Cecilia Tamez on Bridging Traditional Banking and the New Global Payments Economy

By Payment 201

Season 4, Episode 8 of Money Travels, presented by Visa. For decades, migrants wanting to send money home have faced enormous friction—because traditional banks didn't want to serve them. That exclusion sparked a wave of innovation: emerging economies leapfrogged the West with mobile wallets and instant networks, but it also left a massive interoperability gap.

This episode's guest, Cecilia Tamez, is Chief Strategy Officer and Head of Data Science at Euronet Worldwide, overseeing a vast global network that includes Ria, XE, and Dandelion. She is herself a migrant who has lived through those outdated financial systems. Her grand vision is to turn the massive remittance network into invisible infrastructure connecting traditional banks and the unbanked. We discuss why Ria is uniquely positioned to build that bridge, how AI is quietly transforming cross-border compliance, and how this connectivity leads to a future where "jobs migrate to people, not people to jobs."

We covered these core points:

"Expats send money transfers; migrants send remittances"—same reality, different words, carrying different baggage.

Remittances are not niche: three-quarters of global consumer payments flow to low- and middle-income countries, and these payments have historically been informal and completely invisible.

The truly unbanked may be the banks themselves—they haven't plugged into new systems and are being excluded from modern economic activity.

Rapid-fire: If she could abolish one piece of financial infrastructure overnight, Cecilia would choose traditional correspondent banking.

From Kenya's M-Pesa to India Stack: deep government involvement enabled leapfrogging, letting emerging markets develop payment technology the West is only now trying to catch up to.

The payment network Ria built over thirty years is becoming Dandelion—the "AWS of money movement," shifting from proprietary infrastructure to an external product.

Timestamps:

00:00 The language of money: why we call them migrants, not expats

00:50 Welcome to Money Travels: connecting the world's financially underserved economies

01:43 Rapid-fire: abolish traditional correspondent banking

03:33 Misconceptions about remittances: they're not a niche payment business

04:30 Expats vs. migrants: the baggage behind the words

05:40 Interoperability is hope: global alignment to connect everyone

06:26 Why traditional banks abandoned the remittance market

09:23 The leapfrog effect: how emerging markets surpassed the West

11:34 Bridging the gap: traditional systems meet modern infrastructure

12:40 Inside RIA: the largest cash payout network serving 200 countries

14:00 Built by us, for us: a migrant-led financial services culture

15:07 Real impact: from medical crises to earthquake relief

16:56 Three migrations: personal lessons in financial exclusion

20:21 From remittances to cross-border: building the AWS of money movement

24:03 Instant payments require instant compliance: the AI solution

26:13 The future of work: when jobs migrate, not people

29:11 Empowering global work: pay anyone, anywhere

30:43 The mission: to be the financial partner for international life

Here are the key takeaways from this episode:

The language of expats and migrants The same cross-border transfer is called a money transfer when the sender is an expat, and a remittance when the sender is a migrant. Cecilia says the distinction between migrant and expat is loaded with too many preconceptions—as an expat herself, she is essentially a migrant. The distinction reflects a "dividing" mindset, but she also acknowledges the two are genuinely different: money transfers usually refer to self-remittances between high-income countries, while remittances refer to migrants sending money home to support their families.

Remittances are not niche The biggest misconception is that remittances are just a niche, troublesome, unglamorous payment business. Historically, they have been informal payments—uncounted, unseen, completely invisible—which is why many traditional financial institutions haven't truly served these needs: it was too hard. The reality is that three-quarters of global consumer payments flow to low- and middle-income countries. Financial institutions that don't serve this market are likely missing a very large portion of their addressable market, and many are starting to realize this gap.

Who is really unbanked Cecilia speaks candidly about the industry buzzword "banking the unbanked": the people we call unbanked actually live in areas with highly modernized payment infrastructure; they build alternative rails and bypass traditional systems. The ones becoming truly unbanked are the banks themselves—because they haven't plugged into new systems, they are being excluded from modern economic activity. A more accurate term would be alternatively banked: 95% of households in Kenya have mobile wallets; the key isn't whether you have a bank account, but whether you're connected to the digital economy.

Rapid-fire: abolish correspondent banking If she could abolish one piece of financial infrastructure overnight, Cecilia would choose traditional correspondent banking—a payment shouldn't have to hop three times just to get from one country to another; that model doesn't work. The most outdated financial practice is that a payment is slower than sending a text message, even though it uses the same internet. The coordination and arrangements in between can be automated; it should be as fast as a text message.

Why banks abandoned the remittance market There are three layers of reasons: first, complexity—the more corridors you support, the more regulatory environments you have to handle, and banks have always been risk-averse; second, technology—banks are constrained by legacy technology, system modernization is hard, and remittances are just one item on a long list of things they're waiting to modernize; third, invisibility—many of these payments have informal components, and banks assumed their customers were all in high-income countries, until they realized they were missing a huge number of potential customers, and even some existing customers were starting to use other services.

The starting point of leapfrogging: Kenya and India The starting point was Kenya, where M-Pesa emerged around 2007. The government created a new type of lightweight banking license that allowed telecom operators to reposition stored-value systems as wallets. At the time, bank penetration was only 17%; today, 95%–96% of households have mobile wallets. India then built its own India Stack, which has been evolving since 2009. Cecilia emphasizes that deep involvement by governments and regulators was key—this wasn't just business; it was a government effort to modernize the economy and connect opportunities. Today, these regions have the world's most advanced payment technology, and now it's high-income countries that are trying to catch up.

Interoperability is key The fundamental perspective needed to bridge the gap is this: it's a financial opportunity for every participant, not charity. The real question is how to design scalability between traditional and modern systems, and how to build those connections—that's where the Dandelion product comes from. It can now do more: not only provide stronger interoperability across various rails, but also modernize the traditional correspondent banking systems we've historically dealt with.

Ria: a cash payout network across 200 countries

 Ria is one of the largest remittance companies in the world, serving 200 countries and territories: it can pay instantly to banks, to wallets, and in cash—with the largest cash payout network in the world. The business initially focused on cash: letting people without bank accounts deposit cash in one country and have their families withdraw cash in another. As low- and middle-income countries modernized, Ria enabled bank accounts, debit cards, and mobile wallets, all covered through a single API. Culturally, this is a "built by us, for us" company—the people who make up Ria are migrants, solving the very problems they personally encountered when moving across borders.

Real impact and three migrations Cecilia shares a recent example: after the Venezuela earthquake, the biggest challenge was how people could access money when banking infrastructure collapsed. Ria immediately waived fees so that money sent to Venezuela wouldn't incur extra costs. She herself "migrated three times": at age 8, she moved from Mexico to Canada; later she migrated to the UK and then to the US. In the UK, she experienced the deadlock of not being able to rent without an IBAN and not being able to get an IBAN without a home; in the US, she found there was no simple electronic transfer like the e-Transfer she was used to, and paying rent turned out to be just an instruction to mail a check—that's tradition.

The AWS of money movement Ria's technology was originally built for its own use: to support its own products and fill service gaps. Thirty years later, they realized many banks and fintechs don't have this network but could genuinely benefit from it. Just as Amazon built infrastructure to sell books and eventually expanded to selling other things, they realized the infrastructure they built to support scale is remarkable technology that can also be sold. The "aha" moment we experienced with the Dandelion product was similar: we built the rails to support our own products, then realized the infrastructure, rails, and connectivity we created were powerful enough for other companies to use.

So we productized our core capabilities, and now it's called Dandelion.

AI compliance: the constraint on instant payments There is no instant payment without instant compliance. Cecilia's data science team built an AI platform that detects and manages financial crime with surgical precision. AI brings triple value to compliance: accuracy (reducing both false positives and false negatives), speed (truly enabling instant payments and instant decisions), and labor costs (scaling precisely). The companies that truly win are those where we almost never need to block or restrict good customers—the less we do that, the more successful the company and the happier the customers.

The future of work: jobs migrate, not people The pandemic and remote work changed a default assumption: that people migrate for work. Since remote work is feasible, maybe jobs can "migrate" to people. At the same time, AI has tightened immigration policies—governments worry about job losses and want to keep jobs for their own citizens, but the demand for talent from other countries doesn't disappear just because borders close. Companies still need to fill hot roles like data science, and Cecilia looks for talent and availability regardless of which country they come from. Money still needs to flow across borders, so embedded payments and global payroll infrastructure let anyone get paid, wherever they live.

Cecilia: When we talk about expats, we call it a money transfer; but when we talk about remittances, we call the other person a migrant. I think too many preconceptions get mixed into the distinction between migrant and expat. In fact, as an expat, I am essentially a migrant.

Historically, remittances have been informal payments, so they haven't been counted, haven't been seen, completely invisible. Financial institutions that don't serve this market are likely missing a very large portion of their addressable market. I think many institutions are starting to realize this, and they're starting to see the gap. I believe our mission is to help people who need international connections financially—to be the financial partner alongside our customers, supporting the lifestyle they choose for whatever reason.

Host:

Hello everyone, and welcome to another episode of Money Travels, presented by Visa. On this show, we explore extraordinary innovations in digital finance and how they're changing lives and livelihoods around the world. I'm Max. Today, we're tackling a question: how to bridge the gap between traditional banking and fast-moving emerging markets so that economic opportunity can reach anyone, anywhere.

Helping me dig into this is Cecilia Tamez, Chief Strategy Officer and Head of Data Science at Euronet Worldwide, overseeing a vast global network that includes brands like Ria, XE, and Dandelion.

We'll talk about why traditional banks have historically avoided the remittance market; how emerging economies managed to leapfrog the West; and a grand vision to connect the two systems—turning a remittance network into the AWS of money movement. Cecilia, welcome to the show.

Cecilia:

Thank you.

Host:

Before we officially begin, we have a new rapid-fire segment. First question: if you had the chance to abolish one piece of financial infrastructure overnight, what would you choose?

Cecilia:

I would choose traditional correspondent banking. A payment shouldn't have to hop three times just to get from one country to another. That model doesn't work.

Host:

What do you think is the most outdated financial practice that people still take for granted today?

Cecilia:

I think it's that a payment is slower than sending a text message. It uses the same internet and the same technology. There is a lot of coordination and arrangement in between, but all of that can be automated. It should be as fast as a text message.

Host:

Is there an industry buzzword that drives you crazy?

Cecilia:

Well, I'll just say it; this might sound a bit controversial—I'd pick "banking the unbanked." I know the term is well-intentioned, but I think the "unbanked" perspective itself is a bit flawed, because the people we call unbanked actually live in areas with highly modernized payment infrastructure. They are building alternative rails and bypassing all kinds of traditional systems.

So my argument is that the ones becoming truly unbanked are the banks themselves—because they haven't plugged into new systems, they are being excluded from modern economic activity.

Host:

I have to ask you, what would you call them?

Cecilia:

In many cases, they are "alternatively banked"—accessing banking in another way. Kenya is a great example: 95% of households have access to mobile wallets; they can fully participate in the digital economy and aren't excluded from the activities they need to sustain their livelihoods. But I think the term hides an assumption: as if "having banking" is the key; but actually, the key is whether you're connected to the digital economy and the modern economy.

Host:

This question might tie into your next one—what's the most common misconception about remittances?

Cecilia:

It's the idea that remittances are just niche payments—a small, troublesome, unglamorous payment business. I think that perception is changing, but historically, remittances have indeed been informal payments, so they haven't been counted, haven't been seen, completely invisible. That's why many traditional financial institutions haven't truly served these needs—because it was too hard.

But the reality is that three-quarters of global consumer payments flow to low- and middle-income countries—which means financial institutions that don't serve this market are likely missing a very large portion of their addressable market. So it really is an opportunity; these payments are very important. I think many institutions have started to realize this and are starting to see the gap.

Host:

I have to ask you about this too. I've talked to many people and friends around me, especially those whose first language isn't English; the word "remittance" means nothing to them—they wouldn't use that word to describe sending money. That's really interesting, isn't it?

Cecilia:

Yes. I think it comes from a "dividing" mindset. You see, when we talk about expats, we say it's a money transfer; but when we talk about remittances, we call the other person a migrant. Too many preconceptions get mixed into the distinction between migrant and expat—yet in fact, as an expat, I am a migrant.

That thinking has persisted, leading us to treat money transfers and remittances separately. However, I think there's value in recognizing that the two are genuinely different. When we talk about remittances, we usually mean migrants sending money from high-income countries back to low- and middle-income countries. I originally came from XE, where we mostly did transfers between high-income countries, and those customers were usually sending money to themselves; remittance customers are usually sending money to help family and support livelihoods.

So our terminology really is different. The word carries some baggage, but it also carries meaning—they are indeed different.

Host:

Completely agree. Okay, last question of the rapid-fire segment: what makes you hopeful about the future, that we can make the money in people's hands work more efficiently for more people?

Cecilia:

The very fact that we can sit here and talk about interoperability shows that people have recognized that aligning globally and connecting everyone is a very important opportunity. Those who have traditionally been unbanked, and those who now access banking through alternative rails, we are connecting them to opportunity; at the same time, we are connecting high-income countries to the opportunities these people can bring.

So I think it all comes down to reducing friction on the journey to something better. Honestly, when we see how fast emerging markets are evolving, I believe this is a very exciting opportunity for everyone.

Host:

Great. Now, the first question is about financial inclusion. We talked about remittances; cross-border remittances are a cornerstone of financial inclusion, right? I remember you mentioned that 78% of retail cross-border payments flow to low- and middle-income countries, right? And those traditional banks have basically exited this market, and companies like yours grew precisely because of this abandoned market.

So my question is, why don't they serve such a huge customer base?

Cecilia:

I think there are three layers of reasons. First, it's really complex. You know, the more corridors you directly support, the more regulatory environments you have to handle, and banks have always been risk-averse. So sending money to low- and middle-income countries where local banking is poorly served is a really thorny problem for them. The second issue—as things started shifting to alternative rails—I think is technology.

Banks are constrained by legacy technology, and system modernization is hard. It's not that they can't do it; many banks have adapted quickly in recent years, but for a long time, technology transformation was very difficult for them, so this was just one more item on a long list of things they were waiting to modernize, and they didn't feel it was important. As I said earlier, they didn't value it because many of these payments have informal components that banks can't see.

So they thought they had been focusing on high-income countries—these are my customers, this is what they need. And now they're realizing: first, there are a huge number of customers they could have served but missed because they didn't build those connections; second, even some of their existing customers are starting to use other services, which is also lost revenue for them.

So I think—based on our conversations with many banks—many banks have realized this is a gap, and it really is very important; at the same time, awareness is rising, and the G20 is actively pushing to ensure better interoperability between instant payments and alternative rails within the ecosystem.

Host:

That makes sense. But this is both a huge opportunity and a huge need for everyone using remittance solutions, right? We published a report—actually, later this year, in September, we'll release a new version—showing that the number of people relying on remittances is growing. I think we shouldn't call it emerging markets anymore; it's more like growing markets, and technology has made amazing progress in these markets. You just talked about how technology has evolved and how innovative those markets are.

So I want to ask you: how did these emerging markets achieve leapfrogging over the West?

Cecilia:

If we look back at these markets, they have historically been unbanked—in those regions, banks were almost the only option. They had technology problems, connectivity problems, and even problems with something as simple as identity verification in remote areas. So I think the starting point was Kenya, where M-Pesa emerged around 2007, and the government created a new type of banking license. They realized this telecom operator had connected so many people through a single mobile phone.

So the government introduced this new lightweight banking license that allowed people to store value on their phones, just like topping up a phone—but they repositioned it as a wallet. This was extraordinarily successful in Kenya: in 2007, bank penetration was only 17%, and today, as I said earlier, 95%–96% of households have mobile wallets.

Later, India saw this and built its own India Stack, which has been evolving since 2009. So I think it's innovation stacked on innovation, step by step creating all of this. But I think a big part of it also goes to the deep involvement of governments and regulators in driving this transformation. This wasn't just a business issue; it was a government effort to modernize the economy and connect opportunities. So I think that's roughly where it started.

It worked in those regions because they had available infrastructure, and they were solving some very basic problems—problems that are easy for us to solve but were significant and challenging for them. Things evolved bit by bit, and today, it has turned into them having the world's most advanced payment technology, so advanced that high-income countries are trying to catch up.

Host:

Hmm, that's interesting. Back to remittances: they still need to interface with traditional systems in the West, right? So what happens when that interfacing really has to happen?

Cecilia:

So I think the fundamental perspective we need to hold when bridging this gap is: this is a financial opportunity for every participant. This is not charity, and it's not about saving anyone. This is connection; it's about bringing people together. So I think the real key is: how do we solve interoperability? How do we think about scalability between traditional and modern systems to build those connections?

That's exactly where our Dandelion product comes from—it essentially does interoperability from traditional systems to modern systems. So it can now do more: not only provide stronger interoperability across various rails, but also modernize the traditional correspondent banking systems we've historically dealt with.

Host:

I think now is a good time to ask you this—for our listeners, what is RIA? What do you do? And what's the purpose behind it? I really like this story, and I hope you can elaborate for our listeners.

Cecilia:

RIA is one of the largest remittance companies in the world. We serve 200 countries and territories, at a very large scale. We can pay instantly to banks, to wallets, and in cash—we have the largest cash payout network in the world. The idea that really gave birth to this business was bridging the financial inclusion gap.

It initially focused on cash payouts, meaning letting people without bank accounts deposit cash in one place and then withdraw it as cash in another country where their families are. But as low- and middle-income countries started modernizing, we also began diversifying our rails. Where cash payouts were difficult, we started enabling bank accounts, supporting debit cards, and connecting mobile wallets. So I think the best part of this business is that we can serve all these regions through a single API.

Something particularly beautiful about our culture is that this is a "built by us, for us" company. Look at the people who make up RIA—we are all migrants. A large part of our business is supported by the people we serve. So when we wake up every morning and start working, thinking about who we're helping—we used to be that person. So the work we do is truly meaningful and mission-driven, because the problems we're trying to solve are the very ones we personally encountered when moving across borders.

And this runs through the entire company, all the way to leadership. I often say it's like a United Nations meeting—we have representatives from Africa, Asia, and around the world in important leadership positions that influence the company's business direction.

Host:

I want to make sure our listeners understand—clarity is key, after all—can you give us some real, concrete, tangible examples of the problems you solve every day?

Cecilia:

We help people move money. But when you dig into what that means for a person, it's something truly touching. If you send money to help someone in a medical crisis who can't help themselves; if you send money to make sure there's food on the table and to give people educational opportunities to lift themselves out of poverty—we are helping people improve their living conditions. This mission is truly inspiring and empowering, and we carry that belief; many of us have personally experienced and understand these situations.

It's this aspect that makes everyone in this industry passionate. Let me share a recent real example—the Venezuela earthquake. One of the biggest challenges when an earthquake hits is how people can access money. If banking infrastructure collapses, how do you help people get what they need to survive—buy food, get supplies, obtain water? So as soon as it happened, we acted immediately: we waived fees so that money sent to Venezuela wouldn't incur extra costs.

We did this because we know we can make a difference in the world, and it truly matters; people needed it—they still need it now. So mobilizing quickly and finding ways to help people in need is something very powerful and meaningful for our company and for me personally. I truly believe that's very precious.

Host:

Wow, I didn't know you did that. That... I mean, you guys are really amazing. My next question is actually more personal, because you as an individual have faced these challenges too, right? So I really want to learn more about your background and how that background shapes everything you do today and your determination to solve these problems.

Cecilia:

I am a "three-time migrant." I was born in Mexico, so my first encounter with migration was moving to Canada as a child at age 8. The migration experience as a child is completely different from as an adult, because children are shielded from much of the stress and pain—those are borne by your parents or the people migrating with you. So children experience more of the culture shock, language barriers, and things like that. As an adult, I migrated to two different countries. I lived in the UK for a while, then moved back to Canada, and later moved to the US.

Each country had different problems. For example, I remember the UK has about 98% bank coverage, but as a migrant with a job, company support, and legal support—I had all the support I needed—I found opening a bank account extremely difficult. And without a bank account, everything else becomes extremely difficult. Without an IBAN, I couldn't rent a place; without a home, I couldn't get an IBAN; then because I had no address, I couldn't get a phone number; and because I had no phone, I couldn't open a bank account.

So it was a vicious cycle—when you're trying to move to a new country, everyone assumes these things should already be in place. But the reality is, you have to coordinate everything simultaneously. That was my first lesson as an adult: how difficult it is to handle these administrative matters—and that was with full company support. After moving to the US, I managed to open a bank account—though I think it's harder now. At the time, the bank was willing to open an account for me, but figuring out the various payment systems was still very troublesome.

Because I had just moved and wasn't ready to buy a house, I rented a place. In Canada, we have e-Transfer, and you can transfer money with just an email. I was very used to that feeling of being able to make electronic payments easily and without fees. But after moving to the US, that didn't work—unless it was within the same bank, it was completely useless.

Once, I needed to pay rent to my landlord, and I thought I had sent the payment, but it turned out to be just an instruction to mail a check—the US still uses checks to this day, you know, that's what we call tradition. So the real difficulty was adapting to the cultural habits of payment systems in different countries; beyond that, I think every aspect was also very challenging, because you're simultaneously building a life from scratch, and you'd be surprised how many administrative trivialities we take for granted.

Host:

Indeed. I really like the personal touch in your experience, because I truly believe that when you give your work meaning, your work becomes better and more valuable, right? You went to Ria, and while doing all this, you're also building this interoperability system—what's the big picture? What's the grand goal behind it? Yes, you're solving problems for the migrant community, and you want to make it simpler and more accessible. But what's the overall strategy to achieve all this?

Cecilia:

When it comes to the "how," it's actually interesting, because we built the technology for our own use. The real purpose of building this infrastructure was to create better products and serve our customers in ways that otherwise wouldn't be possible. We've been filling gaps all along, and the nature of this business is to find those underserved corners. But as we continued investing, we developed Dandelion into a truly remarkable network.

We originally built it for Ria, but then we realized that others might want this too. Many banks and fintechs don't have the network we've built over thirty years, and they could genuinely benefit from it.

So, you know, it started with remittances, but then we really began evolving into this idea: anyone who needs to pay anywhere in the world—whether through traditional rails or otherwise—we can do it for them. So we truly evolved from a remittance company into a cross-border payments company.

We've also kept expanding use cases, supporting not just C to C, meaning person to person, but also C to X, B to X, and B to B to X. That means we enable those fintechs and banks to serve their own customers well, and that truly empowers us to help more people around the world, such as small businesses that need to pay overseas suppliers, or merchants that want to pay consumers.

The fastest-growing segment in cross-border payments is businesses paying consumers, and in low- and middle-income countries, this is a huge gap and a major driver pushing many financial institutions to fill it.

Host:

Actually, while preparing for today's conversation, you mentioned you're building the "AWS of money movement." Can you elaborate on that?

Cecilia:

When we first launched this business, we were really excited. We knew it was a huge opportunity, but at the time, not many companies were doing what we do, so people were a bit confused because they didn't realize the problem they faced. Once they discovered this gap, they realized they really needed our services. And when we explained it, for many people, it was an "aha" moment. For example: our payment network is to us what AWS is to Amazon.

Amazon built infrastructure to sell books, then they decided to sell things other than books, and later they decided to sell other people's things, and then they realized—look, the infrastructure we built to support scale is actually remarkable technology, and we can sell it too. The "aha" moment we experienced with the Dandelion product was similar: we built the rails to support our own products, then we realized the infrastructure, rails, and connectivity we created were powerful enough for other companies to use.

So we productized our core capabilities, and now it's called Dandelion.

Host:

I want to talk about complexity, but more importantly, the importance of compliance—because you just mentioned those traditional banks, and we also know that compliance and regulatory burden or responsibility is extremely important, and sometimes it's exactly what prevents services from landing or makes people afraid to be pioneers. How do you solve this? Starting with Dandelion, but maybe also extending more broadly?

Cecilia:

Yes. I mean, in our core business, we process these payments, so we have to make sure we're guarding against fraud and money laundering. This is a huge risk in the industry, and we have to take it seriously. And we've been fortunate to always be on the right side of compliance. But it's not just luck; it's also strategy and investment. We have a very talented compliance team, and there's a very capable leader in the compliance program who truly understands that to handle this complexity and scale, we have to be able to support instant payments.

And that's the constraint—there is no instant payment without instant compliance. But the complexity and scale of this are enormous, so we worked with my data science team to build an AI platform that lets us detect and manage financial crime with surgical precision to reduce friction. So the companies that truly win are those where we almost never need to block or restrict good customers: the less we contact, block, or impose restrictions, the more successful the company and the happier the customers. Another aspect is purely scale.

There's a lot of discussion now about what AI can do, and some people view it positively, some negatively. Our view is that AI can bring us triple value in compliance. It improves our accuracy while reducing both false positives and false negatives; it improves speed—thanks to AI, we can truly achieve instant payments and instant decisions; and it reduces labor costs, allowing us to scale precisely. So it's been a truly wonderful experience. The compliance AI platform we built in-house has achieved outstanding results, and this is indeed the direction of the future.

Host:

I want to switch topics and ask you this. Because the geopolitical environment is changing every day, and it may be more uncertain than ever. There are more and more restrictions on physical migration or the ease of cross-border movement. So how does solving payment infrastructure pave the way for the future of global work? How does it help people around the world continue to perform at their best, wherever they live?

Cecilia:

I think this is a very interesting evolution, and I believe it started with the pandemic and remote work. In the past, people took it for granted that migration was for work—people from low- and middle-income countries would migrate to high-income countries to seek opportunities. But one thing we learned is that remote work is completely feasible; you can have a team distributed across different locations and still remain highly productive. Extending from that, if we have the right technology—and because of the circumstances, massive investment poured into technology supporting remote work; if it weren't for the pandemic, we might still be exploring this today.

So suddenly, we had the infrastructure to support remote work, allowing us to have conversations like this across different countries. From then on, I felt that maybe workers no longer need to migrate; maybe we can let jobs "migrate" to people. This is a very significant mindset shift, and I believe it's meaningful. At the same time, with the rise of AI, immigration policies started tightening because governments worry about job losses. There's a lot of discourse about AI causing unemployment, so governments suddenly started thinking: we have to restrict immigration and keep jobs for our own citizens.

But the reality is that this idea is a bit flawed, because the demand for talent from other countries still exists, and that demand won't disappear just because borders close. But ultimately, I think what we're seeing is "jobs" migrating, not "people." And fundamentally, money still needs to flow across borders. So one thing we do is serve the full spectrum of customers, enabling businesses to pay consumers and achieving fluidity across the full spectrum of payments. On the other hand, companies still need to fill these positions and attract this talent.

In certain fields, like data science, hiring is really difficult; these skills are in high demand. When I hire, I look at their talent and availability, and it doesn't matter which country they come from. So this idea of "work itself becoming international" is changing our traditional view of migration.

Host:

So how do you solve this? How do you ensure that ultimately, no matter where a person lives or which company they work for, they can get paid where they live?

Cecilia:

I think that's exactly the power of our products: we provide embedded payments together with payroll partners, and we also work with banks and fintechs to make payments happen. So the real key is—if you have a payment rail that enables interoperability across many use cases, you're solving problems for everyone: not just our direct-to-consumer business, but we solve it at the wholesale level, so that any company or financial institution that needs to fill this need can enable these payments.

The demand here is extremely diverse, and there are many ways these payments can be embedded, integrated, and co-created. That's the beauty of our solution—Dandelion takes an API-first approach, but we can integrate in many different ways to meet all the evolving needs. These needs change rapidly, but basically, it means: a company can have multi-currency wallets, make local payments or local collections; it can pay to mobile wallets or cards, letting recipients choose their preferred payment method.

Host:

I think this brings us back to your mission, right?

Cecilia:

I believe our mission is truly to help people who live international lives—those who need international connections financially—to be the financial partner for our customers, truly supporting their lifestyle, whatever the reason they need this help.

Host:

Cecilia, thank you so much for joining us today. I really enjoyed this conversation. Once again, deep thanks.

Cecilia:

Thank you, Max.

Host:

That's it for this week's episode. If you want to continue the conversation, you can follow me on LinkedIn. And of course, don't forget to follow the show on Spotify and subscribe on YouTube. Next episode, I'll continue exploring digital finance innovations that change lives. So wherever your journey takes you, remember to tune in to the next episode of Money Travels, presented by Visa.