Bermuda-headquartered internet multi-currency payment solutions provider First Atlantic Commerce Ltd. (FAC) is providing payment network access and banking relationships into Asian Pacific markets.

The company's new credit card payment solution allows merchants looking to expand in the region extended currency capabilities including the ability to transact and settle in the major Asian currencies, statement from the company said.

Processing is available in Hong Kong Dollars, Singapore Dollars, Yen and Australian Dollars, non-Asian currencies including US Dollar, Canadian Dollar, British Pound, Euro and South African Rand are also available. Merchants that sell or are looking to sell to Asian consumers can process transactions in the consumer's local currency through FAC.

Chief executive officer Andrea Wilson said: "Our solutions allow merchants to connect with Asian consumers from their home jurisdiction. For instance, companies often believe that you need to be physically in Japan to process card transactions in Japanese Yen. But we work with banks that allow us to leverage the power of the Internet and connect with these countries without having to set up a payments infrastructure in that country."

Also of significance to the payments industry is FAC's ability to service Asian expatriate markets, both for providing merchants with the ability to process Asian currency credit card transactions for Europeans (or expatriates from other regions) within Asia, and also for processing within expatriate Asian communities in the merchant's own region.

"Many Asian expatriate workers are still being paid in their native currency, and/or hold debit or credit cards from Asian banks. These are customers in your own backyard that will benefit from Asian card processing."

FAC's international payment processing services allows merchants to take advantage of a range of online risk management solutions including Verified by Visa and MasterCard SecureCode, Geolocation services, Card ID Verification, and Address Verification Services.

FAC's merchant solutions can also handle recurring billing/batch processing and manual transaction entries through virtual terminals and provide international payment solutions and value-added services to various industries including prepaid phone cards, VOIP solutions, stored value and pre-paid funding solutions, travel related services, property management sites, airlines and large online retail companies.