International Merchant Account & Secure Global Payment Processing.

A merchant account that lets you accept cards and local payment methods from customers in other countries, price in their currency and settle the funds to your bank. It comes with cross-border fraud tools and the card network rules for international sales built in.

Yes. A multi currency merchant account lets e commerce businesses price in major currencies, accept multi currency payments from global customers and settle in one currency, which keeps cash flow simple and limits the effect of currency fluctuations on your books.

With multi-currency pricing, you set prices in each currency and customers see and pay that price. With dynamic currency conversion, the price is in your currency and the customer chooses to convert it at checkout. Both let customers pay in their own currency.

Dynamic currency conversion lets a foreign cardholder pay in their home currency at checkout instead of yours. Visa requires it to be optional: the customer has to choose it, it can't be pre-selected, and the exchange rate and amount must be shown before they agree.

Card networks charge extra assessments on cross-border transactions, and currency conversion adds a cost of its own. For comparison, Stripe adds 1.5% for international cards and 1% when currency conversion is needed, and PayPal adds 1.5% plus a currency conversion spread. We quote your full pricing up front.

Yes. We set processing limits for your volume across currencies and plan for seasonal peaks. See our high volume merchant account page for how limits and pricing work at scale.

A merchant account with an acquiring bank outside your home country. Card network rules only allow it when your business genuinely operates in that country, so offshore accounts suit foreign companies and businesses with a real presence abroad, not US businesses looking to avoid US rules.

An offshore payment gateway connects your checkout to an acquiring bank outside your home country. It's only an option when your business really operates in that country. Otherwise, your gateway works with a domestic merchant account and handles multi currency payments for international customers.

Usually not. Visa requires the acquiring bank to be in the same country as the merchant's location. For an online business that's its principal place of business. Another country counts only if you have a staffed, permanent location there, pay sales tax there and that country's law governs the sale.

Only with a real US location, such as a staffed office or warehouse that handles your US sales. Otherwise, we set you up with an acquiring bank in the country where your business is based, with multi-currency pricing for US customers.

Our online application typically takes less than 15 minutes, and we can often provide preliminary approval within 24-48 hours. Final approval depends on your documents, your business model and where your business is based.

Yes. Many international merchants are also high risk, like travel companies, subscription businesses and global ecommerce brands. Expect a closer look at your processing history and chargebacks, and possibly a rolling reserve.

Often, yes. Many international merchants come to us after a processor froze their account over cross-border fraud or chargebacks. We look at why it happened and what's changed. We also work with merchants on the MATCH list.

It depends on your history and your risk. New international accounts, offshore accounts and high chargeback history can mean a rolling reserve. Merchants with clean processing history often start with a low reserve or none.

In practice, yes. Under the EU's strong customer authentication rules, European card issuers can decline online payments that aren't authenticated. Running 3D Secure on EU and UK cards keeps approval rates up and shifts fraud liability to the issuer.

If you sell to people in the EU, it can, even if your business is based in the US. GDPR applies to companies that offer goods or services to EU residents, so plan how you collect, store and delete customer data.

US businesses can't sell to comprehensively sanctioned places, including Cuba, Iran, North Korea, and the Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine. Other OFAC programs target specific people and companies, so screen customers and orders against the sanctions lists.

Visa's VAMP program flags merchants at a 1.5% fraud-and-dispute ratio with at least 1,500 disputes and fraud reports in a month, and Mastercard starts at 1.5% and 100 chargebacks. Cross-border sales carry more fraud, so aim to stay under 1%.