As global commerce surges, Asia-Pacific (APAC) is leading the charge. The region now accounts for nearly 75% of global retail growth and two-thirds of online commerce expansion. For global enterprises, this represents a massive opportunity—but also a significant challenge. Whether you're a VP of Payments, CFO, or e-commerce leader, entering APAC markets means dealing with an entirely different payment ecosystem.

The traditional approach—relying on credit cards and a handful of legacy payment gateways—no longer works in mobile-first, wallet-driven economies like China, South Korea, and Southeast Asia. What global businesses need is a unified payment solution that’s purpose-built for cross-border payments, supports alternative payment methods, and delivers localized checkout experiences.

The Hidden Cost of Traditional Payment Gateways

Traditional payment gateways were designed for a different era. While they may still function in domestic U.S. or European contexts, they fall short in fast-moving, mobile-native markets like Asia. Here's why traditional infrastructure can actually hinder growth in international markets.

Low Authorization Rates and High Fraud Exposure
In countries like China, Japan, and Indonesia, consumers predominantly use mobile wallets instead of credit cards. Yet, many global gateways continue to prioritize Western card networks. This results in lower approval rates and increased chargeback risks due to mismatched fraud filters. Fraud detection systems often misclassify legitimate foreign transactions, leading to revenue loss and diminished consumer trust.

Checkout Friction Leading to Cart Abandonment
Frictionless checkout is not optional in APAC markets. Shoppers expect to see familiar, trusted local payment methods during checkout. If those options aren't available, abandonment rates increase dramatically. Businesses that fail to localize their checkout experiences are losing out on conversions they can't afford to miss.

Complex and Costly Integrations
Managing a patchwork of local acquirers, payment methods, and gateways across countries creates a heavy lift for internal engineering teams. Each integration adds layers of technical debt, delays your go-to-market strategy, and consumes valuable resources that could be allocated to growth initiatives.

Security and Compliance Challenges
Staying compliant with evolving global payment standards such as PCI-DSS and PSD2 is a full-time responsibility. Traditional gateways offer limited support in navigating these regulations, often leaving businesses to shoulder the burden themselves—along with the risk of non-compliance.

Citcon: The Unified Payment Platform for Global Growth

Citcon is a modern payment solution designed specifically for businesses expanding into new markets. With a single API integration, Citcon connects your business to over 100 local wallets and alternative payment methods around the world—particularly across APAC, where wallet-first transactions dominate.

Citcon enables merchants to unify their online, in-store, and mobile channels under one system. It’s more than a payment gateway—it’s a complete platform designed to power your global expansion.

Deep Coverage Across APAC Markets

Citcon offers direct access to more than 200 local payment methods across Asia-Pacific. This includes leading mobile wallets such as Alipay, WeChat Pay, PayPay, Line Pay, KakaoPay, Toss, and NaverPay. Whether your customers are in Tokyo, Seoul, Singapore, or Kuala Lumpur, Citcon ensures that they can pay with the method they trust most—on any device, in their local currency.

Local Teams, Global Experience

Citcon is more than just a technology provider. We serve as a strategic partner, with dedicated in-market teams located in Tokyo, Singapore, Hong Kong, Sydney, and other key APAC cities. These teams offer localized expertise and white-glove support to help merchants navigate cultural preferences, regulatory compliance, and operational logistics—all critical components of international success.

One API. Complete Flexibility.

With one simple API, you unlock every supported payment method—eliminating the need for separate acquirer relationships or additional integration cycles. This reduces engineering complexity, accelerates deployment timelines, and allows you to scale efficiently into new regions without starting from scratch.

Enterprise-Grade Security and Compliance

Citcon is built on Amazon Web Services (AWS) with 99.9% uptime and industry-leading resilience. Our infrastructure is fully compliant with PCI-DSS and PSD2, and supports tokenization to ensure sensitive customer data is never exposed. For enterprises concerned about risk and reliability, Citcon offers the security foundation needed to scale globally with confidence.

Transparent and Predictable Pricing

Citcon is designed to help merchants grow—not to add complexity or hidden fees. We do not charge additional transaction fees on top of domestic merchant discount rates for cross-border wallet payments. Our pricing model is transparent and built to support high-volume merchants scaling internationally.

Ready to Unlock Growth in APAC?

The future of commerce is mobile, localized, and global. Businesses that succeed in the next phase of global e-commerce will be the ones that prioritize seamless payment experiences, cultural fluency, and operational efficiency.

Citcon offers the unified infrastructure, in-market expertise, and flexible integration framework to help you lead in APAC and beyond.

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Citcon is the future of global payments. Let’s build your next market together.

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