Latin American payment gateway & service provider for international merchants in the LATAM region Allpago has published definitive guidelines for local and cross-border payment processing in Brazil.

In an effort to share knowledge and enable a deeper understanding of the e-commerce drivers, opportunities, and challenges impacting the Latin American region, Allpago occasionally shares detailed e-commerce reports within its network. In the past, the firm has published in-depth, e-commerce research reports for Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico. Now Allpago has outlined its definitive guidelines for local and cross-border payment processing in Brazil.

Brazil’s consumers have undergone dramatic changes throughout the past two decades. Although e-commerce in the country has experienced unprecedented growth that continues to rise, for international, non-local merchants, the market is fraught with difficulty. The market’s structure is complex and almost incomprehensible for those unfamiliar. Likewise, Brazilian payment processing norms – for instance, the popularity of payments made in installments, even for small transactions – could leave some foreign merchants scratching their heads.

An unusual, dual approach to forex reportedly causes many headaches amongst international merchants. Brazil utilizes two separate exchange rates: tourist and commercial. Generally, the tourist rate can range anywhere from 8 – 12 % higher than the commercial rate. Therefore, it is highly important that merchants remain aware of the potential impacts these higher rates may have on the eventual total cost of operations. Unfortunately, the report concludes, many Brazilian providers will be more than willing to take advantage of merchants that come from abroad without sufficient knowledge of the unfamiliar system.

To download the full allpago report, click here.