While global e-commerce continues its rapid expansion — projected to hit $32.9 trillion by 2031, according to recent industry estimates — the international payments and settlement sector is facing a markedly slower growth trajectory.
SentBe bets on FX infrastructure
Forecast to increase at just 5% annually, the sector is contending with rising regulatory costs, legacy infrastructure burdens, and diminishing returns from earlier waves of digitisation.
Against this backdrop, SentBe, a Seoul-based FX and payments company, is attempting to carve out a sustainable niche in a market squeezed between tech-driven efficiency demands and structural margin compression.
Its strategy hinges on simplifying cross-border fund flows, particularly for financial institutions and global businesses engaging with the Korean market.
The Challenge: Cost Pressure in a Commoditising Industry
As payment processing becomes increasingly commoditised, players in the cross-border space are being forced to reassess their value propositions.
The Boston Consulting Group’s 2024 Global Payment Report noted that the industry is nearing the plateau of its digital transformation curve — meaning future gains will depend less on basic digitisation and more on operational efficiency and scale.
This puts pressure on traditional revenue streams like FX spreads, remittance fees, and B2B payment handling.
With the global market consolidating around a handful of dominant infrastructure providers, mid-sized firms are finding themselves in a strategic bind: either specialise or scale rapidly.
SentBe has opted for specialisation — targeting foreign companies operating in Korea and non-bank financial institutions seeking a more integrated way to manage FX, local collections and international settlement.
A Local Focus With Global Implications
Since launching SentBiz, its enterprise payments platform, SentBe claims to have helped more than 900 Korean businesses reduce costs and manage international flows more efficiently.
The company’s figures suggest a cumulative savings of $76 million in fees between 2020 and 2023 — although these numbers are self-reported and lack independent verification.
More recently, SentBe introduced the SentBiz KRW Collection, an API-based tool aimed at overseas financial firms needing to settle Korean won payments and disburse funds in multiple currencies.
With coverage across 31 currencies and 174 countries, the solution is pitched as a way to consolidate what is often a fragmented process involving multiple intermediaries.
But while the proposition is technically sound — eliminating layers of contracts and third-party costs — SentBe still faces a credibility challenge.
Competing against global infrastructure giants, or even regional players like Nium or Airwallex, requires not only efficiency but trust and visibility in a complex regulatory environment.
Moving From FX Niche to Infrastructure Scale
CEO Alex Seong-Ouk Choi has been vocal about positioning SentBe as a global partner to banks, MTOs and payment gateways.
Yet the company’s future may hinge less on technological capability and more on partnership depth, licensing reach, and regulatory compliance — especially in markets tightening scrutiny on cross-border payment flows.
To stay relevant in a sector defined by razor-thin margins and aggressive consolidation, SentBe will need to convince both partners and clients that it can scale responsibly — not just efficiently.
The tools may be in place, but the next phase will test whether the firm can graduate from tactical FX provider to recognised cross-border infrastructure player.
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