In order to help American online businesses expand their international customer base using locally preferred e-payment methods, PPRO Group, a leader in cross-border e-payments and one of the fastest growing FinTech companies in Europe, is expanding its global footprint. The company today announces the opening of its Atlanta office, which will be led by Steve Villegas, Vice President, Partner Management at PPRO.

At present, the US e-commerce market is still immature in terms of cross-border outreach when compared to most European and Asian e-commerce markets. When it comes to understanding the need and importance of locally preferred alternative payment methods (APMs) versus credit cards, US acquirers and payment service providers (PSPs) are still lagging behind.

PPRO Group provides access to APMs across the world, allowing merchants to accept more payment methods, which increases revenue and minimises shopping cart abandonment by consumers. This has led to significant growth in the past years for PPRO Group‘s operations. The business now connects over 140 APMs globally and has recently started partnering with some of the largest US acquirers. In order to support its latest partnerships and to facilitate the demand PPRO Group expects to see from the North American markets, it has taken the step to open its first US-based office. In addition to the US customers that PPRO will be more able to closely serve, Atlanta, Georgia provides a hotbed of industry experts and skills such as through Georgia Tech and Fintech Atlanta in order to build a dedicated group of sales support and account management professionals.

Steve Villegas, Vice President, Partner Management at PPRO, will head up the Atlanta office, bringing with him over 20 years’ experience of building and managing sales, partner development and marketing teams which have delivered profitable results, built market share, and exceeded revenue goals.

Villegas commented, “We are incredibly excited by the opportunity to make a positive impact on the US payment landscape and our Atlanta office is the perfect place to launch the PPRO payment revolution in the US. Our success in selling our service proposition has significantly increased the number of US based customers we have and we are committed to ensuring a close partnership with them. Naturally, this was a key factor behind our decision to open an office in the region. The majority of US e-commerce sites still focus exclusively on their domestic market and credit cards. This is despite the fact that businesses that sell cross-border, report nearly double the sales revenues of those that don’t.”

“If US merchants are to succeed in the global market, they need trusted payment service providers and acquirers to support them. Those providers should be able to offer not just the best possible selection of local payment schemes, but also the knowledge and expertise required to implement those schemes in the way best suited to each market. We strongly believe that this is the right time to focus on the American payment landscape and replicate the success PPRO has had in other territories.” Villegas concludes.

This latest announcement reaffirms PPRO’s commitment to supporting international payment methods across 175 countries, allowing PSPs to expand their merchants’ e-commerce reach, arrange hassle-free collection and achieve higher conversion rates.