The Future for ISOs and PayFacs Is Global
Recently, I had the opportunity to speak with Cathy Beardsley, CEO of Segpay, a Rapyd partner and global payment processing platform that specializes in online credit card transactions for e-commerce and subscription-based businesses. We discussed one of the most urgent shifts in the payments space right now: the transition from domestic saturation to global acceleration. Cathy points out that the question for ISOs and PayFacs isn’t “Should we expand internationally?” The real question is: “How fast can we get there—and who’s coming with us?”
The Fork in the Road: ISO vs. PayFac
Let’s start with the basics. How you serve merchants—whether as an ISO or a PayFac—defines your capabilities, obligations and opportunity to scale.
In the U.S., ISOs (Independent Sales Organizations) have thrived as low-friction sales engines. They bring in merchants and let sponsor banks and acquirers handle the messy parts—compliance, KYC and settlement. This model has worked well in the consolidated U.S. market with a limited number of acquirers and relatively standardized regulation.
But that model doesn’t always travel well when these organizations look to expand cross-border.
In contrast, PayFacs take on more operational responsibility but gain full control of the merchant relationship. They manage onboarding, merchant support, compliance, and even settlement flows. With that comes more risk—but also higher margins and brand ownership.
Cathy summed it up perfectly: “Once we made the shift to the PayFac model, SegPay had more flexibility, faster merchant approval times, and more control over the customer experience.”
Why Global, Why Now?
In nearly every conversation I have with ISOs and PayFacs, I hear the same tension: the U.S. market is saturated. Margins are thinning. Selling is getting harder. Everyone’s competing for the same slice of pie.
Meanwhile, merchants are demanding more. They don’t want a payment provider—they want a growth partner. They want to sell into Europe, start acquiring in Latin America and offer wallets as Alternative Payment Options (APMs) in Southeast Asia.
And if you can’t offer that to your merchants, someone else will.
This is no longer a strategic nice-to-have. It’s a requirement to retain your best merchants, attract the next generation of clients, and future-proof your business.
Regional Realities: Not All Markets Are Created Equal
If only global expansion were plug-and-play. The truth is, the global acquiring landscape is as diverse as the markets themselves.
Global Payments Landscape: Market Structures
- US: Consolidated, sponsor-based
- Europe/UK: Fragmented, licensing-heavy
- APAC: Hyper-local, wallet-driven
- LatAm: High-growth, cash-centric
In Europe, regulation has harmonized acquiring across the entire European Union, opening the door to a large number of local acquirers. In LATAM, you’re dealing with fast-growing markets, volatility, and deeply local payment behaviors. In APAC, the dominance of wallets and local schemes means that global players can’t succeed without going local, requiring infrastructure, licenses, and on-the-ground expertise.
From ISO to Global PayFac: The Segpay Transformation
Segpay started as a U.S.-focused ISO and became a PayFac in both the EU and UK. Their pivot wasn’t just about going international—it was about unlocking better economics, more control and strategic growth.
Today, 60% of our volume and 75% of our gross profit come from EU/UK markets.
– Cathy Beardsley, CEO
By partnering with Rapyd, Segpay gained access to local acquiring in both Europe and the UK through a single API integration and benefited from a unified reconciliation and support process, as well as localized settlement capabilities. EU and UK-based merchants benefited from local interchange, local currency payouts and better approval rates. The U.S. clients, via the in-region entities, could now process EU and UK consumer traffic with a 10%+ lift in authorization rates, without having to build their own infrastructure overseas.
The Platform Model: One Partner, Global Reach
This is the power of multi-license acquiring, one of the most compelling benefits Rapyd can offer to ISOs and PayFacs looking to grow their reach.
Instead of cobbling together dozens of local acquirers and contracts, ISOs and PayFacs can now go global with one partner and one API. This means:
✔️ Consistent onboarding and risk processes
✔️ Unified reconciliation and reporting
✔️ Access to the most in-demand local payment methods
✔️ Faster time to market
At Rapyd, this isn’t theoretical. We operate with licenses across Europe, the UK, Singapore, Hong Kong, Israel and 6 major markets in Latin America—and we help our partners scale globally without reinventing the wheel in each region.
The Bottom Line: You’re Not Just a Reseller Anymore
The most successful ISOs and PayFacs have already stopped thinking like resellers. They’re thinking like platforms, enablers of global commerce, and partners who empower merchants to grow—not just collect payments.
This shift won’t happen overnight. But with the right support, infrastructure and strategy, going global can be a growth engine for the next decade, not just the next quarter.
Let’s stop asking whether we can afford to expand internationally and start asking: What will it cost us if we don’t?
