With deep ties to Latin America and billions flowing through remittances and trade, the city has become a testing ground for the future of global payments.
On any given day in Miami, money is moving in every direction.
A contractor in Doral sends earnings back to family in Colombia. A logistics firm wires payment to a supplier in Mexico. A startup founder pays a remote team spread across several countries in Latin America.
These transactions power everyday life across the Americas. Yet the systems behind them often still feel stuck in another decade: slow wires, layered fees, and payment rails that struggle to communicate with one another.
That friction has created an opening for startups. Over the past few years, a growing group of fintech companies has chosen Miami as a base to rethink how cross-border payments work.
Our city sits between the U.S. and Latin America, with strong banking relationships, immigrant communities that rely on remittances, and investors looking closely at fintech infrastructure. Together, those factors have turned Miami into a natural laboratory for companies trying to move money faster and more simply across borders.
Here are the top three major trends shaping the next generation of cross-border payments.
- Instant transfers are becoming the expectation
For decades, sending money internationally meant waiting days for a wire to clear. Startups are trying to compress that timeline dramatically.
One example is Palla, which raised $14.5 million to build infrastructure that connects payment rails between the U.S. and Latin America. Instead of routing transactions through layers of intermediaries, the platform focuses on direct integrations with local financial systems.
The push toward faster transfers reflects a broader shift across the industry. As domestic payment networks move toward real-time settlement, international transfers increasingly feel outdated.
Other companies are tackling the same problem at scale.
Global fintech Paysend, which continues to expand its presence in Miami, has built a network that allows users to send funds internationally using card networks and local rails rather than traditional bank wires. The company already serves millions of users worldwide and sees the Americas as a major growth market.
“Miami is the capital of Latin America,” Jairo Riveros, managing director of the Americas at Paysend, told Refresh Miami of the company’s decision to make our city its regional HQ.
Meanwhile, companies like Remitee are focusing on improving how funds arrive in Latin America. The platform connects international senders with local payout networks so recipients can receive funds through the financial services they already use.
The result is a shift in expectations. For many users, especially younger customers, waiting several days for an international transfer increasingly feels unnecessary.
- Fintechs are building tools for cross-border families
Another group of startups is focusing less on infrastructure and more on the people sending money.
Remittances remain a huge part of the financial relationship between the United States and Latin America. According to World Bank estimates, tens of billions of dollars move each year between the two regions.
But sending money is only part of the financial story for many families.
That idea sits at the center of Finnt, a Miami-based startup building tools for families who live across borders. The company raised seed funding to create accounts that allow relatives in different countries to save, spend, and transfer money more easily.
Other companies are experimenting with new ways to simplify remittances entirely.
Félix, which raised $15.5 million in 2024, allows users to send money through messaging platforms like WhatsApp. Instead of navigating a separate banking app, customers can initiate transfers through a conversation interface many already use every day.
“We see Félix as much more than a remittance company. We are the financial companion of Hispanics in the U.S.,” shared Claudia Garavini, VP of strategy and business development at Félix.
Miami-born MAJORITY has a similar perspective, providing a suite of fintech products aimed to help U.S. immigrants. “We’re in the starting phase now where money moving across borders is going to be free,” founder and CEO Magnus Larsson told Refresh Miami. “It should be instant, easy, and cost nothing – just like sending a text message.”
Another startup, OKY, has taken a fresh angle by enabling in-kind remittances. Instead of sending cash, users can pay directly for goods like groceries that recipients pick up locally.
The concept addresses a common concern among senders: making sure the funds reach their intended purpose.
Taken together, these companies show how remittances are shifting from a simple transaction into a broader financial relationship between people living in different countries.
- Infrastructure startups are modernizing global payments
A third wave of companies is focusing on the underlying systems used by banks and businesses.
While consumer remittances receive most of the attention, global commerce relies on cross-border payments that can be even more complex.
Companies paying suppliers, contractors, or international partners often deal with fragmented banking networks and compliance processes.
Shield, a Miami fintech that raised $5 million last year, is working on tools that help businesses manage international payments and settlement more efficiently, including options that use blockchain infrastructure.
Other platforms are focusing on the banking layer itself.
Payall, for example, raised funding to build technology that helps financial institutions manage cross-border payment compliance, data, and routing. Rather than replacing banks, the platform aims to give them better tools for managing international transfers.
The growth of these infrastructure companies highlights an important shift in fintech. Many startups are no longer trying to compete directly with banks. Instead, they are building the software that helps banks operate more efficiently in a global financial system.
Why Miami keeps producing these companies
The concentration of cross-border payments startups in Miami is not accidental.
The city has long served as a financial bridge between North and South America. Major banks run regional operations here. Latin American entrepreneurs frequently launch U.S. expansions from the city. And millions of residents maintain financial ties across borders.
That combination creates constant demand for better payment tools.
For founders building products designed to move money internationally, Miami offers proximity to the users themselves: immigrants sending remittances, businesses trading across borders, and financial institutions that serve both.
As global commerce across the Americas continues to grow, the city’s role as a proving ground for cross-border fintech appears likely to grow with it.
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I am a Miami-based technology researcher and writer with a passion for sharing stories about the South Florida tech ecosystem. I particularly enjoy learning about GovTech startups, cutting-edge applications of artificial intelligence, and innovators that leverage technology to transform society for the better. Always open for pitches via Twitter @rileywk or www.RileyKaminer.com.
