Why local payment methods beat card-only checkout
Cross-border card declines were our single biggest drop-off. Offering the right method per country changed conversion overnight.
When we launched, checkout led with international cards because that is what SaaS templates do. Roughly a third of attempted payments failed — mostly cross-border and recurring-mandate declines.
We rebuilt checkout to detect the visitor's country and lead with the method people there actually use: account-to-account transfers in some markets, wallets in others, cards where cards win.
Successful first payments rose sharply, and tickets about 'payment failed but money debited' dropped to near zero because local rails reverse faster and are easier to trace.
The lesson generalises: payment UX is product work, not a settings page. If your market does not pay by card, cards cannot be the happy path.