Payment providers for international businesses: which to go for, and why they say no.
Acquirer, PSP, e-money account, specialist processor or crypto rail: the right one depends on what you sell, where the company is and where the customers are. This guide says what each is, what every provider checks before it says yes, and what to go for in the situations we see most. It names no providers; we introduce the ones we've vetted once we know your situation.
Five kinds of provider, and what each is for.
Most refusals come from applying to the wrong kind. Get the kind right and the application is mostly paperwork.
Merchant account with a bank acquirer
A direct card-acquiring agreement with a bank or large acquirer. Best rates and settlement terms, slowest and strictest onboarding, usually wants a company and bank account in the same place as the acquirer.
Mainstream payment service provider
An aggregator that onboards you under its own merchant licence: fast to start, pay-as-you-go pricing, cards plus wallets plus local methods in one integration. Low-risk businesses in supported countries only.
E-money account with acquiring
A regulated e-money institution that gives a business account, multi-currency IBANs and card acceptance together. Useful when a high-street bank won't open an account; onboarding is thorough but faster than a bank.
High-risk / specialist PSP
Acquirers and PSPs that take regulated or chargeback-heavy industries, usually through an EU, UK, Maltese or Caribbean acquiring bank. Higher rates, rolling reserves, a licence and processing history expected.
Crypto payment processor
Takes crypto or stablecoins from your customers and settles to you in fiat or stablecoin. Check the licence (VASP / CASP / MSB), which countries they serve, and how your bank will treat the settlements.
Payout / marketplace platform
A provider built for paying many people out: KYC on each recipient, split payments, tax forms. Needed for marketplaces, affiliate programmes and creator platforms.
What every provider checks before it says yes.
The order is the same everywhere, and the first three are where most applications die.
- 1
Who owns the company
Every beneficial owner with 25% or more, with ID and proof of address. Trusts and nominee arrangements have to be unwound on paper for the provider; an owner who can't be shown is a refusal.
- 2
That the website matches the application
Same products, same prices, same company name and address in the footer, terms, refund policy and contact details. Reviewers open the site before they open the file.
- 3
That settlements go to the company's own account
A bank or e-money account in the company's name, in a country the provider settles to. This is the single most common reason offshore companies are refused.
- 4
The industry and the markets
Each provider has a restricted list and a country list. Legal is not the test; risk appetite is.
- 5
Processing history
Statements from the previous provider, with chargeback and refund ratios. A new business gets a cap and often a reserve instead.
- 6
Licences where the activity needs one
iGaming, forex, money services, crypto: the licence for the markets you sell into comes before anything else.
What to go for.
The seven situations that cover most of the businesses we see. Yours will be one of them or a mix of two.
Online shop in the UK or EU selling to the UK or EU
Physical goods, low chargebacks, under about $1m a month.
Go forA mainstream PSP; move to a direct acquirer when volume makes the blended rate expensive.
You are the customer every provider wants. Speed to launch matters more than a few basis points until the volume is there.
Dubai company selling worldwide
Free-zone or mainland, customers in several regions.
Go forA UAE bank acquirer or a local PSP for the core, an e-money account with acquiring for non-AED settlement; check each global aggregator's UAE position before building on it.
Several global aggregators still restrict UAE entities or free-zone licences; the local options have caught up and settle in the currencies you actually sell in.
Software or subscription business
Recurring billing, customers anywhere, often a small team.
Go forA PSP with proper recurring-billing support (card-on-file, retries, SCA exemptions), in the company's own country.
Failed renewals are the revenue leak; the recurring features matter more than the headline rate.
Consultancy, agency or other B2B services
Invoices paid by transfer, a card option for smaller clients.
Go forA business bank or e-money account in each currency you invoice in; cards as a secondary rail.
The question is banking, not acquiring. Multi-currency IBANs in the company's name solve 90% of it.
Marketplace, affiliate programme or creator platform
You take money in and pay many people out.
Go forA payout platform that KYCs each recipient, with a PSP for the inbound side.
Paying out is regulated activity; an ordinary PSP will refuse the payout side or freeze funds when it notices.
iGaming, forex, CFDs, adult, dating, travel
Restricted categories at every mainstream provider.
Go forA specialist (high-risk) acquirer or PSP through an EU, UK, Maltese or Caribbean acquiring bank, with the licence for your markets in hand first.
Mainstream providers decline the category outright. Specialists price the risk with higher rates and rolling reserves rather than refusing — but only with a licence.
Any business that wants to be paid in crypto
Customers who hold stablecoins, or markets where cards fail.
Go forA licensed crypto payment processor alongside the main rail, with the bank's position on receiving settlements agreed first.
The processor's licence and your bank's attitude decide whether this works; the technology is the easy part.
Why a BVI company can't get a merchant account, and what to do instead.
Acquirers and PSPs are regulated firms that have to show their regulator who they process for. A company with no recognised home regulator, no local bank account and no visible staff is one they can't explain. It isn't a judgement on the business; it's their own compliance file.
The structure that works is an operating company where the customers or the team are (UK, EU, UAE, Georgia, Singapore) holding the merchant account and the customer contracts, with the offshore company above it as the holding or IP owner, paid by dividend or licence fee. The payments question and the tax question are then answered separately, which is how they should be.
Customer card/transfer
│
▼
Acquirer / PSP ──settles──▶ Operating company (UK/EU/UAE/GE/SG)
bank account in its own name
│
dividend / licence fee / management fee
▼
Holding or IP company (offshore)The provider only ever sees the operating company. The holding company's existence is disclosed as the owner; it never touches the settlements.
Accepting crypto: three questions before the first payment.
The technology is the easy part. What decides whether this works is the processor's licence and your bank's attitude.
The full picture, including which countries work and the iGaming rules, is in the crypto payments guide.
Who is the processor, under which licence?
A VASP, CASP or MSB registration in a real jurisdiction, covering the countries your customers are in. Ask for the registration number; look it up.
Do you receive fiat or stablecoins?
Fiat settlement keeps the business's books simple and the bank calm. Stablecoin settlement means you hold crypto on the balance sheet and need somewhere to convert it.
What does your bank say?
Some banks close accounts that receive crypto-exchange settlements without warning. Ask in writing before you start, and keep the processor's licence details ready for them.
Where businesses get it wrong, and what it costs.
These come up on most first calls. None of them is advice to do it; each is here so you know why not, and what to do instead.
Using an account that isn't the company's to receive settlements
Why it's greySettling to a director's personal account, or to a related company in another country, is common where the company can't get a local account. Providers call it a mismatch; regulators call it worse.
What it meansExpect the account to be frozen when the provider's review catches it, and the funds held for weeks. If the company can't get an account where it is, that's the structure problem to fix, not something to route around.
Running a restricted business through a 'low-risk' merchant category
Why it's greyDescribing iGaming as 'entertainment' or supplements as 'consumer goods' to get onboarded quickly happens every day. It is transaction laundering under the card-scheme rules.
What it meansTermination, a listing on the schemes' shared match list that follows the owners for years, and the specialist acquirers later refusing you too. The honest route is slower and the only one that lasts.
Receiving stablecoins and treating them as 'not income yet'
Why it's greyBecause a USDT receipt doesn't touch the bank, some businesses leave it out of the books until it's converted.
What it meansIn every country we work in the receipt is a sale at the value on the day. Converting later is a second, separate event. Record both; the bank will ask for the records when the fiat eventually arrives.
Using a nominee director to pass onboarding
Why it's greySome agents offer a local nominee so the application shows a resident director and address.
What it meansProviders ask for the beneficial owner regardless, and a nominee who isn't disclosed turns a declined application into a fraud flag. If local substance is needed, build real substance — a real director, a real address — or pick a country where you have it.
General information, not advice. Card-scheme rules, licensing and tax treatment differ by country and change; what applies to you is set out in writing after a call.
Find your route.
Six questions. You get the kind of provider to go for, what it will ask you, and where applications like yours fail. No provider is named; we introduce vetted ones once we know your situation.
What people ask on the first call.
Can an offshore company get a merchant account?
Rarely with a mainstream provider. Acquirers want a regulated home, a local bank account and visible substance. The working answer is an onshore operating company (UK, EU, UAE, Georgia, Singapore) that holds the merchant account, with the offshore company above it as holding or IP owner.
What is the difference between a PSP and an acquirer?
An acquirer is the bank that holds the card-scheme licence and takes the risk; a PSP (aggregator) sits on an acquirer's licence and onboards many merchants under it. PSPs are faster and simpler; acquirers are cheaper at volume and stricter.
Why was my application refused when the business is legal?
Usually a mismatch: the website says one thing and the application another, the beneficial owner isn't disclosed, the settlement account isn't in the company's name, or the industry sits on the provider's restricted list. Legal and low-risk are different tests.
Can my business accept stablecoins?
Yes, through a licensed crypto payment processor, but check three things first: the processor's licence and countries, whether you're paid in fiat or stablecoin, and your bank's position on receiving those settlements. The receipt is taxable like any sale.
Do I need a licence to use a high-risk PSP?
For iGaming, forex and most regulated categories, yes: the acquirer will ask for the licence covering the countries you sell into before anything else. Without it the application doesn't get past the first review.
Tell us the business, the company and the customers.
We'll say which route gets approved, what has to change first if anything, and introduce providers we've vetted when one fits. Free, in writing, within a working day.