Cross-border merchant acquiring: it takes an octopus to thrive in rough waters

Competition in cross-border merchant acquiring is growing exponentially. Many incumbents find themselves burdened by rigid and uncoordinated legacy systems, unable to keep up with merchant expectations. They face challenges not only from startups, but also former partners, as ISVs transition into payment facilitators, ISOs evolve into processors, and PSPs transform into acquirers.

To stay competitive in rough waters, both disruptors and incumbents alike are exploring new ways to attract cross-border merchants. What technology enables them to offer the highest conversion rates and the much sought-after pricing transparency for each transaction? How do they analyze and improve the profitability of their acquiring portfolios?

OpenWay presents the payment innovations and value-added services that have opened new revenue streams for cross-border acquirers using the Way4 payments software platform. Our case study provides a comprehensive overview of the best practices employed by:

  • Finaro, which has transformed from a global e-commerce gateway into an acquirer, issuer, and provider of merchant banking services. It was recently acquired by Shift4, the payments partner of SpaceX.

  • SmartPay in Vietnam, which successfully onboarded 700,000 mobile merchants within just 3 years. Its mobile wallet is predicted to become a super-app.

  • Planet Payments (formerly Fintrax), initially a DCC provider, now a full-fledged POS acquirer catering to luxury brands like Gucci, Chanel, and Burberry.

  • Halyk Bank in Central Asia, the first financial institution in its region to offer cost-effective QR payments to SMEs and street vendors serving tourists.

  • A payment facilitator from CNBC’s Disruptor 50 List, which has expanded from a freelance marketplace provider into a global B2B acquirer operating across 190 countries.

  • Nexi, a Pan-European acquirer undergoing an agile digital transformation of its acquiring infrastructure. In 2020, over a million merchants were successfully migrated to a new in-house platform despite the complications of lockdown restrictions.

  • Equity Bank Group, a Pan-African player recognized as the world’s first ATM acquirer of M-PESA e-money. It now serves as a wallet payments hub for various e-money brands across East Africa.

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Rudy Gunawan, Managing Director of OpenWay Asia, shares insight on award-winning cross-border merchant acquiring projects. He sheds light on acquirers’ best practices to optimize reconciliation across hundreds of supported card schemes and alternative payment methods, to profit from FX operations, and to keep the approval rates high. He also explores which merchant segments are the most profitable and which value-added services they expect to be provided by the acquirer. 

OpenWay is the developer and provider of the Way4 digital payments software platform for tier-1, mid-size and startup players – including card issuers, acquirers, processors, telcos, payment switches, fleet companies, and digital wallet providers. Gartner, Omdia and Aite have ranked OpenWay as the best digital payments software provider and the best payment solution in the cloud.