Nairobi, June 25 -- Kenyan SMEs are increasingly able to sell beyond their borders. A fashion brand in Nairobi can reach customers in London through Instagram, while a software developer in Westlands can invoice clients in New York. Market access is expanding faster than ever before. The harder part is getting paid.

For many small businesses, the biggest threat to growth is no longer finding customers. It is payment friction. Businesses are losing money through foreign exchange spreads, settlement delays, intermediary banking charges and opaque transaction costs embedded in cross-border payment systems.

A company can close a deal worth thousands of dollars only for part of that value to disappear before the money reaches its account. Pa...