Why payment orchestration matters for European merchants expanding cross-border

Expanding across Europe is not a matter of flipping a switch. Each country has its own payment habits, regulations, and infrastructure. For merchants, this creates a patchwork of requirements that directly affect checkout performance.

A strategy that works in Germany may underperform in France. A wallet that converts in Spain may be irrelevant in the Netherlands. Add to this the constant updates to EU regulation, and the risk of service interruptions from a single provider, and the challenge of cross-border growth becomes clear.

Payment orchestration addresses these challenges. By providing a single layer that connects to multiple PSPs, acquirers, and payment methods, it gives merchants flexibility, resilience, and speed to market.

The complexity of cross-border payments in Europe

Europe is often seen as a single market, but payments show how fragmented it remains.

• Regulations: PSD2, Strong Customer Authentication (SCA), and GDPR apply across the EU, but local regulators interpret them differently. Merchants must adjust to these nuances.
  
• Currencies: While the euro dominates, the UK, Sweden, Denmark, and others operate outside the eurozone, requiring currency support and local settlement.
  
• Consumer behavior: Preferences vary by country. In Germany, many consumers still rely on bank transfers and invoice payments. In France, Cartes Bancaires dominates. In Spain, Bizum is now part of daily life.

This mix of legal, technical, and consumer challenges forces merchants to manage multiple integrations, each with its own costs and risks. Without the right setup, expansion can slow or fail.

For a closer look at country-specific behaviors, see our analysis of European retail payment trends in 2025

Local preferences that shape success

Merchants expanding across borders must adapt checkout to local habits. Some examples:

• Germany: Girocard and invoice-based payments remain strong. Many customers expect to pay after delivery.
  
• France: Cartes Bancaires is the leading card scheme. Paylib adds wallet functionality for local use.
  
• Spain: Bizum, integrated with most banks, is used by over 27 million people. PayPal also has a strong foothold.
  
• Netherlands: iDEAL controls more than 70% of online transactions.
  
• Nordics: Swish in Sweden and MobilePay in Denmark are widely used for P2P and retail payments.
  

Offering only cards or a single global wallet is not enough. Merchants that do not support local methods risk losing sales, even if their product or pricing is competitive.

You can read more about how wallets are reshaping checkout in our guide on digital wallets in Europe.

The limits of a single PSP

Payment Service Providers (PSPs) play a key role in merchant acceptance. They process transactions, manage acquiring, and provide fraud tools. But relying on one PSP for multi-market expansion creates limits.

• Coverage gaps: No single PSP supports every local scheme. Merchants often face gaps when entering new markets.
  
• Service risk: If the PSP suffers downtime, all transactions stop. For cross-border merchants, the impact can be severe.
  
• Compliance challenges: Local regulatory differences are not always addressed by a global PSP. Merchants remain responsible for ensuring compliance.
  
• Cost: Fees are often standardized, leaving merchants with little room to optimize transaction costs through routing.

For merchants serious about cross-border growth, relying on a single PSP is risky.

See our analysis on payment orchestration vs PSPs for a detailed breakdown of why this matters.

How payment orchestration supports expansion

Payment orchestration solves the limitations of a single PSP by acting as a control layer. Instead of being tied to one provider, merchants connect once to an orchestration platform and gain access to multiple PSPs, acquirers, and payment methods.

Core benefits include:

• Multi-PSP connectivity: Add local schemes in each country without building new integrations.
  
• Dynamic routing: Send transactions to the provider with the highest approval rate or lowest fee.
  
• Failover protection: If one PSP goes down, traffic routes to another automatically.
  
• Simplified compliance: Orchestration centralizes reporting and helps align with PSD2, GDPR, and local regulations.
  
• Speed to market: Merchants launch in new countries faster because they don’t need to build from scratch.
  

This approach is particularly valuable in Europe, where market fragmentation creates complexity at every step.

Cross-border commerce in Europe: the scale of the challenge

European e-commerce is a €700 billion+ market in 2025. Growth is driven by merchants reaching beyond their home markets. Yet success depends on supporting local expectations.

• In Spain, more than half of online shoppers use Bizum when offered.
  
• In the Netherlands, iDEAL accounts for more than 70% of online transactions.
  
• In Germany, invoice payments remain popular, while digital wallets are gaining traction.
  
• In France, Cartes Bancaires still dominates card payments.
  

Consumers choose familiar methods. Merchants that fail to localize risk higher abandonment rates, even with competitive pricing or fast shipping.

Payment orchestration makes localization easier. Instead of separate projects for each country, merchants add new methods through one integration. This reduces time to market and limits technical debt.

For a broader look at these habits, see our analysis of European retail payment trends in 2025.

Orchestration in action: scenarios for merchants

Scenario 1: Entering Spain

A UK-based merchant expands into Spain. Customers expect Bizum. The merchant’s current PSP does not support it. Without orchestration, they would need a new PSP contract and custom integration. With orchestration, they add Bizum through the same platform, routing Spanish traffic locally while keeping UK transactions with their main PSP.

Scenario 2: Reducing downtime risk

A fashion retailer relies on one PSP across five European markets. When the PSP suffers an outage, thousands of transactions fail. Orchestration fixes this by routing traffic to a backup PSP automatically, protecting sales and customer trust.

Scenario 3: Optimizing costs

A subscription service processes high volumes across the EU. Fees vary by PSP and region. Orchestration enables dynamic routing, sending transactions to the cheapest provider or one with better approval rates. Savings at scale become significant.

Compliance and regulation

European regulation adds another layer of complexity:

• PSD2 and SCA: Authentication is mandatory, but implementation differs by country.
  
• GDPR: Data handling and storage must align with strict privacy rules.
  
• Instant Payments Regulation: From 2025, euro-area PSPs must support instant transfers, and fees cannot exceed standard transfers.

Orchestration helps merchants align with these requirements. Reporting is unified, tokenization is centralized, and updates can be managed through one layer. This reduces the risk of non-compliance and fines.

Why orchestration is the cross-border model

Cross-border expansion is not only about payment acceptance. It is about resilience, cost efficiency, and speed.

• Flexibility: Add and remove payment providers without new builds.
  
• Resilience: Route traffic during outages.
  
• Efficiency: Optimize routing for lower costs and better approval rates.
  
• Speed: Launch in new markets quickly with pre-built connectors.
  

Merchants using orchestration adapt faster to consumer habits, regulatory shifts, and provider performance changes. 

FAQ

What is payment orchestration in Europe?

It is a control layer that connects merchants to multiple PSPs, acquirers, and payment methods through one integration.

Why is orchestration better than a single PSP?

A single PSP limits coverage, increases downtime risk, and reduces flexibility. Orchestration removes these barriers by supporting multiple connections at once.

How does orchestration reduce risk for cross-border merchants?

It ensures continuity during PSP outages and centralizes compliance, reducing exposure to regulation gaps.

Does orchestration support both cards and wallets?

Yes. Orchestration platforms integrate cards, wallets, bank transfers, and real-time rails in one checkout.

How does orchestration help with PSD2 and GDPR compliance?

It provides unified reporting, tokenization, and data management that align with EU requirements, simplifying audits and reducing compliance costs.

Cross-border expansion in Europe is full of promise but also full of complexity. Consumers expect local payment methods. Regulators demand strict compliance. PSP outages and costs threaten performance.

Payment orchestration addresses these challenges head-on. It delivers flexibility, resilience, and speed to market. Merchants serious about European growth need orchestration to scale successfully.

Contact Gr4vy to build a checkout strategy that supports your expansion across Europe.