Accept payments internationally from customers outside Canada

Who it's for

• Exporters

  Canadian businesses selling to customers abroad.

• Online retailers

  Stores with traffic from outside Canada.

• Software platforms

  Products billing international customers.

Core capabilities

• International card acceptance

  Accept Visa, Mastercard and Amex credentials issued outside Canada.

• Issuer-reason diagnostics

  See the issuing bank's response on a cross-border authorization instead of guessing.

• Risk rules

  Tune velocity and verification rules for foreign-issued cards.

• 3-D Secure

  Apply strong customer authentication where the issuer expects it.

• Unified reporting

  Domestic and international volume settle into the same reports.

• Cross-border payment processing on one account

  International and domestic payment processing share one merchant account, one gateway integration and one deposit schedule.

• Online and in person

  Take foreign-issued cards through hosted checkout, payment links and invoices, and from visitors paying at the counter.

What is cross-border payment processing?

Cross-border payment processing lets a business accept payments internationally: a card issued in another country is authorized by its foreign issuer, and the funds settle to the merchant's own account. RapidCents runs it on the same account, gateway and reports as domestic payment processing.

• Definition

  Cross-border payment processing is the handling of a card payment when the card was issued in a different country from the one where the merchant's account is based. It is how a business accepts payments internationally without opening an account in every country its customers live in.

• How it works

  The authorization request travels from the merchant's payment processor through the card network to the bank that issued the card abroad. The network marks the transaction as cross-border, the issuer applies its own fraud and approval rules, and the approved funds settle to the merchant's account.

• Example

  A software company sells a subscription to a customer in London whose Visa card was issued by a UK bank. The sale runs through the company's usual checkout, the UK issuer approves it, and the payment lands in the same deposit report as the company's domestic sales, identified as a foreign-issued card.

• Why it matters

  Cross-border card payments are declined more often and cost more to accept than domestic ones, because issuers apply stricter rules and card networks add cross-border assessments. Seeing why a foreign card was declined, and what each cross-border sale actually cost, is what separates a working international channel from lost orders.

• How RapidCents handles it

  RapidCents processes Visa, Mastercard and American Express cards issued abroad on the same merchant account as domestic payment processing, shows the issuer's decline reason, lets risk and 3-D Secure rules be set for foreign-issued cards, and itemizes cross-border costs on an interchange-plus statement.

How to accept payments internationally

What cross-border payment processing costs

A cross-border payment carries costs a domestic sale does not. Each is charged by a different party, which is why a blended rate hides them and an interchange-plus statement shows them.

• Foreign-card interchange

  Set by the card networks and paid to the issuing bank. Interchange on cards issued abroad is generally higher than on domestic cards.

• Cross-border assessments

  Network fees added when the card's issuing country differs from the merchant's. On an interchange-plus statement they appear as their own lines.

• Currency conversion

  When the cardholder's bank converts the charge into their own currency, any foreign transaction fee is billed to the cardholder by their bank, not to the merchant.

• Fraud and disputes

  Card-not-present sales to customers abroad carry more fraud risk and slower dispute resolution, so verification rules and chargeback protection belong in the cost.

• Processor markup

  On interchange-plus pricing the processor's margin is stated separately from everything above, so you can see exactly what the processor charges for cross-border volume.

Related ways to get paid across borders

• Payment processingThe merchant account, authorization and settlement that every international and domestic payment runs on.
• Hosted checkoutA secure checkout page customers abroad can pay on without your systems touching card data.
• Payment linksSend a link by email or text to a customer in another country and get paid by card.
• 3-D SecureStrong customer authentication for issuers that expect it on cross-border card-not-present sales.
• Fraud preventionVelocity, address and verification rules tuned for foreign-issued cards.
• Interchange-plus pricingSee interchange, cross-border assessments and the processor margin as separate lines.

How it works

Integrations

• Merchant dashboard

  Every transaction, deposit and exception lands in one dashboard.

• APIs and webhooks

  Connect the product to your own software with REST APIs and signed webhooks.

• Partner connectors

  Certified connectors for common POS, ERP and commerce platforms.

Security

• PCI DSS Level 1

  Processing runs on PCI DSS Level 1 audited infrastructure.

• Tokenization

  Card data is replaced with tokens, keeping raw credentials out of your systems.

• Role-based access

  Permissions and audit trails control who can see and do what.

Implementation

• Discovery

  A Canadian specialist reviews how your business gets paid today.

• Configuration

  Accounts, users and settings are prepared before you go live.

• Testing

  Run test transactions and confirm reporting before cutover.

• Launch and support

  Go live with training materials and post-launch support.

Pricing

• Transparent pricing

  Pricing depends on volume, card mix and configuration. Fee Check compares your current statement before you commit to anything.