2Checkout.com is happy to announce the inclusion and immediate availability of five new purchase currencies and one remittance currency for our international vendors and customers.

• Argentina Peso (ARS)
• Brazilian Real (BRL)
• Indian Rupee (INR)
• Mexican Peso (MXN)
• South African Rand (ZAR)

Starting today, the following currencies will be available for customers to choose from and for vendors to select as default currencies within the purchase routine:

These recent additions boost 2Checkout’s available international purchase currencies to 17. Click here for 2CO’s complete list of currencies.

South Africans will be happy to note that the Rand (ZAR) has additionally been added as a remittance currency, making it possible for South African vendors utilizing 2Checkout to be paid in ZAR by wire transfer, raising 2CO’s overall payout currencies to 25. Click here for a complete list of 2CO payout currencies.

As of January 1, 2008, Cyprus will be adopting the Euro (EUR) as its local currency. Because of this, our Cypriot suppliers must update their banking information via the Banking Wizard to prevent delays in payment.

UPDATE (12/20): Due to the New Year Holiday, payments issued on December 27, 2007 to Cyprus must be in Euro. Please make the necessary changes to your Bank Wizard to prevent delays in receiving future payments.

Please let us know if you have any questions.

More information about this change:

• Central Bank of Cyprus: Euro Introduction
• National Website for the euro

On November 1st 2007 the Canadian dollar hit a new all time high against the US dollar – coming in at 1.0592 US dollars. You’ve probably also heard that the US dollar is at historic lows versus many other major currencies – most notably the British Pound, the Euro, and the Australian dollar.

From an e-commerce perspective, the low dollar presents an unprecedented opportunity for online merchants to venture into the international marketplace. US based sellers can offer a significant price advantage – often totaling more than 40% – over the local choices available to shoppers in Canada, the UK and most of Europe. This price advantage is maintained even when taking into account any extra shipping costs, taxes, duties, etc. a cross border sale may entail.

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Comparing rates from different information sources such as newspapers or online news sites is misleading. Foreign exchange rates vary from source to source depending on their origin, update intervals and many other factors. More over, such rates are usually valid for indication purposes only.

A more applicable comparison is with currency exchange rates and fees used by credit card companies and Issuing banks which average from 2-8% over the standard Inter-bank rate. The prices available for customers through our service will be the same (or lower) than the price they would pay when purchasing in USD.

The important difference is that with our service global customers know the final price up front and are therefore much more inclined to complete the purchase.

Displaying final prices in local currencies, permits your global customers to evaluate their purchases in a currency familiar to them, and significantly enhances their shopping experience. Once a purchase is made, prices are final and the transaction is protected from currency rate fluctuations or bankcard conversion fees.