By Thomas Pinter, Co-Founder and Chief Commercial Officer at Damisa, a B2B cross-border payment and settlement platform for emerging markets.

Asia Pacific represents one of the most consequential growth corridors in global B2B commerce. Cross-border transaction volumes across the region are projected to exceed $4 trillion by 2028, driven by expanding intra-regional trade, the rapid digitalisation of supply chains, and a growing base of enterprises operating across multiple currency markets simultaneously.

The payment infrastructure serving these flows has not kept pace. SWIFT-based correspondent banking in non-G10 APAC corridors remains slow, opaque, and expensive, settlement windows of two to five business days, fees that compound across intermediary chains, and capital sitting idle in transit generating no return. For treasury teams managing liquidity across multiple APAC currencies, the compounding effect of deferred settlement, FX exposure, and trapped working capital represents a material and largely structural drag on financial operations.

Damisa was built to address this gap directly. Today, we are extending that capability significantly through a partnership with dLocal (NASDAQ: DLO), the leading cross-border payment platform connecting global merchants to emerging markets, with established local rail infrastructure and regulatory presence in the markets where it operates globally.

The Strategic Logic

Effective cross-border settlement in APAC requires two distinct capabilities that are rarely combined in a single provider: the ability to move value across borders with speed, transparency, and regulatory compliance; and the ability to deliver that value into local bank accounts through in-country infrastructure that operates within each market's regulatory framework.

Damisa provides the former. Our regulated settlement infrastructure moves funds across borders in hours, with a single disclosed fee, real-time transaction visibility, and robust KYB, AML, Travel Rule (where applicable), and sanctions screening across transactions. Beyond settlement, clients can hold balances on the platform earning up to 3.5% APR on idle USD, and access FX hedging instruments to manage currency exposure across multiple APAC corridors, capabilities that are particularly material in markets where currency volatility compounds the cost of deferred settlement.

dLocal provides the latter. With a decade of in-country operational experience, direct local banking relationships, and established regulatory licences across APAC markets, their infrastructure handles the final mile of settlement, depositing native fiat currency directly into recipient bank accounts without the routing delays and failure rates associated with traditional correspondent chains.

The combination addresses the full settlement journey, from initiation to confirmed local receipt, within a single integrated flow. For Damisa, this eliminates the time and capital cost of building equivalent in-country infrastructure independently across the APAC region. For dLocal, the partnership opens access to enterprise B2B settlement demand from Damisa's merchant base, a client profile and transaction type that extends the commercial utility of their infrastructure across new payment flows.

What Changes for Damisa Clients

Access to expanded APAC coverage is available immediately through the existing Damisa platform and API connections. No additional integration, engineering work, or compliance onboarding is required.

For businesses currently managing supplier payments, vendor disbursements, or treasury operations across APAC through correspondent banking, the practical implications are material: reduced settlement time, lower transaction costs, elimination of intermediary fee deductions, yield on balances that would otherwise sit idle between payment cycles, and access to markets that correspondent banking either serves poorly or has withdrawn from entirely.

Why Now?

The structural case for improved B2B settlement infrastructure in APAC is well-established. Currency volatility across several key markets, capital control regimes in others, and the progressive withdrawal of global correspondent banking from higher-risk corridors have created persistent friction for businesses operating across the region.

The regulatory environment has matured to match. Singapore's MAS framework, Hong Kong's Stablecoin Ordinance, and advancing frameworks across the UAE and broader Southeast Asia have created a compliance foundation on which institutional-grade digital settlement can now operate with confidence. For treasury teams managing FX exposure across these markets, the combination of real-time settlement, hedging instruments, and yield on idle balances represents a meaningfully different operating model from what correspondent banking has historically made available.

This partnership is designed for that environment, combining the speed, programmability, and treasury capability of regulated digital rails with the local presence and regulatory depth required to operate responsibly across each market.

"APAC represents one of the most significant opportunities in global B2B payments. This partnership gives our clients local rail access and regulatory footing across the region without any additional work on their side. That is the infrastructure model Damisa is built to deliver."

— Thomas Pinter, Co-Founder and CCO, Damisa

"Cross-border settlement in APAC can be complex. Fragmented rails, local compliance requirements, in-country operational demands. That is exactly what our infrastructure is built to absorb. Damisa is building for corridors that have been underserved for too long, and this partnership gives them the foundation to do it at scale."

— Richard Healy, Commercial VP (APAC) at dLocal

For further information on Damisa's APAC settlement capabilities, contact us or email the team at hello@damisa.xyz.