PPRO Group, a cross-border e-payment specialist, today announced it will enable online marketplace payments provider YapStone to offer Alternative Payment Methods (APMs) also referred to as Local Payment Methods (LPMs). The move will expand YapStone’s global e-commerce reach across the travel, vacation rental and new online marketplaces and software partnerships.

YapStone’s customers will now be able to access dozens of APMs from around the world, including iDEAL and SOFORT, allowing its merchants’ customers to transact seamlessly and securely through their preferred payment options.

As part of this partnership, PPRO provides APMs for cross-border e-commerce and YapStone facilitates the processing, collection and settlement for the merchants.

According to eMarketer, global e-commerce increased by 25 percent last year to more than $2.3 trillion. An uptick in global online spending has brought increased interest in APMs. PPRO’s research affirms that alternative payment methods are the preferred option of making online purchases in many countries. In various markets across the globe, 50 percent of online transactions involve APMs.

“Empowering customers to transact online using APMs is vital to global marketplaces,” says Bruce Dragt, EVP of Product at YapStone. “We are proud to deliver best-in-class payment solutions to our customers, through this partnership with PPRO, as we welcome this new era in which specific consumer groups demand APMs as the payment method of choice.”

“Businesses that sell cross-border reported nearly double sales revenues compared to those that do not,” says Steve Villegas, PPRO’s Vice President of Partner Management. “In order for merchants to succeed in the global landscape, having trusted payment service providers and acquirers are critical to support them efficiently. We are pleased to partner with YapStone to help provide its cross-border customers with APMs that will increase their expansion within the global marketplace,” Villegas says.

News of this latest partnership reiterates PPRO’s commitment to supporting APMs by offering over 140 local payment schemes across 175 countries. This breadth of offerings enables payment service providers like YapStone to magnify their merchants’ global ecommerce reach through one unified, seamless and frictionless process while assuming larger conversion success.