Global Ecommerce: Ride the Growth Wave to Profit

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International Merchant Accounts

Global eecommerce is the fastest growing segment of internet sales.  According online retail trade organization, Interactive Media in Retail Group  (IMRG), sales from will surpass 1 trillion euro ($1.25 trillion) by 2013.

Ecommerce sales in 2011 grew by 690 billion euros ($961 billion).  This represents a 20% increase compared to 2010.

International merchant accounts:

  • Decrease payment processing fees by taking advantage of lower “in-country” rates
  • Reduce foreign exchange expenses
  • Increase card approval rates for international shoppers
  • Get you more orders from buyers world-wide

Global eCommerce Markets

The US is still the largest ecommerce market, followed by the UK and Japan.  Growth rates in these countries will slow to only 10-15% a year as the markets mature.  Still, there are still big opportunities for international merchants that acquire customers. 

China experienced a 130% yearly increase in ecommerce sales from 2010 to 2011.  It’s easy to see how China will soon become the largest ecommerce market.

Regionally, Europe is the largest e-commerce market in the world.   European ecommerce grew 19% in 2011, finishing the year at $307 billion, slightly ahead of North America at $297 billion.  France, Italy, Spain, Russia, Turkey and Poland are projected to experience the greatest ecommerce growth in rates in Europe in the coming years.

Central and South America, particularly Brazil and Mexico, also represent significant areas of growth as economies stabilize and the middle class grows.  The Middle East, particularly Israel and UAE, will also experience substantial growth in international ecommerce.

What Growth in Global eCommerce Means to You?

The real future of growth in ecommerce lies in international markets.  With the slowing of growth in the US and European markets, companies that want to maximize sales are looking beyond national and regional borders.

In order to take advantage of international opportunities, it is important to have the right payment processing solutions in place.  International merchant accounts give you the ability to capture more sales from global buyers and increase revenues for your business.

Tips for Getting More Orders from International Buyers

If you have a domestic merchant account, be sure that your payment processor allows you to accept international transactions.  Surprisingly, many US processors will not allow international transactions.  Others will limit the number of international transactions that can be processed to a small percentage of overall processing volume.

If your provider does allow international transactions, ask if multi currency processing is included.  Multi currency processing displays the pricing of items in local currency.  You will receive more orders because customers are familiar with their own currency, eliminating the need for currency conversion.

If you are targeting specific markets, consider establishing international merchant accounts in different parts of the world.  This will enable you to take advantage of lower inter-regional interchange rates, ultimately saving you money on processing.

Conclusion

As domestic markets mature, global ecommerce offers you the greatest opportunities for growth.

If you are testing the market and want to use a domestic merchant account, be sure your processor allows international transactions.  And provides dynamic currency conversion so buyers see the same amount on their credit statement as they do on your site. 

Once you committed to an particular region, establish an international merchant account in that jurisdiction. Processing rates will be substantially lower for when your acquiring bank is in the same geographic region as buyers. And approval rates for card transactions will be higher.

Interested in increasing sales and profits with global ecommerce? 

Contact info@paynetsecure.net today.

Debt collection agencies need merchant accounts to accept credit and debit card payments from borrowers.

More than 30 million Americans have debt with collection agencies   The New York Federal Reserve reports that the share of Americans’ debt that is more than 30 days past has doubled since the end of 2006.

Obviously, debt collection is a big industry.  And getting bigger as the US economy continues its downward spiral.

Collection merchant accounts are considered high risk for banks. There are obvious reasons for this.

Using a credit card to pay for debts is accumulates more debt for the card holder.  Consumers who are in debt are often unable to pay bills.  Therefore, when the card statement includes a payment to a debt collection agency, consumers can attempt to chargeback the transaction, claiming it was not authorized.

Chargebacks create contingent liabilities for banks.  Consumers can chargeback transactions for up to 6 months after the payment was made.  This is a big window of potential liabilities for banks.

Increased chargebacks liabilities place collection agencies in high risk processing categories for merchant accounts.

This does not mean that collection agencies cannot get payment processing accounts.  They certainly can.  But there are fewer choices for accounts than for non-high risk merchants.

The banking crisis and changing banking regulations are making financial institutions more cautious about approving high risk merchants.  Fewer banks are willing to underwrite debt collection accounts.

For collection agencies, the choice of acquiring banks is narrowing.  Following the basic economic principles of supply and demand, banks that do offer collection merchant accounts can demand premium rates for the accounts.

But, credit card processing is only one part of a debt collection merchant account.  The use of debit cards now surpasses credit cards in America.  Many borrowers that do not have credit cards have debit cards.

Debt collectors need a way to accept debit card payments.  Merchant accounts give collection agencies a way to accept debit cards as well as credit cards.

Collection agencies often find it wise to establish more than one merchant account to diversify processing.  Having more than one merchant account gives debt collectors access to higher processing volumes.  And reduces the risk of depending upon a single bank, safeguarding business operations.

Having multiple merchant accounts will become even more crucial in the coming months and years. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).id pushing hard for supervisory authority over large debt collectors.  Which is sure to impact the industry further.

Paynetsecure.net is a leader in establishing merchant accounts for the debt collection industry.  Contact us today at info@paynetseure.net