Maximizing Worldwide Sales Potential: The Role of a Merchant of Record (MoR)

Why a Merchant of Record provider (MoR) is a key to growth

The World Economic Forum is predicting another year of slow growth for the global economy in 2024 and whilst the risk of global recession is predicted to be lower than in the year ahead, uncertainty is still the unwelcome spectre which remains in the boardroom.

Within this unpredictable and unstable landscape, a trusted Merchant of Record (MoR) provider can give you both the tools and confidence to develop and expand your business into international markets. How does MoR work and why should you choose an MoR partner?  When is it right for you and your business?

What is a Merchant of Record provider?

Put simply, a Merchant of Record (MoR) is the company that sells products or services to your customer, and the legal entity those customers pay when making a purchase. The MoR provides a range of services which consolidate and streamline the complex functions needed to deliver your business in the international digital space, enabling you to expand.

International ecommerce requires a significant set of intricate and time-consuming processes and a small army of personnel with specific skill sets to drive the efficiency of these processes to enable you to do business globally but with that all-important localized feel.

Each international transaction requires your platform to be localized and adapted to each country’s currency and financial regulations. To break it down, each new market which you want to bring your business to, requires you to deal with a complicated and new set of financial and compliance regulations. Rather than enabling you to conquer those new markets, navigating these regulations can, at best, slow your business down, and at worst, result in expensive and time-consuming processes which you and your team simply don’t have the time or expertise for.

7 Ways the Merchant of Record takes the Strain for you

Navigating your way through the potential stormy waters of ecommerce requires your company to have expert knowledge across several complex operational areas – and failure to do so will incur not just a potential financial penalty but could potentially lead to a damaged reputation.

Without a Merchant of Record provider, you will need to:

• Understand the process of registering for and collecting taxes stipulated by local laws and regulations, which will vary from country to country.
• Make sure that your methods of payment are compliant with the PCI’s (Payment Card Industry) data security standards.
• Have expert knowledge of processing disputes such as chargeback requests and customer refunds which can be time-consuming and utilising time which could be spent building the business.
• Manage credit/debit card fees.
• Understand and comply with local import regulations.
• Be confident in your ability to manage fraud on international orders.
• Understand the risk of doing business where currency fluctuation on purchases and refunds could have an impact on your bottom line.

Merchant of Record – Risks Removed

Clearly Payments highlights the importance of having a robust risk strategy to effectively manage the risk of operating a cross border business – but not all businesses have the resources to develop and implement a comprehensive risk strategy. And it’s just not worth the risk to think you can manage this yourself, without an expert team.

The solution? A third-party provider acts as an MoR on your behalf and removes the overwhelming financial responsibility, liability and operational pressure which doing international business can bring, including in the area of processing payments.

By using the MoR, you are maximizing the payment and tax infrastructure that is already set up, so you don’t have to recreate the wheel. It’s done for you, meaning you can get on with the marketing strategy and bring in those new customers.

Think Global – Act Local

Through having a Merchant of Record provider, transactions with customers abroad are acquired locally through the MoR. Your customers won’t incur an FX (foreign exchange) fee from their bank because they are paying a local institution in their local currency.  This makes the transaction experience feel local and builds your brand, supporting the customer journey which will inspire confidence in repeat purchases through your website and on your terms – but with the security of knowing that a trusted partner is managing those complex processes for you.

By having an MoR, not only do you get to maintain the buyer relationship, but you retain the full ownership and control you need over the experience you want your customer to have, including product sourcing.  Your company builds a relationship with your target audience, regardless of which time zone they are in or which currency they want to use to pay. And if there’s a problem around a refund or fraud, it will be dealt with, seamlessly, by the MoR.

At ExpandNow we offer a hosted gateway. This means foreign exchange fees won’t impact your customers because they are paying a local institution in their local currency which makes your customers feel they are buying from a local source and you maintain that all-important transactional ingredient: trust.  Not only is your reputational risk preserved, but so are your profits and instead of spending time on dealing with the complexity of international compliance regulations, you can prioritise growing your business.

When to Choose an MoR

You should choose an MoR Provider when you want to:

• Expand your business into global markets
• Increase your cash flow
• Process a high volume of payments
• Reduce legal, fiscal risks and prevent fraud

Cross-border Ecommerce Transactions just got Easier!

At ExpandNow, our flexible integration options mean we are experts at delivering the fast and reliable fully compliant one-stop shop service to support the key functions you need to maintain the trust of your customers and to grow and develop your business.  We will manage and deliver your:

• International payment process
• Global tax activity
• Fraud management operation
• Foreign exchange system

And here’s the great news – our pricing structure is customer-centric.