Accept Payments in Multiple Currencies – How to Get Started
In a globalized economy, businesses need to think globally. That means finding ways to attract customers from every corner of the world and making it as easy as possible for them to buy your products. A great way to do this is to accept payments in multiple currencies at the point of sale. This article explains why you need to accept foreign payments in multiple currencies, how you can get started with accepting payments in multiple currencies, and what best payment gateway solutions are available if you want to take things further.
Why You Need to Accept Payments in Multiple Currencies
If your business relies on global customers or plans to expand to a more global market, you’ll need to accept payments in multiple currencies. This is because each country has its own currency, which is used for trading between individuals, businesses, and governments. The global financial system is built on exchange rates, which means that each country’s currency has a value in relation to all other currencies.
In Europe, for example, the Euro is used in Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Spain. In the United Kingdom, the British Pound is used, while the Swiss Franc is in circulation in Switzerland. In the Americas, the US Dollar is the most widely used currency.
When you sell to customers in other countries, accepting foreign payments in multiple currencies can be difficult if not using a proper payment gateway. People who live outside of your country may not have easy access to the payment methods that you’re used to accepting. They may also be less inclined to use these payment methods due to language barriers and cultural preferences.
A product or service could be perfect for someone, but if they can’t use the payment methods provided, they won’t be able to make a purchase.
This issue can easily be solved, as a bit of research can quickly find an appropriate solution for your business. The key is being able to accept payments in multiple currencies through a range of popular payment channels and payment gateways.
Becoming a Global Business Online
The main advantage of selling online is that it allows companies to reach a wider audience with less marketing costs than usual. It also helps companies become more competitive in the market by offering them an opportunity to expand their business outside their local area or country.
It may not be easy at first, but once you find a good payment method that works for your target audience and set up the best payment gateway system, selling internationally online can become very profitable for your company.
Moreover, the company can benefit from increased stability when accepting foreign payments in multiple currencies as it receives revenues from various economies at different points in its business cycles.
How to Accept Payments in Multiple Currencies
This section will go over the different ways you can accept payments in different currencies.
If you are interested in accepting foreign payments in multiple currencies from your customers, you should always use a multi-currency payment processor.
Finding a multi-currency payment processor and payment gateway that fits your business can be tricky, but you need it so you can accept credit cards (and other payment forms) from overseas customers.
Once you have a payment gateway established, it will enable your website or business to display prices in customers’ local currencies and for you to withdraw funds in your currency, should you want to do so.
You’ll need to sign up with a payment gateway provider, such as SecureGlobalPay. Payment gateways facilitate card transactions and are the intermediaries between your customers and business. They make accepting different currencies as easy as creating an account with one of your existing payment providers.
Depending on which payment gateway provider you choose, you may be able to accept foreign payments in multiple currencies from the outset. Alternatively, you may be required to sign up for various virtual accounts, which will allow you to accept payments in multiple currencies.
The Benefits of Using a Multi-Currency Merchant Account
Being able to accept payments in multiple currencies has benefits with a multi-currency merchant account and payment gateway. Here are a few of the perks:
- Lower Conversion Fees – especially for high-volume merchants.
- Convenience – easy setup and easy management.
- Exchange or Hold Numerous Currencies – there can be advantages to both.
- Customer Pricing Simplicity – no conversions, clear pricing, and payment in the local currency.
- Security – merchant accounts, particularly access to high-risk merchant account providers, have high levels of security built-in as standard.
- Intelligent Payment Gateway Routing – Intelligent payment gateway routing helps circumvent many of the common reasons for failed transactions while better-managing chargeback ratios and creating redundancy.
- Multi-Merchant Payment Gateway – Utilizing multiple payment processors ensures payments are routed to the acquiring bank most likely to process the transaction.
All of this makes selling overseas far less complicated and easier to manage.
Know Your Customer (KYC) When You Accept Payments in Multiple Currencies
If you’re serious about accepting payments in multiple currencies, you’ll need to know your customers. This is a process that businesses use to verify the identity of their clients, and it’s a must if you want to accept payments from customers in other countries.
This is similar to when you’re dealing with customers who are paying you with a credit or debit card, where you need to comply with the Know Your Customer (KYC) rules.
KYC is a government regulation designed to help prevent money laundering by asking businesses to confirm the identity of their customers and keep track of their information.
Different requirements exist in different regions and currency exchanges. However, you are generally expected to collect a certain amount of information about each customer.
If you accept payments in multiple currencies, you may deal with customers who use payment methods that you’re unfamiliar with. You’ll also be accepting payments from customers who you don’t know.
You must identify every customer before you accept their payment. This means collecting their name, contact details, and for larger purchases some identification such as a government-issued ID.
You’ll need to verify your customers’ identities to make sure that they are who they say they are for the type of transactions you process. This will help prevent basic merchant account fraud and money laundering. In most cases, this can also be done using shared data services, credit checks, and more.
By using a multi-currency, high-risk, high-volume merchant account, all of this can become a lot easier as the provider takes care of most of this on your behalf. At SecureGlobalPay, we provide the service needed to accept foreign payments in multiple currencies.
Accepting Payments in Multiple Currencies – The Need for Fraud Protection
Fraudsters are becoming more sophisticated in the way they execute fraudulent payments. It is, therefore, important for merchants to consider the likelihood of fraudulent payments and protect themselves.
A common type of fraud is the use of stolen credit cards. Fraudsters can use stolen credit card information to make purchases online in a different country, where they cannot be traced.
Another type of fraud is the use of stolen gift cards. Gift cards may have an expiration date, but some fraudsters will take advantage of a lack of security on the back end to purchase gift cards after the expiration date has passed.
There are many types of fraud, and there are many ways for merchants to protect themselves against it. They can start by accepting only the payment methods that are most commonly used in their area so that there is no incentive for fraudsters to target them. They can also protect themselves with fraud screening software and by monitoring their accounts for suspicious activity.
Fortunately, a good merchant account and payment gateway provider will perform most of these checks on the company’s behalf. For extra protection, go for a “high-risk merchant account,” as they have the highest levels of fraud protection built into normal systems. These providers are experts at mitigating risk.
Not only that, but high-risk merchant accounts can also help reduce chargeback rates by preventing bad customers from getting through. Over time, monitoring and adjustments can even help increase approval rates.
Things to Consider When Choosing a Solution
Let’s say you’ve decided to accept payments in multiple currencies. How do you decide which payment solution to use?
The choice will depend on several factors, such as your business model, products and services sold, the currencies you want to accept, and the high volume of payments you expect to receive.
As we’ve discussed, there are several things to consider when choosing a solution for accepting payments in multiple currencies. Top three things to consider:
- Integration – How easy is integrating the payment gateway solution with your existing point of sale? Can you use it with your existing payment terminals, or will you have to get new ones?
- Functionality – What currencies can you accept, and how easy is switching to a different one? What additional features are offered?
- Cost – How much does the solution cost to set up, operate, and maintain? What are the per-transaction fees? Are there any additional advantages to higher fee providers?
While not a complete list, these are certainly key questions you should consider when looking to accept payments in multiple currencies.
How to Localize the Checkout Experience?
Sellers are increasingly looking to maximize their profit margins by offering localized checkout experiences. However, this is often difficult without a payment gateway that can localize the checkout experience for various languages and currencies.
With the best payment gateway for high-risk business, merchants can offer their customers a seamless shopping experience while removing any language or currency barriers.
How to Provide Checkout in Multiple Languages?
A multi-currency checkout screen allows the user to select the language of the checkout page from the drop-down menu. The currencies shown are based on the customer’s location and on which currencies are supported by the payment processor.
Customize Your Site With Plugins and Widgets
It is also possible to easily customize your business website with systems such as WordPress, which comes with many plugins and widgets that you can use to add additional features to your site without having to write any custom code yourself. You can find more plugins for WordPress in the plugin marketplace: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/.
Best Multi-Currency Payment Gateways
The best payment gateway for high-risk business should also offer multiple ways to collect funds. It should offer traditional credit card processing options, but it should also have options for receiving funds from other websites, mobile devices, or other gateways. Merchants who use a top-rated payment gateway will have no problem collecting funds from customers.
The payment gateway should also integrate with your website’s shopping cart software, or they should provide other convenient solutions.
Once you have selected a payment gateway for your business, you can continue to use it as long as you wish. However, it is advisable to keep an eye on the quality of service offered by the provider and their market standing.
The technology landscape is constantly changing, so if the provider has not kept up with recent advancements in security and fraud prevention, then it might be time for a change.
At SecureGlobalPay, we include all of the best fraud and transaction processing technologies available. In order to stay profitable, secure, and popular, these are reviewed regularly and new approaches evaluated.
Multi-Currency Processing Payment Gateways – Fees
An open and reliable payment processor will advise what the fees are in a clear and simple way. When dealing with multiple currency payments, often the main fees involved are those for processing card payments.
It should be made clear exactly what amounts or percentages you will pay for processing payments, such as interchange fees, scheme fees, markups, and any margin that you, as the merchant, should make. In turn, these will help you make sure the provider you choose is affordable and determine how much should be passed on to customers.
When done correctly, merchants can cover interchange and scheme fees by correctly applying additional charges to specific payment gateways. In some cases, you can even profit from the fees, particularly in niches where customers expect to pay a little extra.
Multi-Currency Payment Processors – Instant Currency Conversions or Multiple Wallets?
It’s not uncommon to see a company offering both a multi-currency option and an instant conversion option at the same time. It’s worth noting that these two things are not mutually exclusive.
It is also possible for a platform to offer multiple wallets, but only one of them can be used for instant conversions. This is often the case for platforms that have tiered pricing structures that allow users to upgrade their wallets based on their needs and budget.
While companies can offer both of these features, it is important to realize that they can also come at a cost. For example, receiving and maintaining multiple currencies can mean the need for experienced international accounting staff.
Some payment processors help to make this easier by discussing the needs of the business and providing statements that set out the incomes clearly, whether converted to the main currency or held in numerous currencies.
Conclusion
In today’s global economy, it’s not enough to just sell within your borders. Your business needs to be available to customers all over the world. This means accepting a wide variety of payment types, including cash, credit, and debit cards.
If your business relies on global customers, you’ll need to accept payments in multiple currencies. Setting up a payment gateway will let you accept payment in almost any currency, including cryptocurrencies. This should be your first step when accepting payments in multiple currencies.
You should also let your customer know to comply with KYC (Know Your Customer) regulations for any region where your business operates.
Finally, it is worth comparing the various solutions’ integration, functionality, and costs. This can usually be done by setting up a sandbox account or similar. This will allow a merchant or developer to look under the hood, review the API, and see what features are available.
We hope this article has inspired you to start accepting payments in multiple currencies. Doing so will help you grow your business, particularly if you target customers outside your country.
