Top 10 International Payment Gateways: An In-Depth Guide -

Dec 17, 2022

Many companies that expand globally arrive at a point that they aren't able to support their customers from across the world by using their current payment processor. They'll start noticing issues like slow conversion rates, lower charges, increased charges, and a general stagnation in growth.

An international payment gateway will help you with some of these issues However, it's only one part of the equation. To accept payments internationally You must also offer local payment methods as well as collect and pay for consumption taxes, and adhere to local laws and regulations for transactions as well as many other requirements.

In this post in this post, we explain what an international payment gateway does, how it can be integrated into the processing industry, and how you can choose the right one for your business. In the next section, we will review the 10 top payments solutions, starting by diving into our own solution .

 Table of Contents

What is an international payments gateway?

Traditionally, payment gateways and payment processors were typically offered as two separate services and it was common to have two different companies for each service:

  • Paying gateways efficiently and safely transfer payment information from the checkout program to the payment processor.
  • Processing companies ensure that all required information is present and properly formatted, and forward it on to the bank that issued it or credit card network for final authorization. Some payment gateways integrate with several payment processors behind the in order to improve performance.

 Then, fast forward to the present, and these two services typically are offered in conjunction this is the reason why numerous companies use these terms in conjunction.

In the rest of this article, if it mentions one of the items, we will assume that there is another.

The  payment processors let you instantly accept preferred payment methods across the world. If you do not have an international processor, you would have to keep a connection with each card network (e.g., MasterCard or Visa), the bank that issues them, or an electronic money (a.k.a., e-wallet) you would like to be able to accept. Each payment provider has different rules to adhere to and differing acceptable levels of fraud and chargebacks. As a result, it can be very difficult to maintain a good relationship with each of them on your own.

 International payment processors take on the responsibility of staying in good standing with different payment providers so that they don't need to.

Aspects to Take into Account When Selecting the right International Payment Gateway

The  A of Record (MoR) is a company that takes on the liability of SaaS transactions for you that is, they manage payments processing, collecting and tax payments, remaining in compliance with local regulations and laws charging backs, and more. When something is not working in one the above areas the MoR will take the initiative to fix the issue for you.

If your gateway for payment does not act as your MoR, then you're completely on your own

  • Calculate tax, and add it to final total, and pay those taxes to the local government
  • Be aware of and abide by the local law and regulations regarding transactions and local regulations
  • Increase conversions by optimizing the checkout flow
  • Manage chargebacks and fraudulent transactions
  • And more

Many payment processors will provide APIs or built-in connections to other products that will help you with the above issues. You'll still have to manage that entire system and you'll still be held accountable for everything from paying taxes to fraud prevention. If taxes are not paid in a timely manner, you may face huge fines or be prevented from doing business in the region.

Once you've determined that the payment gateway functions as a MoR there are two other factors to consider:

  1. Which countries do they allow the transactions be conducted within (it will differ with each payment gateway provider).
  2. The way they keep an extremely high rate of authorization (there are many reasons that a transaction could fail, even if you have a good connection with the card network).

We'll then look into the in-depth way that functions as your MoR. We'll afterwards, compare the other nine international payment gateway providers.

: Merchant of Record for Global SaaS Companies

Expansion of your business internationally is an extremely complex procedure that involves everything from translating your website to knowing about the local laws and rules. In addition to the difficulty, many of these laws and procedures are continually changing.

As an example, SaaS companies didn't always have to pay consumption tax but now many countries have the tax. In addition, many states, provinces and territories, and countries change the amount of taxes that need to be collected, and the method by which you must pay these tax each year. There's plenty to track and many regions will charge hefty fines if you don't make the correct amount of tax on the right time. This is only the beginning of what you require to manage international transactions.

  With  HTML0, you are able to quickly expand to more than 200regions, because:

  • Maintain good standing with dozens of payment providers around the world so you can accept the most popular payment options for local use (including but not restricted to Apple Pay, ACH, SEPA, Amazon Pay, and many more).
  • Remit and collect consumption tax (including GST, VAT, SST as well as SST.) for every purchase and file all necessary tax returns for you.
  • Take on the responsibility of following local law and regulations. Our team of legal experts remain up-to-date with the relevant laws and regulations, making sure all the necessary procedures are in place for collecting payments.
  • Handle currency conversions and translators for languages at the point of purchase.

is fully compliant with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) as well as is fully compliant with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). We also renew our Level One certification (which is the most prestigious level that is possible) with an annual certification to the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) every year.

 In the following sections we will explain in detail what you can do to improve your experience:

Get High Authorization Rates for over 200 regions with our advanced Processing of Payment Failures and Local Payment Processing

A lot of companies can keep high authorization rates in their own country, however they quickly experience a drop in authorization rates when they begin expanding internationally. The reason for this is that transacting internationally is much more complicated so many things could go wrong. For example, the card system or bank that issued the card may flag the transaction as fraudulent (and consequently deny the authorization) because the seller isn't located in the same country as the buyer.

It's not easy as well as draining on your resources to pinpoint the reason why payments to stop and figure out solutions to these difficulties at your own.

As your Payment processing system as well as MoR takes care of maintaining high authorization rates in your favor. Here are two ways that we maintain the highest rates of authorization.

1. Payment Processor Rerouting

While payments can fail for straightforward reasons, such as insufficient funds or incorrect payment information however, they may also fail due to network or system failures. If the payment doesn't work on the first attempt, tries another time using a different processor. Even though this doesn't resolve issues like the lack of funds, it typically solves the issue of network or system failures.

2. Local Payment Processors

Banks and card networks tend to approve transactions when the payment processor is a legal entity located in the same country as the buyer. Works with payment processors that specialize in international transactions, so that your transactions are handled in the same place that your customers.

Increase Conversions with an Optimized Checkout Experience

Before payment information is ever transmitted to the payment processor There are numerous possibilities for a client to abandon the payment process. For example:

  • They have to create an account to purchase and don't want to.
  • Taxes and fees are included, but are not explicitly stated to the consumer, so they don't understand which price is higher or lower.
  • The screen at checkout isn't marked as secure. So the customer doesn't feel safe when entering their personal details.

 assists in reducing check-out abandonment, and boost the conversion rate by using:

  • Dynamic update of tax and currency rates depending on where the user is located. You can set the prices for different currencies or let automate conversion of prices into the local currency. ( We use OANDA for exchange rates, and we also change prices 4 times per day.) If you have us change the price on your behalf and we match it to the standard structure of the price. (For example, suppose the base price of your product is $17.99 and your conversion in Euros would be EUR18.29, would update it to EUR18.99.)
  • Translations at checkout. You can let buyers choose their preferred language in the dropdown menu, or you can lock the language and will instantly select the correct language based on the buyer's area of.
Choose Country/Language: With , you can translate your shopping in cart into different languages and automatically convert the customer facing price to local currencies.
  • Completely customizable visual. Most payment gateways do not offer templates for checkouts, but they provide some basic options for customization (like the addition of your logo, or selecting from a pre-defined color palette). It gives you the features and personal assistance that you need to build a customized, fully branded checkout experience. (We also provide an already-designed template optimized for high conversion rates.)
  • An embedded, pop-up, or online storefront checkout. You can integrate checkout directly on your website and even add a popup-up button on your website, or redirect customers to a secure storefront. You have the option to select the option which is best for your staff and customers.

Cut down on Involuntary Churn through Proactive Dunning Management

Successfully converting potential buyers to paying customers is just the beginning. When it comes to SaaS businesses, additional payments issues are usually encountered during the purchase process and the subsequent invoices. One of the most popular ways to handle payment issues is to simply notify customers, but it is necessary to take a different approach -- like send out several reminders, for you to drastically decrease the amount of churn that is involuntary.

  • Reminders that are proactive to change the information on your payment. will send out email reminders to customers when their credit card is due to expire. It is possible to use our already-built email template or customize the message you want to send.
  • Multiple schedule retries, as well as follow-up reminders. After the initial payment retry , and after announcement, you are able to schedule the sending of notifications for two, five, seven fourteen and 21 days after the initial failure. After sending out every reminder, will retry the payment.
Customer Emails: Charge Failed, Payment Overdue, Trial Reminder
  • Simple to use self-serve website. provides a self-serve portal where your customers can view their order history, change their subscriptions, as well as update payment or bank account information. This self-serve website is entirely managed by but the appearance of the website will be a reflection of the branding of your checkout, providing buyers with a seamless purchasing experience.

It is possible to choose the number of reminders you need to send before service to customers is suspended. It has been our experience that allowing the service to continue for the initial few reminders decreases involuntary churn and provides a better user experience.

Following the last reminder, you have the flexibility to choose whether to pause or cancel their service if they don't change their information regarding payment. Pausing their service makes it much easier to restart the service once more without having to go through the entire onboarding process again.

Handle Complex Billing Logic and also Free Trials Without Code

Implementing recurring billing internally can be a burden on time for developers and difficult to maintain. Although some payment processors offer subscription billing options but most offer standard options (e.g., a free trial that automatically turns into monthly bills).

The , on the other hand, offers flexible options for free trials as well as billing times and payment. Here's an overview of options available when using the feature for recurring billing:

  • Trial periods for free of any length
  • Free trial that include or do not require collecting payment details upfront
  • Subscription payments that are prorated
  • Flexible billing intervals for bill payments
  • Usage-based billing
  • Upgrade at renewal or at the end of the cycle
  • Customers may change their date of their bill at any point (or you can lock the billing date)
  • Prepaid recurring bill
  • The subscription comes with a single purchase at sign up
  • Refunds applied to the next payment
  • Plus there are many and many

 The majority of these choices are set up in only a couple of clicks with no code.

Edit Subscription Pricing: Standard or Managed

If you require a custom subscription rules, then you could use our API and webhooks library. Additionally, our skilled developers are readily ready to assist you in creating the best solution for your business strategy.

Scale quickly with transparent flat-rate Pricing

With most international payment processors will require you to install additional software to your stack for managing recurring bills and taxes, dunning etc. Furthermore, many international payment processors charge additional fees for every feature that goes beyond processing payments. This can make it hard to determine what you'll end up paying and the costs can rack up quickly as you grow.

It doesn't cost extra for each features. This allows you to plan your budget and also to plan your scale. Instead of charging per feature our team works with you to find an affordable, flat-rate cost dependent on the number of transactions that you conduct . You'll have access to every element of the system and will only be charged for transactions that take place.

9 Additional Payment Gateways in the world to SaaS and non-SaaS companies

Verifone

Verifone homepage: Modern Commerce. Simplified.

Verifone (formerly 2Checkout) is a platform for payment for retail and digital goods. The solutions offered by Verifone comprise:

  • Controlling subscriptions
  • Reporting and analytics
  • Global Tax and Financial Services, as well as financial
  • Compliance and risk management
  • B2B quote builder
  • Channel partner management

Some of these features can be purchased at an extra cost as an added-on. Verifone is the only alternative on the list which offers MoR services. They let you choose between a MoR model as well as a payment service provider model.

Stripe

Stripe homepage: Financial infrastructure for the internet

Stripe is a popular cross-border payment processing platform which offers a variety of solutions like:

  • A custom-designed UI that can be customized and built checkout flow templates
  • Simple subscription management
  • Fraud prevention and risk management
  • Flexible billing logic
  • Online invoice
  • In-person payments

Stripe can also assist you by distributing physical and virtual cards as well as help manage business spend. It is relatively simple to setup and integrate with other systems. However, they do not act as an MoR.

PayPal

PayPal homepage: It pays to pay with PayPal

PayPal is an online payment system and also an extremely popular digital wallet (not one that is a MoR). PayPal is a great choice for online and brick and mortar businesses. PayPal's offerings are:

  • QR code and POS systems
  • Invoicing
  • Payment management for installments
  • Payment methods that are preferred (other that the PayPal digital wallet)
  • The use of cryptographic payments
  • Chargeback protection

In its capacity as a payment processor PayPal has a single merchant account that is used by all its customers and then pays from that account.

Braintree

Braintree homepage: Boost Revenue with a Global Payments Partner

Braintree is a product offered by PayPal is another online payment gateway solution that doesn't provide MoR service. The primary difference between Braintree and PayPal is the fact that Braintree provides you with your personal merchant account. Braintree additionally offers other services (like the management of subscriptions). Braintree's features comprise:

  • Subscription management
  • Improved checkout flow
  • Options for risk reduction that are flexible
  • Analytics and reporting
  • Third-party integrations for ongoing billing, accounting, and much more

Braintree allows payment via PayPal, Venmo (in the US), Apple Pay as well as Google Pay.

Authorize.net

Authorize.net homepage: Accept payments anytime, anywhere

Authorize.net offers payment solutions for ecommerce merchants and in-person sales. Authorize.net's products comprise:

  • Monthly billing management
  • Point of purchase virtual
  • Payment processing
  • Advanced fraud detection suite (AFDS)

The company offers a bundle of payment gateways or you can select a package that comes with an account for merchants. Authorize.net provides services to businesses across Canada, the U.S., Canada, Europe as well as Australia.

Adyen

Adyen homepage: Engineered for ambition

Adyen is a complete payments processing and financial management solution. Here's an overview of Adyen's capabilities:

  • In-person and online debit card as well as credit card transactions
  • Fraud detection
  • Intelligent payment routing
  • Automatic dunning
  • Management of subscriptions

Adyen serves companies offering transport services, digital goods, retail food and beverages as well as hospitality.

WorldPay through FIS

WorldPay by FIS homepage: Fintech the financial world is built on

Fidelity National Information Services, Inc. offers numerous financial products and services including WorldPay which is their worldwide payment processing service. The features of WorldPay include:

  • Link to pay by email
  • Multi-currency Support
  • Support for 200+ alternative payment methods , such as mobile payments, e-wallets, pre-pay and much more.
  • 24/7/365 assistance in all world regions

While WorldPay provides instant access to the world, processing payments is just one of their many offerings. This means that you will not receive personalized attention.

Amazon Pay

Amazon Pay homepage: More than a payment button

Amazon Pay lets customers make use of the account they've already established through Amazon for payment. When they go to checkout on your ecommerce site you'll be able to show Amazon Pay in the checkout section as an option. They'll be able to make use of the payment options as well as contacts already saved in their account. Amazon Pay is a payment method that includes:

  • Payment processing
  • Checkout flow optimized (modeled after Amazon's own checkout experience)
  • Recurring billing management
  • Fraud detection

There is no requirement to become an seller on Amazon Marketplace to use Amazon Pay. Amazon Pay may be a good option for small businesses that are just getting established.

NOTE: You can pay with Amazon Pay with .

Checkout.com

Checkout.com homepage: Digital payments for global businesses

Checkout.com offers:

  • Payment processing
  • Payouts
  • Fraud detection
  • 3D secure authentication

They also offer flexible incoming payment options , allowing you to decide how you will allocate your money between split payments and commissions. Checkout.com has a partnership with more than 50+ other vendors to allow you to build your worldwide payment system.