Do not let borders become boundaries

This editorial was first published in our Online Payments and Ecommerce Market Guide launched on 1 November 2017. The guide features several important thought leadership editorials from ecommerce and payments industry professionals, which makes it a top-reference source for anyone involved in the payments ecosystem.

It is clear from the increase in cross-border ecommerce transactions that country borders do not hinder today’s consumers. However, while it appears easy for them, building a business in multiple countries has its own challenges.

Consumers are looking to buy anyhow, anywhere, anytime and businesses are increasingly looking at how to transform themselves to meet today’s digital demands. In 2016, Forrester Research forecasted that worldwide business-to-consumer cross-border ecommerce would reach USD 424 billion by 2021, rising 40% from 2015 and representing 15% of all online commerce. [Forrester Research, “Forrester Research Online Cross-Border Retail Forecast, 2016 To 2021 (Global),” April 6, 2016]

Across industries, businesses are undertaking digital transformations to accommodate the growing cross-border demand. We are seeing retailers revamping their commerce and logistics operations, whilst game and media companies are becoming pure-play digital organisations. Others are combining forces to build innovative shared-economy digital marketplaces – ultimately enabling their customers to buy what they need – no matter where in the world they, or the companies they buy from, are located.

The challenges that lie ahead

The opportunities to grow both your business and revenue are vast but so are the obstacles; it is not trivial to compete for customers with local entities or other global companies targeting the same market.

For example, businesses should understand the different tax rates and regulations in the countries where they plan to do business, and how those taxes and regulations influence their decisions. It is also important to know how to price products, which local payment methods to accept, which currencies to support and whether to pay cross-border fees or settle in local currencies. Tax and regulations can also impact the domicile compliance requirements, language translations, customer support languages, logistics, and much more.

Cross-border fraud is also an important consideration. In the 2016, CyberSource UK eCommerce Fraud Report, of those respondents selling internationally 62% reported a higher rate of fraud on cross-border orders. In the same report, over 80% of those accepting or planning to accept cross-border orders confirmed that fraud risk is an important factor when deciding whether to accept ecommerce orders from new markets.

Due to lack of experience in a new market, one can find it difficult to recognise local fraud patterns and what constitutes normal behaviour, making it hard to distinguish between fraudulent and genuine customers.

You don’t have to undertake this cross-border ecommerce journey alone

Partners such as CyberSource can help you address a wide range of cross-border challenges.
Whether you’re offering your products or services into new markets or want to simplify and consolidate operations across multiple countries, CyberSource has the experience to help you execute your global commerce strategy, meet local requirements more easily and expedite market entry.

We can help you reach new markets more easily

A single connection to CyberSource gives you access to secure payment acceptance and comprehensive payment management services in over 190 countries and territories, helping simplify your expansion or operational effectiveness strategies. To get you there more easily and faster, we offer global coverage, together with out-of-the-box, responsive, and localised checkout templates that support multiple currencies, payment types, and taxes.

We can also give you access to the World’s Largest Fraud Detection Radar, powered by insights from more than 68 billion transactions processed worldwide annually by CyberSource and Visa. Our fraud analysts are located throughout the world to provide local knowledge and operational scalability.

We can help you scale efficiently

CyberSource can help you connect to more countries at scale. With support for global and local payment types plus other global commerce services, such as fraud prevention and regulation technology services, we help you operate with greater efficiency, enabling you to simplify and streamline operations when conducting commerce across multiple countries.

We can help you execute with confidence

CyberSource is a Visa company; our network is managed as part of Visa network operations. World-renowned for security and reliability, we bring knowledge and expertise in global payment management that can help you approach growth with confidence. Tapping into the extensive CyberSource and Visa ecosystem, we provide in-country payments and fraud management support to some of the world’s largest organisations with payment, fraud and compliance management services.

A partner of choice for global businesses

CyberSource brings the experience and knowledge that your business can rely on for the long run. With our proven range of global commerce solutions and services and access to a massive worldwide processing network of USD 384 billion, we can help you meet local requirements more easily, so you can speed up market entry, reach and retain global consumers worldwide.

Whatever the next border is that you are intending to cross, talk to us. Don’t go alone. We can give you more information about our global commerce capabilities, by visiting www.cybersource.com.

About CyberSource:

CyberSource, a wholly owned subsidiary of Visa Inc., is the only integrated payment management platform built on secure Visa infrastructure, with the payment reach and fraud insights of a massive USD 384 billion global processing network. CyberSource and Authorize.Net payment management solutions help businesses grow sales, mitigate risk, and operate with greater agility.