The last decade saw an exponential rise in the startup industry with many launching operations in global markets. Netflix and Airbnb have become a household name internationally while Malaysia headquartered Iflix is currently available in 22 countries across Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa. Today, UK based food delivery service Deliveroo is available in more than 200 cities globally and at the same time, India based Oyo Hotels and Homes has become South Asia’s largest hotel chain as it entered new markets across China, South-East Asia, and the US. Along with these unicorns, there are a lot of other startups with much smaller valuations making inroads into foreign geographies.
Are you also looking to expand into foreign markets? Here are some global payment methods which you could adopt while globalizing your product or service.
Credit Cards still remain popular in developed markets
Credit Cards are one of the most popular payment methods in the North American market. Figures collected by CardData indicated that the number of U.S. credit/charge cards-in-force (CIF) in the first quarter of this year stood at 693.9 million, the highest in the country’s history. Credit cards remain the most preferred method of choice both online and at the point of sale. Paymentwall’s data suggest that over 78% of all transactions in the US are done through credit cards while e-wallets come at a distant second at 18%. Hence, if a chunk of your customers in the global market is being generated from this region, it is imperative that you provide them with a credit card payment option in the payment widget.
Online Bank Transfers are trusted in select geographies
Extremely popular in countries such as the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, Poland, Philippines, and Malaysia, online bank transfers is another payment method that you should explore to enable payments from other geographies. Most of these countries have excellent internet penetration and most of their populace shops online. Money gets transferred from one bank to another instantly, making it one of the most convenient payment options for consumers. Some of the popular payment methods that facilitate online transfers include iDeal in the Netherlands, Sofort in Germany, Tenpay in China and Dragonpay in the Philippines.
Alternative Payment Methods (Mobile Billing, E-Wallets, App-based Payments) picking up pace globally
According to a McKinsey study, global digital commerce volume exceeded $3 trillion in 2017—13 percent of total commerce—and will more than double by 2022. Out of this, mobile commerce contributed 48 percent of digital commerce sales and forecasted to reach 70 percent by 2022. The high growth in digital commerce transactions led to a host of alternative payment methods being tested and used globally to tackle a variety of pain points. AliPay and WeChat Pay in China, M-Pesa in Africa, Yandex Money in Russia, and MercadoPago in Brazil are some excellent examples of alternative payment methods being used by consumers for digital commerce.
Cash Payments are still big in developing economies
Cash still remains a preferred choice of payment in developing countries. Usually, these countries have a chunk of their population unbanked. Prime examples include Indonesia, countries in the Caribbean, and Latin America. Based on transactions done through Paymentwall, we have noticed a high demand for cash payment options such as Boleto in Brazil, Konbini in Japan, or payment terminals in the CIS region. Hence if you are selling in these geographies, cash payment options are an absolute necessity.
Catering to the African continent using Mobile Payments
The African economy is on a steady uphill path and the past decade experienced a boom of the African middle class. The increased purchasing power of Africans has led to a lot of global businesses offering their services and products in the region. While a large section is still unbanked with a high dependence on cash payments; the high penetration of mobile phones in the region has led to mobile money is the preferred payment option in many African countries. In Kenya alone, 45 million mobile money accounts were registered by the end of 2018, according to the Central Bank of Kenya. M-Pesa is currently leading with 21 million users carrying 17 million transactions a day. PalmPay, the mobile app launched by Transnet Financial in Ghana and Nigeria recently, is already among the top 10 free financial apps in Google Play Store for Android in both markets. While the payment apps may differ from country to country, if you want to cater to the African people, you should explore integrating options for your customers to transact using mobile-based payments, payment cards such as Verve in Nigeria and other financial apps to cover all bases.
As a business owner, it is imperative that you provide your consumers with an excellent checkout experience and taking cognizance of the local payment preferences would come in handy while getting an edge over your competitors. Keep these payment methods in mind to grow your business globally and build a demand for your products and services quickly. If you are looking to expand your services or sell your products in global markets, you can contact Paymentwall at bizdev@paymentwall.com.