The global digital goods economy has reached an estimated USD 3.5 trillion, growing faster than traditional ecommerce and increasingly powered by the subscription model. However, despite strong global demand, collecting payments internationally is an entirely different challenge.
In a recent webinar hosted by The Paypers and Nuvei and moderated by Masha Cilliers, Payment Industry Expert, iNED, Board Advisor, industry leaders Bridger Bullock, Senior Business Development Manager at Nuvei, and Jason Kumpf, Head of US Revenue at Razorpay, explored why payments, tax, and regulatory complexity, not demand, ultimately determine whether global growth succeeds or stalls.
The hidden complexity behind going global
Many digital goods companies assume that selling internationally is as simple as enabling a new country in their payment provider’s dashboard. As Bridger Bullock explained, the reality is far more nuanced. Merchants expanding across borders quickly encounter a web of challenges: tax compliance across thousands of jurisdictions, the need for local payment methods, optimising authorisation rates, fraud management, and regulatory obligations that vary dramatically from one market to the next.
The panel highlighted that the real challenge is not selling internationally, but getting paid reliably and compliantly across jurisdictions.
Local payment methods define market access
One of the strongest themes of the webinar was the importance of local payment behaviour.
Outside the US, card payments are far from dominant. Instead, markets are shaped by domestic payment ecosystems that define consumer expectations.
Bridger offered some examples. In India, UPI has become the primary payment rail, while domestic cards are often restricted to local use unless explicitly enabled for cross-border transactions. In Brazil, PIX plays a central role in everyday payments. Across parts of Asia, a diverse set of alternative payment methods determines how consumers transact online.
The implication for merchants is clear: if local payment methods are not supported, a significant portion of the market is effectively inaccessible.
Merchant of Record - simplifying global expansion
To address this complexity, the webinar focused on the Merchant of Record (MoR) model.
Under this structure, the MoR provider becomes the legal seller of record, assuming responsibility for tax calculation, collection, and remittance, as well as fraud liability, compliance management, and often payment orchestration.
For merchants, this significantly reduces operational overhead. Instead of establishing local entities or managing regulatory frameworks in each country, they integrate with a provider that handles local requirements behind the scenes.
The panel emphasised that MoR solutions are particularly well-suited to digital goods and subscription-based businesses, where scalability and recurring billing complexity make traditional expansion models difficult. With more than 150 countries now requiring VAT or GST registration for digital services, the compliance burden continues to grow.
Payments as a strategic growth lever
A recurring message throughout the webinar was that payments should be treated as a strategic growth function, not merely infrastructure.
Merchants often invest heavily in customer acquisition while overlooking revenue leakage in their payment stack. Yet small improvements in authorisation rates, churn reduction, and payment recovery can have an outsized impact on overall revenue performance.
As Jason noted, businesses should audit their payment stack with the same rigour they apply to customer acquisition costs. Inefficiencies are often measurable and, in many cases, recoverable.
Where growth is happening
When asked about priority markets, the speakers pointed to regions where local payment ecosystems dominate. India stood out due to the widespread adoption of UPI and its rapidly growing digital economy. Brazil was highlighted for PIX and its strong fintech infrastructure.
Across all these markets, the same principle applies: global success depends on local relevance at the payment level.
As the speakers concluded, the message for merchants should not be discouraged by complexity but recognize that the tools to manage it already exist. The companies that succeed globally will be those that treat payments not as a backend function, but as a core driver of growth.
This webinar recap highlights only the key points of the discussion. For the full conversation, including deeper insights into Merchant of Record models, tax compliance, regulations, and local payment methods, watch the recording here.
About the author
Paula Albu has experience in content writing and editing, as well as being a creative storyteller. As a Junior Editor at The Paypers, she investigates Web3 technologies along with the latest trends and regulations in banking and fintech. Paula is committed to turning complex industry topics into engaging, accessible content that resonates with readers and creates a meaningful connection. She is available via LinkedIn or at paula@thepaypers.com.
About Nuvei
Nuvei is accelerating the business of clients around the world. Nuvei’s modular, flexible, and scalable technology allows leading companies to accept next-gen payments, offer all payout options, and benefit from card issuing, banking, risk, and fraud management services. Connecting businesses to their customers in more than 200 markets, with local acquiring in 50 markets, 150 currencies, and 720 alternative payment methods, Nuvei provides the technology and insights for customers and partners to succeed locally and globally with one integration. For more information, visit www.nuvei.com.
