| Cross-Border Payments and Global E-Commerce

Cross-Border Payments and Global E-Commerce

A miniature shopping cart and bags on a laptop, which reads “online shopping” on the screen.

Meet EcoBean, a growing e-commerce company based in the United States, which sells sustainable coffee products to consumers.

Having recently acquired new suppliers in Colombia, Indonesia, and Vietnam, EcoBean is on a mission to expand its reach even further. They’re looking to hire local sales representatives in each of those countries, and plan to begin shipping products to customers internationally. 

All of these plans require EcoBean to face a crucial challenge: ensuring they can properly pay their global suppliers, compensate staff abroad, and accept payments from customers outside the U.S.

So, how should they go about making these cross-border payments? 

The “how” is an incredibly important business decision, as your ability to manage international transactions can ultimately make or break your business’ cash flow, relationships, and even your reputation.

In this article, we’ll look at the global e-commerce market, the common challenges these companies face with existing payment systems, and how a reliable cross-border payment solution can make it easier to run a thriving business.

The Impact of E-Commerce

In recent years, e-commerce has become a major player in the global marketplace, changing not just how businesses operate, but also how consumers shop. 

With digital technology, companies can now reach more customers and form more partnerships, beyond their local geographies.

This shift has made international trade easier, particularly for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). Now, these smaller companies have a chance to compete with the “big guys” by tapping into a whole new world of potential buyers and revenue opportunities. 

And consumers are buying in.

In fact, in 2024, global retail e-commerce sales will likely surpass $4.1 trillion—and nearly double by 2027. In other words, consumers are increasingly willing to buy from companies outside of their own countries.

It’s no wonder that businesses are eager to establish a global presence for themselves. 

However, to thrive in the global e-commerce landscape, businesses must be able to efficiently manage financial transactions with customers, suppliers, partners, and employees across different countries.

The Challenge of Cross-Border Payments


While expanding internationally can offer exciting opportunities, dealing with cross-border payments can present obstacles.

Below, we explore the common problems e-commerce business owners run into with these types of transactions.

Currency Conversion

Currency conversion can complicate cross-border payments for e-commerce companies in several ways:

  • Fluctuating currency values can change rapidly: One minute, a dollar might be worth a lot—and the next minute, it could drop. This can lead to uncertainty about the final amounts you’re receiving or paying. 
  • Currency conversion fees: These often hidden fees can be challenging for businesses to anticipate and manage. To make matters worse, these aren’t the only fees many payment processors charge.
  • Buyer confusion and frustration: If a potential customer is unsure about the total price for your products in their local currency, this can lead to confusion, frustration, as well as abandoned carts

Overall, these challenges can hinder an e-commerce company’s ability to efficiently operate across borders, affecting cash flow as well as customer satisfaction, trust, and loyalty.

High Transaction Fees

Some cross-border payment methods can be expensive, and fees and charges vary depending on the country and payment method you’re using.

Here are just a few (but certainly not all) of the other fees that may be added to your total cost of payment:

  • Bank/intermediary bank fees: When you make an international payment, it often passes through several intermediary banks. Each one charges a fee for handling your transaction and being the bridge between the sending and receiving banks.
  • Compliance fees: Adhering to industry standards like anti-money laundering (AML) compliance can involve additional costs, either in the form of direct charges from the payment processor or by requiring you to invest in necessary legal measures.
  • Foreign transaction (FX) fees: Different from currency conversion fees (which are charged for converting from one currency to another), FX fees may also apply when you make purchases or withdrawals in a foreign currency.

On average, sending money internationally can cost about 6.3% of the transaction value. But in some cases, that percentage can be even higher.

These fees can be a major obstacle for smaller e-commerce businesses trying to compete on the global stage. They shrink profit margins and hinder growth, while limiting access to customers around the world.

Delayed Payment Settlements

When the payer and payee are both in the United States, electronic transfers can happen almost instantaneously.

But that’s not necessarily the case when they’re in two different countries. 

Sometimes, a cross-border payment might linger in limbo for days or even weeks before reaching its final destination.

Several factors contribute to these slowdowns: 

  • While some cross-border payment systems have embraced advanced digital solutions that include automation, others continue to depend on manual methods for processing each transaction.
  • Each international payment must go through multiple steps, including reconciliations and funding processes, anti-money laundering (AML) checks, and know your customer (KYC) protocols.
  • Meanwhile, if any step reveals missing information or requires verification, the transaction can be held up, leading to further delays. 

Especially if you’re a small business owner, you rely on timely payments to meet operational costs, pay suppliers, and manage inventory. When payments are held up in less efficient systems, these delays can be detrimental.

Fraud and Security Risks

Unlike domestic transactions, which often have more uniform regulations and protections, cross-border payment systems are inherently riskier.

This heightened risk opens the door to various fraudulent activities, including:

  • People using stolen credit card information to make unauthorized purchases.
  • Customers disputing legitimate transactions, claiming they were unauthorized so they can receive a refund, while still keeping your product or service (this is also known as “chargeback fraud”).
  • Criminals creating fake identities to open accounts or make purchases. 

Meanwhile, each country has its own set of security requirements, which can vary significantly from one jurisdiction to another. This is especially evident in AML regulations, where standards for reporting suspicious activities and verifying customer identities can differ widely.

These variations can make compliance a concern for e-commerce businesses wanting to operate on a global scale, with the added threat of fines, penalties, and reputational harm if they fail to meet regulations.

The Importance of Seamless Cross-Border Payments

It may sound like an exaggeration, but for e-commerce businesses, working with a reliable cross-border payment platform can truly revolutionize their operations. 

In fact, by centralizing international payments, these streamlined solutions essentially remove all the frustrations that often accompany such transactions, while also saving users money and boosting efficiencies.

Let’s explore how these platforms can help ease the pain of cross-border transactions. 

Conversion Made Simple

A seamless cross-border payment solution greatly simplifies transactions for both e-commerce businesses and their customers by automatically handling currency conversion.

Customers can make purchases in their native currency, while businesses receive funds in their own currency—all while bypassing the stress of dealing with fluctuating exchange rates. 

Solutions like UniTeller further enhance this experience by supporting conversions for over 80 currencies. This helps broaden global market access for e-commerce businesses, enabling them to do business with virtually anyone, anywhere in the world.

It also eliminates the need to juggle multiple providers for different currencies—instead, businesses can enjoy the convenience of relying on just one single, reliable service for all international payments.

With the ability to provide transparent pricing, this automation also minimizes customer confusion. Customers can know exactly what they’re paying upfront—instilling confidence in the business they’re purchasing from. 

Reduced Transaction Fees

Unlike traditional banking networks that often involve multiple intermediaries, modern cross-border payment solutions optimize the payment route—processing transactions with fewer institutions involved.

This optimized approach can significantly reduce costs, because it eliminates the various per-transaction fees that traditional banks typically charge. 

For smaller e-commerce businesses, lower transaction fees mean they can maintain healthier profit margins. This not only empowers them to continuously reinvest in their operations, but also allows them to offer more competitive prices to their customers.

Many of these payment processors also provide competitive fees for businesses with high transaction volumes, making them an attractive option for growing e-commerce companies. 

Quick Payments

For smaller companies, having fast access to funds is critical to growth and staying competitive. After all, when cash flow is smooth, it’s much easier to take advantage of new opportunities and keep up with competitors.

Because seamless cross-border payment solutions can often be completed in near real-time, e-commerce businesses can receive their money without unnecessary delays.

Take UniTeller Cross-Border Pay, for example. Because our global payment gateway uses a single API solution to streamline transactions, it ultimately reduces the number of intermediaries involved, which significantly speeds up the payment process. 

Additionally, these online payment platforms prioritize security alongside speed, using advanced encryption and fraud detection systems to protect financial data. This ensures that e-commerce businesses and their customers can enjoy a smooth, safe payment experience, balancing fast transactions with robust safeguards against cyber threats.

Mobile Convenience

As mobile adoption continues to surge globally, cross-border payment platforms like Uniteller are capitalizing on this trend by integrating mobile payment options, allowing e-commerce businesses to cater to customers who prefer to pay via their smartphones. 

These systems provide APIs that merchants can very easily incorporate into their websites and apps, ensuring a seamless and user-friendly buyer experience.

Additionally, many platforms use analytics to track mobile payment trends, helping businesses identify the most popular payment methods and refine their offerings. 

By making payments flexible, cross-border payment platforms enable e-commerce businesses to meet the growing demand for mobile payments and enhance customer satisfaction. With the added benefit of unlocking new opportunities for international sales growth.

The Future of Cross-Border Payments for E-Commerce Growth

For e-commerce businesses eager to expand globally, the cross-border transaction process can often be complex and frustrating. 

The traditionally long chain of steps increases the likelihood of delays, leaving both businesses and customers anxious about transaction timelines and costs—and leading some businesses to limit their operations to their home countries, stifling growth opportunities.

Fortunately, cross-border payment solutions like UniTeller are changing the paradigm. As a leading payment solution, our global payment gateway enables businesses of all sizes to send and receive money worldwide easily and securely.

UniTeller offers an ever-reliable cross-border payment solution that covers over 120 countries and supports more than 80 currencies.

Meanwhile, our network processes an impressive $17 billion in total volume each year, reflecting the confidence our customers have in us for managing their international payments.

With UniTeller, achieving a streamlined international payment experience is just one API integration away.