Cross-border commerce is no longer reserved for large corporations. According to an article shared by Fintechnews.sg, one in four Singapore businesses now sells abroad through PayPal. That’s more than 90,000 merchants reaching international customers without leaving home.

Between April 2024 and March 2025, these businesses served 14 million overseas shoppers and completed over 60 million transactions. For a small market like Singapore, those numbers show how far digital-first SMEs can now reach with the right infrastructure.

The sectors driving the trend

Three industries dominate Singapore’s cross-border e-commerce story: gaming, beauty, and fashion. Together they generated over US$1.6 billion in international sales.

Gaming accounts for roughly US$593 million and 1.7 million monthly purchases, with most buyers coming from the United States, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, and France. Beauty follows with US$411 million and nearly 900,000 monthly orders, mainly from Mexico, the United States, Australia, and China. Fashion leads in value with US$636 million and 737,000 monthly transactions, driven by shoppers in the United States, Mexico, Japan, and Germany.

Beyond those sectors, digital goods and software brought in another US$276 million, showing that intangible products continue to play a strong role in cross-border trade.

Where the buyers are

The United States remains the largest destination for purchases, representing more than US$830 million in sales. But Mexico stands out as a fast-growing market, generating 7 million purchases worth about US$370 million, particularly in beauty and fashion. For founders, this suggests that opportunity may come from unexpected regions.

What is fueling the growth

PayPal credits part of this momentum to its expanding suite of business tools such as PayPal Ads and PayPal Rewards, which help merchants attract and retain global customers. Yet the broader picture is that small businesses can now sell internationally with minimal barriers.

Singapore’s strong fintech ecosystem and reliable payments regulation make it easier for merchants to go global. Challenges like currency conversion, foreign payments, and fraud protection are increasingly managed by platforms rather than merchants themselves.

A sign for fintech founders

The takeaway is not that cross-border trade has become effortless. Taxes, logistics, and compliance still matter. But the path is clearly more accessible. For fintech startups building solutions in payments, e-commerce, or merchant analytics, this trend highlights real, data-backed demand for global enablement tools.

Key takeaways for fintech startups

Here are the main lessons from PayPal’s findings:

• International sales are now part of everyday business for Singapore SMEs.
  
  
• Gaming, beauty, and fashion lead cross-border growth, followed by software.
  
  
• Emerging markets like Mexico are becoming important buyer bases.
  
  
• Payments platforms that add marketing or reward tools gain strategic importance.
  
  
• Simplifying tax, logistics, and compliance remains a strong value proposition.

If you want to explore how your fintech can scale cross-border or support global merchants, contact Your Fintech Story for strategy and growth support.

EU-Startups.com recently reported that Czech fintech Flowpay has launched in the Netherlands, supported by a €30 million facility from Fasanara Capital. It is a major step for a young company with a simple goal: helping small businesses get easier access to funding.

From Czechia to the European stage

Flowpay was founded in 2021 in Prague by William Jalloul, who noticed how often small businesses were turned away by traditional banks. Across Europe, the financing gap for SMEs is estimated at around €400 billion.

Rather than becoming another bank, Flowpay built something lighter. It offers embedded lending inside the digital tools small businesses already use, such as e-commerce platforms, accounting systems, and point-of-sale software. No extra forms. No appointments. Just quick, data-driven lending.

In 2024, Flowpay raised €2.1 million in seed funding from Czech investors Soulmates Ventures and DEPO Ventures, after joining the ABN AMRO & Techstars Future of Finance accelerator in Amsterdam. Those experiences helped the company prepare for international expansion.

Lending that fits naturally into daily life

Flowpay connects directly to business data sources like sales, accounting, and banking. This lets it assess each company’s financial health in real time and offer loans up to €100,000 within minutes.

In Czechia and Slovakia, the idea caught on quickly. Flowpay integrated its service with Shoptet Boost, Dotykačka, and Storyous, turning funding into a background feature of the tools entrepreneurs already rely on.

A new chapter in the Netherlands

With the new €30 million credit facility from Fasanara Capital, Flowpay can now scale its model to serve thousands of SMEs in the Netherlands and other European markets. The investment signals strong confidence in its approach and underlines the need for faster, simpler lending options for Europe’s small business economy.

Key takeaways for fintech startups

Before the bullet list, here’s a short intro sentence, as per your rule.

• Solve a real problem. Flowpay addresses a visible funding gap for SMEs that banks have not filled.
  
  
• Use real data. Assessing live performance data leads to faster and fairer decisions.
  
  
• Integrate into existing tools. Meeting users where they already work increases adoption.
  
  
• Partner to grow. Collaborations with accelerators and software providers can speed up expansion.
  
  
• Balance growth and control. Rapid lending requires careful risk management to stay sustainable.

Your Fintech Story helps startups like Flowpay refine their strategy and communicate it effectively. If your company is ready to grow, reach out and let’s shape your story together.