OKX Pay New Era: How crypto payments change the game?

As the global payment industry moves towards digitalization and decentralization, traditional payment systems are facing unprecedented challenges. Against this background, OKX Pay came into being, as the crypto payment portal launched by OKX, and is committed to reshaping the payment experience through blockchain technology. OKX Pay not only improves the convenience and security of digital asset payments, but also opens the door to the Web3 world for users. This article will dig into the transformation trends of the global payments industry and analyze how OKX Pay can play a key role in this change.

**The inevitable trend of global payment industry transformation and

crypto payment**

According to McKinsey's 2024 Global Payment Report, global payment revenue has reached US$2.4 trillion in 2023, with an average annual growth rate of 7% in the past five years. It is particularly worth noting that the transaction volume of digital payments is growing rapidly at an average annual rate of 17%, far exceeding the overall revenue growth rate, and is accelerating the promotion of cashless society and instant payment system into the mainstream global model [1] .

In the continuous pursuit of efficient and seamless financial experience, the global payment system is undergoing profound transformation. Its essence is: the reconstruction of capital flow capacity is evolving from a traditional architecture mainly based on cash, bank cards, and bank accounts to a more real-time, low-cost, and de-mediated architecture.

With the popularity of digital infrastructure, the large-scale use of stablecoins, and the continuous maturity of DeFi, crypto payment systems are moving from conception to reality. Whether in cash-dependent economies or developed countries with a well-established credit system, crypto payments have shown the potential to break through the limitations of the traditional system and are fundamentally reshaping the payment experience.

Why does the traditional payment system need to be reconstructed?

The traditional payment system has caused high economic and time costs due to the hierarchical structure of the bank clearing system and card network.

Although ACH, wire transfer and other systems support intraday receipts, there are multiple thresholds for user identity and amount use; daily card payment is based on a complex multi-party collaboration system - from card issuing banks to acquiring banks, from payment institutions to card organizations, fees are charged for each link.

Taking credit cards as an example, the total handling fee paid by merchants is usually between 1.5% and 3.5%, and card organizations, acquiring banks, and service providers take commissions at all levels. Cross-border payments are even more serious. Even if real-time and low-rate transfers can be achieved in a closed economy with mature centralized clearing system, once cross-border payments are involved, the problems of cumbersome procedures, slow arrival and high costs are inevitable.

According to World Bank data, the average cost of SWIFT cross-border remittances is as high as 6.5% of the amount of remittances, which takes 2-5 working days. For enterprises, 30%-40% of the costs in the payment process come from payment networks and foreign exchange conversion fees, and it is the cost stacking of these infrastructure layers that constitutes the main source of profit for the global payment industry.

Obviously, the traditional payment system is shackled by multiple intermediaries, fragmented systems and old technologies, and urgently needs to be reshaped by crypto payment systems based on blockchain technology to open up more efficient financial boundaries.

Scenario penetration of crypto payment

Crypto payments naturally have advantages such as global interoperability, efficient settlement, and extremely low cost, especially in areas with multi-currency, multi-local collaboration, and weak financial infrastructure.

With the help of the single account architecture of blockchain, cross-border payments no longer need to go through multiple proxy banks, and settlement and clearing are completed in one piece, breaking the disadvantages of closed systems and can be widely adapted to the needs of transferring small amounts of individuals to large amounts of enterprises. And the programmability of crypto assets can bring greater financial market possibilities.

Daily life scenes

For ordinary users, crypto payment can greatly improve life efficiency and experience. Especially suitable for groups who face daily cross-border payments but have to face high costs:

• Immigrant workers, international students, freelancers, etc. need to frequently remit money;
• Micro payment scenarios required by gig platform and content creator economy;
• There is no need to rely on bank accounts to deposit and withdrawal scenarios, such as off-chain payment conversion.

OKX Pay is committed to opening up the connection point between encrypted payment and real consumption, so that every user has the ability to pay as simple as "sending messages" and truly realize payment freedom.

Cross-border business scenarios

Most cross-border transactions revolve around import payments from suppliers, usually in the United States, Latin America or Europe, and in Africa or Asia. These channels are particularly troublesome because local channels in these countries are underdeveloped and companies have difficulty cooperating with local banks. Cross-border payments can last up to several weeks, and the transfer fee is even more than 10% [2] . Other companies with global sales channels also face various troubles when facing the process of payment and recycling of funds.

The crypto payment system is the optimal solution in this scenario:

• Receive accounts in real time without waiting for agency settlement;
• Can accommodate large amounts of funds
• Supports multi-currency conversion and adapts to settlement currencies in various places;
• On-chain programmability, custom payment processes or trigger conditions can be customized according to merchants;
• The introduction of the compliant KYC + AML mechanism has further enhanced the security and traceability of B2B applications.

Therefore, whether it is expanding existing payment providers or adopting native crypto asset payment networks, merchants and institutions can have a better payment experience. Just as Mastercard recently announced the launch of a global stablecoin payment support system and will cooperate with OKX in some supported regions to issue OKX Card, with the purpose of connecting crypto transactions and daily consumption and promoting merchants to accept stablecoin payments.

Financial infrastructure scenarios

From the perspective of financial institutions, once the crypto payment system matures, it will be the underlying infrastructure for core functions such as transactions, custody, and liquidity management.

The on-chain authentication mechanism can effectively reduce competitor risks; transparent and efficient payment logic can build a converged product architecture for DeFi and TradFi, providing asset portfolio, income re-trading, automatic settlement and other capabilities.

As the core payment module, OKX Pay is gradually integrating with DeFi, CEX, and wallet systems to promote diversification, combinable and low-threshold access to financial products.

OKX Pay Advantages and Vision

Unmanaged security guarantee

The essence of payment is the transfer of trust, and security is the foundation of the foundation. OKX Pay is equipped with a compliance and risk control system and adopts a multi-signature mechanism. All transactions require co-signature of users and OKX. Without user authorization, assets cannot be moved.

At the same time, with the help of ZK Email recovery technology, users can easily retrieve their accounts while ensuring safety, greatly reducing the threshold for traditional wallets.

**Instant transfer, zero handling fee - payment is as simple as sending

a message**

OKX Pay is based on OKX ZK Layer2—X layer’s architecture, and realizes zero-fee digital asset transfer anytime, anywhere. This is very friendly to small and high-frequency users, and meets lightweight payment needs such as "sending red envelopes, group chat transfers".

We know that payment behavior is always accompanied by familiar social networks. Open OKX Pay, users can add contact friends, transferring money is as simple as sending messages, or sending or receiving digital assets through QR code. We are committed to integrating payment behavior into life, building the real consumption scenarios that everyone really needs, and achieving the explosion of the OKX network effect.

The paradigm of TradFi and PayFi

Different from traditional DeFi wallets that are limited to asset management, OKX Pay is a unified entrance to CEX+Wallet+Pa. OKX's persistence and efforts on the chain Defi allow us to have the confidence to provide the best products. Our powerful trading system and open ecological cooperation can help users integrate asset appreciation and payment scenarios, not limited to a single product or strategy, but can truly make assets composable, which is difficult for traditional finance to do.

User assets not only "lying" in the wallet, but can also automatically enter the income strategy pool. Currently, they can enjoy an annualized up to 5% (upper limit of 10,000 USDT), realizing that funds "flow when they are paid and value-added when they are idle".

At the same time, OKX Pay supports flexible connections to PSP, card organizations, Web3 DApps and traditional institutions, which can be quickly integrated and developed by merchants to create their own payment experience and reach their own customer base.

We believe that building a complete closed transaction loop is the core path of financial infrastructure in the Web3 world.

Conclusion

From improving individual efficiency to reshaping the global business landscape, crypto payment systems are becoming the next generation of infrastructure.

OKX Pay is committed to making digital asset payment a channel connecting every on-chain and off-chain world , serving every user and every real application scenario.

The new era of digital asset payment has officially begun, and Mass Adoption has arrived!

Disclaimer:

This article only represents the author's views. This article is not intended to provide (i) investment advice or investment recommendation; (ii) offer or solicitation for the purchase, sale or holding of digital assets; (iii) financial, accounting, legal or tax advice. We do not guarantee the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of such information. Digital assets held (including stablecoins and NFTs) are involved in high risks and may fluctuate significantly. You should carefully consider whether trading or holding digital assets is right for you based on your financial situation. For your specific situation, please consult your legal/tax/investment professional. Please be responsible for understanding and complying with relevant local applicable laws and regulations.