Secure Trading partners with PPRO Group to boost European cross-border sales for Merchants

Secure Trading on-board 18 European Alternative Payment Methods

Secure Trading, an international Payment Service Provider (PSP) and PPRO Group, a cross-border e-payment specialist, both headquartered in London, today announced a partnership to bring over 18 European alternative payment methods (APMs) to Secure Trading’s international merchant base. The partnership will help to expand merchants’ customer reach across Europe, with plans to add additional APMs from across Latin America in the future.

There is a huge amount of potential for cross-border e-commerce merchants to attract European customers, both into and out of the region. Recent research has found that 70% of European online shoppers buy items from retailers outside their home country, while over half purchase goods from outside of Europe. The research showed that the main drivers for doing so are competitive prices, a broader selection of products and the specific desire for foreign brands.

Conversion rates for a European-wide customer base are currently low for those that do not offer an appropriate mix of APMs preferred by the European market in general, but also each individual country. Through this partnership, and PPRO Group’s cross-border payments solutions, Secure Trading’s merchants looking to expand into Europe will be able to leverage the revenue streams within the European market. Secure Trading will be able to provide its merchants with access to established European payment methods, including Bancontact, giropay, SOFORT, iDEAL, MyBank and SafetyPay.

Covering the entire value chain, from acquiring through to processing, local collection and reconciliation, PPRO Group offers all acquiring services for a multitude of international APMs across 175 countries. Under one contract, through one single integration and one platform; PPRO processes, collects, reconciles, consolidates and pays out all payments for PSPs’ and acquirers’ merchants.

Kevin Dodson, Senior Vice president Product Solutions at Secure Trading comments, “Cross-border e-commerce trade into Europe is booming and has been predicted to surpass the value of €40bn this year, with an average of 11% predicted for year-on-year growth. This predicted growth emphasises the importance of facilitating cross-border e-commerce, with APMs becoming a must-have for merchants as they strive to compete against international competition. We are excited to be partnering with PPRO Group, an expert in cross-border transactions, to provision our merchants with APMs in the European market and help attract a wider customer base on their quest to become truly global.”

“Considering that in 2017 Forrester forecast that cross-border sales will account for 20% of e-commerce sales by 2022, merchants looking to attract European customers can’t afford to wait any longer to diversify their payment offering to better facilitate market demand or risk losing out to competition,”

states Ronnie D´Arienzo, Chief Sales Officer at PPRO Group.

“Secure Trading recognises the need for merchants to adopt local payment preferences in different countries to help meet customers’ needs and in turn reap the rewards of cross-border sales. Customers will always want to use their preferred payment methods, otherwise they will simply shop elsewhere. This is an exciting partnership with Secure Trading that will support merchants in their journey to going global,” adds D´Arienzo.