PSP Angels

VIKTORIA SOLTESZ

Founder of PSP Angels

The current payment landscape for offshore licenced operators

A few years ago offshore was the absolute favourite when it came to financial, gambling or forex operarions as local lawyers offered an easy, cheap and legal alternative to target clients in multiple jurisdictions. Even Warren Buffet used this amazing loophole in the regulatory system, which allowed companies to pay lower taxes and run the operation on a much lower cost - while still being legal and compliant.

Today, as we know, the tables have turned and more and more countries request a special local licence to target their citizens. It’s easy to understand why why: the offshore companies taking home the chunky tax free profits while the country’s own economy needs to fiance the players’ or investors’ bad decisions and financial downturns.

There are still a handful of jurisdictions what we can target with our offshore licence legally, however many established payment providers would not touch such traffic, many times for reputational reasons.

So how can we keep balancing on this thin thread of grey area and make sure that we have the safest and cheapest payment providers?

PSP Angels’ top tips:

• Hold onto your current provider If your current payment provider has not closed you down and is still willing to work with you thanks to the long years of trust and understanding: stick to them. The market is full with new payment service providers, however it is very hard to establish if they are bringing on the table what they promise.

• High risk mean high risk for you too Established payment providers dropping offshore traffic first. Unfortunately, processing payments for an offshore entity became high risk itself, so you have to also do your full due diligence on your new providers. Most probably you are talking to their sales staff whos job is to promise you good fees and perfect conversion rate. But always askyour payment consultant if it is indeed the case and there are no problems with the processing for other, similar verticals. Think about it: if a new payment provider on the market is taking high risk, they might on board someone who can ruin the processing for the whole pool. You better keep your eyes open and evaluate the risk for yourself.

• Forget cards While many countries still think of cards when it comes to paying on a website, the emerging markets - which are the most likely to still accept your offshore licence – are mainly operating on alternative payment methods. This is good news for us as in this way we can avoid the pricy and strict rules of Visa or MasterCard.

With all those new technologies, such as open banking, local payment methods, mobile payments, top up cards and vouchers, we have a vast selection of alternative payment methods.

• Motivate your clients to deposit as you want them to Never underestimate the greed of your clients. We have a lot of marketing opportunity to motivate and educate our clients about new payment method by offering larger bonuses and other perks towards our preferred payment methods. If they need to put an extra effort to familiarise themselves with a new payment method, make it fun for them. People can do a lot in order to get that extra spin or a chunkier bonus.

• Have a good payment consultant Unfortunately its very hard to find an independent payment professional in this industry who not only understands the ever changing high risk payment market inside out, but also opens special doors through their personal connections which might not be available otherwise for your company. You either hire a top professional who will charge an arm and a leg (and perhaps select providers based on how much commission they give back to him), or you are down to do the legwork on your own.

How can PSP Angels help

PSP Angels is the leading high risk payment consulting firm in the industry. We screen the payment market regularly, to give our clients an accurate picture about all the different payment processing and banking options. We find out who accepts what type of businesses and what fees are offered. We understand the requirements, risk appetite and risk, so our clients can make an informative decision about their possible options. Within our personalized payment consulting services, we set up an overall payment plan, help to move funds between countries, reduce real banking and payment risks, re-negotiate our client’s current fees to match the lower market rates, optimize tax and cash flow, and assist with the overall payment/banking setup.