Argentina: it may be time for global merchants to change their processing model in the market

Argentina’s e-commerce market is set to increase 104% over the next three years, according to the 2020 Global Payments Report by Worldpay. With 44.8 million consumers, of which 93% have access to the Internet, this massive growth is driven by mobile commerce, expanding at a rate of 28% annually. The COVID-19 pandemic has established several new shopping habits and is set to further accelerate Argentina’s remarkable growth.

A key market for global merchants

Even though opportunities are endless in the region, Argentina has complex regulations, notably concerning payments. Recent changes have made global merchants’ efforts to comply and operate even more challenging.

Additionally, new local taxes on cross-border payments make the processing method very expensive and even prohibitive for most consumers with surcharges up to 35% the amount paid. To avoid increasing their prices for Argentinian customers and losing competitiveness in the market, many global companies are rethinking their processing model in the country.

Worldpay offers different processing solutions that can help merchants operate in Argentina while maintaining fair prices and remaining competitive.

Domestic-hosted processing

This solution is available not only in Argentina, but also in seven other Latin American countries, helping global companies offer a localized payment experience. By providing regional payment capabilities, the domestic-hosted solution delivers instant access to 95% of each market. Ultimately, that means higher approval rates.

Handling local taxes and compliance and setting up an office can be complicated, expensive and creates additional administrative work. That’s not necessary with Worldpay’s domestic-hosted processing, which enables domestic processing without owning a local entity. This solution settles the funds directly into the merchant’s international bank account without the need to have a local bank account for processing payments.

Local processing

Local processing allows merchants to reach 12 different countries in the LATAM region, including Argentina, by processing payments with a regional entity where possible. This approach delivers local payment methods that reach more customers and access higher approval rates to achieve an optimized customer experience overall.

At the end of the day, the solution unlocks an increased degree of control over processes for the merchants, cutting average service charges.

Smarter solutions across LATAM

Having a partner that genuinely understands how payments work in the LATAM market is crucial for businesses in and outside of the gig economy that need to move money as fast as possible. With a partner like Worldpay, multi-national merchants can access a range of smarter payments solutions that make it easier to process payments and payouts securely and easily in Argentina, capitalizing on the country’s booming e-commerce industry.