Many merchants have found through repeated research that instead of locking targets on traditional developed countries such as Europe and America, it is better to formulate market strategies for these emerging economies in Southeast Asia. There are three main reasons. Firstly, the economies of these countries are currently in an upward starting phase with huge development potential. Secondly, capital has started flowing into these emerging economies, and people's consumption ability is growing year by year, while demand for imported goods is obviously increasing. Thirdly, the population is young, and the growing middle class is increasingly consumption-oriented with very strong purchasing power. Therefore, seizing the Southeast Asian market has become the strategic goal of many Chinese enterprises.

However, for many small and medium-sized enterprises, once they start operating companies in Southeast Asian markets, they will soon face many new situations after business development, which makes small business owners feel very headache. These situations will occur in various links of the entire value chain, and payment and collection issues are particularly difficult to resolve.

To give an example, an Indian customer purchased materials from a cross-border export enterprise in Guangdong through the Alibaba platform. After negotiations, the payment could only be settled through the enterprise's bank account registered with great difficulty in Singapore or Hong Kong. The customer wants to pay in Indian rupees, while the Guangdong enterprise wants renminbi. Finally they agreed to settle in US dollars. So the customer transferred rupees to US dollars and remitted it to the Singapore account through international remittance. The Guangdong enterprise then remits the US dollars in the Singapore account back to the domestic renminbi account in China a few times a year. The exchange rate losses incurred by the repeated exchange created great pains for the enterprise. At the same time, the timeliness of traditional telegraphic transfers also caused customer dissatisfaction. As the funds had not arrived, the enterprise could not fulfill flash delivery, further exacerbating customer satisfaction decline.

It is still about enterprises that have bank accounts in financial centers like Hong Kong or Singapore. For most small and medium-sized enterprises, it is not easy to open a corporate account in such financial centers. Those who have experienced it know how difficult it is to operate. The payment issues faced in offline overseas market development are even more serious.

In summary, there are four major problems:

Scenario 1

The customer signed a sales contract and sent the payment information to the finance department. The finance department issued a check and mailed it to the supplier via post office or courier. The supplier followed up on the mailing progress every day. With great difficulty getting the check, they still had to go to the bank for encashment, facing the risk of bouncing checks.

Scenario 2

The customer agreed to purchase by phone and repeatedly confirmed the supplier's bank account name and number. But the payment transfer failed due to an incorrect name or number, requiring reconfirmation by phone, wasting a lot of time.

Scenario 3

The customer provided their credit card number to the new supplier over the phone but was worried about account security and ultimately canceled payment due to a lack of trust.

Scenario 4

An overseas order was finally negotiated but the customer felt inconvenienced by the need to go to the bank for currency exchange and go through the tedious telegraphic transfer process, deciding not to do such cross-border procurement in the future.

The operation of a successful enterprise must start from the customer's perspective and make the products and services provided throughout the operation process simple, fast, reliable and flexible to ensure sufficient market competitiveness. An optimized, highly efficient and convenient payment process is particularly important.

KVB Global has served customers for over 20 years with multi-country compliant licenses and is a trusted financial institution in the market. Our newest digital services, virtual account services and payment links can greatly simplify payment and collection processes to enhance customer satisfaction. After opening an overseas account with KVB, small and medium-sized enterprises can directly receive overseas payments; customers will also feel as convenient as paying to a local bank account, and can make simple online payments with just a click, achieving a win-win.

Using KVB virtual account, your company will have a de facto overseas bank account supporting multiple currencies without the need to visit Hong Kong online. The service provides fast deposits, with payments received on the same day usually, saving wait time for both parties. It is simple, safe and secure to operate, and SMEs can also enjoy prime rates and professional exchange rate management services like top-tier banks.

KVB's payment links make collection smoother. Collection merchants can send payment links to paying parties to quickly receive credit/debit card payments from customers. Businesses no longer need to wait for weeks to receive checks or transfers from customers, avoiding bad debts, and achieving win-win payments.

Payment links can solve the four customer payment problems mentioned in the scenarios above. They are also suitable for the below.

Conducting payments anywhere your products or services are sold through SMS, social media, or online checkout pages.

Customizable payment links in different forms for different sales platforms.

Providing fast payment options for customers upon reaching payment pages.

Keeping payment simple without accounts or apps needed - customers can pay directly from any device.

If your business is facing challenges brought by cross-border exports, please contact our professional customer service team today. We are happy to introduce digital solutions based on our latest services to help your business gain greater market share in global competition.

Disclaimer: The content of this article represents the author's personal views and does not reflect the position of KVB. It is provided for readers' reference only and should not be construed as investment advice. The originality and accuracy of the statements and content in this article have not been verified by our company. We make no guarantee or commitment regarding the truthfulness, completeness, or timeliness of the entire or partial content and statements in this article. Please independently verify the relevant information.