When you sell goods internationally, attracting visitors to your website is critically important. After all, you wouldn’t have any chance of cultivating long-term customers without doing so. However, it is just as vital to invest your research into finding the right payment gateway to serve those customers after they arrive. If you’re wondering why this is the case, take a few minutes to learn just how the right payment gateway can open up a whole new world of opportunity as you get your business ready for the global stage. 

The payment gateway defined.

If you’ve ever purchased anything online, whether you realized it or not, you’ve already interacted with a payment gateway. Put simply, the gateway is the online service that integrates with a merchant’s ecommerce platform to facilitate secure and seamless payments. It does so by communicating with the various characters involved in the payments universe.

Although the payments process is fast and efficient, it involves a series of steps, all of which are made possible by the gateway.

• The customer inputs their payment information into the website’s checkout form.
• These details are encrypted, sent to the merchant’s server, and forwarded to the payment gateway.
• The gateway then forwards the payment details to the merchant’s processing company, which sends it on to the customer’s credit card company.
• Information is then sent to the customer’s bank for verification that sufficient funds exist for the purchase. That institution then transmits a response of acceptance or declination to the processing company.
• That response is sent to your gateway, which displays the status of the payment to the customer.

All this takes place in a matter of seconds. Then, a day or two later in most cases, the funds from the purchase, minus any applicable fees, are deposited into your merchant account.

Special considerations for international gateways.

Payment gateways all perform payment facilitation services whether they operate in-country or in foreign nations. However, an international payment gateway performs additional specialized tasks as well.

Providing products and services to foreign customers is a complex undertaking that requires careful research and reliance on specialized insights. For one thing, buyers’ payment preferences vary widely according to culture and location. Taking time to determine if your new international customer will want to pay via credit cards, debit cards, or third-party wallets is critically important. As you might imagine, you’ll likely want an international gateway that accommodates all these preferences.

What’s more, whenever possible, your gateway should allow you to accept payments in your customers’ native currencies. They will be far more likely to complete a purchase if they feel comfortable with the pricing of their desired items. Providing exact amounts in their monetary denomination of choice bolsters your credibility by removing some of the negative mystique around purchasing from a foreign website. 

Finally, realize that there will be additional charges attached when you serve customers from other countries via an international payment gateway. These include the following. 

• Standard per-transaction processing fees. 
• Cross-border fees. (These are generated from the credit card companies and are non-negotiable and unavoidable unless you choose a gateway that has relationships with local banks and routes payments to them.)
• Foreign exchange fees to convert your currency into that of your customer.

Keeping these factors in mind when conducting your gateway research will help you to choose the best option to meet your business’s and any of potential foreign buyers’ needs.

How your payment gateway can add value to your business.

At this point, you might be wondering if selling internationally is really worth all the trouble involved. Of course, the answer to this question depends on numerous individual factors that only you can assess. Added to that, globalization is not right for everyone. However, consider the following compelling advantages that expanding your buyer base to other nations with the help of an international payment gateway can offer.

1. Doing so engenders trust. Consumers  have numerous choices when it comes to buying most things. As an international seller, you are faced with an even bigger challenge: Quickly establishing rapport and gaining trust to overcome fears of buying from a foreign vendor. When you partner with a gateway that accepts your shoppers’ preferred currency, discomfort about pricing confusions will be quickly allayed.
2. It increases your company’s credibility. Whether people are buying from a local business or a website across the world, everyone is concerned about data security and the dangers inherent in divulging sensitive payment information over the internet. Fortunately, your highly respected gateway provider will know the exact security regulations and other guidelines unique to each country it serves. That way you can provide international shoppers with peace of mind that will often convert a casual visit to your website into a sale and the beginning of a long-term relationship.
3. Increased revenue. Although there is no doubt that you’ll pay additional fees for the privilege of selling abroad, you will also gain instant access to millions of potential new buyers. Simply because you’ll be presenting your products and services to an entirely new population, you’ll have the chance to boost your profits impressively.

One of the most compelling advantages your payment gateway will bring to your global retail store is its omnipresence at every step of the payment process. This is especially important when you are doing business in geographical areas far from your own where cultural preferences, fees, and legal regulations can be unfamiliar and daunting.

Even in domestic ecommerce transactions, finding a gold-standard payment gateway is one of the most important tasks you will perform as you set up your international enterprise for sustained success. Once you decide to go global by accepting multiple currencies and payments on your site, this relationship becomes even more essential. Invest time, care, and resources into selecting the right service. You’ll likely be rewarded with higher customer trust, increased conversions, and greater revenue.