myPOS focuses mostly on smaller merchants – and our ambition is to offer them the same suite of financial tools as what the large merchants get. We know that when people talk about cross-border commerce, they envision big, established enterprises. However, our clients are mainly small, offline merchants, who also have international ambitions, and we are best positioned to understand their needs.
Cross-border commerce can be a great revenue stream, and the main opportunity for SMEs is to handle all operations from a single platform. Thus, when selecting a PSP, they should consider not only the cost, but also the quality and breadth of services, all online and offline capabilities. This is imperative because it becomes time-consuming to manage payment flows on multiple platforms.
We also notice that merchants who take on a do-it-yourself approach in order to offer various payment types, fulfillment solutions, fraud solutions, and so on, must manage eight to ten different providers. That’s a hassle and gets complicated very quickly, so it’s important to understand the complexity of cross-border expansion and work with a single partner.
The challenges are many: reconciling payment types, managing different regulatory landscapes, and maintaining security compliances to protect shoppers, to name a few. Moreover, to process cross-border payments, SMEs have to connect with local acquirers and domestic schemes. They need to consider the local payment methods, languages, and currencies that shoppers relate to. Payment preferences vary from region to region and consumers expect SMEs to address that.
The reality is that while the business is focused on going global, the payments world is focused on responding to each region’s unique characteristics, and shoppers demand a localised, seamless, and secure shopping experience.
Additionally, when selling abroad, merchants need to be prepared to handle the increased volume, frequency, and variety of transactions. This is where using an all-in-one platform can help because everything is centralised, and business owners don’t have to worry about losing the overview of all transactions and operations.
Merchants should investigate the trends that are shaping consumer preferences and justifying an increased demand for cross-border shopping in the specific region. These include product availability, price sensitivity, or sensitivity towards sustainability. Basically, all tendencies that will help evaluate whether the investment in another market is worthwhile need to be taken into account.
In addition, when expanding abroad, businesses should consider what kind of local support they can get from their PSP. At myPOS, we try to be as close to our merchants as possible. We not only have a helpline assisting clients in their local language, but also shops in key markets like France, Italy, Romania, Bulgaria, Belgium, and the Netherlands where merchants can get face-to-face consultations and support. In 2023, we are planning a new experience centre in Dublin as well.
Delivering the right user experience, which has to be seamless across borders, will continue to shape the future of cross-border payments. As already mentioned, payment methods and instruments are cultural and part of the user experience, and to serve customers internationally, merchants need to place emphasis on that.
Overall, as merchants expand their geographical reach, they’ll have to be prepared to support a wider range of payment methods and currency options – and SMEs that cannot provide this across multiple markets will need to work with a partner that can.
myPOS, for example, is a true omnichannel PSP platform that offers a business-in-a-box solution, which allows merchants with one single application to get offline and online card acceptance, a business account, and a business card for instant access to their funds. Business owners can start using all myPOS services after passing online verification – the whole application process is free, quick, and done online.
On top of this, myPOS allows merchants to open an account in most European currencies, while all our POS terminals come with a free SIM card, thus allowing merchants to accept payments across the continent.
In short, our scalable solutions help merchants expand to new markets without the need for local entities or local bank accounts. Here, I’ve only scratched the surface of our capabilities, but we are happy to consult any small business in one of our stores in key European cities and show SMEs how they can take advantage of cross-border payments.
This editorial piece was first published in The Paypers' Cross-Border Payments and Ecommerce Report 2022–2023, which taps into the fast-growing cross-border market and provides a comprehensive overview of trends and developments that are pivotal in this space, being the ultimate source of information for ecommerce businesses interested in expanding globally.
Jean leads strategy at myPOS and ensures the company remains merchant-focused while accomplishing its financial goals. A fintech expert with over 20 years of experience, Jean has held positions at Morgan Stanley, Berenberg, and Safecharge. Thanks to his roles, he has acquired extensive knowledge of complex payments and next-generation commerce.
myPOS is a powerful, all-in-one business platform for merchants of any type and size. It helps SMEs grow and better respond to future challenges by offering them ways to diversify their payment options, find the right digital tools, and sell across borders.
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