Cards are not the only way to pay for online transactions. In fact, between bank transfers, direct debits, eWallets, mobile payments, local card schemes, pre-pay, post-pay and e-invoices, there are over 200 different types of Alternative Payment Methods (APM) in the world of eCommerce.

In many countries, APMs are the preferred payment method, and can represent a higher proportion of eCommerce growth in comparison to credit or debit cards.

For example, 54% of all ecommerce purchases in the Netherlands are paid for using iDEAL, with credit cards holding a mere 11% marketshare. In Germany, cards are used to pay for only 21% of total ecommerce transactions, with customers preferring to use ELV, Paypal, Sofort and Giropay.

APMs accounted for 43% of global eCommerce transactions in 2012, and forecast to grow to 59% by 2017. As established markets reach saturation point, global eCommerce double-digit growth rates are being driven by the emerging economies — where card penetration is eve...
Cards are not the only way to pay for online transactions. In fact, between bank transfers, direct debits, eWallets, mobile payments, local card schemes, pre-pay, post-pay and e-invoices, there are over 200 different types of Alternative Payment Methods (APM) in the world of eCommerce.

In many countries, APMs are the preferred payment method, and can represent a higher proportion of eCommerce growth in comparison to credit or debit cards.

For example, 54% of all ecommerce purchases in the Netherlands are paid for using iDEAL, with credit cards holding a mere 11% marketshare. In Germany, cards are used to pay for only 21% of total ecommerce transactions, with customers preferring to use ELV, Paypal, Sofort and Giropay.

APMs accounted for 43% of global eCommerce transactions in 2012, and forecast to grow to 59% by 2017. As established markets reach saturation point, global eCommerce double-digit growth rates are being driven by the emerging economies — where card penetration is even lower.

With Switch, we’ve created an abstraction layer on top of the existing rails along which transactions run to translate the messy and outdated technology behind hundreds of payment stakeholders (Acquirers, Processors, Payment Schemes). We then packaged our abstraction into simple and elegant libraries for most web and mobile programming languages.

Our unique single integration flow enables developers to plug into multiple payment methods in record time — enabling global companies to scale their operations worldwide.

Our state of the art modular systems architecture enables us to plug multiple payment providers in record time. This infrastructure combined with a transactional business model allows us to rapidly expand our operations into other markets and lock new businesses, using first mover advantage to explore developing countries, where ecommerce is exploding.
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