Do you have an offshore company and need payment processing? You have all the products or services ready to offer but you can't accept payments? This is often an aspect that entrepreneurs or business owners overlook when setting up their companies.

The structure of your business, the products or services you sell, and the location of your customers are all factors that influence the banking and payment processing options available.

For many businesses, mostly small, having a bank account where customers can transfer funds will be sufficient. But if you plan to sell products or services online, this will not be enough.

But it is not enough for international companies that are based in offshore jurisdictions and high-risk businesses, finding and setting up a payment processor can be a real challenge.

Also, fees can be exorbitant. Chargebacks above a certain threshold are a concern and account closures are common.

Challenged with payment processing?

It can be a challenge at first stay because payment processors only accept companies registered in certain countries. If your company is not registered in the "right" country, you will not be able to count on this feature.

This is often the case with offshore companies or if the company was incorporated in a jurisdiction considered high-risk. You may also be rejected if you have a high risk industry, this category includes pharmaceutical, cannabis, gambling, adult entertainment or simply businesses that tend to have a high percentage of chargebacks.

So how do you set up payment processing for offshore companies? The main thing is to have the right structure, this opens the door to the best and most cost effective payment processing options.

Foster Swiss monitors more than 100 payment processors worldwide, each with features that make them recommended or not depending on the structure of the company. All offer solutions based on industry type, country of registration, transaction volume and end beneficiary.

The Checkout payment processor is an interesting solution, this payment processor is aimed at high-risk merchants, small businesses and offshore companies. Although most comparable payment processors often charge extra fees, Checkout is comparable to Paypal.

This payment processor accepts companies from 196 countries, so the place of company registration will not be a problem.

When you have high-risk businesses, it is ideal to look for payment processors that accept and already accommodate similar businesses. You can also look for options that have a history of serving high-risk businesses in general.

Regardless of industry, looking at payment processors for other high-risk businesses is beneficial because you will be able to find processors with a higher tolerance.

What if you don't want to explore alternative payment processors, but don't want to change your company structure? Then you would have to consider a payment processing subsidiary, basically setting up a new company in a jurisdiction with the necessary payment processing options.

This company can be a direct subsidiary of your current company or it can be a new company that simply resells your company's current products and services. Countries and structures that provide access to good payment processing options are a UK LLP, a US LLC, a Canadian LLP or similar entities.

Ideally, before setting up a company, opening a bank account and establishing a relationship with a payment processor, you should plan everything thoroughly, which is why at Foster Swiss we have the expert consultants available to advise you.

We help you with practically everything, we give you personalized advice from the moment you choose a corporate structure for your company, up to a year after incorporation, and we take care of the whole process for you.

For more information on this subject or any other requirement related to our services, you can contact us directly at info@fosterswiss.com