5 essential features you need in a global payment processor

If you’re selling to a global market, you’re part of an economy that’s expected to grow by 13.7% in 2021 — for $908 billion in sales — by the end of the year. And with cross-border e-commerce sales expected to grow twice as fast as domestic eCommerce, a global mindset can serve your business well. But all businesses need the right tools to help them take advantage of all that potential. In particular, they need a global payment processor. Unlike payment gateways (of which you might have several for different countries), a global payment processor is a single, full-service payment gateway designed for cross-border sales. Moving from many payment gateways to a single platform is a big decision. But that process gets easier when businesses have a global payment processor that uses these five essential features. 1. Language detection and conversion In a global market, dynamic language conversion is a must. Online shoppers are less likely to purchase from e-commerce sites if the site’s navigation, product descriptions, and checkout process if it’s not in their language. A global payment processor can automatically analyze a user’s URL and display webpage content in the user’s language. And that presents a huge advantage. 75% of consumers in 10 non-Anglophone countries in Europe, Asia, and South America said they prefer to buy products in their own language. Over half (60%) said they rarely or never buy from English-only websites. 2. Local currency detection and conversion Similar to dynamic language conversion, global shoppers rely on dynamic currency conversion to have confidence in their online purchases. Asking your customers to do currency calculations themselves adds friction to the process. A global payment platform can automatically display the purchase price in the shopper’s local currency. When businesses support local currency conversions, they’re taking an essential step in gaining loyal customers. Especially if they’re already displaying content in the user’s language. Transparency in the checkout process means shoppers know exactly what they’re paying. 17% of consumers in a 2021 Baymard Institute survey said they’ve abandoned online carts at checkout because they couldn’t see or calculate the total order cost up front. 3. Support of international payment methods These days, it’s not enough to accept payments from only the major credit card brands. Global consumers not only use credit cards but also cash vouchers, e-wallets and bank transfers to complete purchases. The same Baymard survey found that 7% of consumers abandon their online carts at checkout because the site didn’t accept enough payment methods. A dynamic, localized payment experience encompasses languages, currencies, and payment methods. 4. Routes transactions to banks around the world When a business’s payment processor works with banks around the world, businesses can reduce false positives and declines from global transactions. If a business only accepts payments through U.S. banks, transactions have a higher probability of being flagged for fraud. But if a global payment platform routes a French transaction to a French bank, the bank will be more inclined to approve what looks like a local transaction. If consumers know a business works with global banks, it can increase their confidence in a purchase. When it comes to cart abandonment, 17% of consumers say they do it because they don’t trust the website with their information. And 4% said they do it because their card was declined. A global payment processor that uses intelligent routing to local acquiring banks can increase the payment approvals for cross-border transactions. 5. Built-in global network-based fraud protection Compared to domestic e-commerce, global e-commerce is inherently riskier. There are a number of unknowns when selling across borders: fraud risks, consumer buying patterns, shipping-to-name matches, etc. Without these data points, it’s harder for global businesses to prevent fraud and chargebacks and establish identity trust levels behind every account creation and online payment event. The right global payment processor has global network-based fraud protection built in. Global network data consisting of fraud and trust-related signals from billions of interactions helps businesses trust that the transactions coming through aren’t fraudulent. Especially if artificial intelligence and machine learning use those global data points to make connections between past and current purchases. Combine Kount and BlueSnap for global payments and fraud prevention BlueSnap is a global all-in-one payment platform with advanced features to help businesses boost their bottom lines. The platform comes with all the features businesses need to maintain and scale global operations. From a single account, businesses can connect to a network of global banks, use payment tools to optimize transaction authorizations, and access built-in tools for regulation and tax compliance. Not to mention, BlueSnap can convert 29 languages and over 100 local currencies. And it supports over 100 trusted payment types and e-wallets to accommodate shoppers around the world. Best of all, BlueSnap integrates directly with Kount, so businesses on the platform can access digital fraud prevention and dispute management solutions. Businesses can even customize Kount for fraud prevention that meets their needs. With customizable fraud prevention that uses advanced AI and machine learning, businesses can expand international sales channels and introduce new product lines across borders. They can expand payment methods and accept more good orders. And they can dramatically reduce manual reviews for international transactions — such was the case for Brooks Running. Brooks relied on Kount’s networked data from over 250 countries and territories to unlock new revenue from international markets. Once they implemented Kount, they could start accepting international credit cards instead of flat-out declining them. The change generated hundreds of thousands in new revenue. And using Kount to automatically approve and decline orders based on identity trust levels helped the company reduce its manual review rate to less than 2%. Written with contributions from Manny Pansa, Global Payments, Operations, and Relationship Management Executive at BlueSnap