4 common cross-border payment challenges that can cost you money
Cover designed by Freepik
Cross-border payment seems simple, but many merchants will make mistakes during operation, resulting in capital loss, transaction failure or account problems
In this article, we will talk about 4 common cross-border payment challenges and provide practical solutions to help you collect payments safely and compliantly!
Exchange rate fluctuations reduce profit margins
When you deal with multiple currencies, exchange rates may change at any time, even between the moment a customer pays and the moment you receive the funds.
If the exchange rate drops during that time, you may receive less than expected, and your profit margin will shrink without warning.
For example, if a customer pays you ¥1,000 when the rate is 1 CNY = 0.13 EUR, you expect to receive €130. But if the rate changes to 0.125 before settlement, you only receive €125, that’s a loss of €5 on a single transaction.
Over time and volume, these small changes can add up to significant losses for your business.
What you can do:
Use payment methods that offer real-time exchange rate settlement.
Alipay+ and WeChat Pay both support real-time conversions, so the amount you see at checkout is the amount you receive, no surprises.
Silkpay allows you to receive Alipay+ and WeChat Pay with support for real-time exchange rates.
This helps you protect your profits, provide a transparent experience for your customers, and reduce financial risk in international sales.
Slow settlement impacts cash flow
Standard institutional settlement cycles can take 5-7 days or even longer, making it harder to manage operational expenses or reinvest quickly.
What you can do:
Silkpay offers T+1 (POS machine) and T+3 (Static QR code, PaybyLink and SoftPos) settlements.
This allows you to get paid faster, improving liquidity and giving you more control over your daily operations.
In addition, Silkpay is a European payment provider that follows local compliance regulations. This helps reduce the risk of settlement delays caused by audits, verification issues, or non-compliant transactions.
Limited payment options can reduce conversion
Different customers prefer different ways to pay.
Many Chinese tourists and overseas Chinese shoppers like to use WeChat Pay, Alipay, or UnionPay. This is because these methods often have lower transaction fees and avoid USD conversions, which helps them save money and reduce exchange losses.
If your store or website only accepts Visa or Mastercard, many customers may not complete their purchase.
They may leave the checkout page or walk away from the store, even if they want to buy something.
This means you lose sales simply because the payment method is not appropriate.
For example, in 2024, WeChat Pay and Alipay together covered over 90% of mobile payments in China. Many of these users also shop abroad or online, and they want the same convenient experience wherever they go.
What you can do:
You should offer more payment choices if you don’t want to lose sales.
You can integrate Alipay+, which allows you to systematically accept 16+ popular Asian e-wallets, including GCash (Philippines), Touch‘n Go(Malaysia), Line Pay (Thailand), Kakao Pay-Naver Pay(South Korea) and beyond, without any additional integration from your side.
To better serve Chinese customers and reach millions of potential customers, offering WeChat Pay or UnionPay is also an option.
Silkpay helps you accept Alipay+, WeChat Pay, and UnionPay both online and in-store in one solution.
You can also choose from different payment methods:
POS machines for in-store payments
QR code payments for quick mobile checkouts
SoftPOS (turn your smart phone into a payment terminal)
PaybyLink and API plugins for e-commerce platforms
With more ways to pay, your customers are more likely to complete their purchases.
Lack of compliance may trigger account restrictions
When dealing with payments across countries, compliance matters a lot.
If your business does not follow local and international rules, your payment provider may freeze your funds, reject transactions, or even block your account.
This can happen if the payment process fails to follow basic standards like:
KYC (Know Your Customer)
AML (Anti-Money Laundering)
GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation)
For example, if large or suspicious payments are not properly reviewed, they may be flagged as high risk by the system or local regulators.
This could delay your settlements or even lead to investigations, especially in strict markets like the EU.
What you can do:
Make sure your payment provider follows global compliance standards such as KYC, AML, and GDPR. This will help protect your business, your customers, and your funds.
Silkpay follows strict European compliance standards for payment processing.
Our system checks high-risk transactions in real time. This helps stop fraud and lowers the risk of account freezes.
When you use Silkpay, your cross-border payments are safe and follow the rules and you can focus on growing your business without worry.
FAQ
+ Does Silkpay support real-time exchange rates?
Silkpay itself does not provide exchange rate services.
However, we integrate payment methods like Alipay+ and WeChat Pay, which support real-time exchange rate settlement.
This allows your customers to pay in their local currency while you receive the exact sale amount in your currency, helping both customers and merchants avoid exchange losses.
+ How fast is the settlement process at Silkpay? When will I receive my funds?
Silkpay provides fast settlement cycles, starting from T+1 for offline payments and T+3 for online payments, improving your cash flow and financial flexibility.
+ What payment methods can I accept with Silkpay?
You can accept 30+ payment methods online or in-store via different integration options. Silkpay offers the acceptance of Visa, Mastercard, CB, Amex, Alipay+ (with access to over 16 major e-wallets), WeChat Pay, UnionPay, Google Pay, Apple Pay and other popular global payment options to meet the needs of international customers.
+ Can I track my transactions and settlements easily?
Yes. Silkpay offers an all-in-one dashboard where you can monitor payments, view real-time reports, make refunds and manage all your financial activity in one place.
Ready to generate more revenue with cross-border payments?
Managing international transactions doesn’t have to be complicated. By choosing the right tools and working with a trusted provider like Silkpay, you can overcome common challenges and grow your business with confidence.
Whether you're aiming to improve your cash flow, expand your global reach, or ensure full compliance, Silkpay is here to help you every step of the way.
About the author: Silkpay
Based in Paris, Silkpay provides omnichannel and secure payment solutions to help physical stores and e-commerce in Europe and the Americas accept more than 30 of the world's most popular payment methods: Visa, Mastercard, CB, UnionPay, Alipay+, WeChat Pay as well as Asia-Pacific’s major e-wallets.
Silkpay is a winner of the LVMH Innovation Award. The company was also selected as a finalist for the "Money 20/20" Best Startup and in the "MPE Berlin” Startup Awards. Silkpay also won the "Best Fintech" awards from Capgemini and BPCE.
Silkpay helps merchants deliver the smoothest payment experience to their customers. We are a talented and international team driven by a single goal: to improve the customer experience and make payments simple and secure.