Cross-border payment provider PPRO Group has just partnered with payment processor Vantiv in order to enable U.S. merchants to offer the perfect method of payment for international e-commerce transfers.
“Vantiv has got a significant presence in the e-commerce market, and [we] wanted to maximize convergence,” says Simon Black, CEO of the London-based PPRO Group. “Merchants want to offer the local payment method alongside Visa and Mastercard, and we have quite a unique platform for not only processing those payment methods but for collecting the funds.”
While here in the U.S. the most popular form of e-payment is card-based, through issuers like Visa or Mastercard—possibly run through a wallet like Apple Pay or Samsung Pay—over 40% of the e-commerce transactions in Europe are settled with alternative payment methods, according to Black.
E-commerce payments in the Netherlands—where 60% of the population prefers to pay online via bank transfer, for example—is a perfect example of this type of alternative payment, where the banks partnered to offer the iDEAL payment service.
With e-commerce booming across Europe, Latin America, and especially Asia—Single’s Day, anyone?—Vantiv and PPRO Group’s partnership enables U.S.-based merchants to offer a smoother payment experience, which is one of the key factors in successful e-commerce (Amazon, anyone?)
U.S.-based Vantiv merchants will have their pick of non-card payment methods, including e-wallets, direct debit, or even cash-based e-payments—where a customer will receive a voucher or ticket from an online transaction and then complete the payment via cash in a physical store.
“What you don’t want is the customer scrolling through payment methods to find the one they want,” says Black. “What our research shows is that if a merchant doesn’t offer a customer their preferred payment method, 50% will drop out [of the transaction].”
PPRO’s platform will be combined with Vantiv’s iQ for e-commerce, which provides merchants on the Vantiv network with data-driven analytics as well as a record of all global transactions.
The platform will also support these payment methods in all of the market’s Vantiv operates—Vantiv will offer its merchants a choice of payment methods, before the best ‘fit’ for the region is deployed.