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Insights and Expertise
StreetSmarts SM
Stop missing out on cross-border payments
By Allen Kopelman
Nationwide Payment Systems Inc. Reclaim cross-border territory before it’s too late
ho's processing cross-border payments cur- Shopify, Stripe, Adyen and Checkout.com are
rently? Shopify, Stripe, Ayden, Checkout, rewriting the rules of cross-border commerce,
and the latter two are new to the U.S. mar- and ISOs can’t afford to sit on the sidelines.
W ket. These providers do it all in one service, These companies aren’t just offering payment
using smart payment routing to enable consumers to pay acceptance; they’re packaging global capabilities
in their preferred local currencies. ISOs need to build into simple, merchant-friendly solutions that
these capabilities in a hurry because these companies are mom-and-pop stores and multinationals alike
eating our lunch. can use without friction.
At a time when anyone with a merchant account can sell Shopify turned its ecommerce platform into
to anyone anywhere in the world, it's high time that ISOs an end-to-end commerce engine. With Shopify
and merchant level salespeople (MLSs) get into the cross- Payments, merchants get storefronts, checkout
border game. With better technology, we can control our and cross-border acceptance in one package.
destiny and create a more level playing field. The result? Expansion into international markets
without extra integrations or hardware.
Stop outsourcing
Stripe built its dominance on technology. Its
Outsourcing doesn't work. I have not found a cross-border developer-first approach, single merchant ID and
service provider that will pay more than 25 percent on intelligent routing make international acceptance
the whole merchant account. MLSs are losing on these seamless. Add its deep ecosystem of APIs and
accounts, and it's hard to get merchants that do a lot of plug-ins, and it’s no wonder Stripe is the default
international payments to switch from Stripe and other choice for tech-savvy SMBs.
market-leading providers.
Adyen grew by serving large enterprises with
Outsourcing is clunky. Bolting on a third-party service unified commerce, a solution that handles both
provider and requiring merchants to toggle between local online and in-person payments globally. Now it’s
and international processing accounts and apps is not reaching further into the U.S. SMB space, bringing
ideal. It reminds me of the old mail order/telephone order proven global expertise and direct access to local
(MOTO) days when merchants used separate accounts payment methods.
and devices to process MOTO.
Stop multiple IDs Checkout.com is newer to the United States
but scaling quickly. Its strengths lie in risk
Stripe and other companies give customers a single management, support for alternative payment
merchant ID to process local and international payments. methods, and data-driven flexibility for
We need to do the same. Intelligent routing technologies merchants who want more control.
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