Cross-border payment connects global consumers’ purchase intent with sellers’ actual collection. For Chinese cross-border sellers, payment solution choices involve: accepting consumer payments in target markets (front-end collection), converting and repatriating foreign currency (settlement), minimizing payment fees, and avoiding risk-control account issues.
## Major Tool Comparison
**Stripe**: the standard choice for global independent store collection; supports 135+ currencies and 40+ country local payment methods (credit cards, Klarna, iDEAL, etc.); flexible API integration; thorough documentation. Blended fees ~2.9% + $0.30/transaction (US cards), slightly higher for European cards. Does not directly support mainland China account registration (requires Hong Kong, Singapore, or other entities).
**Airwallex**: cross-border payment platform focused on Chinese enterprises going global; provides multi-currency accounts (USD, EUR, GBP, AUD, and 30+ currencies); integrated overseas collection + currency exchange + domestic payment; Chinese mainland enterprise registration friendly — suited for cross-border independent stores and B2B payments.
**Payoneer**: focused on Amazon, Shopee, Lazada, and other platform settlements; standard configuration for global sellers; supports multi-platform settlement unified management; provides physical cards for direct spending (no need to repatriate). Suited for multi-platform sellers; independent stores also supported.
**PayPal**: covers 250+ global markets; high user acceptance; but high fees (2.9–3.9%), strict risk controls (large transaction accounts easily limited), dispute resolution favors buyers. Suited for small, high-trust transactions; not suited for large-scale e-commerce.
## Settlement and Compliance
Core compliance: overseas collection requires a compliant overseas entity (Hong Kong, Singapore companies are common choices); fund repatriation requires regular settlement channels (bank cross-border collection declaration, annual personal quota under $5 million); VAT registration (EU requires separate UK/Germany/France VAT registration).
See [DTC Independent Store Guide](https://sunqi.org/dtc-independent-store-guide-en/) and [Airwallex official site](https://www.airwallex.com/).
