When bringing a business online, most business owners think that they can find a card payment processing company with simple electronic payment solutions, and that is all that they will need in order to accept debit and credit cards online. Unfortunately, this is only partially true. Accepting payment in your own currency simple, but accepting it in a foreign currency complicates matters. If you have eCommerce shopping carts and portals built into your website, then you might have already run into the difficulties associated with accepting international currencies. International eCommerce changes the game a little bit, so if you expect to accept payments from other countries, then there are three things you need to do.
Learn more about what international eCommerce accounts are provided by the payment processing company.
Accepting checks, and debit and credit cards in your own currency is one thing, but when you begin accepting payment in other currencies, settling and reporting that information can get tricky. You may want to find a new payment processing company that can process international currencies as well as give you an accurate picture of those transactions. Doing so will allow you to settle your accounts without needing to look up the latest exchange rates.
Employ solutions that make it easier for your customers to shop with you.
If an international customer were to go to your eCommerce portal today, and wanted to buy one of your products, would they be able to tell exactly how much that product was in their own currency? If not, they might just look for another company, or get frustrated with needing to calculate for themselves how much the product would cost them. There are eCommerce solutions that will allow your customers to see the cost of something in their own currency, and easily pay with their foreign debit and credit cards.
Make sure that the eCommerce experience is safe for everyone involved.
When you accept virtual payment, there are a number of risks both to your business, and to the customer. Choosing an eCommerce solution that puts security in the foreground will create a better experience for everyone, no matter what currency is being used. One part of this is your responsibility as a merchant, and that is to have a secure page for checkout. The second part of this might be found in the eCommerce features of your payment processor. You should look for a solution that allows you to define enough fields to authentically validate a credit card, and also the ability to create rules and red flags around suspicious transactions.
Accepting international credit and debit cards could mean a great revenue boost for your company, especially if you implement these solutions into your eCommerce website in a way that makes the experience both safer for you and your customers, as well as simpler. Look for a payment processor that provides all of these options, and you will find that there is a lot to gain from being able to accept payment from international customers.
