How to Choose a Global Cross-Border Payments Platform

International payments are indispensable for businesses looking to explore new markets and consumer bases. But there are several variables at play when it comes to cross-border payments. Navigating these are important to make the most out of your international payments, and in turn, your relationships with customers and suppliers. Inefficiencies in global payments can lead to expensive fees, delayed payments, high costs, and make you more vulnerable to payments fraud. That is why a global payments platform is necessary to ensure smooth cross-border payment flow. It streamlines your entire global payable process, leading to faster payments, higher security, and reduced costs.

What is a global payments platform?

A global payments system allows users – businesses and consumers – to easily make and receive payments, in multiple currencies and payment methods, worldwide. Global payment processors (like Novalnet) use these systems to process, track, and analyze payments across the world, making the entire payment process smooth and hassle-free. A global payments system acts as a go-between buyers and sellers, ensuring that all sensitive payment details remain confidential. These systems have fraud and chargeback prevention capabilities that provide greater protection to ensure safe, secure payments.

As a business, you could build your own global payments system, provided you have the resources for it. This would give you greater control of your payments, but is also an expensive and resource-intensive exercise. The best option is to work with a global payments processor like Novalnet, to process all your payments, both domestic and international.

Why do global payments matter?

The popularity of global payments have grown steadily over the years, as global e-commerce has grown. Hence, a global payments system is invaluable to an international seller. It directly impacts your sales volumes, helps you expand into newer markets, and build a customer base beyond your country’s borders.

How to choose the right global payments system?

While choosing a global payments platform, here are some points for you to consider:

1. Mass Payment Processing
Choose a payments platform that supports mass payment processing and in multiple currencies. That way you can schedule thousands of payments to multiple recipients (and in different currencies) without breaking into a sweat. Just imagine – being able to work with and pay a supplier anywhere in the world, in their local currency, and in their preferred payment method.
You also need not look into each payment individually; the automated system will intelligently schedule your payments and ensure invoices are settled on time. This leaves you free to focus on other important areas in your business. Novalnet’s platform helps you accept payments globally in 125+ currencies in 150+ automated country-specific payment methods.

2. Easy to Integrate
The global payments system that you choose should be easy to integrate into your existing business systems. It should easily integrate with different payment methods, payment APIs, and banking algorithms. The system should also be highly configurable so that you can tweak it to your business’s needs. This will help ensure payments are processed quickly and with minimal errors.

3. Intelligent Payment Routing
Look for a payment platform that performs intelligent payment routing. Payment routing is the process by which a merchant’s payment gateway sends customer payment data to an acquiring bank. In traditional payment routing, a payment gateway connects to a single acquiring bank in a geographic region, which leads to slower transactions and more failed payments. In the case of intelligent payment routing, a payment gateway connects with multiple acquirer banks in different regions. It routes the transaction to the bank that is most likely to settle it successfully.

Intelligent payment routing takes a data-driven approach to match a payment with an acquirer with the highest possibility of a successful transaction. It uses analytics, AI, and machine learning to analyze data on various factors such as location, payment method, card network, etc. Intelligent payment routing lowers the risk of failed payments and reduces a platform’s overall operating costs.

Learn more: How Intelligent Payment Routing Supports Cross-Border Payments

4. Automated Accounts Receivables and Payables (AR/ AP)
The right global payments platform will automate your accounts receivables and payables. This removes the need for manual intervention. It also means lesser errors and more efficient payment tracking. You can have greater visibility over all your payments. This means you can easily control, schedule, and track payments from a single dashboard. Also, because invoice entry, scheduling, tracking, and processing is automated with such as system, you can allocate resources to more critical tasks, thus saving time and money.

5. Strong Fraud Protection
Choose a payments platform that comes with strong fraud and chargeback prevention capabilities. This helps you ensure your payments are safe from data hacks and fraudsters, while your customers can shop in a safe environment. This helps boost buyer trust and confidence in your brand. A payments system such as Novalnet’s uses AI and machine learning and tools such as 3D Secure to prevent frauds and chargebacks. Our platform is also PCI-DSS certified to ensure all payments are processed in a secure environment.

Also read: 4 Ways to Tackle Cross-border Payments Fraud

6. Easy Compliance
The right payments platform will ensure you are 100% compliant with all local and global payment laws. For example, in Europe, all businesses that make or receive international payments have to abide by the PSD2, AMLD, and GDPR laws. All payment platforms also need to be PCI-DSS certified. Novalnet’s payment platform is compliant with all regulations and laws in Europe and worldwide. This helps us process payments securely and take care of all the compliance, leaving you free to focus on your business.

Know more: 4 Payment Regulations Every Business in Europe Should Know

How Can Novalnet Help?

We can help you start accepting and making international payments easily. If you are a business owner in Europe, then we have the right strategies and tools for you to widen your global reach and conduct business across borders. Novalnet is a global PSP, trusted by Europe’s leading brands to handle their payments. Our state-of-the-art technologies and methods help you accept payments globally. From our instant payment plug-ins to our AI-based risk management tools, we have the resources to get your payments up and running in no time, and with zero hassle. Reach out to us today to know more.

Jose Augustine

Jose Augustine is the Chief Business Development Officer at Novalnet with extensive experience in European payment industry and a knowledge powerhouse.