Worldline and Lidio Streamline Access to $24B Turkish eCommerce Market

Worldline and Lidio have partnered to help eCommerce merchants access Turkey at a time when local consumers are facing 80% inflation.

Together, payments services company Worldline and Turkish FinTech company Lidio will provide a one-stop shop for processing in Turkey, access to popular payment methods and access to local acquiring that will increase payment performance, Worldline said in a Thursday (Jan. 12) press release.

They also deliver a reduction in the cost of cross-border payments, same-day exchange in the merchant’s preferred currency and compliance with local regulations and laws, according to the press release.

“This new solution is part of our strategic approach to help global online businesses enter high growth markets,” Worldline Head of Growth for Merchant Services Guillaume Tournand said in the release. “It follows solutions already launched for Brazil, China, India and South Korea.”

PYMNTS research has found that the digital economy’s capacity to operate in real time across international borders can add layers of complexity to businesses’ commercial opportunities.

Digital businesses can launch globally as quickly as they can locally, but they must take the challenges and complexities that come with international payments into consideration, according to “Cross-Border Payments for Digital-Native Companies,” a PYMNTS and Citi collaboration.

Merchants have numerous considerations when setting up shop in new geographies, and having a guide fluent in local payments and regulations is critical, Tournand told PYMNTS in an interview in October.

“Our consumers today expect to visit a website that speaks their own language, presents price in their own currency and enables them to shop in their local preferred payment methods,” Tournand said at the time.

In the case of Turkey, the country has the 20th largest economy in the world and has 86 million people, 77.2% penetration of both internet and cellphones, and $24.4 billion in eCommerce sales in 2021. It also saw 75% growth in eCommerce sales in 2021, Worldline’s Thursday press release said, citing official statistics from the Turkish government.

“We are very pleased to be working with Worldline to bring this solution to the market here in Turkey,” Lidio co-founder and CEO Emre Güzer said in the release. “As one of the most rapidly expanding marketplaces that uniquely crosses the divide between Asia and Europe, we seek to facilitate and participate in this growth.”