Promoted feature: AstroPay up their game in Europe

EGR Intel (EGR): AstroPay has recently experienced a period of significant growth. Why do you think this is and has it changed the way you do business? Have you increased your staff numbers as a result?

Mikael Lijtenstein (ML): We have experienced an exponential growth in our business in recent years which is reflected in the number of users we have. We currently serve more than 3.5 million users and process millions of transactions on a monthly basis.  As a result of this growth and our recent expansion in Europe, we have tripled the number of our staff across the regions we operate in and we can see new people being hired on a weekly basis.

We have been building the AstroPay brand in emerging markets for a long time and it helps a lot that we have the understanding and experience in managing the complexity of payments, regulations and what our customers expect in our solutions. The launch of our digital wallet One Touch has proven to receive positive traction from users, especially since the global pandemic has accelerated the use of cashless payments as a way to avoid physical contact. This has contributed significantly to the growth of our business.

EGR: AstroPay launched in Europe as part of its ambitious expansion plans. How does the European market differ from the markets you already operate in?

ML: In our experience, every country has particularities that make them unique, regardless of the region they are located in. This requires some research and analysis to understand the characteristics and how consumers behave when it comes to payments. There is huge number of unbanked users in emerging markets so the opportunity for us to offer new ways of paying is enormous.

In the European market, consumers are used to paying with bank transfers, debit or credit cards. However, the new generation, including millennials and generation Z, are true digital natives who have been exposed to the internet since early age and use social networks and mobile apps as means to pay. This context has produced a hypercognitive generation that is very comfortable with collecting and cross-referencing many sources of information, and they are most likely to engage with new ways of digital payments. Additionally, the use of cash in Europe has sharply declined since the pandemic and Europe’s digital payments space is expected to hit nearly $1 trillion by 2023. This is what makes Europe an exciting market for us, and it gives AstroPay an opportunity and access to boost payment volume in the region.

EGR: What will the main challenges be for AstroPay in Europe?

ML: Europe is a big market for AstroPay. We are working on delivering a notable user experience while generating awareness of our brand and increasing the number of merchants that integrate our solution.

EGL: What are your longer-term plans for this market?

ML: We are currently focusing on delivering our payment solution and growing our customer base in the UK, Spain and Portugal – the first three countries in our European expansion plan. Longer-term, AstroPay will invest further in the enhancement of our digital wallet proposition with new services and features. Additionally, we also plan to introduce AstroPay to serve customers in more countries across Europe.

EGR: Do you plan to open up further offices in Europe to cater for this new customer base?

ML: We already have offices in London and have different teams working in Spain to cater for our existing customers. Our focus in the short- and medium-term is to build new customer base and strategic partnerships across Europe.

EGR: How will your partnerships with Newcastle United FC, Burnley FC and the Wolverhampton Wanderers FC help you to build more brand awareness in Europe?

ML: We partner with them for the Premier League which is the top level of the English football league system and the most diverse and exciting league in the world.

The partnerships with these clubs within the Premier League mark the next chapter for AstroPay as we enter the European market. These clubs have an immense history, loyal following and innovative spirit, and our partnership will allow football fans across the UK, Europe and globally to see our brand visible on their favourite club. As part of the deal with Burnley FC, Astropay has its logo on the Clarets’ new first team strip sleeves, as well as on pitch-advertising on LEDs.

EGR: What do you think your customers’ needs are? Do they differ significantly per region? 

ML: We operate in many different markets with different cultures and characteristics. However, we see no significant differences between consumer demand in different regions. They all want the same services: fast and secure ways of paying regardless of where they are geographically located.

Our focus has always been on the customer and we continue to dedicate our time, resources and attention on them in order to provide an elevated user experience through frictionless, quick and simple payments. Having user feedback is one of the pillars of our engineering and product development process. We execute A/B testing, surveys and listen to our consumers’ feedback to further understand their needs and what they value most.

Furthermore, we also invest in specific tools and technologies to obtain information and analyse it. We use different metrics to measure conversion rate and make adjustments to our products when necessary based on these insights. This makes us very agile when it comes to changes and we have a robust capacity to respond to customer needs and demands.

We leverage our network of more than 200 local payment methods to provide payment options for our customers, enabling them to opt for the most convenient and suitable one for them.

EGR: What further expansion plans does AstroPay have for the future?

ML: We are on a continuous journey to bring AstroPay’s payment solution to more consumers around the world. That includes several countries in the European market as well as Asia. We already have a great base in Latin America, particularly Brazil, but we see growing demand for our product and services across other countries in the region such as Chile, Perú, Colombia and México.

We are also expanding our operations to Bangladesh and Japan as well as some countries in Africa, where our product is demanded.

Mikael Lijtenstein is the CEO of AstroPay, a payment solution for consumers making online purchases on international sites. Before becoming CEO in November 2019, Lijtenstein was AstroPay’s chief operating officer, responsible for sales and operations, product development and innovation across multiple markets including Latin America, Asia, Africa and Europe. Prior to AstroPay, he worked at dLocal, a Uruguayan financial technology company, where he held several roles including head of operations and software developer. Lijtenstein has considerable technical expertise and experience in providing cross-border payments and connecting global merchants to emerging markets.