Breaking the Banks Myth: Why ANY Business Can (and Should) Offer International Payments

We’ve been conditioned to believe that handling international payments is exclusively for banks and financial institutions. But is that really true?

Merchants don’t look after the compliance of their payment gateways and point of sale systems – but that doesn’t preclude them from accessing and utilizing the technology for their clients’ transactions. In fact, if you had to involve the bank, completely separately and independent of the retailer’s experience, visibility and control, every time you made a purchase, I’d wager we’d all probably own a lot less stuff.

Think about that for a moment. Imagine if Amazon couldn’t process your payment and instead had to direct you to your bank’s website to complete the transaction separately. The friction would be enormous, conversion rates would plummet, and the entire e-commerce revolution might never have happened.

Yet this exact broken process is what we accept as normal for international payments and currency conversion.

“But we’re not a bank,” you say.

“We don’t have the licenses,” your compliance team warns.

“Our clients expect to use their bank for that,” your sales director insists.

These objections sound reasonable on the surface, but they’re based on an outdated paradigm that’s costing your business money and damaging your client relationships.

The Payments Paradigm Shift

Democratizing payments means all payments. Just because you trade across borders or in currencies other than those your clients are currently holding, you shouldn’t be excluded from the ability to own that process. What’s more, unlike those poor, unfortunate retail merchants with their costs per transaction – both you and your clients should be able to benefit financially from the experience, too.

Property firms are doing it. Investment platforms are doing it. Talent agencies, logistics companies, and art dealers are doing it. They’re taking control of the international payment process, keeping their clients within their brand experience, and generating substantial revenue from transactions that were happening anyway.

Enter: Sciopay.

Not Just for Banks Anymore

Ok, you’re not a merchant, and quite how cross-border payments or currency conversion fits in your business is wide, varied and not always obvious.

You may sell property, cars, or manage international talent. You deal art or manage clients as a deliverable FX broker. You might be solely based in the UK but run multi-currency investment funds. You could manage the logistics behind large-value international sales.

But whatever it is, there is always, always an international payment or currency conversion needed, and that fragmented process is precisely what you can solve – while earning more from every deal you’re already closing for the pleasure.

The Real-World Applications

Let’s get specific about how this works across different businesses:

Property Developers and Agencies: Your international buyers need to convert their native currency to purchase UK properties. By offering this service in-house, you protect them from bank markups, speed up the transaction process, and create a new revenue stream from sales you’re already making.

Investment Platforms: Your clients fund their accounts from various countries and currencies. Instead of forcing them through expensive bank conversions, you can offer better rates directly on your platform while capturing a share of the conversion value.

Talent Agencies: When managing international talent, payment complexities often create friction. By offering your own payment solution, you simplify the process for both talent and clients while adding a revenue stream to your management fees.

Art Dealers: High-value international art sales involve significant currency movements. By managing this process for your clients, you provide a valuable service that both protects them from excessive bank fees and adds to your bottom line.

Logistics Companies: Managing international shipments often requires payments across multiple currencies. By integrating payment capabilities, you eliminate delays, improve visibility, and create a new profit center from existing client flow.

How is This Possible?

The technology and regulatory environment have evolved. White-label payment platforms like Sciopay now allow any business to offer branded payment solutions without becoming a regulated entity themselves.

This means:

1. You get your own branded payment platform
2. Your clients stay within your ecosystem for the entire process
3. Compliance, security, and regulatory requirements are handled for you
4. You earn revenue from every transaction
5. The entire solution can be implemented in as little as a day

The Bottom Line

The old paradigm of sending clients to banks for international payments is costly for them and a missed opportunity for you. By bringing this capability in-house, you’re not just adding a revenue stream – you’re improving the client experience, speeding up transactions, and differentiating your business in a crowded market.

It’s time to stop giving away value to banks and start capturing it for your business and clients.

The international payment or currency conversion needs in your business aren’t going away. The question is whether you’ll continue to fragment the client experience by sending them elsewhere, or keep them in your brand while generating additional revenue from deals you’re already closing.

With sciopay, the reason is clear, the implementation is simple, and the benefits begin immediately.