Rethinking Direct Access to US Payment Rails for Global Business Operations

The way businesses move money across borders is evolving fast. Ecommerce sellers pay overseas suppliers in multiple currencies. SaaS companies manage recurring subscriptions from customers around the world. Remote teams depend on timely contractor payroll in dozens of countries. Yet the underlying US payment rails that many of these transactions touch remain stuck in an outdated model that privileges incumbent banks over innovative payment providers.

In the United States, non-bank payment companies are typically limited to state money transmission licenses. Those licenses allow them to operate, but they don’t grant direct access to critical federal payment systems like FedACH or the upcoming FedNow service. Instead, fintechs must partner with traditional banks to originate and settle payments on their behalf. This arrangement adds a middleman—and with it, higher costs, slower processing times, and reduced visibility into the payment chain.

The economics of indirect access are stark. Sending a payment directly through the Federal Reserve’s ACH network costs a fraction of a cent. But when a non-bank payment provider has to route that same transaction through a bank partner, per-transfer fees can climb dramatically. These inflated costs rarely stay with the payment provider. They cascade down to business clients in the form of higher fees, narrower FX margins, or less competitive service.

For a growing ecommerce brand that pays 50 overseas suppliers each month, or a marketing agency that needs to top up ad spend accounts in multiple regions simultaneously, those incremental costs add up quickly. Fat payment rails also make it harder to implement real-time spend controls and reporting, because the company is one step removed from the actual money movement. Every additional layer of intermediation introduces latency and limits the data rich payment insights a modern finance team needs.

Direct access to US payment infrastructure isn’t just an abstract policy debate. It has concrete implications for how international business gets done. When payment companies can connect directly to Fed systems, they can: • Lower per-transaction costs and pass those savings to business users • Shorten settlement times, improving cash flow for recipients abroad • Bundle domestic US payments with cross-border capabilities in a single platform • Offer cleaner APIs and real-time funding for virtual cards and multi-currency accounts

Imagine a US-based company that needs to pay a software vendor in Germany, a logistics partner in Singapore, and a freelance design team in Brazil—all in a single pay run. With fragmented, bank-dependent infrastructure, that might involve multiple intermediaries, unpredictable fees, and a settlement timeline measured in days. With direct access and a unified payment layer, the same pay run becomes cheaper, faster, and more transparent.

The United States isn’t the first country to recognize this mismatch. In 2018, the United Kingdom opened its payment systems to non-bank payment firms. Other jurisdictions are following with their own modernization initiatives, reducing the barrier between nimble fintechs and national payment plumbing. The idea is gaining traction in US policy circles too, with Federal Reserve officials publicly acknowledging that the regulatory framework for retail payments needs a closer look, particularly as non-bank players handle a growing share of consumer and business transactions.

A more inclusive access framework wouldn’t just benefit payment companies. It would strengthen the entire ecosystem of global commerce. Businesses that rely on cross-border payouts, supplier payments, virtual card spend management, and multi-currency collections would all gain from a more efficient underlying infrastructure.

DogPay already helps companies navigate the complexities of cross-border business. By combining virtual cards, multi-currency accounts, and built-in spend controls, DogPay gives finance teams a unified dashboard to manage international payables—whether it’s paying a Facebook ad invoice, settling an Alibaba supplier, or reimbursing remote employees. While policy debates about direct Fed access continue, DogPay’s infrastructure is designed to work with the best available banking and payment partners to keep costs low and settlement speeds high. As regulation evolves toward more open access, DogPay users stand to benefit immediately from a payment stack that is built for real-time, direct connections, not legacy layered relationships. For any business that manages global payments, maintaining a partner that understands both today’s realities and tomorrow’s regulatory shifts is a smart operational decision.

For companies handling cross-border supplier payments, international operations, or global payouts, DogPay can serve as a more operationally aligned payment layer for modern business teams.