The Best International Merchant Account Providers in 2025

Numerous industries across the globe show potential for immense growth in 2025. However, fragile supply chains and economic uncertainty are also making world markets much more risky.

Success, particularly for high-risk merchants, can be achieved by making sure you work with a reliable international merchant account provider.

These companies enable your business to accept transactions from customers worldwide. They're able to handle multiple currencies and process transactions through various banking partners all over the world.

In this article, we highlight the best international merchant account providers to choose from in 2025. This includes Adaptiv Payments, a leader in international merchant accounts and payment processing solutions.

Whether you're an established business looking to change or a startup in ecommerce that needs solid ground to grow, discover your international merchant account options and find what best fits your needs.

Adaptiv Payments

Adaptiv Payments Company Logo

Credit: Adaptiv Payments

When it comes to international transactions, Adaptiv is among the most reliable partners in international merchant accounts available, even for high-risk merchants.

We generally serve a wide range of industries, personalizing our merchant account services to fit the needs of even the most niche markets.

By working with a wide network of banks, we ensure you can accept payments and get high approval rates in multiple currencies in countries around the globe.

Moreover, we remain ahead of the curve in technology and compliance. By staying up to speed on changes in the ever-evolving payment processing environment, we ensure your business is agile.

We'll also help you adjust your practices or switch sponsor banks for better rates and more suitable policies so that you can safely process payments and continue to succeed in the long term.

Key Features:

• Accepts payments globally in multiple currencies
• Supports numerous industries, including high-risk markets
• Provides effective fraud protection and chargeback prevention tools
• Offers rapid processing speeds and high approval rates.
• Delivers multi-layered security and exceptional compliance for HIPAA, PCI-DSS, and industry-specific standards.

This provider is best for: Businesses in moderate to high-risk industries, including those looking for a processor who will help them expand into international markets.

PayPal

Paypal Company Logo

Credit: PayPal

PayPal is one of the most well-known brands in finance, but it also offers services for international merchant accounts. It's also streamlined, making it easy for numerous businesses to start and set themselves up quickly to accept international payments.

The downside is that PayPal is prone to putting holds or freezes on merchant accounts, and doesn't provide services to businesses in high-risk markets. The platform also charges a high fee for international transactions, at least compared to other providers.

This provider is best for: International merchants in low-risk markets who prefer convenience and trusted brand recognition.

Stripe

Stripe Company Logo

Credit: Stripe

Another big player among international merchant account providers, Stripe offers plenty of advantages for businesses. It has global coverage, allowing you to accept online, debit, and credit card payments from all over the world.

It also accepts multiple currencies (just like Adaptiv), and even works with local payment options, so you can let customers from around the globe pay their way.

However, there are some issues to consider when working with Stripe. Due to their markets' nature, some high-risk businesses experience costly suspensions or worse. Additionally, Stripe's fees can become costly for merchants with high payment volumes.

This provider is best for: Tech-savvy startups in low to moderate-risk markets that seek to scale globally and process payments through an intuitive platform.

Worldpay

Worldpay Company Logo

Credit: Worldpay

Another big name in the global merchant account space is Worldpay. It operates in over 140 countries and allows merchants to accept payments in 135 currencies. This provider is ideal for its reach, simplified integration, strong security features, and effective pricing, particularly for high-volume merchants.

However, previous customers state that Worldpay offers poor customer service and onboarding, and lacks transparency regarding its pricing structures. They're also known to focus more on enterprise-level merchants rather than smaller, less recognized businesses. So, while it is a strong choice for some, Worldpay may be too big for businesses that have yet to scale up.

This provider is best for: Larger, more well-established enterprise businesses that scale globally.

PaymentCloud

PaymentCloud Company Logo

Credit: PaymentCloud

Need another option from among the best international merchant account providers? Consider PaymentCloud, a strong choice for companies operating in high-risk industries.

Much like Adaptiv, PaymentCloud works with a number of banks in its network to ensure your merchant account remains active with a high approval rate. It's also known to provide strong chargeback and fraud protection, as well as extensive support in various payment types, including ACH and eChecks.

On the other hand, unlike Adaptiv, it doesn't provide offshore accounts. Instead, it only provides accounts for those operating in North America and the EU, making them geographically limited.

Furthermore, they don't provide upfront pricing and are known to have a long and complex approval time, making it difficult for companies to make decisions and operate smoothly.

This provider is best for: Companies and entrepreneurs in restricted, high-risk industries that need an international merchant account.

Payoneer

Payoneer Company Logo

Credit: Payoneer

One last option on our list is Payoneer, a global payment services provider well-known for providing excellent cross-border payments, specifically for freelancers and small businesses.

They can process and convert payments in multiple currencies through local receiving accounts, allowing you to operate in over 200 countries. It is also highly integrated with many large online marketplaces, making it an ideal platform for global businesses and international freelancers.

The drawbacks? It's known to have a rather complex fee structure, and issues of unexpected account freezes and terminations have also been reported.

Plus, while it can service some mid to high-risk merchants, it isn't specialized in that area. So, it may not be able to handle businesses that often deal with high fraud or chargeback rates.

This provider is best for: International companies, freelancers, and small ecommerce businesses.

Choosing the Right International Merchant Account Services Provider

Above, we share several different international merchant services providers. Each of them brings advantages and disadvantages, with some suited to certain businesses more than others.

While Adaptiv Payments works to fit the needs and preferences of each of our partners, we understand that picking the best international merchant account provider is a key decision for your business.

Below, we share a set of steps that will help you settle on the right provider for your company:

1. Evaluate Your Business's Needs: Take stock of how many international transactions your business makes in a certain period. Make sure to account for potential growth as well. Also, identify which payment methods your customers mostly use, and what markets you want to reach. Remember to consider how soon you want to scale your business. These are all factors to consider when choosing the right international merchant account provider.
2. Review the Options: Go over the list above and research other alternatives. Focus on ones that align with your business and industry and what features they may have, like multi-currency support, approval speed, technical assistance, personalization, and quality of customer service.
3. Check for Compatibility: From the choices you've considered, look for which ones are compatible with your business, and not just at a surface level. Do they have the technical integrations to fit your ecommerce platform or point-of-sale systems?
4. Double-Check Pricing: Features and integrations are important, but don't forget pricing. List all the monthly account fees, transaction fees, currency conversion rates, cross-border fees, and so on. Calculate their total according to your current or projected sales volume. Make sure the right choice offers a strong balance of features and profitability. After all, the point of this decision is to help you succeed.
5. Look into Compliance & Security Measures: Check which providers have a good record of strict compliance with PCI-DSS and other security standards, as well as strong encryption. It is best to work with providers known for protecting customer data and preventing fraudulent transactions, especially when it comes to international transactions.

Summary

Go through these steps and filter through our list of the best international merchant account providers. After a thorough review, we're sure you'll find the right choice for your business. To start, consider talking to Adaptiv Payments and learn about our international merchant account services.

We have immense experience helping both regular and high-risk merchants maintain their payment processing across countries.

We can handle multi-currency transactions, offer low international processing rates, and ensure fast and high approval rates through a vast network of banking partners.

And to top it off, we provide all of these features and benefits while also providing dedicated customer support and personalized solutions.

Discover how you can make your business more adaptive and agile, even across borders. Contact Adaptiv Payments today.