Security breach

ight and offer customers the chance to pay in their own or
preferred currency it will ultimately drive revenue, especially in
new and developing economies.”
Global Payments introduced UnionPay, the only card network
in China, in 100 UK outlets across the UK ahead of the London
Olympics.
The average transaction volumes so far have reached £1,800
bearing in mind a Chinese citizen can only take £1,886 out of
the country. It is also extremely high in comparison to typical UK
card transaction values which are £64 for credit and £44
for debit.
China UnionPay
Managing director at Global Payments, Chris Davies says: “When
we introduced Union Pay for UK merchants, it meant that
Chinese tourists could spend money without limits in the UK for
the first time. This was an important step in attracting Chinese
visitors to the country by enabling them to use their cards in
the same way they do at home.
“The average transaction values spent on UnionPay cards
in the UK amply demonstrate the appetite among Chinese
customers to spend their money here.
“Retailers can consider a number of methods to target
increased spend from other international visitors. Introducing
Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) for example, adds a level
of comfort to visitors paying on foreign cards by displaying
on the terminal the exact amount they will be paying in their
home currency.
“This helps to add transparency to the process of overseas
transactions and so will encourage spending on cards from
overseas visitors.”
Online retailers entering new markets, however, need to
ensure that they are taking the necessary steps to capitalise
on their investment beyond language translations, says Wendy
Dobson, director of innovation, partner sales and multi-channel
at DataCash.
She notes: “At the critical moment when an online transaction
takes place, components of payment processing and fraud
prevention define a customer’s experience and can be the
tipping point for customer retention with the merchant,
impacting the bottom line.”
To accommodate variations in payment methods between
countries, merchants should adopt payment pages that
dynamically adapt to meet the individual local needs of
customers. Such a solution presents relevant and preferred
payment options to customers, based on their regional
preferences, as opposed to offering a plethora of irrelevant
payment options.
Dobson adds that merchants must ensure their fraud
protection solution is not so stringent that it mistakenly reject
international payments supplement
legitimate customers and includes a multi-layer approach to
build up a more accurate profile of an individual, using
intelligence from a global database as well as incorporating
specific country and alternative payment method rules to
negate ‘risky markets’.
Justin Fraser, sales and marketing director Europe at
SecureTrading, believes trust in the security of online payments
is essential when developing any international payment strategy.
He observes: “Due to a lack of trust in traditional payment
methods such as credit cards in places like Germany or tax laws
in places like Brazil and South America, it is vital that e-tailers
have access to alternative payment methods that consumers in
these territories trust and understand.”
Adopting these systems, however, could prove problematic,
particularly when retailers have evolved to create separate
online channels to their traditional bricks and mortar business.
Nathan Jackson, vice president of UK sales and business
development at Credorax, says there is often a disconnect
where the front-end capture systems are not fully integrated
with back end office systems.
“These technical issues will need to be overcome and a highlevel
of integration achieved in order to successfully accept and
process multi-channel and varying forms of payments from
oversees”, he comments.
Jackson also highlighted the significant legal and regulatory
differences that need to be taken into account.
He adds: “For example, consumer rights regarding product
return laws and labelling requirements differ greatly once you
trade outside the EU. Even within the EU there are different
VAT requirements, so ultimately, the best and safest (although
costliest) way to ensure that any online offering caters for that
market’s consumers and provides a good seamless experience
whilst also adhering to the laws and regulations of each market,
is to hire or bring in local expertise to assist you successfully
selling online internationally.”
Looking east
Sarah Kellett, retail industry consultant at Fujitsu, says the UK
retail industry should be looking to its peers over in the East
(in countries like Japan and Korea) – for steer on a payment
approaches.
She concludes: “With the advantage of widespread internet
access and superfast networks power has truly been shifted to
the consumer in terms of payment options, NFC and the mobile
wallet have taken off – and consumers are presented with a
plethora of choice when it comes to payment options.
Concerns around personal details and security are limiting
take up in the UK , this has been much to the benefit of PayPal
making them the dominant force for alternative payments with
just under half of the total UK market.”
RS
February - March 2013 RS 27