International payment gateways take payment from customers in other countries, and that is not the same transaction as taking it at home. Different card schemes, a currency decision, European authentication rules and a settlement path all sit between the customer and the money. This guide compares twelve gateways and covers the parts that decide whether the payment actually succeeds.
- Multi-currency
- Pricing & settlement
- 3-D Secure
- SCA compliance
- Local methods
- Regional coverage
- FX
- Conversion & fees
What Is an International Payment Gateway?
An international payment gateway authorises and captures payments from customers in other countries, handling multiple currencies, local payment methods and the authentication rules of each market. What differs from a domestic gateway sits behind the checkout page: the authorisation path, the currency conversion and the regulatory obligations.
Selling abroad is a payments problem long before it is a logistics one.
Factors to Consider When Choosing an International Payment Gateway
When selecting a payment gateway, there are certain considerations that need to be taken into account in order to ensure the best possible outcome.
What international processing actually costs
A domestic quote is usually a percentage plus a fixed fee, and that is genuinely most of the cost. An international one has more parts, and the parts that are missing from the headline are the ones that grow with volume. Expect the base transaction percentage, plus a cross-border surcharge wherever the payment is not acquired locally, plus an FX spread wherever conversion happens, plus scheme fees that differ by card type and region, so a premium consumer credit card from another continent costs materially more to accept than a domestic debit card. A merchant of record folds all of this into one higher percentage and takes the tax obligation with it, which is why its rate looks expensive next to a gateway's and often is not. The only comparison worth making is total cost on a representative basket in each market you are actually entering, including the conversion, rather than advertised rates side by side.
Ask where the FX margin sits. It is the line most often absent from a quote and most often the largest after the base rate.
What actually decides whether a cross-border payment succeeds
Gateway comparisons tend to stop at fees and supported currencies. Neither is what usually costs an expanding merchant money. The payment either authorises or it does not, and the reasons it does not are specific.
Authorisation rate, the number nobody quotes
A domestic card transaction on a mature market authorises at a high rate. The same shopper's card presented from a foreign acquirer authorises materially less often, because the issuing bank sees an unfamiliar country code, an unfamiliar merchant category and a currency it did not expect. Every declined authorisation is a sale that was going to happen. A gateway with local acquiring in a market, meaning it presents the transaction domestically rather than cross-border, usually recovers a meaningful share of those declines, and that recovery dwarfs a difference of a few basis points in transaction pricing. Ask any vendor for authorisation rates by market, not a global average, and ask whether they acquire locally or route everything through one entity.
Pricing is easy to compare, which is exactly why it gets compared. Authorisation rate is the number that decides the outcome.
Who converts the currency, and where the margin sits
Someone converts the money, and whoever does takes a spread on top of the interbank rate. If the gateway converts, that spread is usually somewhere between the quoted transaction fee and invisible. If the customer's issuer converts, the customer sees the charge in your currency and absorbs the rate. If you settle in the local currency into a local account, you have taken the FX decision in-house and can hedge it. Dynamic currency conversion, where the shopper is offered a choice at checkout, pays a rebate to the merchant and is disliked by plenty of shoppers for good reason. None of these is wrong, but they are very different economics, and a fee comparison that ignores which one applies is comparing nothing.
European authentication is a hard requirement, not a feature
Under PSD2, payments where both the merchant's and the cardholder's providers are in the European Economic Area require strong customer authentication, normally delivered through 3-D Secure. This is not a fraud tool a merchant opts into. A transaction that should have been authenticated and was not can simply be refused. The practical questions for a gateway are which version of 3-D Secure it implements, how well it applies the available exemptions for low-value and low-risk payments, and how much friction its challenge flow adds. A poor implementation converts the regulation into abandoned baskets.
Local payment methods are often the whole market
Cards are not the default everywhere. A checkout offering only card payments will underperform badly in markets where bank transfer, direct debit or a domestic wallet is what people actually use: iDEAL in the Netherlands, SEPA Direct Debit across the euro area, Alipay and WeChat Pay in China, and a long list of country-specific schemes elsewhere. Coverage of these is the most useful single line in a gateway comparison, and it is the one most often reduced to a marketing claim about supporting a hundred-plus methods. The right question is which methods are supported in the three markets you are actually entering.
Declines you cannot explain are usually a routing problem
Local acquiring, 3-D Secure behaviour and retry logic decide far more of your cross-border approval rate than the gateway brand does. We can look at where yours are failing.
5 Steps to Accept Overseas Payments
Once international payment gateways have been vetted and the best option chosen, merchants are ready to start accepting payments from overseas. The process of accepting these payments will vary slightly depending on the chosen gateway, but the basics remain the same:
Register
Merchants must first register with the gateway, and provide their financial credentials for authentication.
Set Up
Merchants then set up a payment button or widget on their website that allows customers to make secure payments.
Decide who converts the currency.
Choose whether customers are charged in their own currency, and whether you settle in it or convert to your home currency. Each option puts the exchange-rate margin with a different party; see the costs section above.
Keep Compliance
Merchants must ensure that all compliance requirements are met in order for them to be allowed to accept payments internationally. As different countries have different regulations surrounding online commerce, merchants may need additional verification documents or licenses depending on where they are located and where they are selling goods or services too.
Keep Track of Taxes
Merchants may need to understand how taxes apply when selling goods or services overseas and ensure they comply with applicable laws in each country they do business.
Once these requirements have been met, merchants can begin accepting international payments securely and efficiently through their chosen payment gateway.
12 International Payment Gateways Compared
Twelve providers that take payments across borders, with what each one's own site says about countries, currencies, local payment methods and acquiring. Checked October 2026.
How to read this list
Every provider below will process an international payment. What separates them for a specific business is narrower: whether they acquire locally in the markets you are entering, which local payment methods they support there, who converts the currency, and whether they act as a gateway or as merchant of record. Treat the entries as a shortlist to ask those questions of. The order is not a ranking.
PayPal
A wallet and payment processor that PayPal says serves businesses in nearly 200 markets. Its API lists 25 currencies, and its checkout offers local methods including iDEAL, Bancontact, BLIK, Przelewy24, eps, MyBank, Trustly, Multibanco, OXXO and Boleto.
Worth knowing: giropay and Sofort were retired in 2024, so older lists that include them are out of date. Works with Clarity Payment Hub: see PayPal and your ERP.
Worldpay (now Global Payments)
An acquirer and processor. Global Payments completed its purchase of Worldpay from FIS and GTCR in January 2026, and the Worldpay brand is still in use. Worldpay offers domestic processing in 68 markets, lets customers pay in 135+ currencies and lists 300+ payment methods, among them iDEAL, SEPA Direct Debit, Pix, Alipay, WeChat Pay, BLIK, Klarna and Konbini.
Worth knowing: articles that describe Worldpay as part of FIS predate the sale. Works with Clarity Payment Hub: see Worldpay and your ERP.
Braintree (now PayPal Enterprise Payments)
PayPal's end-to-end processing service for larger merchants, which PayPal now brands PayPal Enterprise Payments. Its documentation says it supports 130+ currencies in 44 countries, with local methods including iDEAL, Bancontact, BLIK, Boleto, Klarna, OXXO, Swish and SEPA Direct Debit.
Worth knowing: Venmo is available to US merchants only, and giropay was retired in 2024. Works with Clarity Payment Hub: see Braintree and your ERP.
Stripe
A full-stack processor that says it supports local acquiring through partner banks. Businesses in 51 countries and regions can sign up (44 fully supported), charge in 135+ currencies and offer 125+ payment methods, including iDEAL, SEPA Direct Debit, Pix, UPI, Alipay, WeChat Pay, Konbini and Klarna.
Worth knowing: Stripe's US pricing adds 1.5% for international cards and 1% when currency conversion is needed. For digital products, Stripe Managed Payments can act as merchant of record, handling sales tax, VAT and GST in 80+ countries. Works with Clarity Payment Hub: see Stripe and your ERP.
Amazon Pay
A checkout button rather than a general gateway: shoppers pay with the cards stored in their Amazon account. Merchants must be established in one of 18 countries (the US, the UK, Japan and 15 in Europe).
Worth knowing: charging shoppers in other currencies (12 are supported) is only available to merchants with a EUR or GBP account. US holders of Amazon co-branded cards can pay with their rewards points. Works with Clarity Payment Hub: see Amazon Pay and your ERP.
Adyen
A processor and acquirer on one platform, with banking licences in the US, the UK and the EU and its own acquiring in markets including the US, Canada, the UK, the EU, Australia, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, India, Brazil, Mexico and the UAE. Adyen says merchants can accept, process and settle payments in 130+ countries, with 200+ payment methods and payouts in 30+ settlement currencies.
Worth knowing: local acquiring is the point. Payments presented domestically in the shopper's market tend to be approved more often than cross-border ones. Works with Clarity Payment Hub: see Adyen and your ERP.
Checkout.com
A processor and acquirer with direct acquiring licences in Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, the UK and EEA, and the US. It processes domestically in 57 countries, in 150+ processing currencies with 20 settlement currencies, and lists methods such as iDEAL, SEPA Direct Debit, BLIK, Klarna, Bancontact, Przelewy24, Swish, MobilePay, Vipps and Bizum, plus Gulf methods such as Tabby, Tamara and KNET.
Worth knowing: it also sells gateway-only and processing-only services if you want to keep an existing acquirer.
2Checkout (by Verifone)
Verifone's digital-commerce platform, with 100+ billing currencies and 45+ payment methods, selling to customers in most countries. It comes in three account types.
Worth knowing: on the 2Sell and 2Subscribe plans you handle your own sales tax and VAT. Only on 2Monetize does 2Checkout act as reseller (merchant of record) and handle the tax for you.
Authorize.Net
A gateway owned by Visa, sold on its own or with a merchant account. It takes cards, eCheck, PayPal, Apple Pay and Google Pay, but no European or Asian local payment methods.
Worth knowing: each account works in one currency, so a second currency means a second account. Its support documentation requires a US- or Canada-based merchant account provider and points other businesses to Cybersource, also a Visa company. It fits a North American seller accepting foreign cards better than a business expanding abroad. Works with Clarity Payment Hub: see Authorize.Net and your ERP.
GoCardless (a Mollie company)
A bank-payment provider, not a card gateway. It collects by direct debit on eight schemes, including ACH (US), Bacs (UK), SEPA (euro area), BECS (Australia and New Zealand) and PAD (Canada), plus Pay by Bank. Merchants in 31 countries can use it, in 8 currencies.
Worth knowing: Mollie completed its purchase of GoCardless in September 2026. It suits recurring invoices and subscriptions more than one-off checkout.
Verifone
The Verifone Gateway is a multi-acquirer gateway, separate from 2Checkout, covering 165+ countries with 75+ acquirer connections, for in-store and online payments.
Worth knowing: if you need in-store and online payments in several countries through the acquirers you already use, this is the Verifone product to ask about; 2Checkout is the one for selling digital products.
Nuvei
A processor and acquirer, private since November 2024 (an Advent-led group). Nuvei says it reaches 190+ markets, acquires locally in 50+ countries, supports 150 currencies and offers 720+ alternative payment methods.
Worth knowing: articles that describe Nuvei as a listed company predate its going private. Works with Clarity Payment Hub: see Nuvei and your ERP.
None of the twelve is the answer on its own. The market you are entering picks the shortlist.
An expansion that stalled on declines
Expansion problems usually look like demand problems from the inside. The traffic arrives, the baskets fill, and the revenue does not follow.
A US supplements brand opens Germany, the Netherlands and Japan
One gateway, card-only checkout, settling everything in dollars through a single US acquirer.
Market 1, Germany, and a number nobody believed
Traffic and add-to-cart look healthy. Completed orders do not. Authorisation on German-issued cards runs far below the domestic rate, and the decline codes are generic enough that the team first blames the checkout design.
Market 1, the actual cause
Transactions are being presented cross-border from a US acquirer. German issuers see a foreign merchant, an unfamiliar category and a dollar amount, and decline conservatively. Nothing is broken, the routing is simply wrong for the market.
Market 2, the Netherlands makes it obvious
The same setup performs worse again, for a different reason: a large share of Dutch shoppers expect iDEAL and the checkout offers only cards. This is an absent payment method rather than a decline, and it never shows up in authorisation statistics because those shoppers do not reach authorisation.
Market 3, Japan repeats the pattern
Card penetration is high but local methods matter, and settlement in dollars means every customer sees a converted amount at their issuer's rate. Refunds become awkward conversations about exchange differences.
The change, local acquiring
The gateway is replaced with one that acquires locally in each market and settles in local currency. The same customers, the same cards, presented domestically.
The change, methods and authentication
iDEAL and SEPA Direct Debit are added for the euro markets, and the 3-D Secure implementation is configured to use exemptions on low-risk baskets instead of challenging everything.
What moved, and what did not
Authorisation on German cards recovered most of the gap to the domestic rate, and Dutch conversion rose once iDEAL appeared. Traffic did not change. The demand had been there the whole time. The payment path was rejecting it.
The diagnosis took longer than the fix, which is usual. Decline data is not something most merchants look at until someone tells them to.
Connect the gateway to your ERP
Choosing the gateway is the visible decision. The work that lasts is getting every payment, refund and currency difference it settles onto the right invoice in your ERP. That is what Clarity Payment Hub does.
- Keep the gateways you choose. Payment Hub works with 19+ gateways and processors, including Adyen, Worldpay, Stripe, Braintree, PayPal, Nuvei and Cybersource; see the gateway library.
- One integration, several merchant accounts. Each company or entity can run on its own merchant account (multi-MID routing), so adding a gateway for a new market doesn't mean a second ERP integration. See payment gateway integration.
- Posted to the ERP. Payments post against their invoices as they happen, so AR doesn't re-key settlements from each gateway. See automated cash application.
- Card data stays at the gateway. Cards and bank accounts are saved as tokens at the gateway, which can reduce your PCI scope depending on how payments are taken.
Selling to businesses abroad? See B2B payment gateway and ERP payment processing.
Frequently asked questions
Which is the best international payment gateway?
There is no single best international payment gateway: the right one depends on the markets you are entering, which local payment methods those customers use, and whether the provider acquires locally there. The list above is a shortlist to ask those questions of. Factors to consider when choosing a payment gateway include transaction fees, ease of use, security, currency support, and customer support.
How do I accept overseas payments?
To accept overseas payments, you will need to set up an international payment gateway or use a payment processor that supports international transactions. Confirm the provider supports the countries you sell into, the currencies you want to charge and settle in, and the local payment methods those customers expect.
What is the difference between a payment gateway and a payment processor?
The gateway is the part your checkout talks to: it collects the payment details, authenticates the shopper and passes an authorisation request onward. The processor and the acquiring bank move the money and settle it to your account. Many vendors now do both, which is why the terms are used interchangeably, but when comparing international options the distinction matters because acquiring is the half that determines whether a foreign card authorises.
Why do foreign cards get declined more often?
Because the issuing bank is assessing an unfamiliar transaction. A payment presented cross-border carries a foreign country code, often a foreign currency, and a merchant the issuer has no history with, and conservative risk rules decline a share of perfectly legitimate purchases. Presenting the transaction through a local acquirer in the customer's market is the usual remedy.
Should we settle in local currency or our own?
Settling locally keeps the FX decision with you: you can hold the balance, hedge it, or convert when the rate suits, and the customer is charged in their own currency without an issuer conversion. Settling in your home currency is simpler and hands the spread to whoever converts. Below a certain volume the simplicity is worth more than the spread, above it, rarely.
What is PSD2 strong customer authentication, and does it apply to us?
It is the European requirement that payments be authenticated with two independent factors, normally through 3-D Secure. It applies where both the merchant's and the cardholder's payment providers are in the European Economic Area, so a business selling into Europe through a European acquirer is in scope. Transactions that should have been authenticated and were not can be refused outright.
Do we need local payment methods, or is card enough?
It depends entirely on the market. In some countries cards are the default and card-only checkout costs little. In the Netherlands, much of the euro area, and across Asia, bank transfer, direct debit and domestic wallets carry a large share of online spend, and omitting them loses those customers before authorisation. Check the three markets you are actually entering rather than counting the methods a vendor supports globally.
What is a merchant of record, and when is one worth it?
A merchant of record becomes the legal seller, taking on registration and remittance of consumption taxes such as VAT, and usually the chargeback liability with it. It costs a visibly higher percentage than a plain gateway. It is often worth it for a business entering several tax jurisdictions at once without finance headcount to spare, and rarely worth it for an established seller in one or two markets.
How much does international payment processing cost?
The headline rate is only part of it. Expect a transaction percentage plus a fixed fee, a cross-border surcharge where the transaction is not acquired locally, an FX spread wherever conversion happens, and scheme fees that vary by card type and region. A merchant of record bundles these into one higher percentage. Compare the total cost on a representative basket in each market rather than comparing advertised rates.
How long does settlement take from a foreign market?
Longer than domestic, commonly by several days, and it varies by acquirer and market. That gap is a working-capital question rather than a technical one, and it is worth confirming in writing during evaluation because it rarely appears on a pricing page.
Can we use more than one gateway?
Yes, and at scale it is common: one provider for the home market and another with strong local acquiring for a region, or a primary with a fallback for failed authorisations. The cost is operational: two reconciliation processes, two sets of dispute handling, and a routing decision to maintain. That is why it usually follows evidence that one provider is underperforming in a specific market rather than preceding it.
How do chargebacks differ across borders?
The dispute windows and evidence requirements vary by scheme and region, and the process generally takes longer than a domestic dispute. The practical consequence is that representment needs better documentation and more patience, and that a provider's dispute tooling matters more once a meaningful share of revenue is foreign.
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Clarity connects the gateways you choose to the systems that have to reconcile them.
Choosing a gateway is the visible half of going international. The half that takes the time is making orders, settlements, refunds and FX differences land correctly in the ERP and the ledger, in every currency you now sell in. That integration work is what we have been doing since 2007. Tell us which markets you are opening and what you run behind the checkout.
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