators continue to embrace the technology.