Flywire eases international payment process

Cross-border payments have long frustrated organizations handling international transactions. Universities collecting tuition, healthcare providers managing patient bills, and travel companies processing guest payments all face delays, routing errors, and a lack of transparency. Flywire, a global payments enablement and software company, has built its business around removing these friction points for what it calls “mission-critical” payments.

The firm processes transactions in at least 140 currencies across more than 240 countries. Thérèse Giambona, Vice President of Operations and Payables, oversees the infrastructure that makes these payments possible. Unlike traditional processors, Flywire combines a payments platform with industry-specific software, embedding itself into clients’ existing workflows rather than forcing them to adapt to a generic system.

From tuition transfers to complex industries

Flywire began in education, where it originally solved the problem of international students paying tuition. A decade ago, transferring funds from the U.S. to a U.K. university was a logistical nightmare—timing, reference details, and routing often went wrong, sometimes delaying visa approvals and disrupting students’ lives.

“When Flywire arrived, it was very innovative,” Giambona says. Since then, the company has expanded into travel, business-to-business, and healthcare sectors, focusing on high-value, high-complexity transactions. Its approach goes beyond moving money; it integrates with clients’ core systems to streamline entire payment ecosystems.

This shift required balancing the agility of a startup with the structure needed for sustained growth. That evolution changed how the company develops products and manages client relationships, particularly in heavily regulated industries where compliance and operational discipline are essential.

Designing solutions, not just processing payments

Giambona describes Flywire’s philosophy as fundamentally different from what she calls “payments factories”—providers that prioritize volume over problem-solving. Instead, the company invests time in understanding the specific pain points clients face before, during, and after a transaction.

“Flywire sits down and asks the bigger question: what problem are you trying to solve?” she says. “Yes, there’s a payment to be made, but what’s the friction before, during, and after?”

This approach was evident in the development of Flywire’s U.S. loan disbursement solution for U.K. universities. American students studying abroad often rely on federal or private loans, but the process of disbursing those funds across borders was cumbersome for both students and institutions. Last year, Giambona assembled a cross-functional team—engineers, product designers, and payables specialists—and spent a week traveling across the U.K. to observe the process firsthand.

The team visited multiple universities, sat with staff, and discovered inefficiencies at every stage. Rather than building a solution in isolation, they worked iteratively with university partners, demonstrating progress regularly and incorporating feedback. The result was a product launched in time for the September academic peak, with minimal misalignment between what clients expected and what Flywire delivered.

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This kind of collaboration ensures solutions are tailored to real-world needs. For Flywire, that means embedding itself deeply into clients’ operations, whether it’s a university managing student loans or a healthcare provider processing international patient payments. The goal isn’t just to move money—it’s to make the entire payment experience seamless.

Technology as a transparency tool

Behind Flywire’s client-facing solutions is a technological infrastructure designed to address long-standing pain points in cross-border payments. Two innovations stand out: account validation and payment insights tools.

Account validation technology verifies that destination accounts are active and belong to the intended recipient before funds are sent. This eliminates the risk of returned payments and reduces delays, particularly in regions like the U.K., U.S., and the Single Euro Payments Area. Flywire integrates these tools into its network, giving both payers and recipients real-time visibility into payment status.

Payment insights tools provide tracking and faster settlement confirmation. While global adoption has been uneven, Giambona believes these tools improve transparency. “I remember when these insights tools were entering the market,” she says. “It was a real gamble because industry adoption could have been a major hurdle.” Fortunately, the payments sector evolved quickly, and these services have become increasingly valuable for operational efficiency and regulatory compliance.

Data drives all of this. Giambona calls it the foundation of modern payment operations, enabling automation, optimization, and transparency. Without clean, well-organized data, even the most advanced AI tools are ineffective. Flywire has invested heavily in data infrastructure, hiring experts to ensure its systems can handle increasing payment volumes and complexity.

Visibility has also improved. Historically, payments operated like a black box—funds disappeared from the sender’s account and reappeared in the recipient’s, with little insight into what happened in between. Modern platforms like Flywire’s surface information about payment status, fees, timing, and exceptions, which is critical for compliance.

Regulation as a creative challenge

Flywire’s operations team views regulation not as a burden but as a necessary safeguard for the financial system. Giambona sees it as the foundation that allows people to send money freely across borders, a capability that was far more limited just 20 years ago.

“It is so important that we maintain integrity in the financial system so that we can all continue with this freedom,” she says. “It also means businesses must be thoughtful in how they interpret and anticipate regulations.”

To handle this, Flywire employs compliance and regulatory experts with deep industry experience. These specialists engage with regulators, interpret evolving requirements, and translate complex regulatory language into practical operational guidance. The goal is to meet compliance standards without adding unnecessary friction to the client experience.

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“There are many conversations about how to meet requirements—how not to burden the client unless absolutely necessary,” Giambona explains. “And if you must, how do you do it without harming the client experience? That kind of creativity makes the payments industry interesting.”

This mindset extends to partnerships. The company’s global reach depends on collaborations with financial institutions that provide payment rails, currency services, and back-office infrastructure. Citibank, for example, has been a critical partner since Flywire’s early days, supporting both receivables and outgoing payment solutions.

“I see them as an extension of the value we provide,” Giambona says. The relationship is built on trust, which she describes as essential when issues arise. “When you need to call because something is wrong, they trust you’re acting in good faith and prepared.”

Flywire also partners with clients as co-developers. These beta partners provide feedback throughout the design process, helping manage expectations, refine products, and resolve issues quickly. “The transparency and feedback in both directions have paid off,” Giambona says.

Reframing problems as opportunities

Flywire’s operational philosophy treats problems as opportunities. Giambona acknowledges that in payment operations, something goes wrong every day. The key is to address issues swiftly and use them as chances to exceed client expectations or learn something new.

“I never think of anything as a challenge,” she says. “No matter what happens, there’s an opportunity. Since we know something will go wrong daily, you can’t view everything as a problem.”

This perspective has been critical as Flywire transitions from a scrappy startup to a mature public company. The company has maintained its entrepreneurial spirit and client focus while implementing the structure required for growth. For Giambona, that means keeping problems small—addressing root causes before they escalate—and always focusing on the bigger goal.

By 2026, her priorities include team development, data infrastructure, and continued innovation. Ensuring the operations team has the skills to meet evolving requirements is important. Back-office modernization projects will focus on clear requirements, strong partnerships with product and engineering teams, and careful execution. On the outgoing payments side, the team will continue identifying unique use cases where Flywire can deliver value.

“2026 will focus on the team, data, optimizing and scaling operations, and delivering value for clients in special ways,” Giambona says. For Flywire, that means never losing sight of the human needs behind payment flows—whether it’s a student paying tuition, a patient settling a medical bill, or a traveler booking a trip.