Abra merchant APIs
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Democratizing payments for everyone – Abra’s merchant APIs

Today Abra announced the imminent launch of our merchant API solution, known as Abra Pay, and took the next step in our mission to enable billions of customers to participate in the digital economy. Through one simple API, online merchants can dramatically reduce the friction created by incumbent cash-in networks, radically reduce payment acceptance costs and settlement periods, and increase the available audience for their goods and services.

After engaging in extensive user and merchant focus groups and interactions, we are convinced that Abra’s payment solution will address numerous pain points that merchants and customers face as they attempt — and often fail — to transact online.

Globally, localized payment schemes and legacy payment processing payments lead to substantial costs for online merchants and unmeasurable lost sales opportunities. For example, the average merchant discount rate for accepting a credit card in emerging markets (what a merchant pays to its payment processor) is 2-3x higher than what that same merchant would have to pay in Europe or the US. In countries such as the Philippines, where Abra Pay will first be enabled, of the approximately 25 million debit cards in the hands of hard-working, salary-earning and “banked” Filipinos, few if any of the cards can be used for online transactions, regardless of the user’s bank balance.

Bank-based payment systems, i.e. credit card payments, also have their failings in many of the world’s emerging markets. For example, according to some Mexican merchants, banks decline more than 10% of all transactions. In absence of advanced fraud detection tools or viable sources of data for verifying transactions, even Mexican customers with high credit scores and thousands of dollars of line of credit are unable to transact online 1 of 10 times they try.

As a result of these inherent failings of card-based payments in emerging markets, cash-on-delivery (COD) or bank deposits have become the new norm for online merchants. A Singapore-based merchant we interviewed stated that 50% of all its sales are done via a bank deposit. This means 1 out of 2 potential customers has to go wait in line, make a deposit and scan a receipt and e-mail to the merchant before the item is shipped. This is time lost by both the merchant and the consumer; the process serves neither well. For those making cross-border purchases, or those without a bank account, completing the transaction gets even more difficult and the costs go up.

With low merchant fees and real-time multi-currency settlement, we are convinced that Abra Pay will help welcome millions of people into the digital economy and add billions of dollars to merchant revenues as we build out our solution around the world. So whether you are small, medium or large merchant looking for a way to grow your share of the pie, or whether you’re one of the billions of people seeking choice and diversity in your purchases, we look forward to working with you. Welcome to our Digital Cash Network.

Interested merchants can drop us a line at business[at]goabra[dot]com

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About Abra

Established in 2014, Abra is on a mission to create a simple and honest platform that enables millions of cryptocurrency holders to maximize the potential of their assets. Abra enables both individuals and businesses to safely and securely buy, trade, and borrow against cryptocurrencies – all in one place. Abra’s vision is an open, global financial system that is easily accessible to everyone.

Why Abra

Based in the United States, Abra is available in over 150 countries and makes it easy to convert between crypto and a wide variety of local fiat currencies. With over 2MM customers, $7B in transactions processed, and $1.5B in assets under management, Abra continues to grow rapidly. Abra is widely loved and trusted – in April 2022, pymnts.com reviewed and rated Abra amongst the top 5 most popular crypto wallets in the market. Abra is backed by top-tier investors such as American Express Ventures and First Round Capital.

How Abra Protects Your Funds

Abra places clients’ financial objectives and security first. Abra practices a culture of risk management across all levels and functions within the organization.

Abra employs a state-of-the-art enterprise risk management framework that comprises a comprehensive set of policies, procedures, and practices detailing all applicable risk-related objectives and constraints for the entirety of the business. Abra has instituted a complete set of requisite systems and controls that continuously enforce these policies, procedures, and practices to manage all operations, including credit and lending. Abra’s independent Risk Committee comprises experienced compliance, risk, securities, and fraud operations professionals with backgrounds in industries ranging from traditional and digital assets banking, payments, remittance, to fintech.

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