Breaking into the US market is one of the great proving grounds in payments. The opportunity is enormous. The US digital-payments sector is projected to grow from $3.06tn in 2024 to $9.29tn by 2033, but the path isn’t linear.
For many global fintechs, US expansion is the moment when technology, operating models, and assumptions are tested in real time. This market runs on its own logic, shaped by credit-driven consumers, fragmented regulation, and expectations for instant, always-on digital experiences. The companies that succeed are the ones that recognise those realities early and design around them.
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One of the biggest surprises for international entrants is how American consumers behave compared to those in Europe or Asia. The US is fundamentally a credit-first market. Rewards, loyalty programmes, flexible repayment options, and interest-free instalments are baseline expectations, not value-adds.
A debit-first proposition that succeeds elsewhere often underperforms here. Companies that launched with debit or pay-in-installment offerings are adding credit cards because that’s where everyday spending lives in the U.S.
And digital expectations play a massive role. Younger consumers expect virtual cards, digital wallets, instant issuance, and near-real-time servicing. If your product doesn’t feel immediate, integrated, and effortless, customers will simply move to one that does. Understanding these expectations early and configuring your products accordingly is essential to a successful US launch.
Regulatory reality
If consumer expectations are the first surprise, regulation is usually the second.
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By GlobalDataAt the federal level, fintechs usually interact with the OCC, CFPB, and FDIC. That’s the easy part. What’s more challenging is the state-by-state licensing landscape. Fifty different regimes, each with its own interpretation of money transmission, lending, disclosures, and operational requirements.
This is where expansion plans can slow down, not because teams aren’t smart or prepared, but because the variability is so high. I’ve seen companies launch a card program only to discover that several states required separate money-transmitter licenses, or that parts of their product were treated as lending in certain jurisdictions. These are not minor adjustments. They can significantly impact timelines, budgets, and product design.
What’s changed today is that modern infrastructure can absorb this complexity. The smartest firms bake compliance into their architecture from day one. Cloud-native, API-driven platforms that support multi-regional deployments let you localise data, support on-soil processing, and launch new programmes without creating a new tech stack for every market. When compliance is embedded rather than bolted on, the US market becomes far more navigable.
Partnerships that bridge the gap
Many international firms underestimate how much institutional knowledge lives inside the US ecosystem. This includes regulatory interpretation, issuing partnerships, and operational readiness. The right partner short-circuits years of trial and error.
This goes beyond a traditional vendor relationship. Strong partners act as strategic collaborators, helping teams think through edge cases, anticipate regulatory hurdles, and design for scale from the outset.
Trustly is one example of a company that recognised this early. As Trustly expanded its global pay-by-bank capabilities, it prioritised infrastructure flexibility and local expertise to support complex regional requirements. By working with a platform that handles issuer, processor, and ledger functionality across markets, Trustly positioned itself to adapt to local expectations without introducing unnecessary technical complexity.
Infrastructure for sustainable scale
Once you’re live, the conversation shifts immediately to resilience. Can your platform stay always-on? Can it handle spikes? Can it survive an outage without disrupting customer service?
The reality is that uptime, stability, and on-soil deployments aren’t just technical requirements in the US Companies are increasingly using distributed cloud regions, active setups, and real-time data replication to maintain continuity even during disruptions.
This level of resilience is not about over-engineering. It enables growth without friction. Modern infrastructure also simplifies integration with third parties, including card networks, KYC providers, authentication services, and fraud tools. And in the US, that ecosystem is essential.
Success in the US comes down to one thing: Adaptability
The companies that win in the US aren’t the ones with the flashiest product or the newest business model. They’re the ones who understand the nuances of this market and design for them. Credit-heavy consumer behavior, regulatory fragmentation, operational resilience, and relentless innovation all matter.
Global experience is valuable, but in the US, you need a strategy built for this specific environment. If you enter with the right partners, the right infrastructure, and a willingness to adjust your product to local realities, you can enter the world’s most competitive payments market with real confidence and stay there.
Brian Muse-McKenney, Chief Revenue Officer, Episode Six
