Merchant of Record: Global Commerce Support Made Easy
June 3, 2022• min
You didn’t choose to work in the video game industry to become an expert in accepting online payments, managing risk, or monitoring global ecommerce regulations. You came here to inspire gamers around the world with your talent and creativity, which is hard enough to do well by itself. But once you’ve decided to take your business to the next level, the pure pursuit of passion alone may not be enough to cover the payments needs that come with it.
Why commerce support is important
Online payments are made possible by a complex network of merchants, financial institutions, and transaction processors that work together to send, interpret, and receive the correct value, source, and destination for every transaction. Each participant in this process plays a vital role in ensuring that every online payment is legitimate, successful, and secure.
And as with any industry, the parameters of doing business are constantly changing. Markets grow and evolve. Tax laws are updated to account for new distribution methods. Ratings systems or other regulations are created or amended. And security standards are refined to prevent newer forms of fraud from taking advantage of consumers.
With all of these moving parts, it’s extremely difficult for a game developer or publisher to accurately monitor and comply with every detail of global payments coverage, tax law, regulations, and security on their own. So to ensure that you have the highest degree of coverage available in every market, comply with every required tax and regulation, and adhere to the latest payments security standards, outside commerce support is an absolute must. Even some of the biggest developers and publishers in the world receive additional support to properly address all sides of their payments footprint.
A brief word on cost
While they provide highly beneficial services, the cost of commerce support is not preventative. Many companies offer competitive pricing arrangements that account for the budgetary limits of smaller and mid-size studios. The goal is to cement a mutually beneficial relationship that only creates more value as your company continues to grow and succeed.
Three common types of commerce support
Now that you understand the value of outside support for your game’s commerce, let’s take a brief look at the different types of companies that can fulfill your needs for payments and beyond.
For a more in-depth explanation, pick up our free ebook.
Payment service providers (PSPs)
A PSP is a company that securely processes different types of payments on behalf of merchants and other companies. Its core services don’t tend to include functions like fraud protection, tax remittance, compliance with local government regulations or globally recognized security standards (such as PCI DSS), managing refund requests or chargebacks, or any assumption of risk on behalf of merchants.
Payment gateways
A payment gateway is a back-end software application that enables PSPs to process online payments that are submitted at a merchant’s POS without requiring the merchant to perform any direct technical integrations or other implementations with those PSPs. Like a PSP, a payment gateway’s offering doesn’t tend to include fraud protection, tax remittance, compliance with local government regulations, managing refund requests or chargebacks, or any assumption of risk on behalf of merchants.
Merchant of Record (MoR)
A Merchant of Record is an entity that is authorized to sell goods on behalf of a merchant and accept payments from a wide variety of payment methods, all coordinated through the signing of a licensing agreement. Due to the nature of this arrangement, a Merchant of Record assumes financial liability and risk on behalf of the merchants that they support. And unlike PSPs and payment gateways, a Merchant of Record is also responsible for other crucial payments services like tax collection and remittance, upkeep and compliance with local government regulations, and upkeep and compliance with globally recognized security standards.
The type of commerce support that you choose to receive will all depend on your company’s precise payments needs. There are solid benefits to each type of arrangement, but each one requires a different level of commitment when it comes to how much of your limited resources that you have available for the integration, upkeep, and maintenance of your payments solution.
Get the full story
A Merchant of Record can offer vital commerce support for many critical areas of your business, keeping you covered while saving you valuable time and money. These include:
For a full account of how a Merchant of Record can help, pick up our free ebook.
Next steps
If you’re ready to engage with Xsolla as your Merchant of Record, we’re ready to hear from you.
If you’re not an Xsolla partner, contact us at business@xsolla.com and get your company the powerful, flexible payments support it deserves.
If you’re currently an Xsolla partner, contact your account manager and set up a time to discuss how we can help you further optimize your payments potential.
Payment service providers (PSPs)
A PSP is a company that securely processes different types of payments on behalf of merchants and other companies. Its core services don’t tend to include functions like fraud protection, tax remittance, compliance with local government regulations or globally recognized security standards (such as PCI DSS), managing refund requests or chargebacks, or any assumption of risk on behalf of merchants.
Payment gateways
A payment gateway is a back-end software application that enables PSPs to process online payments that are submitted at a merchant’s POS without requiring the merchant to perform any direct technical integrations or other implementations with those PSPs. Like a PSP, a payment gateway’s offering doesn’t tend to include fraud protection, tax remittance, compliance with local government regulations, managing refund requests or chargebacks, or any assumption of risk on behalf of merchants.
Merchant of Record (MoR)
A Merchant of Record is an entity that is authorized to sell goods on behalf of a merchant and accept payments from a wide variety of payment methods, all coordinated through the signing of a licensing agreement. Due to the nature of this arrangement, a Merchant of Record assumes financial liability and risk on behalf of the merchants that they support. And unlike PSPs and payment gateways, a Merchant of Record is also responsible for other crucial payments services like tax collection and remittance, upkeep and compliance with local government regulations, and upkeep and compliance with globally recognized security standards.
The type of commerce support that you choose to receive will all depend on your company’s precise payments needs. There are solid benefits to each type of arrangement, but each one requires a different level of commitment when it comes to how much of your limited resources that you have available for the integration, upkeep, and maintenance of your payments solution.
Get the full story
A Merchant of Record can offer vital commerce support for many critical areas of your business, keeping you covered while saving you valuable time and money. These include:
For a full account of how a Merchant of Record can help, pick up our free ebook.
Next steps
If you’re ready to engage with Xsolla as your Merchant of Record, we’re ready to hear from you.
If you’re not an Xsolla partner, contact us at business@xsolla.com and get your company the powerful, flexible payments support it deserves.
If you’re currently an Xsolla partner, contact your account manager and set up a time to discuss how we can help you further optimize your payments potential.
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