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CoverStory
Going international
So you want to take your acquiring business global? These
are a few considerations.
• What licenses or regulatory approvals are re-
quired in the target country/region? "A good
lawyer is important," said Harold Montgomery.
• Can your technology partners provide support
in desired markets?
• Are there sound, well-run companies in the tar-
get markets willing to partner with outsiders to
support payments acquiring?
• Is there a sufcient pool of potential employees
in the target market?
• What are the social, political and economic fac-
tors that drive individual markets? "You've got
to think like a local," Montgomery said.
Chris Pascoulis, Director of Product Management at
ACI Worldwide, affirmed the promise of India and
China, stating they "offer huge growth opportunities,"
In a recent report, Asia Pacific Mobile Money Industry
Prospects till 2019, Dublin, Ireland-based Research and
Markets projected a combined annual growth rate
for card payments in those countries in excess of 174
percent between now and 2019.
The People's Bank of China (PBOC) reported that 4.39
billion bankcards were being used in that country
in 2014; most (3.97 billion) were debit cards. China's
card market is closed to foreign banks, however, and
dominated by China UnionPay, a state-owned entity
that issues cards and acquires transactions for 26
million merchants worldwide. Rules imposed by the
Chinese government have made it next to impossible for
competing networks (such as Visa Inc. and MasterCard
Worldwide) to operate there.
The government has signaled a willingness to consider
leveling the competitive landscape and allowing foreign
entrants, yet it also has continued to erect roadblocks.
For example, beginning in 2015, all card issuers in China
had to comply with a new security protocol known as
PBOC 3.0, which is similar to, but not the same as the
Europay, MasterCard and Visa (EMV) security protocol
backed by the leading card brands.
38
Going international
So you want to take your acquiring business global? These
are a few considerations.
• What licenses or regulatory approvals are re-
quired in the target country/region? "A good
lawyer is important," said Harold Montgomery.
• Can your technology partners provide support
in desired markets?
• Are there sound, well-run companies in the tar-
get markets willing to partner with outsiders to
support payments acquiring?
• Is there a sufcient pool of potential employees
in the target market?
• What are the social, political and economic fac-
tors that drive individual markets? "You've got
to think like a local," Montgomery said.
Chris Pascoulis, Director of Product Management at
ACI Worldwide, affirmed the promise of India and
China, stating they "offer huge growth opportunities,"
In a recent report, Asia Pacific Mobile Money Industry
Prospects till 2019, Dublin, Ireland-based Research and
Markets projected a combined annual growth rate
for card payments in those countries in excess of 174
percent between now and 2019.
The People's Bank of China (PBOC) reported that 4.39
billion bankcards were being used in that country
in 2014; most (3.97 billion) were debit cards. China's
card market is closed to foreign banks, however, and
dominated by China UnionPay, a state-owned entity
that issues cards and acquires transactions for 26
million merchants worldwide. Rules imposed by the
Chinese government have made it next to impossible for
competing networks (such as Visa Inc. and MasterCard
Worldwide) to operate there.
The government has signaled a willingness to consider
leveling the competitive landscape and allowing foreign
entrants, yet it also has continued to erect roadblocks.
For example, beginning in 2015, all card issuers in China
had to comply with a new security protocol known as
PBOC 3.0, which is similar to, but not the same as the
Europay, MasterCard and Visa (EMV) security protocol
backed by the leading card brands.
38
