When looking to expand your business into new markets, barriers resulting from payment method support can be a major obstacle to overcome. Payment service providers (PSPs) and Payment solution firms can provide you with the support needed to overcome the payment method barrier in emerging, and esoteric markets.
Some of the more challenging markets to enter are challenging because of the payment methods used in them. Countries like Brazil, Russia, and China prefer to use localized payment methods to pay for goods and services online. Brazil’s Boleto Bancario payment scheme for example, while preferred by the under-banked residents of Brazil, can create a strain in support to firms not located in the country.
It because of these limitations, choosing a payment provider that can support your desired markets is a powerful tool to have. As we already recommended in our insight on choosing the right payment provider, it is best to go with the provider that can continually offer you more support while your business continues to grow.
Before deciding on a payment provider that can provide the wanted methods of payment, it is important to remember to look carefully at all parameters when choosing a PSP.
Integration:
It is important to see how the service provider’s product can be integrated into your existing store. Many things need to be taken into consideration, like codes, APIs and the cost of updating or upgrading your site to fit the PSP’s requirements.
Customer Support:
Customer support should be a top priority when looking into a service provider. If issues arise, that means money. Technical issues and setbacks unfortunately do happen, so having a support team that will have you up and running as fast as possible is crucial.
Pricing:
When looking at service providers it can be very tempting to go with the cheaper option. You should take into consideration the issues mentioned above, such as technical difficulties, fees and rates. Most likely, the more non-expensive choice will cause issues in the future when needing to address urgent matters. In addition, the probability of technical issues arising is higher with the cheaper options.
Scope out your competition:
Looking at what others like you are doing is good way to pinpoint a PSP that can support your needs. Go out and see how your competition is processing their Payments , and if they are active in the markets you are interested in entering.
Now that the basics on choosing a PSP are behind you, it is time to find one that can support the markets you are interested in. A number of firms like CardinalCommerce offer a plethora of almost all alternative payment methods available around the globe.
“With one connection, Cardinal enables multiple payment brands. With the Cardinal SafeCloud, the payment brands are always up-to-date. Merchants create their own account with each payment brand for Settlement . We believe that merchants should allow their customers to pay the way they want,” CardinalCommerce CEO, Mike Keresman told Payment Magnates in an Interview
Understanding you customer is also important. Not being a part of the market you want to enter leaves you little knowledge on consumer behavior. As explained by Dmitry Danilenko of Yandex.Money in his piece “Online shopping in Russia. Advice on how to break into the market” understanding you’re your target market is buying and how will give you that edge over the completion, especially in emerging and under-banked countries.
“What makes a Russian consumer click? Well, just what you would expect really. Russian e-shoppers aren’t so different than their counterparts in Western Europe or the US, except for an apparent 5-10 year lag. Top shopping categories include clothing, cosmetics, consumer electronics, and children’s goods. Building materials and furniture show slower growth, but still decorators love to buy striking items that are lacking in small, urban craft shops,” an excerpt from Yandex.Money’s research piece.
PSPs which connect themselves to numerous banks all over the world also help with the localization. Local banks mean lower fees, which evidentially results in happier customers and merchants.
“But what we do differently is that we use geo-location so we can change the banks and currencies so the transaction is customized according to the customer’s location,” BlueSnap CEO Ralph Dangelmaier stated in an interview with Payment Magnates.
It is important to remember, just supporting local payment methods and local banks is not a sure fire way to successfully enter a new market and understanding local mentality and shopping habits will put you on par with local sellers. However having a PSP which can support your choice of market is the first step.
