Aviation, ecommerce and agriculture could improve liquidity with faster payments in our network.
When money moves slowly, it holds back business and economic growth. Business can easily track goods and shipments, but money is lagging behind. It’s often slow and cumbersome, clogging up the wheels of commerce. Without visibility of their moving money, firms build larger cash buffers and operate more conservatively. And yet, the World Bank identifies efficient and reliable payment infrastructure as a prerequisite for economic activity and digital commerce[1].
At Freemarket, we provide a network to speed up the process. It gives greater visibility to the companies in our network, and frees-up stuck money that causes a problem in aviation, ecommerce and agriculture.
We know that this is a pressing issue for aviation. Airlines collect revenue globally but incur many costs in hard currencies such as USD. In its report last year, IATA reported that USD 1.2 billion in airline funds remain blocked from repatriation worldwide. Inconsistent approval procedures and foreign-exchange allocation practices as contributing factors to blocked funds.
According to IATA, 93% of these blocked funds are in Africa and the Middle East. In July 2026, Maureen Kahonge, AFRAA’s director of commercial and communications weighed in. She told Aviation Week[2] that:
“Blocked funds are no longer a peripheral finance issue—they have become a strategic constraint on Africa’s connectivity, trade, tourism and economic integration”.
In these countries, uncertainty over repatriation creates cash-flow disruption, exchange-rate risk, and may cause airlines to reduce service or suspend operations in affected markets.
In the e-commerce sector, businesses often operate with thin margins, pay suppliers globally, and rely on rapid inventory turnover. A retailer is usually geared up to manage the traditional and consistent 5-day payment cycle, or even 10-day. Predictability allows treasury teams to forecast cash, manage inventory, and plan expansion into new markets. The problem arises when settlement varies unpredictably from perhaps 2 to 15 days. Unpredictable FX access and repatriation restrictions increase operational risk and discourage investment.
At Freemarket, we know that slow settlement ties up working capital and limits growth. A merchant waiting weeks rather than days for access to revenue may have to reduce inventory purchases or seek external financing. So our modern payment infrastructure network, focuses on improving cross-border payment efficiency, speeding up digital commerce and improving business liquidity, globally.
Even agriculture doesn’t escape. It’s planting calendar makes it especially sensitive because production cycles are seasonal and capital-intensive. Slow money can mean export proceeds are delayed and businesses may miss planting windows or be forced to borrow at higher cost. If currency conversion or repatriation suddenly becomes unavailable, the entire production cycle can be disrupted. In countries experiencing foreign-exchange shortages, the inability to access hard currency creates financing pressure and discourages long-term investment.
The broader economic consequence is similar in every industry: when money moves slowly, or unpredictably, companies often hold more cash, invest less, charge higher prices, or become more cautious about serving affected markets. That is exactly why organisations such as IATA, AFRAA and the World Bank emphasise the need for efficient, reliable cross-border payment systems. They are essential infrastructure for trade and economic growth.
This stagnation isn’t a new problem, but it does now have a solution. We developed the Freemarket Network to turn payments that take days into a process that takes just minutes. This means that CFOs can pinpoint their cash positions, and it reduces issues of loss of value between payment and release of funds. Our network also gives you control of risk by offering a choice of infrastructure and timing. Ultimately, using our network can improve the amount of working capital available to your business. It’s time money caught up.
Enable the movement of your funds. Whatever form of payments company you are, we can help. With Freemarket you can seamlessly manage your cash flow positions and execute your domestic and cross-border transactions. All this happens through quickly and easily within our network.
Our dedicated team will assist you with onboarding. So you can access 10 years of expertise and a network that constantly evolves to support our customers’ needs.
Join banks, PSPs, MSBs, liquidity partners, stablecoin issuers in our network and see how you could transform your payment and treasury needs