For merchants planning to expand across borders, choosing the right acquiring model is one of the most strategic decisions in payment processing. While global card schemes such as Visa and Mastercard dominate international commerce, many countries also operate local schemes that offer regional coverage and competitive fees. Understanding the differences between these ecosystems — their infrastructure, pricing, acceptance reach and operational requirements — helps merchants build payment flows that are secure, efficient and fully aligned with long-term global growth.
The backbone of international payments: Visa/Mastercard acquiring
When a merchant accepts a credit or debit card, the acquiring bank works with the relevant card schemes, most commonly companies like Visa and Mastercard, to process the payment. These two major players operate global payment networks that support billions of card transactions annually, across ecommerce, in-person, and contactless payments.
Under this model, the acquirer sends the transaction through the card network to the issuer — the card issuer, usually a financial institution such as a bank. The issuing bank verifies the card information, checks available funds, performs fraud checks and returns an authorization response. This transaction process is identical for both credit card transactions and debit cards, ensuring a unified global ecosystem for merchants and cardholders.
Dropshipping – what is it and how does it impact payment flows in your online store?
Because Visa and Mastercard are two of the most widely accepted card brands, merchants benefit from immediate global reach. Whether the payment originates from a mobile wallet, a website checkout, or a physical retailer terminal, the infrastructure ensures secure and efficient processing. For merchants selling to consumers and businesses internationally, this is often the most reliable route to efficient transactions.
Local schemes: regional efficiency, lower fees, limited reach
Alongside global schemes, several countries operate their own local schemes, sometimes called card domestic schemes. Examples include Cartes Bancaires (France), Bancomat (Italy), Girocard (Germany), eftpos (Australia) or RuPay (India). These systems are usually optimised for in-person and domestic card payment flows.
Local schemes benefit merchants in several ways:
- Lower interchange fee levels compared to international brands
- Reduced processing fees for domestic card transactions
- Faster local settlement and simplified dispute management
Because transactions remain within the country’s national environment, local schemes can also deliver improved performance for digital payments, enhanced fraud monitoring and lower operational costs for recurring payments and chargebacks.
However, their biggest limitation is obvious: limited international acceptance. A consumer traveling abroad or shopping on international ecommerce websites often cannot rely on a purely local card. This limits their usefulness for merchants focused on global expansion.
Acceptance, reach and scalability: the global advantage
For any merchant planning cross-border expansion, acceptance matters more than anything else. With Visa or Mastercard, customers can pay using almost any credit or debit card, making checkout seamless whether the buyer is located in the EU, the UK, the US or Asia.
How Much Does an Online Store Cost? We Check the Prices!
This broad acceptance supports:
- Checkout conversion in global ecommerce
- Acceptance of mobile wallets, such as Apple Pay or Google Wallet
- Recurring billing for subscriptions
- Consistent dispute management and chargeback rules
- A unified experience for both debit and credit transactions
Local schemes, by comparison, often require national acquiring banks, additional routing rules or separate payment processor integrations. For a merchant building an international footprint, relying solely on a local scheme may create friction or reduce conversion when foreign cardholders attempt to pay.
Interchange, fees and the cost of acquiring
Every credit or debit card transaction includes various cost components: the interchange fee, processing fees, and the markup charged by the acquirer. Global brands such as Visa and Mastercard typically have standardised interchange structures, while local schemes often offer lower domestic rates.
For example:
- Local schemes: usually the lowest domestic interchange
- Visa/Mastercard: moderate interchange, but global acceptance
- American Express: often higher fees due to a different business model
When the transaction amount travels through an international card network, fees may increase compared to a purely domestic transaction. Still, the ability to serve global audiences usually outweighs these costs for ecommerce merchants.
Understanding these differences helps merchants protect your business, stay compliant, and make financially informed decisions.
Operational complexity: one ecosystem vs many fragmented systems
Visa/Mastercard acquiring allows merchants to operate within one unified, global framework. A single merchant account with the right acquirer supports:
- cross-border acquiring,
- consistent authorization logic,
- unified risk management tools,
- integrated fraud detection systems to prevent fraudulent activity,
- an easier onboarding process across multiple markets.
Local schemes, on the other hand, may require:
- separate integrations,
- local entities or partnerships,
- additional gateway configuration,
- different rules for chargebacks, settlement and dispute resolution.
Recurring payments – how do they work and is it worth using them?
For large ecommerce merchants, these differences significantly affect scalability and operational efficiency.
Customer experience: where global schemes outperform
For shoppers, the ability to use a familiar payment card — whether credit or debit — is essential. Checkout abandonment often increases when customers cannot pay using their preferred method.
With card brands like Visa and Mastercard, merchants can ensure:
- consistent customer experience across countries,
- trusted global security standards,
- acceptance of mobile wallets,
- smooth digital payments on any device,
- familiar dispute and refund processes for cardholders.
Local schemes may excel domestically but often fall short when serving international audiences or travelers.
Which model supports international expansion?
When comparing Visa/Mastercard acquiring vs local schemes, the answer depends on the merchant’s growth strategy:
Best for merchants targeting global expansion
Visa/Mastercard acquiring
- worldwide acceptance
- proven international routing
- lower friction for cross-border ecommerce
- unified standards for authorization and disputes
- broad ecosystem of gateways, PSPs, acquirers and processors
Best for merchants focused primarily on domestic markets
Local schemes
- lower fees
- simpler domestic dispute handling
- strong performance for in-country transactions
However, even merchants relying on local schemes often need global card brands to serve international shoppers. This is why many retailers use hybrid acceptance, combining Visa/Mastercard acquiring with domestic scheme processing.
Strategic choice for long-term growth
Visa and Mastercard acquiring remains the most powerful way to support international expansion. Their global ecosystem — including issuing and acquiring banks, gateways, processors and payment partners — ensures merchants can offer seamless payment experiences across borders.
Local schemes offer compelling domestic advantages, especially in terms of fees and local coverage. But for merchants aiming to expand globally, reach international buyers and support secure and efficient transactions worldwide, Visa/Mastercard acquiring is the clear foundation for growth.
