Arik Shtilman – Interview with Ian King of Sky News

Rapyd published a new report, The 2022 Global State of Cross-Border Commerce, to assess the level of organizational readiness amongst businesses for cross-border commerce. Arik Shtilman talks with Sky News about the new report and what it means for global commerce.

Transcript:

Ian: Now Rapyd is one of Europe’s most highly valued fintechs. Today it published a global report looking at the State of Cross-Border Commerce. The report says that international trade is expected to reach $153 trillion US dollars. And with a market of that size, 93% of businesses in the US and Europe say that cross-border trade is a key priority.

And joining me now is the CEO of Rapyd, Arik Shtilman.

Ian: It’s interesting that you’ve published this report at a time when cross-border trade is being held back by factors like supply-chain bottlenecks, and in this country, Brexit. 

Arik: Yes, it’s interesting that even with the supply chain bottleneck that doesn’t stop cross-border trade. That’s because of the massive demand, with a YOY growth of 5%.

Many of our clients are scaling very quickly and doing a lot of cross-border trade. And at the end of the day, 33% of our clients think that the markets that they already operating in are already fully penetrated. And even in the UK, 99% of businesses surveyed in the UK did cross-border business this year.

Ian: In the report, you online a number of reasons that hold companies back from doing more cross-border commerce. And one of them is new customer acquisition. 

Arik: Yes, with customer acquisition it’s amazing that 43% of the merchants that we work with are seeing massive demand from clients not in the UK or Europe. So in today’s world, people find businesses and make purchases from different countries. And as this international demand grows, these small businesses need to deal with the challenges of cross-border trade. That’s where companies like Rapyd can come in. We resolve these challenges by making cross-border trade as simple as the click of a button.

Ian: When your customers are doing typical cross-border transactions, what is the average transaction size?

Arik: The typical cross-border transaction size is around 250 pounds, and domestically, the average size is around 60 pounds. Cross-border transactions are much bigger on average. With this, our clients are seeing significant YOY growth in Latin America, the US, and Asia with cross-border trade.

Ian: Are there big regional differences in what you found?

Arik: Not really, actually. 99% of merchants see growth in cross-border trade, and in this world, doing trade in only one country is a risk. Going internationally is a way of de-risking and diversification across the board.

Ian: Looking at your business, your company Rapyd recently raised $300 million dollars in your latest funding round. Does Rapyd have all of the capital it needs now for your expansion plans?

Arik: Yes definitely. We’ve raised almost 800 million dollars in several rounds up to date. We are well-capitalized and do not burn a lot of money despite growing very fast. We tripling our size year over year, and it seems like we have enough funds for the next three to five years.

Ian: Where do you see demand growing most rapidly over the next 12 months?

Arik: The biggest demand that we see is actually European businesses and UK businesses going into Asia and Latin America. We see massive growth there in the trade and the volumes are going very fast. 

We’re also working very closely with our merchants to help them to move their money and acquire clients. And in these markets, the types of payment methods customers typically use can be quite different, and not just cards like in Europe. That’s why merchants turn to companies like Rapyd with the expertise to enable these kinds of payments.

Ian: Arik Shtilman, good to talk to you this morning. 

Arik: Thanks for your time.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.