Aleksandr Vasilev’s take on Mercuryo’s development

The global payment scene is in desperate need of a change. Compared to the yet not quite ideal B2C sector, B2B payments stand far behind. Some of the stats numbers are raising concerns. For example, just one-third of B2B spend goes through electronic processing. Moreover, checks amount to more than half of the business payments made within a year.

While digitalization of the B2B payment industry is only a part of the problem, the global payment infrastructure is not adequately developed and doesn’t meet the demands of modern businesses.

Challenges of B2B Payments

Speed is one major issue: the B2B payments system is cumbersome and outdated. Cross-border and even local transactions are unapologetically slow and can take 2 to 5 days to reach the receiver. No wonder that 33% percent of SMEs name slow payment processing time as a major issue.

International payments’ high cost is another challenge. Sending money overseas is a pricey affair due to all the bank and cross-border fees, exchange rates, and taxes that need to be taken care of. On top of that, not all businesses are progressive enough to introduce automation tools and rely on cash, manual tracking, and lack of must-have security measures.

Both issues mentioned above can be resolved by building a solid payment infrastructure, fully legal and backed by technology. Mercuryo is currently working on building such infrastructure to help businesses, regardless of their size or area of focus, benefit from easy and accessible payment solutions and go global.

Fixing the B2B Payment Model

Strong expertise is one solid reason why Mercuryo is becoming one of the leading crypto-powered payment providers worldwide. The company’s founders spent years working in the industry before they came up with how to transform the payment infrastructure. One of the key figures that help Mercuryo reach its milestones is Aleksandr Vasilev, the company’s Chief Commercial Officer.

Together with Petr Kozyakov, Mercuryo’s CEO, Aleksandr Vasilev co-founded an online payment solution Win Pay. Before that, he worked as a head of e-commerce at PayU and led sales departments in various e-commerce enterprises.

At Mercuryo, Aleksandr jump-started sales processes and actively developed the B2B direction. Aleksandr places his bet on deep expertise, expansion of previously developed partnership network, and the current state of the market, especially the UK one, ready to embrace next-gen payment solutions.

Building up partnerships is an essential part of infrastructure growth. Aiming to provide legal services worldwide, Mercuryo thoroughly checks every potential partner and does its due diligence.

Eventually, hard work pays off, and the network starts self-evolving as partners recommend you to their circle of connections. Mercuryo has seen quite a few cases like that. “It was just a week after we integrated our widget solution with Bancor when they introduced us to Polygon, a DeFi project looking to explore our on-ramp functionality for its tokens. When your product meets the pronounced market need, and your company takes care of all the legal requirements on behalf of customers while staying transparent, your network starts growing exponentially,” says Aleksandr Vasiliev.

Another activity Aleksandr focuses on is offering companies from the local market opportunities for revenue growth. Mercuryo strives to assist startups and develop custom solutions. For instance, if a business wants to keep cryptocurrency assets instead of receiving fiat, Mercuryo can easily arrange that.

What the Future Holds

Mercuryo is determined to become an integral part of the global financial system, the one that becomes indispensable for its seamless functioning in payment channeling. Instead of focusing on single products, the company prefers to pay attention to the bigger picture and develop a universal toolbox that can deliver highly customized solutions.

“Mercuryo aims to become one of the largest payment operators in the next 5-10 years, and we have a clear vision on how to make it happen,” says Aleksandr Vasilyev. “Although cryptocurrency’s image is not impeccable, our goal is to use its technological possibilities. We want to introduce a toolbox for businesses and breach a wall of archaic and complex payment models, making cross-border payments universally accessible and cheap. To achieve this, we spend a lot of resources on staying compliant and completely secure. Instead of taking a shortcut, we take a responsible approach to the choice of partners.”