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“When it's stable, you don't have to prefund. You've sent the money, they've received it, they can pay it out instantly. There's no balance sheet.”

Geetha Panchapakesan, Founder and CEO of Tesser

TLDR:

Tedd Huff, CEO of fintech advisory firm Voalyre, sits down with Geetha Panchapakesan, Founder and CEO of Tesser, to explore how stablecoins are changing cross-border payments for enterprises tired of slow, expensive banking methods.

Traditional payment systems force companies to pre-fund accounts in multiple countries, tying up capital that earns nothing while transactions crawl through correspondent banks over days or weeks. Stablecoins offer instant settlement without pre-funding requirements, giving businesses real-time visibility into every transaction.

They discuss practical adoption strategies, including how to test one payment corridor before scaling, and addresses regulatory clarity emerging from frameworks like the Genius Act. Treasury managers and CFOs learn why remittance firms and cross-border payment companies are seeing immediate efficiency gains.

The episode delivers actionable advice on calculating idle capital costs, measuring time savings, and leveraging blockchain traceability for compliance. Enterprises get a clear roadmap for experimenting with stablecoins without overhauling their entire payment infrastructure.

Stables Make Money Move Faster!

Tedd Huff, CEO of fintech advisory firm Voalyre, sits down with Geetha Panchapakesan, Founder and CEO of Tesser, to unpack what's happening in the world of cross-border payments and why stablecoins are gaining serious attention from enterprises tired of old-school banking friction. The conversation, recorded live at Money 2020, cuts through the noise to address real pain points that treasury managers and CFOs face every day when moving money across borders.

Traditional cross-border payments rely on correspondent banking networks that require businesses to pre-fund accounts in multiple countries. These accounts sit idle, earning no interest, while companies constantly monitor balances and move funds around to ensure payments can clear. The process takes days, sometimes longer over weekends, and offers limited visibility into transaction status. Geetha brings years of experience from MoneyGram, Visa Direct, and Circle to this discussion, giving her a front-row seat to how payment systems have evolved and where the bottlenecks remain.

Stablecoins offer a different path. Instead of parking cash in accounts around the world, businesses can hold USD-pegged stablecoins and move value instantly when needed. Settlement happens in minutes rather than days, and there's no need to pre-fund accounts or worry about weekend delays. Every transaction can be queried in real time, providing clear status updates that traditional banking simply can't match. A payment from the United States to Mexico that might take several days through correspondent banks can complete in minutes using stablecoins.

The conversation addresses a critical question: are enterprises actually using this, or is it still mostly hype? Geetha shares that companies involved in cross-border payments, particularly those serving challenging corridors, are already seeing real benefits. Remittance firms can pay out instantly without maintaining pre-funded accounts or dealing with delays. The efficiency gains are measurable, and early adopters are finding that stablecoins deliver on their promises of speed, security, and cost savings.

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Understanding among treasury managers and CFOs varies widely. Some are what Geetha calls "stable curious," aware that stablecoins exist but unsure how they fit into existing operations. Others experience a lightbulb moment when they realize how much simpler and faster their payment processes could become. Education remains important, but the value proposition becomes clear once businesses see stablecoins in action.

Regulatory frameworks are starting to provide the clarity that many enterprises need before committing to new payment methods. The Genius Act offers guidelines for stablecoin issuance and establishes requirements for one-to-one backing, giving businesses more confidence that these tools operate within clear legal boundaries. While some hesitation remains, the regulatory landscape is becoming more defined, making it easier for companies to move forward.

Tedd and Geetha discuss practical steps for businesses interested in testing stablecoins without overhauling their entire payment infrastructure. The advice is straightforward: pick one payment corridor that's currently causing headaches and run a test. This approach allows companies to see real-world results without betting the farm on an unfamiliar technology. The experiment reveals whether the promised efficiencies actually materialize and helps internal stakeholders understand what stablecoins can and cannot do.

Major players like Visa and MasterCard have expanded their stablecoin settlement options, which could accelerate adoption across the industry. When established payment networks offer these capabilities, it sends a signal that stablecoins are becoming part of the standard toolkit rather than a fringe experiment. The market currently centers on USDT and USDC, which dominate stablecoin usage, but new entrants and specific use cases continue to emerge.

Trust remains a factor for some businesses, particularly those accustomed to traditional banking relationships and established processes. The transparency of blockchain-based transactions offers a different kind of assurance: every movement can be traced and verified, providing an audit trail that traditional systems often lack. This traceability enhances compliance capabilities, making it easier to demonstrate that funds moved as intended and reached the correct recipients.

Geetha and Tedd share where stablecoins might be headed over the next few years. While caution persists in some quarters, growing demand and clearer regulations suggest that stablecoins will become a core component of money movement within three to five years. Businesses that experiment now position themselves to take advantage of efficiencies as the market matures and more service providers offer stablecoin options.

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Geetha shares advice for fintech founders building in this space: understand the problem you're solving and make sure your solution delivers measurable value. The market doesn't need more complexity; it needs tools that make existing processes faster, cheaper, and more transparent. Companies that focus on solving real pain points rather than chasing trends will find more success as stablecoins become mainstream.

Three main takeaways emerge from this discussion. Stablecoins enable instant settlement without the need for pre-funded accounts, eliminating delays and idle capital. Enhanced compliance and traceability come built into blockchain transactions, offering visibility that traditional methods can't match. Businesses can start small by choosing one payment corridor to test, gathering real data before making larger commitments.

The practical focus of this conversation makes it valuable for anyone involved in treasury management, cross-border payments, or fintech operations. Rather than theoretical discussions about what might happen someday, Tedd and Geetha examine what's working right now and how businesses can take concrete steps to explore whether stablecoins fit their needs. The message is clear: the technology exists, the regulatory framework is taking shape, and early movers are already capturing benefits that make their payment operations faster and more efficient.

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Key Highlights:

Stablecoins Beat Banks Now

Cross-border payments that used to take days now complete in minutes. Businesses no longer need to park money in accounts around the world earning zero interest while waiting for transactions to clear.

Pre-Funding Accounts Wastes Money

Companies keep cash sitting in multiple country accounts just to ensure payments can go through. This capital earns nothing and requires constant monitoring to maintain proper balances across borders.

Instant Settlement Changes Everything

Real-time transaction visibility means businesses know exactly where their money is at every moment. Traditional banking systems can't offer this level of transparency or speed for international transfers.

Treasury Managers Stay Skeptical

Many financial leaders remain what experts call "stable curious" about using stablecoins. They understand the concept exists but haven't yet figured out how it fits into their current payment operations.

Test One Corridor First

Companies don't need to overhaul their entire payment infrastructure to try stablecoins. Picking a single problematic payment route for testing reveals real-world benefits without major risk or commitment.

Genius Act Provides Clarity

New regulatory guidelines establish requirements for one-to-one backing of stablecoins. This framework gives enterprises the legal confidence they need before adopting new payment methods for business operations.

USDT Dominates Stablecoin Usage

Two stablecoins currently control most of the market for cross-border payments. USDC follows closely behind, while new entrants continue trying to capture specific use cases and payment corridors.

Visa Expands Stablecoin Options

Major payment networks now offer settlement capabilities using stablecoins. When established financial companies provide these tools, it signals that this payment method is becoming standard rather than experimental.

Blockchain Transactions Enable Traceability

Every stablecoin movement creates an audit trail that can be verified at any time. This transparency helps businesses demonstrate compliance and prove that funds reached intended recipients correctly.

Weekend Delays Disappear Completely

Traditional banking systems pause over weekends, creating frustrating delays for urgent payments. Stablecoin transactions process continuously without stopping for holidays or non-business hours.

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Takeaways:

1️⃣ Remittance Firms Lead Adoption

Companies handling money transfers across challenging payment corridors are seeing the biggest wins right now. They avoid pre-funding delays and can pay out instantly, making this use case particularly strong for early testing.

2️⃣ Query Transaction Status Anytime

Unlike traditional banking where you wait for updates, stablecoin transactions can be checked in real time. This means you always know exactly where your payment stands without calling banks or checking multiple systems.

3️⃣ Calculate Your Idle Capital

Add up all the money sitting in foreign accounts earning zero interest just to make payments possible. That number represents capital you could deploy elsewhere while still handling cross-border transactions efficiently.

4️⃣ Measure Efficiency Before Scaling

Track exact time savings and cost reductions from your test corridor before expanding. Hard data from a single route makes it easier to convince internal stakeholders and plan broader implementation.

5️⃣ Compliance Teams Love Audit

Every blockchain transaction creates a permanent record showing exactly where funds moved and when. This built-in documentation simplifies compliance reporting and makes it easy to prove payments reached correct recipients.

Geetha Panchapakesan, Founder and CEO of Tesser

Tesser

Fintech Confidential

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Time Stamps:

00:00 Intro

01:04 Dfns: Wallets as a Service (sponsor)

02:12 Live from Money 2020

03:27 The Pain Points of Traditional Payments

03:59 Stablecoins: A Game Changer

05:05 Real-World Applications of Stablecoins

05:51 Enterprise Adoption of Stablecoins

06:35 Stablecoin 101: Educating the Market

07:44 The Hype and Reality of Stablecoins

08:19 Proof of Value: Case Studies

12:34 Overcoming Regulatory Uncertainty

14:05 Experimenting with Stablecoins

15:12 Sky Flow: Building Fast and Secure (sponsor)

16:37 The Lightning Round

20:25 Visa and MasterCard's Stablecoin Expansion

22:01 Choosing the Right Stablecoin

24:17 Future of Stablecoins

28:56 Final Thoughts and Takeaways

30:55 Hawk AI (sponsor)

About The Guest:

Geetha Panchapakesan
- Founder & CEO - Tesser

Geetha Panchapakesan is the Founder and CEO of Tesser, a payments platform enabling banks, MSBs, and PSPs to make and receive stablecoin payments with the same ease as traditional payment rails. Geetha is a payments veteran with 18+ years of experience leading product and strategy at MoneyGram, Visa Direct, and Circle. She founded Tesser to solve the core inefficiencies of cross-border money movement by providing financial institutions with the infrastructure to settle transactions instantly using stablecoins, without compromising on compliance or control.

Tesser

Tesser is a New York-based fintech company building a stablecoin-based payments infrastructure that enables licensed financial institutions (banks, MSBs, and PSPs) to move money across borders instantly and compliantly. The company’s full-stack platform integrates stablecoin payment rails into existing financial systems in under a month, reducing cross-border settlement times from weeks to hours and cutting associated costs by up to 95%. Tesser provides wallet provisioning, treasury management, compliance orchestration, and reconciliation, allowing institutions to adopt blockchain technology without technical hurdles while retaining control over risk management and customer relationships. Founded in 2025 by Geetha Panchapakesan, Tesser’s mission is to bridge the gap between traditional finance and digital assets.

About the Host:

Tedd Huff is the Founder of Voalyre, and Diamond D3, professional services consulting firms focused on global payments and marketing. He is also a video podcast host and executive producer on and founder of the Fintech Confidential network.

Over the past 25+ years, he has contributed to FinTech startups as an Advisory Board Member, Co-Founder, and Chief Experience Officer, providing strategic and tactical direction for Global Payments OpenEdge, Heartland Payments, Nuvei, and TSYS, among others, focusing on growth while delivering innovation, process improvements and user experience-driven value to simplify the complexity of payments.

DD3 Media is a media creation, management, and production company delivering engaging content globally

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