# Playbook: Launch New Country
Source: https://paymentsandrisk.com/docs/playbooks/launch-new-country

Last updated 23 October 2026.

TL;DR

-   Budget 12 weeks. Four research, four setup, two testing, two soft launch.
-   Compare local acquiring with cross-border processing. Get full cost quotes and test approvals on the same market, card and currency mix.
-   Adapt your fraud rules before you launch. Your US rules will over-block or under-protect somewhere else.
-   Confirm compliance before the first transaction, not after your decline spike. SCA in Europe, KYC everywhere.

Opening a new country takes about three months.

## Workflow Overview

```mermaid
flowchart LR
    A[<b>WEEK 1-4</b><br/>Research] --> B[<b>WEEK 4-8</b><br/>Setup] --> C[<b>WEEK 8-10</b><br/>Pre-Launch] --> D[<b>WEEK 10-12+</b><br/>Launch]

    style A fill:#3d5a80,color:#fff
    style B fill:#5e4b8b,color:#fff
    style C fill:#9a5b00,color:#fff
    style D fill:#1f6f4a,color:#fff
```

| Phase | Key Tasks |
| --- | --- |
| **Research** | Market assessment, payment landscape, fraud research, regulatory requirements |
| **Setup** | Acquiring partner, local methods, fraud rules, compliance setup |
| **Pre-Launch** | E2E testing, localize UX, monitoring setup, support ready |
| **Launch** | Soft launch %, monitor metrics, full launch, optimize & tune |

## When to Use This Playbook

-   Launching in a new geographic market.
-   Adding local payment methods to an existing market.
-   Setting up local acquiring instead of processing cross-border.
-   Adapting fraud rules for a region you don't know.

## Phase 1: Research (Week 1-4)

### Market Assessment

```text
□ Target country: _____________
□ Expected transaction volume: _____________
□ Primary customer segment: _____________
□ Product/service being offered: _____________
```

### Payment Landscape Research

```text
□ Dominant payment methods:
   - Cards: _______%
   - Local wallets: _______%
   - Bank transfers: _______%
   - Other: _______%

□ Popular local methods:
   1. _____________
   2. _____________
   3. _____________

□ Card network prevalence:
   - Visa: _______%
   - Mastercard: _______%
   - Local networks: _____________
```

### Fraud Landscape Research

```text
□ Common fraud types in market
□ Local fraud trends
□ Average fraud rate for segment
□ Required fraud prevention measures
□ Local verification challenges
```

### Regulatory Requirements

```text
□ Payment licensing requirements
□ Data localization requirements
□ Consumer protection laws
□ Chargeback/dispute regulations
□ Privacy/GDPR equivalent
□ Tax obligations
```

## Phase 2: Setup (Week 4-8)

### Payment Infrastructure

```text
□ Select acquiring partner(s)
□ Set up local currency processing
□ Implement local payment methods
□ Configure currency conversion (if needed)
□ Set up settlement accounts
□ Test payment flows
```

### Fraud & Risk Infrastructure

```text
□ Adapt fraud rules for market
□ Set up local data sources:
   - Address verification
   - Phone verification
   - ID verification
   - Device intelligence coverage
□ Configure risk thresholds
□ Set up manual review for launch
```

### Compliance Setup

```text
□ Legal entity (if required)
□ Local data storage (if required)
□ Privacy policy updates
□ Terms of service localization
□ Consumer notices
□ Tax registration
```

## Phase 3: Pre-Launch (Week 8-10)

### Testing

```text
□ End-to-end payment testing
□ All payment method testing
□ Refund/chargeback flow testing
□ Fraud rule testing (synthetic data)
□ Customer support flow testing
□ Reporting/reconciliation testing
```

### Localization

```text
□ Currency display
□ Language support
□ Local customer support hours
□ Localized error messages
□ Local payment method UX
□ Descriptor localization
```

### Monitoring Setup

```text
□ Payment success rate dashboards
□ Fraud rate monitoring
□ Chargeback tracking
□ Currency reconciliation
□ Alerting for anomalies
```

## Phase 4: Soft Launch (Week 10-12)

### Limited Rollout

```text
□ Launch to limited audience (%)
□ Monitor key metrics closely:
   - Auth rate target: _______%
   - Fraud rate cap: _______%
   - Chargeback rate cap: _______%
□ Daily review cadence
□ Quick escalation path for issues
```

### Early Adjustments

```text
□ Tune fraud rules based on data
□ Adjust risk thresholds
□ Fix UX issues
□ Address customer feedback
□ Optimize payment routing
```

## Phase 5: Full Launch (Week 12+)

### Ramp Up

```text
□ Gradual increase in traffic
□ Monitor performance at scale
□ Capacity check on manual review
□ Customer support scaling
```

### Optimization

```text
□ Auth rate optimization
□ Fraud rule tuning
□ Local payment method optimization
□ Cost optimization (routing, FX)
```

## Country-Specific Considerations

### Europe (SEPA Region)

```text
□ PSD2/SCA compliance
□ GDPR compliance
□ SEPA Direct Debit consideration
□ Local wallet adoption (varies by country)
□ Strong authentication requirements
```

### UK

```text
□ FCA considerations
□ Open Banking opportunities
□ Post-Brexit regulatory changes
□ High card penetration
```

### Latin America

```text
□ High fraud rates (Brazil especially)
□ Local card networks (Elo, Hipercard)
□ Installment payments (parcelado)
□ Boleto (Brazil), OXXO (Mexico)
□ CPF/tax ID verification
```

### Asia Pacific

```text
□ Mobile wallet dominance (varies)
□ Local networks (JCB Japan, UnionPay China)
□ QR code payments
□ Regulatory complexity (varies widely)
□ Data localization (varies)
```

## Launch Checklist Summary

### Legal/Compliance

```text
□ Licensing requirements met
□ Data requirements addressed
□ Consumer protections in place
□ Tax obligations understood
```

### Payments

```text
□ Acquiring relationship established
□ Payment methods integrated
□ Settlement process confirmed
□ FX strategy defined
```

### Risk

```text
□ Fraud rules adapted
□ Verification coverage confirmed
□ Manual review capacity ready
□ Monitoring in place
```

### Operations

```text
□ Customer support ready
□ Localization complete
□ Testing complete
□ Runbooks documented
```

## Next Steps

After launch:

1.  **Fix the payment mix**: Find what converts locally. Push those.
2.  **Tune fraud rules**: Your US baseline won't fit this market's data.
3.  **Review costs**: Check FX and acquiring, then renegotiate at volume.
4.  **Plan the next market**: Reuse what worked and skip what didn't.
5.  **Build local contacts**: You'll want someone to call when things break.

* * *

## Related Topics

-   [Payments Overview](https://paymentsandrisk.com/docs/payments/) - Payment fundamentals
-   [Fraud Prevention](https://paymentsandrisk.com/docs/fraud/prevention/) - Prevention strategies
-   [Compliance](https://paymentsandrisk.com/docs/compliance/) - Regulatory requirements
-   [FX and Settlement](https://paymentsandrisk.com/docs/payments/reference/fx-and-settlement/) - Cross-border costs
-   [Bank Transfers](https://paymentsandrisk.com/docs/payments/payment-methods/bank-transfers/) - Local payment methods
-   [3D Secure](https://paymentsandrisk.com/docs/fraud/prevention/3ds/) - SCA and authentication
-   [Processor Management](https://paymentsandrisk.com/docs/operations/processor-management/) - Acquiring relationships
-   [Network Rules](https://paymentsandrisk.com/docs/compliance/network-rules/) - Regional network requirements
-   [Velocity Rules](https://paymentsandrisk.com/docs/fraud/detection/velocity-rules/) - Regional fraud patterns
-   [Fraud Metrics](https://paymentsandrisk.com/docs/fraud/metrics/) - Market-specific baselines
-   [Processor Switch Checklist](https://paymentsandrisk.com/docs/playbooks/processor-switch-checklist/) - Adding new processors
-   [Going Global](https://paymentsandrisk.com/docs/payments/going-global/) - International payments guide