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Playbook: Launch New Country

TL;DR
  • Budget 12 weeks. Four research, four setup, two testing, two soft launch.
  • Local acquiring is the decision that matters. Cross-border costs roughly 1-2% more all in, and it authorizes worse.
  • 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​

PhaseKey Tasks
ResearchMarket assessment, payment landscape, fraud research, regulatory requirements
SetupAcquiring partner, local methods, fraud rules, compliance setup
Pre-LaunchE2E testing, localize UX, monitoring setup, support ready
LaunchSoft 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​

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

Payment Landscape Research​

□ 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​

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

Regulatory Requirements​

□ 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​

□ 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​

□ 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​

□ 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​

□ 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​

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

Monitoring Setup​

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

Phase 4: Soft Launch (Week 10-12)​

Limited Rollout​

□ 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​

□ 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​

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

Optimization​

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

Country-Specific Considerations​

Europe (SEPA Region)​

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

UK​

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

Latin America​

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

Asia Pacific​

□ 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​

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

Payments​

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

Risk​

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

Operations​

□ 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.
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