Controlling costs for payment acceptance: 2026 payment trends and strategies for small businesses

For Hong Kong SMEs expanding globally – especially cross-border eCommerce businesses – the real cost of receiving payments from overseas consumers is far more than just credit card transaction fees or wire transfer charges. It includes hidden losses such as exchange rate markups and operational inefficiencies. To truly optimise margins, businesses must use the "Total Cost of Acceptance" (TCA) as their decision-making basis, comprehensively calculating transaction fees, FX spreads, currency mismatch losses, and reconciliation costs.

When choosing a financial consolidation platform, eCommerce merchants must evaluate whether it supports like-for-like settlement, covers global payment methods, connects to local payment networks, and offers automated reconciliation.

For example, Airwallex Payments supports over 160 payment methods and provides like-for-like settlement. If you need to transfer funds internationally after collection, you can leverage Airwallex’s interbank exchange rates and local payment networks to accelerate fund arrival, helping businesses simplify complex cross-border collections into a process as smooth as a local transaction.

In this guide, we’ll explore traditional payment pain points, analyse consumer payment trends, and provide a "Total Cost of Acceptance" framework to help Hong Kong SMEs choose the best global payment solution for their needs.

Pain points of traditional merchant payment methods

Hong Kong-based SMEs serving multiple overseas markets commonly face four major pain points in their daily collection processes:

1. Inability to provide a localised checkout experience

When overseas customers check out at an online store, if they find they can only pay in foreign currency or use unfamiliar payment tools, they often abandon the purchase due to concerns over exchange rates and security. If the checkout process cannot provide locally preferred payment methods (such as iDEAL in Europe or GrabPay in Southeast Asia), conversion rates will inevitably suffer.

2. Financial silos across different regions

To accept foreign currencies, many businesses are forced to open physical bank accounts in various countries. This results in high maintenance fees and complex compliance documentation. Furthermore, it leads to capital being scattered across "financial silos" in different countries, making unified fund management difficult and forcing finance teams to spend excessive time on cross-bank transfers and reconciliation.

3. Hidden costs and complex reconciliation

Moving funds between different regional accounts involves remittance fees, and every step incurs time and handling costs, making reconciliation cumbersome. Many traditional remittance services advertise "low handling fees" to attract customers but often hide an exchange rate markup of around 3–5%. This is enough to wipe out any surface-level savings. As transaction volumes rise, these hidden FX costs increase significantly.

4. Slow fund settlement

Cross-border remittances take time, typically requiring 3–5 business days to arrive. When funds are frequently trapped in the payment and collection journey, it can disrupt your procurement rhythm, inventory cycles, and overall cash flow.

Trapped in traditional payment systems, businesses face a dilemma: they must open local accounts in various regions to provide localised services, yet simultaneously bear significant internal and external hidden costs, making cross-border operations fraught with uncertainty.

Preferred payment methods by region

Payment habits vary drastically across markets. For local sales in Hong Kong, credit cards (Visa, Mastercard), e-wallets (PayMe, AlipayHK, WeChat Pay), and FPS are mainstream. However, when your customer base expands to Southeast Asia, Europe, or Japan, local consumers expect to use familiar payment methods and settle in their local currency.

Hong Kong: credit cards, e-wallets, and FPS

In Hong Kong, offering just credit cards, e-wallets, and FPS is sufficient to cover most eCommerce retail scenarios and meet local needs. These methods have high penetration rates and established rules for refunds and after-sales support.

However, when selling to Singapore, Germany, or the Netherlands, local payment preferences and settlement currencies may differ from Hong Kong. If your checkout page lacks common local options, you risk a high rate of cart abandonment. Therefore, businesses must maintain a balance: provide familiar local methods for Hong Kong customers, while simultaneously offering location-specific options and local currency displays for overseas customers to ensure a consistent payment experience.

International: credit cards and global payment methods

The essence of cross-border sales is localisation. Each region has its preferred e-wallets or payment services. When your acquiring tool and payment network can cover both "Global" and "Local" needs, you increase conversion rates while avoiding abandoned transactions caused by forced currency conversion and price opacity.

With so many payment methods worldwide, it is challenging for merchants to integrate them one by one. Businesses can choose a comprehensive financial platform to solve the complexities of payment localisation, clearing, currency exchange, and reconciliation, effectively reducing manpower and financial costs. Airwallex Payments helps businesses offer over 160 different payment methods, facilitating easy expansion.

How to calculate the true cost of merchant payments

Many eCommerce businesses focus primarily on transaction fees and monthly charges when comparing payment solutions. However, what truly reflects gross profit and cash flow is the Total Cost of Acceptance (TCA): This includes transaction fees, monthly/setup fees, exchange rate markups, losses from secondary currency conversions, and the manpower costs for reconciliation and refunds. Only by comparing all explicit and implicit costs can you arrive at an accurate budget.

Comparing transaction fees, monthly fees, and setup fees

To avoid confusion from complex fee schedules, we recommend comparing based on key decision-making dimensions. The table below outlines common differences from a Hong Kong SME perspective.

When you shift your comparison from "single fee rates" to "Total Cost of Acceptance," like-for-like settlement and interbank exchange rates become the most impactful and controllable factors. Hong Kong SMEs can centralise collection, exchange, payout, and reconciliation on a single platform early in their expansion to solve these issues once and for all.

Deconstructing hidden costs: the overlooked FX rate markup

Exchange rate markups are one of the most underestimated sources of cost that erode gross profit. To accurately calculate this expense, we must clarify the difference between the Interbank Rate and the Exchange Rate Markup:

• Interbank exchange rate: The real-time mid-market rate for interbank buying and selling. This acts as the true benchmark.

• Exchange rate markup: The profit added by the provider on top of the interbank rate, usually 3–5%. This is directly reflected in the quoted rate. As transaction volume increases, this cost accumulates rapidly.

Here's a simple calculation example (for demonstration purposes only): Assume you collect US$10,000 from a US customer. With the current interbank rate for USD/HKD at 7.80, you should be collecting HK$78,000 theoretically.

• With a 3.5% markup: You receive HK$75,270

• With a ~0.8% markup: You receive HK$77,376

• The difference is HK$2,106 on a single transaction

If your monthly overseas collections reach US$200,000, the FX difference alone could cost you tens of thousands of HKD per month, or hundreds of thousands annually. Adding losses from forced or secondary conversions makes the impact even more significant. To solve this, prioritise like-for-like settlement: Keep funds in a multi-currency account and only exchange at near-interbank rates when necessary. Smart exchange are often more valuable than simply squeezing down explicit handling fees.

How to choose a merchant payment solution

When evaluating eCommerce payment solutions, we recommend measuring against four standards:

• Cost transparency: Are rates close to the interbank rate? Are there hidden opening fees?

• Global coverage: Does it support regional payment methods and local currency acquiring?

• Capital efficiency: How long does a settlement take? Is same-day or instant settlement possible?

• Unified management: Can it integrate collections, FX, payouts, corporate cards, expense management, and accounting on one platform?

How Airwallex helps you build a modern global merchant payment system

Airwallex integrates payment gateway, accounts, exchange rates, and operational data on a unified platform, allowing you to easily collect, settle, and manage funds globally. Our Checkout solution covers 180 countries, supporting over 160 global and local payment methods, and 130 display currencies.

Saving costs through like-for-like settlement and interbank rates

When customers pay in USD, EUR, or SGD, you can settle directly in the same currency to your Global Account without being forced to convert. You can manage the foreign currency until needed and then exchange it at near-interbank rates, reducing conversion losses. You can also manage risk within the platform using FX Forwards, making pricing and margins more predictable.

Boosting efficiency through automated reconciliation and unified management

When collections, accounts, exchanges, payments, and expense management are centralised, you get a real-time view of global funds in your multi-currency account. Transactions automatically sync to accounting systems like Xero, QuickBooks, or NetSuite. This transforms financial processes from "monthly clean-ups" to "real-time updates," significantly reducing manual errors and communication costs.

How to quickly open an Airwallex Business Account

1. Fill out the application form online and upload basic company information (e.g. Certificate of Incorporation and Business Registration Certificate)

2. Provide identity and address proof for directors and beneficial owners

3. Provide documents proving your business model (e.g. website, product/service introduction)

4. If enabling Payments, supplement with sales model and refund policy information

Want to learn how Airwallex solutions can transform your company's payment collection process? Sign up for free today.

Frequently asked questions about merchant payments

Do I need to be a Hong Kong registered company to apply for merchant payment collection services?

To apply for Airwallex, you must be a registered business entity (personal accounts are not supported). Airwallex supports companies registered in multiple regions globally. If your business is registered overseas, we will assist you in a compliant collection account based on your registration location and business model.

How do payment platforms handle refunds, and how long do they take?

Typically, you can initiate partial or full refunds directly within the platform for credit card or e-wallet transactions. The time it takes for the refund to arrive depends on the payment method and banking processes. For credit cards, refunds must be processed by the card network and issuing bank, which usually takes several business days; the actual time for the customer to receive funds depends on the issuing bank's posting speed. You can view refund status in real-time on the transaction details page and automatically sync refund records to your accounting system.

Are "zero-fee" traditional collection services the most cost-effective?

Not necessarily. When evaluating costs, you should calculate the "Total Cost of Acceptance" rather than looking at handling fees alone. While traditional services may advertise zero handling fees, they often hide an exchange rate markup of around 3–5% and may cause losses due to forced currency conversion from mismatched currencies. In contrast, using a collection solution that supports like-for-like settlement can save you from high FX markups and secondary conversion losses, often resulting in a lower overall cost.

How can merchants handle chargebacks and fraud risks?

If a customer initiates a chargeback on a credit card transaction, you can submit transaction evidence (such as proof of delivery, communication records, and refund policies) via the platform for the card network to review. For example, Airwallex features a built-in advanced risk engine, intelligent 3DS verification, and tokenisation technology to effectively reduce the risk of fraudulent transactions and false declines, while providing transaction monitoring reports to help you detect anomalies early.

How can merchants quickly integrate plugins on existing eCommerce platforms?

If you use mainstream eCommerce platforms like Shopify, WooCommerce, or Magento, you can generally simply enable the corresponding plugins, significantly reducing development work. If you require a more highly customised experience, you can adopt our low-code checkout solution or full API integration to seamlessly embed transactions into your business system.

Does Airwallex support platform-split payments and multi-party business models?

Yes. Airwallex offers a dedicated Payments for Platform solution for marketplaces. By connecting via API to Connected Accounts, the system helps you automatically split seller revenue and platform fees, and instantly payout earnings to seller accounts. This solution features built-in KYC flows that automatically adjust based on local regulations, helping you easily manage complex fund flows and seller networks within a compliant framework.

How does Airwallex ensure transaction security and compliance?

Airwallex is committed to security and compliance in providing financial services. We hold over 80 licences and permits globally and meet international security standards including PCI DSS Level 1, SOC 1, and SOC 2. Additionally, the platform implements Two-Factor Authentication (2FA), and our dedicated security team uses machine learning models to monitor fraud risks 24/7, providing comprehensive protection for your account and funds.

Sources: 

Information on Panda Remit was retrieved as of January 2026, from below sources. Information provided is for reference only. Please refer to the official website for the most up-to-date details

• https://www.pandaremit.com/zh-hk/hkg/about

Disclaimer: The information was based on our own online research and we were not able to manually test each tool or provider. The information is provided for educational purposes only and a reader should consider the specific requirements of their business when evaluating providers. This research is reviewed every 6 months. If you would like to request an update, feel free to contact us at [email protected].