Expand global reach with secure multicurrency platform

AstroPay, established in Brazil in 2009, is a global ecommerce provider that connects consumers and merchants by facilitating secure, multicurrency transactions worldwide. The platform is a popular choice for international shoppers and helps merchants access markets easily and securely, according to the company's CEO, Mikael Lijtenstein.

"AstroPay is a B2C company focused on delivering the best user experience for customers," Lijtenstein said. "To increase conversion rates, we make the shopping journey as frictionless and natural as possible for users. We believe the user experience needs to offer an intuitive workflow where customers feel at ease and are able to pay in a few simple steps."

Lijtenstein noted that AstroPay has steadily expanded across traditional and emerging markets, serving customers in Europe, Asia and Latin America. The company's dedicated teams focus on each market's unique requirements and payment flows and perform A/B testing to analyze results, he stated. Remote technical teams work closely with product and commercial teams to understand merchant concerns and help them acquire and retain customers, he added.

Multicultural heritage

AstroPay prides itself on a leadership team that has extensive experience in international markets and financial technologies and infrastructure. The company noted that Lijtenstein brings knowledge and technical expertise in cross-border payments and emerging markets to AstroPay. Before he was promoted to CEO in November 2019, Lijtenstein served as AstroPay's chief operating officer, where he was responsible for sales and operations, product development and innovation across multiple markets, including Latin America, Asia, Africa and Europe. Prior to AstroPay, he worked at dLocal, a Uruguay-based fintech company, where he led operations and software development.

Today, with offices in the United Kingdom and Latin America, AstroPay said its growing enterprise serves over 3.5 million users and 500 merchants and is trusted by millions of consumers who use over 200 payment methods to check out in preferred and local currencies. As he reflected on AstroPay's expanding global footprint, Lijtenstein noted that the company had 30 people seven years ago and today is hiring people all over the world.

AstroPay's customizable API has also been a key driver of the company's year-over-year growth, Lijtenstein stated, because it is able to seamlessly adapt to merchant requirements. Merchants can leverage the API to securely and quickly manage their payment needs, process withdrawals and accept numerous local payment schemes on AstroPay's platform, he added.

Tailored, customized service

Both merchants and customers enjoy residual benefits from AstroPay's API integration, Lijtenstein stated, adding that the withdrawal solution is simple and easy to use, even for users who do not have an AstroPay account.

By following a few simple steps, he noted, users can load funds into a digital wallet, which can be deposited or withdrawn. The simple funding process enables customers to select an option to withdraw money via AstroPay at the merchant's site without entering sensitive data, and they can collect their money in an AstroPay wallet, he added. The API is designed to adjust to any workflow and security checks the merchant has to undergo, which makes it highly flexible, reliable and easy to adopt, he said.

Lijtenstein pointed out that AstroPay currently supports two options for integrating the host-to-host API. The merchant can send the funds to an individual user in a closed-loop transaction or provide a common cash-out method for transferring money into all users’ digital wallets. 

AstroPay channel partners and resellers can increase revenue and expand global reach by creating AstroPay cards in any amount or currency and instantly sending them to customers, Lijtenstein stated. "We saw the world was going to digital," he said. "We improve the payment journey by staying focused on the user experience."

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