A well-defined payment strategy remains crucial in 2024 due to the rapidly shifting nature of ecommerce and the growing importance of seamless user journeys. Payments are an integral part of a smooth customer experience.
Understanding key factors in payments is vital to navigate the complexities of the payment landscape and to leverage opportunities. With customer expectations evolving rapidly and the regulatory environment constantly changing, businesses must adapt their payment strategies to steer these complexities. Borders becoming blurred between countries further compounds challenges, urging businesses to prioritise efficiencies, convenience, security, and flexibility to stay competitive.
Creating a well-working payment strategy is essential for businesses to streamline operations, increase conversions, and enhance profitability in the highly competitive market of 2024.
Seamless international transactions are vital for businesses expanding into new markets. This requires working with a payment service provider (PSP) capable of facilitating international transactions smoothly. Therefore, leveraging the provider’s global network is paramount for businesses expanding into new markets. Selecting the right payment partner is crucial to handling the complexities of diverse local regulations around cross-border transactions. As such, understanding infrastructure and regulatory requirements in different regions is key for smooth cross-border payment processing, including considerations such as local banking systems, payment infrastructure, and connectivity. A reliable payment partner with experience in global payment processing can supply businesses with valuable insights into specific market requirements and intricacies, offering tailored solutions to address challenges related to their cross-border expansion.
Offering a wide range of payment methods – including both traditional and local options – is important to enhance customer convenience and increase conversions. Local payment methods tailored to specific regions, such as Pix in Brazil and SEPA Direct Debit and Open Banking in Europe, play a significant role in driving conversions by catering to regional preferences and facilitating seamless transactions. Furthermore, incorporating digital wallets like Apple Pay, Google Pay™, and PayPal into the payment mix offers added convenience and security for customers, enabling quick and hassle-free payment acceptance across various devices and platforms.
These local and global payment methods not only reflect specific cultural nuances and preferences, but also foster trust and loyalty among customers in different regions. Moreover, the availability of familiar and trusted payment options significantly reduces friction in the checkout process, ultimately resulting in higher conversion and lower cart abandonment rates for businesses operating in international markets.
Fraud detection is a critical component of security and risk management in payment processing, requiring reliable tools and solutions to effectively identify and mitigate fraudulent activities. In the dynamic landscape of 2024, emerging fraud threats such as account takeover attacks and friendly fraud pose significant challenges to businesses, underscoring the importance of proactive fraud prevention measures.
PSPs need to offer advanced fraud detection technologies and solutions to identify suspicious patterns and transactions in real time. Additionally, setting rules for transaction monitoring and risk assessment is key for identifying and flagging potentially fraudulent activities, allowing businesses to take proactive measures to mitigate risks and prevent financial losses. At the same time, effective chargeback management is imperative for businesses to handle disputes and customer claims efficiently. With a chargeback management strategy in place, merchants can minimise the impact on revenue and reputation while maintaining compliance with laws, industry regulations, and payment network rules.
Compliance with local payment regulations is essential for a smooth market entry. For instance, a merchant operating in the EEA and/ or EU must adhere to Payment Services Directive 2 (PSD2) regulations, while preparing for the forthcoming PSD3 to ensure ongoing compliance and strategic alignment in the evolving regulatory landscape. This is compulsory as it ensures businesses can facilitate secure and transparent payment transactions while enhancing customer authentication and protection.
Understanding and adhering to local regulatory requirements in target markets – such as payments regulations, anti-money laundering (AML) laws, and financial legislation – is vital for maintaining compliance, safeguarding company health, and mitigating legal risks. Collaborating with the right payment partner, who is experienced in regulations in the targeted regions, can provide valuable insights and guidance to ensure compliance with local laws. Additionally, constant monitoring of regulatory developments and updates is necessary to stay informed about changes that may impact payment processing and compliance requirements, so that businesses can adapt their strategies and practices accordingly.
Having access to dedicated support can provide merchants with personalised guidance, tailored to their specific needs and challenges. Moreover, it can encourage a stronger relationship with the payment partner and enhance the overall customer experience. Proactive communication on the PSP’s side – about industry trends, regulatory changes, and optimisation opportunities – enables merchants to stay updated and make well-informed decisions that can improve payment performance and business outcomes. Moreover, strategic advisory offered by the PSP can help merchants optimise their payment strategies and operations, identifying opportunities for cost savings, revenue growth, and efficiency improvements. These aspects encourage beneficial long-term partnerships and drive mutual success in a competitive ecommerce market.
Considering these factors, it becomes apparent why businesses must prioritise refining their payment strategies. With the right payment partner, businesses can unlock more opportunities to scale, improve operational efficiencies, and stay on top of developments in a continuously changing industry. Thereby, businesses can pave the way for sustained growth in the dynamic ecommerce and payments landscape in 2024 and beyond.
This article was first published in ‘The Global Overview of Payments Providers 2024’, the most recent market overview and analysis of key payment providers in the B2B and B2C commerce payment ecosystem.
Alexander Berrai, Deputy CEO at emerchantpay, is a highly accomplished leader in the payment industry. With a distinguished track record of over 15 years in the industry, Alexander brings a wealth of experience. His expertise and strategic insights have been instrumental in driving emerchantpay’s global growth, empowering partners and merchants to thrive internationally, further establishing emerchantpay’s position in the global payments ecosystem.
Svetlio Todorov is an experienced payment leader with over 20 years of experience in the online payments industry. As emerchantpay’s Managing Director and through his previous roles within the organisation, Svetlio has contributed significantly to the global expansion of emerchantpay. He has demonstrated excellence in his field and, with his unique and extensive insights into the industry, continues to empower emerchantpay’s partners and merchants to thrive internationally.
emerchantpay is a leading global payment service provider and acquirer for online, mobile, in-store, and over-the-phone payments. Our global payments solution is available through a simple integration, offering a diverse range of features – including global acquiring, global and local payment methods, advanced fraud management, and performance optimisation. We empower businesses to design seamless and engaging payment experiences for their consumers.
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