What does an offshore merchant account do for a global online company?

Lord777

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Content:
  • What is a merchant account by itself?.
  • Advantages of direct merchant accounts for businesses.
  • Why do modern businesses need e-commerce accounts?.
  • What services do merchant accounts provide for e-commerce?.
  • International practice of using a merchant account opened for an offshore company or branch.

The rapid development of information technology over the past 15 years has led to the growth of e-commerce and the emergence of new online business models. The success of such companies as Amazon, Alibaba, Yandex. Market, Ozon and many other e-commerce businesses would not have been possible without the organization of accepting online payments to special merchant accounts.

Two things contributed to this: the widespread use of plastic cards and smartphones in the hands of the general public. Paying for goods and services has become not only safe, but also extremely convenient. That is why online payments using foreign (offshore) merchant accounts have developed enormously over the past five years.

This has become especially convenient with the development of contactless payment on smartphones equipped with NFC (near-field contactless communication) modules. Such programs as Google Pay, Apple Pay and Samsung Pay allow customers to accumulate all their cards and change them for specific payments in different offline stores in a couple of clicks, as well as quickly and simply make payments, which is called “on the fly”.

Most of the developed world's population already makes online payments for goods and services without any problems. Therefore, businesses and specifically any online stores can benefit most from merchant accounts, since their sales volumes will be directly related to the ability to provide their customers with fast and reliable payment methods.

What is a merchant account by itself?​

A merchant account, or merchant account, is a special type of bank account that allows any company to accept credit or debit card payments through a banking institution located in a jurisdiction outside the country where the business operator lives and operates.

A merchant account can be opened in the country of its registration, or in any other country where your clients are located.

It is especially important to open accounts of this type for companies from those countries where there are currency controls and other restrictions for working with foreign clients, since many of the problems can be solved using a foreign merchant account.

For example, payments from cards issued by foreign banks are almost impossible in online stores that have Russian merchant accounts. If your client pays from France to your merchant account opened here, these transactions are credited without any problems.

Below, we will look at the main advantages of merchant accounts for your e-commerce business and how this multiple payment option can be profitable regardless of the country in which your company is based.

Advantages of direct merchant accounts for businesses​

Providing customers with a choice of different payment methods usually leads to an increase in online sales. This is an important advantage to consider when deciding whether to create a trading account for an online business.

For example, a business based on China's manufacturing capabilities can easily accept international payments when using a merchant account.

This can be especially useful for small business owners or those who are just opening their first international store in the online version.

A merchant account is essentially an agreement between the company (seller) and the bank where the account is opened. Actual payment transactions are processed through the payment processor. Stability, security and speed are other features of the trading account.

We recommend that you choose a reliable and secure solution for your merchant account.

This may mean that you will have to explore several options, in several countries and many banks that offer similar payment services.

For example, business owners from Russia, in order to work as clients in the UK, should learn more about the banking rules of this country and how to avoid fraud. We recommend that you seek legal advice from our experts, who can help you find financial advisors and lawyers in the UK. This will give you access to customers not only in the UK, but also in other countries, because a merchant account opened in the UK, USA or Canada will perfectly cope with accepting payments from most countries of the world, which means that you become a truly international large company.

For example, if your company develops software or games for customers from all over the world, then you will have a tool to easily receive fast payments from all over the world. This is extremely convenient and profitable, despite the high fees that can be charged by various banks and payment systems.

Thus, the most important advantage is the opening of a merchant account for an e-commerce business, because an online business, whether small or large, has the opportunity to constantly expand its customer base.

Opening a foreign company and merchant account in a country with a minimal tax burden, such as the Marshall Islands, Panama or the British Virgin Islands, can be profitable not only because of favorable taxation, but also for a number of other reasons (for example, related to protecting the privacy and security of your monetary assets). However, investors will not be limited to a small customer base if they create a trading account for their e-commerce business.

A good recommendation for foreign investors who want to start a business in another country is to take into account local banking regulations.

Opening a corporate bank account, followed by opening a merchant account, can be quite a challenge. Especially if you are engaged in one of the risky activities and / or are registered as a company in another country.

However, we recommend contacting local experts to find out if the laws for banking and foreign investment apply to your type of business. For example, entrepreneurs who want to start a business in Asia can choose between several attractive jurisdictions, including Singapore and Hong Kong. Communicating with a local lawyer or company formation specialist can simplify the entire process of starting a company. Starting an e-commerce business can be a real opportunity for investors from any country. Having a merchant account will allow you to expand your customer base and, at the same time, increase the satisfaction of foreign customers.

Why do modern businesses need e-commerce accounts?​

As mentioned above, the e-commerce industry has surpassed the capabilities of rare credit and debit card transactions. In an online business, the number of transactions per day for one company can be measured in thousands of units.

This is why, between increased complexity and business modernization, especially in the B2C space, most business leaders recognize the need for merchant accounts in e-commerce. Why do they think so?

1. The presence of a business on the Internet is a necessity.

Since the early 90's, the online business has grown exponentially. This has led to the fact that almost every business you interact with today has its own reflection on the Internet. At least everyone has a website. As a maximum: an online store, a mobile app, and several branded accounts in social networks and video channels.

While the Internet has now provided ample opportunities for business growth around the world, it has also set new challenges. For example, managing payments in digital format.

Receiving, storing and working with your customers in a single online system (CRM) is great, but for them to successfully sell your products and services, they need equally convenient and secure digital payment options.

2. Multiple payment options.

In a world of increasing convenience for living, working and developing, a variety of options is a competitive advantage that allows you to quickly grow in terms of the number of customers and revenue generated. If you want, merchant accounts are a necessary infrastructure for any international e-commerce.

When you look at the growth of online shopping, you should know that digital payment companies have also grown proportionally, offering their services for credit cards and payment processing for a small fee.

However, when you want to offer your customers a variety of options, these small fees can quickly accumulate and can be quite difficult to administer. Using a merchant account for e-commerce can help you manage these costs and reduce them, compared to working with separate payment gateways of different banks, each of which charges a separate fee and requires separate administration.

3. Increased need for safety and accuracy.

While convenience and options are important for consumers, security is already important for the merchant, because it is he who is responsible for ensuring that funds from visitors ' cards are not stolen or transferred not to your account, but to some other one.

It is extremely important that your customers feel confident when processing payments on your website. Without trust, you won't see many sales.

As security becomes an increasingly important consideration for consumers, e-commerce merchant accounts are based on making payments very secure. Therefore, merchant accounts now use the highest level of encryption everywhere when processing payments.

What services do merchant accounts provide for e-commerce?​

You've probably already realized that digital payments are vital to the success of your online business. You also understand that you will need to offer a variety of payment methods and a high level of security for digital transactions to ensure success online. But what can you expect from partnering with a merchant account specifically for your online business?

1. Payment processing.

This is probably the most important advantage. Working with a merchant account in e-commerce, you can confidently process payments that customers send to your website from any country in the world.

2. Payment encryption.

Safety and security! It is unlikely that anything can be more important for the reputation of your online business. The good news is that most merchant accounts are delivered with encrypted processing. This means that you and your customers ' funds will be safe when making payments.

When learning which bank or payment system to choose to open a merchant account for your business, please make sure that they provide encryption for all payments.

3. POS systems.

If your business is online and offline at the same time, then you are probably wondering what a merchant account means for your POS system.

Fortunately, in many countries, it is possible to install POS systems in regular stores that have merchant accounts connected, which also provides an additional advantage for orderly inventory management and their correlation with received payments. Isn't it nice when all the pieces come together and your trading machine works automatically without crashing?

4. Easy-to-use software.

Just like the experience you provide to your clients, your experience with trading accounts should be accompanied by easy-to-use software.

This includes the ability to track payments, make refunds, and view reports from one easy-to-view online dashboard.

All this is possible in almost all merchant accounts.

5. Optimized payment experience.

One of the best approaches to success in e-commerce is to make your customers ' processes and experiences as simple, fast, and clear as possible. And this is important for both you and your customers. This will not only help you become more effective, but also leave your customers with a positive opinion of your brand.

International practice of using a merchant account opened for an offshore company or branch​

Many of the world's largest companies (Google, Apple, Microsoft) use foreign (offshore) corporate structures to reduce tax payments. It's no secret that the US has such high taxes that it significantly reduces the growth of Internet companies. Offshore companies are created to serve various segments of their foreign market.

Similarly, many companies that are registered in the UK do the same. For example, such a company can set up a branch in a low-or zero-tax jurisdiction and open a merchant account in any other country in the world that offers such accounts. Such corporate structures will receive all the benefits of the merchant accounts listed above, as well as have additional tax benefits.

As can be seen from the above, in order to fully take advantage of these advantages of an offshore merchant account, in order to optimize taxation, you need to register an offshore corporation, which you must organize (structure) in such a way that you do not control it directly. If you succeed, such an offshore company with a merchant account can become your online platform for international business with large tax benefits and the ability to work with most countries of the world.

Here are some of the benefits of creating an offshore merchant account for your online business:
  • low or zero tax burden, compared to a regular merchant account;
  • An offshore trading account can be created in almost any currency of your choice;
  • plastic cards of all major payment systems can be accepted by your online store;
  • transaction processing is confidential and secure;
  • merchant accounts accounts with large volumes of small transactions are allowed;
  • payment gateways integrate perfectly with existing ecommerce sites via the API;
  • you can manage your merchant account online, as long as the Internet is stable;
  • the geographical location of the actual business does not matter;
  • it is possible to operate a business with a high degree of risk (for example, brokerage services in the Forex market);
  • no pre-deposits are required, except for extremely high-risk companies.
If you are interested in these opportunities offered by an offshore merchant account, you run an online business and your clients are from different countries, then write to the request to choose a country for registering an offshore company or branch, as well as to select a foreign bank or payment system for opening a merchant account.

You can send your request to our email address: [email protected] or by contacting our consultants in any convenient way indicated on this page.

We will contact you within a few hours and help you make your online business more profitable and global. We have not only the expertise and experience to do this, but also specialized partners in most countries of the world.

Why open an offshore merchant account?​

Because this is a very viable solution in times of crisis for those non-resident Internet companies that are engaged in global business transactions. Merchant account (merchant account) allows the company to implement global positioning in reality by accepting a large number of payments from foreign plastic cards, implementing tax reduction strategies, performing offshore banking operations, etc.
This creates opportunities to profitably conduct a global online business in a financial environment that supports its constant growth.

Who can use an offshore merchant account?​

An offshore merchant account is intended for an individual or legal entity that:
conducts most of its business internationally in many countries,
has most of its transactions online,
has several physical offices in different countries,
and conducts high-risk activities (online biotechnology, financial brokerage, etc.

What are the advantages of opening an offshore merchant account?​

Lower tax burden than an internal merchant account. There is no capital gains tax if the institution is located in an offshore jurisdiction.
Merchant accounts can be opened in almost any currency.
Large volume transactions in foreign currencies are possible and easily managed.
All transactions are secure and confidential.
Merchant accounts have online management and access.
The actual location of the office is not a prerequisite for recognizing the business as legal.

(c) https://internationalwealth.info/ec...merchant-account-for-a-global-online-company/
 
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