International Merchant Accounts: How to Accept Card Payments Across Borders

A payment is acquired locally when the acquirer is in the same country as the customer's card, and cross-border when it is in a different country. Card issuers tend to approve domestic payments more readily, so locally processed transactions usually see higher authorisation rates than cross-border ones.

Cross-border payments also cost more. Card schemes charge cross-border fees when the merchant's and cardholder's countries differ, and interchange is often lower for domestic transactions. Many businesses start with one cross-border account and add local acquiring in their biggest markets as volume grows.

• Within the EEA, interchange on consumer cards is capped by Regulation (EU) 2015/751 at 0.2% for debit and 0.3% for credit, from 9 December 2015. Commercial cards are not covered.
• For cards issued outside the EEA and used at EEA merchants, Visa and Mastercard committed to the European Commission in April 2019 to cap card-not-present interchange at 1.15% for debit and 1.5% for credit, and card-present at 0.2% and 0.3%.
• Those inter-regional caps were extended in 2024 and now run until November 2029.
• Scheme cross-border fees and acquirer markups come on top of interchange, so compare the full cost on your own transaction mix.

The presentment currency is the one your customer sees and pays in. The settlement currency is the one paid into your bank account. Showing prices in the customer's own currency can improve conversion and approval rates. Being paid out in several currencies depends on what your provider supports, and usually means holding a bank account in each settlement currency.

In the EEA and the UK, online card payments need Strong Customer Authentication, usually through 3-D Secure, when both the merchant's acquirer and the cardholder's bank are in the region. The EEA deadline for e-commerce was 31 December 2020 and the UK deadline 14 March 2022.

Payments where the acquirer or the issuer is outside the region, known as one-leg-out, are outside the SCA mandate, and the issuer decides for itself whether to ask for authentication. Exemptions such as low-value payments, transaction risk analysis and recurring charges of the same amount can reduce friction for EEA and UK customers.

Requirements vary by country and provider, because each acquirer follows the anti-money laundering rules where it is licensed.

• Company registration documents and proof of the registered address.
• Identity documents for directors and for owners of 25% or more.
• A description of what you sell, your markets and expected volumes.
• Recent processing statements or financial statements, if you have them.
• A bank account for settlement, in the currencies you want to be paid in.
• A website that shows your company details, terms, refund policy and delivery information.

Start from where your customers are. If most of them are in one or two countries, local acquiring there usually pays for itself through better approval rates and lower fees. If they are spread across many markets, one international account with multi-currency pricing is often the practical first step. High-risk industries add another filter: the acquirer must accept your industry in each market you sell to, which is where matching with the right provider matters most.

• Stripe, Local acquiring 101 (August 2023) and Global acquiring 101 (April 2026).
• Adyen, cross-border payments, go global, process local (February 2020).
• Regulation (EU) 2015/751 on interchange fees for card-based payment transactions.
• European Commission decisions in cases AT.39398 (Visa) and AT.40049 (Mastercard), 29 April 2019; FinTech Futures on the extension to 2029 (July 2024).
• Stripe documentation, supported currencies, and presentment and settlement currency explained (May 2025).
• Stripe, Strong Customer Authentication guide; EBA Q&A 2018_4233; EBA press release, 16 October 2019; FCA statement, 20 May 2021.
• Adyen documentation, verification and document requirements.