Posted by admin on Jan 22, 2013

 

international payment, international payments, alternative payments, local bank transfers, international merchant account, international merchant accounts

As US ecommerce growth slows to only 10% per year,  merchants are looking for new ways to increase market share.  International markets are booming and represent the best opportunities for US merchants to gain new customers..

Card processing is the necessary base of the pyramid for accepting payments.  A network of banks is the quickest way to realize the benefits of international card processing.

In addition to card processing accounts, merchants need to take advantage of a localized payment options.  Almost 50% of online sales are paid for using payment methods other than cards.

Alternative payment options, such as local bank transfers, capture sales from buyers that don’t have cards, are maxed out on cards, or prefer to use another payment method.  Merchants report sales increases up to 40% with the addition of localized payment options at checkout.

International Bank Network

An international banking network ties together banks located in different regions on a single payment processing platform.  Account management and reconciliation of all international merchant accounts are simplified.  Accounts can be managed from global or segmented views.  Other benefits include:

  1. Optimization of interchange rates across different regions, saving money on payment processing
  2. Reduction in foreign exchange rates
  3. Multicurrency currency-processing and dynamic-currency conversion (DCC) deliver more sales from international buyers
  4. Unified risk management  and fraud protection among all accounts,, reducing overall costs in a comprehensive manner.

Where to Expand Your International E-commerce Markets

There’s a lot of press about the Chinese, Asian, Indian, Russian, and African markets which are are experiencing double and triple growth in ecommerce.

However, as tempting as these markets are, they are very challenging from a payment processing standpoint.  Infrastructure is weak.  Many people do not have credit cards and may not have access to secure online banking systems.

Instead, consider expansion into Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and  Latin America.  The UK, Australia and New Zealand are easiest places to start for US companies because of the shared language.  UK ecommerce is growing at 15% and reached £31.2 billion in 2012.

Latin America is attractive because only 2 languages  are spoken throughout the region.  (Portuguese in Brazil and Spanish throughout the rest of the countries)  Growth of ecommerce in  Latin America, is expected to increase from $43.34 billion, in 2013 to $62.42 billion in 2016.

Over 50% of internet purchases in Latin America are made by Brazilians.  Top products include travel and the entertainment. Mexico, Costa Rico and Peru are other options for expansion in this region.

Europe represents one of the largest international ecommerce regions in the world.  A benefit of expanding into Europe is that the European market has a high penetration of card penetration, and well-established online bank transfers system.  Local bank transfers are more popular than cards for making online purchases in all European countries, with the exception of the UK.

Conclusion

Global ecommerce offers the greatest opportunities for businesses that want to increase profits and sales.

Establish payment processing accounts in the same countries as your targeted customers are located.  

  • More card orders get approved
  • Foreign exchange costs or reduced
  • Payment processing rates are lower
  • Multi-currency processing increases sales

Are you interested in expanding your international payment processing solutions?

For more information on international payment processing, contact info@paynetsecure.net today.

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