With a greater variety of payment options than ever before across the globe, catering for customer preferences is a challenge for any consumer-facing business, especially one that operates in multiple territories.
According to the latest World Payments Report, non-cash transactions are increasing year-on-year by about 10% worldwide and by about 20% in developing markets.
JONATHAN AMRANI A highly accomplished member of the online payments industry, Jonathan Amrani is director of operations at PSI-Pay Ltd. He has been responsible for leading the development of the ecoPayz e-wallet for the past four years. Prior to working at PSI, Jonathan acquired extensive experience in the fields of both igaming and online payments, working for some of the biggest names in the industry.
In the globalised igaming world, for some multijurisdictional operators credit card payments are simply not an option and this raises significant questions. For instance, what are the main alternatives for those not able to use credit cards as a primary payment method? What’s the best way to avoid declining rates in emerging markets? And how should an operator go about exploring the most efficient strategy for every market?
Alternatives
The main alternatives today involve either tapping into the direct and instant banking infrastructure or engaging with a provider that offers a variety of non-card local service schemes.
If the latter option is adopted and you are able to identify a trusted partner, the opportunities can be immediate. Operators will have the chance to connect instantly with a variety of local deposit and pay-out platforms that tally with consumer trends and behaviours in a specific market.
A holistic approach is vital. Rather than providing different resources to each project manager within your organisation, integration has to be the goal, along with legal compliance. Aim for a one-time implementation, so you can then embark on operating effectively and efficiently. Then, if a partner is able to add a new payment method to its system, the operator will just need to request it is switched live.
When an operator works with such a partner, an immediate connection is established with local currency accounts, providing access to global currencies and ensuring instant conversion. This will allow you to run your business in a global way and not merely locally with high conversion fees.
Global outlook
Once you are able to tap into such solutions, then the rate of decline will drop immediately. With this approach, it is possible to gain access to local currency support at no extra cost. Additionally, for most solutions of this nature, chargebacks do not exist and this therefore reduces the related financial and legal obligations.
However, there are challenges that you will need to recognise at the outset and as your operation expands.
In order to develop an effective strategy for every market, you have to be on the ground to understand the real challenges and the live market, so you are on top of everything. That is the only way to develop a strategy tailored to local markets.
Of course, it might not be possible to situate yourselves in the territory when it comes to establishing operations there. Therefore, it is ideal to have a local partner or your own research team in each country, working in close collaboration with local experts.
COMPANY PROFILE
•NAME ECOPAYZ •FOUNDED 2000 •SECTOR FINTECH •WEBSITEECOPAYZ.COM•TWITTER@ECOPAYZ