Experience matters when going global

Rocketpay Group was founded in 2010 by Managing Director Caroline Hometh and husband, Rod, who started the company to advise ISOs and acquirers domestically with navigating expansion internationally. Hometh, who began her career as an ISO, has 30 years experience in acquiring, processing and partnership development.

Over the years, the company has facilitated customer access to multiple currencies and country-specific payment solutions in many regions of the globe. Rocketpay also assists customers in developing sales training specific to their needs in global ecommerce, international merchant acquiring, multicurrency merchant IDs and alternative payments.

Advisory services cover the gamut, from global payment processing and foreign exchange technologies, payment facilitation, payment institution licensing and country-specific payments to compliance and project management, the company noted.

Think cross-border

Joseph Arthur, Vice President of Operations for Rocketpay Group, believes the quickest way for ISOs and merchant level salespeople (MLSs) to grow their business today is to expand globally. "In the U.S., everyone is fighting over basis points to survive, but in the international spectrum, it's not that way," Arthur said. "As an organization, going to a different country and having a new set of currencies to deal with, there are partners that make it so simple that every ISO needs to be looking at their international solution, absolutely." He recommends relying on third-party providers with technologies that can reduce the complexity of foreign currency management.

Simply having U.S. payment methods setup internationally doesn't necessarily translate into international sales. "If you're just accepting Visa and MasterCard, you're missing an immense market and potential around the globe," Arthur said. "To give a perfect example, in the Netherlands, if you do not accept Ideal as an alternative payment method, you will not have an ecommerce business in that country."

He said the same principal applies to Germany where SOFORT, which links payments to online banking accounts, is used for payments. "We always come back to the idea that alternative payments aren't alternative in other countries, it is their payment method, it's the way they pay, and if you're not supporting it, you're not going to see customers," Arthur noted.

Helping businesses large and small

One of Rocketpay's primary goals is to help customers save money by reducing costs on international expenses. "A reduction in costs can come through a better understanding of how to open up new verticals," Arthur said, adding that when companies look at doing business internationally, it is a complex landscape.

"One way to reduce your interchange, if you're a large public company, is to open up an office in that country," he said. "If a customer is a medium-sized organization, we can partner them with an organization in Europe that can help them specifically reduce their fees and get some additional revenue from foreign exchange transactions. If they're a small organization, we can pick the best partner to make sure those fees are as minimal as possible."

Companies also face myriad risks associated with international compliance, which vary regionally. "We write policies for different organizations, and we work with our partners to review them for legal language, for accuracy, and for meeting the card brand rules," Arthur said. "We will make sure their organization is trained… [And] if they need an audit on the subject, we will assist them on that as well."

He said Rocketpay exists to help customers succeed by overcoming the hurdles and challenges inherent in growing a business on an international scale. "Everything is difficult when you are looking at it in the beginning," Arthur said. "But through training, understanding, and creating policies and processes, anything can be solved. The payment industry is complex, but things can be accomplished. I hate the idea of someone saying that something is too difficult. I never want to hear that. Everything can be accomplished with enough effort and resolve."

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