Best practices for international payments: How to simplify and scale globally

Global commerce is no longer the domain of enterprise giants. In 2025, businesses of all sizes—from niche e-commerce brands to B2B SaaS platforms—are transacting across borders. In fact, cross-border e-commerce is projected to exceed $7.9 trillion globally by 2030, growing at a CAGR of over 27%, according to a recent report by Precedence Research.

But while the demand is undeniable, the path to seamless international payments is anything but simple. Currency conversions, local payment preferences, regulatory hurdles, and fraud risks make global transactions far more complex than their domestic counterparts. What works in New York might fail in São Paulo or Berlin—not because your product is wrong, but because your payment strategy isn’t localized.

As digital businesses expand into new regions, building a reliable, efficient, and customer-friendly international payment stack becomes mission-critical. From supporting local payment methods to minimizing FX fees and improving authorization rates, the right infrastructure can mean the difference between scaling globally—or stalling at checkout.

In this guide, we’ll break down the best practices for managing international payments in 2025. Whether you’re just beginning to sell across borders or optimizing an existing global footprint, these strategies will help you increase conversions, lower costs, and stay compliant.

What are international payments?

International payments refer to any transaction where the payer and the recipient are based in different countries. These transactions often involve multiple banks, currency conversions, and regulatory frameworks—which makes them inherently more complex than domestic payments.

Unlike local transactions that rely on a single banking network, international payments must navigate cross-border infrastructures. That includes currency exchange, foreign banks, and often intermediary financial institutions that facilitate the transfer. The result? Higher costs, longer processing times, and more potential points of failure.

At a technical level, international payments can include:

• Card-based payments made across borders
• Bank transfers through SWIFT, SEPA, or local schemes like UPI or PIX
• Alternative payment methods like e-wallets, real-time payments, and Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) platforms that vary by country
  

These payments power everything from online retail and software subscriptions to international B2B trade and cross-border gig economy payouts.

One key thing that separates successful global businesses from struggling ones is their ability to adapt to local payment expectations. Consumers in Europe may expect SEPA transfers, while shoppers in Southeast Asia often prefer mobile wallets or QR codes.

If you’re looking to support a wide range of regional methods, here’s a guide on how to accept alternative payment methods that breaks down what matters most in a multi-market strategy.

As businesses grow across borders, choosing the right mix of payment methods—and the right infrastructure to support them—becomes foundational to conversion, customer satisfaction, and long-term scalability.

Common challenges in international payment processing

Expanding globally sounds like a growth win—but without the right payment strategy, it can quickly become a logistical headache. Accepting international payments isn’t just about turning on cross-border card acceptance. It’s about understanding—and navigating—a web of financial, technical, and regulatory challenges.

Here are the biggest pain points businesses encounter:

1. Currency conversion and FX fees

One of the first hurdles is currency. Customers expect to pay in their local currency, but that means businesses must convert funds and manage foreign exchange (FX) rates. This often comes with:

• Hidden FX markup fees
• Poor exchange rates
• Unpredictable earnings due to currency fluctuations

If not handled properly, these costs eat into margins and create reconciliation issues for finance teams.

2. Low cross-border authorization rates

Even with valid cards and customer intent, cross-border payments are more likely to be declined than domestic ones. This is often due to:

• Mismatched acquiring banks
• Foreign card networks triggering fraud filters
• Inadequate support from PSPs for certain regions
  

Without localized acquiring or smart routing, authorization rates can drop significantly, leading to lost revenue and customer frustration.

3. Compliance and regulatory risk

Different regions enforce different rules. That includes:

• Local tax laws (like VAT, GST, or sales tax)
• KYC/AML requirements for high-value transactions
• Data protection laws, such as GDPR in Europe or LGPD in Brazil
• Bank-specific rules on cross-border settlement

Businesses must not only comply but also keep pace with evolving regulations in each market they operate in.

4. Limited support for local payment methods

While cards may dominate in North America, that’s not the case globally. Shoppers in the Netherlands use iDEAL. In Brazil, Boleto and PIX are king. In India, UPI powers most digital transactions.

Failing to support these preferred local payment methods often means failing to convert at checkout.

5. Increased fraud risk

Cross-border transactions are a prime target for fraudsters. Banks are more likely to flag and decline foreign payments as suspicious, and fraud detection rules can vary widely by geography. This leads to higher false declines and increases in chargeback rates, especially in markets where digital fraud is more prevalent.

Best practices for international payments

To succeed with cross-border payments, businesses need more than just a global checkout. They need a payments strategy tailored to local behaviors, infrastructure challenges, and regulatory nuances. These best practices can help businesses reduce friction, improve conversion rates, and boost revenue from international markets.

Support local payment methods

It’s critical to go beyond cards. Consumers worldwide prefer regional payment options they trust—whether it’s SEPA in Europe, PIX in Brazil, Alipay in China, or UPI in India.

Offering the right mix of local methods can:

• Increase trust and checkout completion
• Reduce cart abandonment
• Lower transaction fees

For more guidance, explore how to accept alternative payment methods to improve your reach and conversion across markets.

Offer multi-currency pricing

Letting customers pay in their local currency (rather than converting at checkout) builds confidence. Multi-currency pricing also:

• Makes total costs more transparent
• Eliminates confusion around FX rates
• Helps reduce support requests and refund disputes

Your PSP or orchestration layer should support automatic conversion and settlement in different currencies, ideally with visibility into real FX margins.

Use a smart acquiring strategy

Using local acquirers can significantly improve approval rates in foreign markets. Instead of routing all transactions through a single provider, businesses benefit from:

• Reduced cross-border fees
• Lower fraud triggers due to domestic routing
• Faster settlement and reconciliation

This is where payment orchestration plays a crucial role—giving you the flexibility to connect to multiple acquirers and dynamically route transactions based on geography.

Optimize for mobile-first behavior

Many markets outside North America are primarily mobile-first. This means your checkout flow must support:

• Mobile wallets (Apple Pay, Google Pay, Paytm, etc.)
• One-click and biometric-enabled payments
• Responsive design and localized UX

Friction here directly impacts sales, especially in APAC and LATAM markets where mobile adoption is high.

Manage FX smartly

Transparent FX handling improves customer trust and simplifies reconciliation. Avoiding dynamic currency conversion (DCC), which often carries hidden fees, is a best practice. Look for providers that:

• Clearly break down FX rates
• Minimize markups
• Offer real-time currency rate syncing

Compliance and regulatory considerations

Expanding globally means dealing with a patchwork of financial regulations, data protection laws, and compliance requirements. Staying ahead of these obligations isn’t optional—it’s essential for maintaining payment flow, avoiding fines, and building long-term trust with customers and partners.

Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML)

For businesses facilitating large or high-risk transactions, especially in financial services or marketplaces, KYC and AML requirements are often mandatory. These may involve verifying customer identity, flagging suspicious activity, and maintaining audit-ready transaction records.

Failing to comply can result in steep fines or blocked transactions by banks or payment networks.

Tax and invoicing differences

Every country has its own expectations around digital taxation. That includes:

• VAT and GST regulations for digital services in the EU, UK, Australia, and others
• Country-specific invoice formatting rules
• Filing thresholds for foreign sellers (e.g., in India or South Korea)

Your payment infrastructure should support tax engine integrations or include native tools for calculating and collecting taxes across jurisdictions.

Data protection and localization laws

Cross-border payments often involve handling sensitive data, including cardholder information. Laws like the GDPR (EU), LGPD (Brazil), and PDPA (Singapore) place strict rules on how data is collected, processed, stored, and transferred.

In some regions, data residency laws may also require that customer data be stored within national borders. This adds complexity when designing your payment stack.

To reduce compliance risk, many businesses rely on tokenization and secure vaulting. Learn more in this guide on how to store card data safely and stay PCI compliant.

PCI DSS compliance

If you handle, transmit, or store credit card information, you’re required to comply with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). This global framework ensures cardholder data is protected from breaches and unauthorized access.

One way to reduce your PCI burden is by using tokenization or working with orchestration providers that offer secure card vaulting and PCI scope reduction.

The role of payment orchestration in global payments

Managing international payments across multiple markets, currencies, and providers can get complex fast. That’s where payment orchestration becomes a game-changer—offering a centralized, flexible layer that sits above your payment stack.

Centralized multi-provider management

Payment orchestration allows businesses to connect to multiple PSPs, acquirers, and payment methods from a single platform. This enables:

• Smart transaction routing based on location, currency, or payment type
• Automatic failover if one provider goes down
• Faster market entry by quickly integrating new providers as you expand
  

Improved approval rates through smart routing

Routing international transactions through the right local acquirer can significantly boost authorization rates. Orchestration platforms can automatically direct transactions to the provider most likely to approve it—reducing false declines and increasing revenue.

Simplified compliance and tokenization

Many orchestration platforms include PCI-compliant vaulting and tokenization, allowing merchants to reduce their compliance burden while securely storing and reusing payment data across markets.

Learn more about the top benefits of using payment orchestration in 2025 and how it can optimize global payments.

Measuring success: Key metrics for international payments

To make smart decisions, you need to measure how your international payments are performing. Here are the KPIs that matter most:

• Authorization rates by region and provider
• FX margin impact on total revenue
• Cart abandonment by payment method
• Chargeback and fraud rates per country
• Latency and transaction speed across providers

Tracking these indicators regularly helps you fine-tune your payment strategy, spot weak links, and prioritize high-performing markets or methods.

Frequently asked questions

How do international payments work?

They involve transferring funds across borders, often with currency conversion and multiple financial institutions. Payment methods and timelines vary by region.

How long do international payments take?

Card payments are near-instant, while bank transfers can take 1–5 business days depending on the network, destination, and method used.

How can I reduce FX fees for global customers?

Use providers with transparent FX rates, offer multi-currency pricing, and avoid dynamic currency conversion at checkout.

Do I need local acquirers to process payments globally?

No, but using local acquirers often leads to higher approval rates and lower fees—especially in regulated or card-sensitive markets.

Are international payments secure?

Yes, if processed through PCI-compliant platforms with tokenization, fraud detection, and strong authentication protocols in place.

International payments are more than just a technical function—they’re a strategic lever for unlocking global growth. But to do it right, businesses must look beyond just enabling foreign card acceptance.

Supporting local methods, optimizing currency handling, complying with regional laws, and improving authorization rates all require a thoughtful approach—and the right technology to back it up.

Payment orchestration makes this complexity manageable—helping businesses reduce friction, boost success rates, and scale globally with confidence.

Ready to simplify your global payments strategy? Contact Gr4vy to see how our orchestration platform can streamline your international transactions and help you grow beyond borders.