The domestic payment market is undergoing dramatic changes. On one hand, small and medium-sized payment institutions continue to exit the market. By the end of 2025, the People's Bank of China has canceled a total of 107 payment licenses, leaving only 163 licensed institutions, a decline of over 40% from the peak.

On the other hand, leading players are significantly expanding their capital. In recent business registration changes, Tenpay's registered capital surged from 15.3 billion yuan to 22.3 billion yuan. Douyin Pay, Online Banking, and others have also launched capital increase plans ranging from hundreds of millions to billions of yuan.

Why play like this? Frankly, the domestic market's cake no longer offers much oil and water. Payment rates have long been stuck at the edge of 0.3%-0.6%, squeezing profit margins to the extreme. In contrast, international cross-border payment rates easily reach 1.5%-3%, roughly five times higher than domestic rates.

An obvious trend is that more and more companies are starting to deploy in emerging markets such as the Middle East and Southeast Asia, attempting to build global settlement networks overseas. However, going abroad is not easy—high licensing costs, maze-like compliance requirements, and geopolitical uncertainties are all unavoidable hurdles. Payment expansion overseas has evolved from rapid land grabbing to a long-term battle testing endurance and compliance capabilities.