E-commerce
July 1, 2026
"iDEAL missing even though I'm ordering from Amsterdam." "My French card is refused, what is the alternative in Belgium?" "PayPal invisible for Switzerland delivery." Three tickets where a poorly explained country payment restriction blocks international checkout and generates abandonment.
The e-commerce country payment restriction support covers blocked methods based on shipping country, grounded local alternatives, and Shopify market rules. Distinct from unavailable methods (#517): here, geographical restriction and local method to offer.
This guide #759 covers policy CNTRYPAY-SUP, flows CR-1 to CR-8, and matrix CNTRYPAY-MAP. Support pair of the future CNTRYPAY bot (#760).
Summary
Why do country payment restrictions generate tickets?
The customer is ordering from a foreign country, does not see their usual payment method, or receives a regional refusal. The agent mentions PayPal global, ignores iDEAL Bancontact, or confuses a country restriction with a bank card refusal.
Five typical frictions of country payment restrictions
Missing local method: iDEAL NL Bancontact BE not displayed map
Blocked global method by country: PayPal Klarna unavailable shipping country map
Regional card refused: Country BIN not accepted PSP map
Billing shipping mismatch: Billing vs shipping country mismatch map
Unknown local alternative: Customer is unfamiliar with the proposed method map
Shopify Payments and providers activate methods according to market and shipping country (Shopify, payments by country 2026). Without CNTRYPAY-MAP, support and ops diverge on local alternatives.
CNTRYPAY #759 vs PAYUNAV #517, payment declined, international #100 and bot #760
Six contents, six distinct payment friction paths.
Quick matrix
#759 CNTRYPAY: geographic restriction local alternatives by country
PAYUNAV #517: unavailable methods cart threshold device distinct product country
Payment declined: attempted card blocked bank distinct absent method
International #100: general cross-border guide distinct restriction checkout
Markets #157: Markets support distinct local payment alternatives
#760 CNTRYPAYbot: tier 1 local alternative method bot
#517 = unavailable cart device SKU. #759 = shipping country restriction + grounded local alternative.
Which cntrypay_* typologies should be classified?
Eight scenarios for payment restriction tickets by country.
Eight cntrypay typologies
cntrypay_method_blocked_country : PayPal Klarna blocked shipping country map
cntrypay_local_alt_missing : iDEAL Bancontact missing checkout map
cntrypay_local_alt_request : which method to use country X map
cntrypay_card_region_block : card BIN country declined PSP map
cntrypay_billing_shipping_mismatch : billing shipping country mismatch map
cntrypay_wallet_country_gate : Apple Pay Shop Pay region map
cntrypay_sepa_iban_only : SEPA transfer only eligible country map
cntrypay_market_vpn_confusion : IP vs shipping country explain map
Tags : cntrypay, payment_country, checkout_international. LOCAL-ALT-CITE : local_alternatives_copy map only.
How should the CNTRYPAY-MAP matrix be structured?
The CNTRYPAY-MAP matrix documents each shipping country and local alternatives for agents and future bot #760.
CNTRYPAY-MAP Columns
cntrypay_program_id: country restriction map program identifier
shipping_country_code: NL BE DE CH US etc. map
blocked_methods_copy: unavailable country map methods
local_alternatives_copy: iDEAL Bancontact Sofort map order
restriction_reason_copy: why blocked, PSP regulation map
card_acceptance_copy: international cards, BIN rules map
billing_shipping_rule_copy: authorized billing countries map
checkout_guide_copy: customer steps, local method map
exclusions_copy: DOM-TOM territories, islands, restrictions map
bot_intent_map: bot_cntrypay_* #760 mapping
Syncs helpdesk macros, COUNTRY-CITE agent training, and payment provider config ops runbook.
CNTRYPAY-SUP policy in six rules
Six rules support country payment restrictions.
CNTRYPAY-MAP-GROUNDED: local alternatives from map only
COUNTRY-CITE: shipping_country_code verify before map response
LOCAL-ALT-CITE: local_alternatives_copy cites map order verbatim
NO-METHOD-PROMISE: no method outside map country eligibility
PAYUNAV517-REROUTE: device cart threshold → PAYUNAV #517 distinct country
DECLINED-REROUTE: attempted card declined → declined payment distinct absent
CR-1 to CR-8 CNTRYPAY Flow
Flow agent eight steps country payment restrictions.
CR-1 Intake: cntrypay_* intent + shipping_country billing_country method_expected cart_url
CR-2 CNTRYPAY-MAP: blocked local_alternatives reason card billing exclusions
CR-3 Country lookup: shipping_country verify COUNTRY-CITE
CR-4 Classify: blocked local_alt card mismatch wallet market_vpn
CR-5 Triage: LOCAL-ALT COUNTRY NO-METHOD PAYUNAV517 DECLINED GUIDE
CR-6 Respond: macro CNTRYPAY grounded local_alternatives_copy
CR-7 Guide checkout: checkout_guide_copy cart link local method
CR-8 Close: tag cntrypay_resolved local_alt_cited checkout_completed Y/N
SLA: cntrypay_local_alt_request answered with LOCAL-ALT-CITE local_alternatives_copy in one interaction.
Essential CNTRYPAY macros
Four macro agent restrictions payment by country.
CNTRYPAY-BLOCK-01
"[payment_method map] unavailable delivery [shipping_country map]: [restriction_reason_copy map.] Local alternatives: [local_alternatives_copy map.] LOCAL-ALT-CITE."
CNTRYPAY-LOCAL-01
"Payment [shipping_country map]: [local_alternatives_copy map.] [checkout_guide_copy map.] COUNTRY-CITE."
CNTRYPAY-CARD-01
"Card declined region: [card_acceptance_copy map.] Try [local_alternatives_copy map] or card issued in delivery country. DECLINED-REROUTE if bank blocks."
CNTRYPAY-MISMATCH-01
"Billing country [billing map] delivery [shipping map]: [billing_shipping_rule_copy map.] Adjust checkout address if necessary map."
Edge cases: VPN, French overseas territories, B2B wire transfers, and declined cards
Five cases outside the standard country macro-restriction.
VPN IP mismatch: cntrypay_market_vpn_confusion shipping country prime map
DOM-TOM islands: exclusions_copy territories restrictions map
B2B bank transfer grand total: manual transfer if eligible country map
Attempted card declined: DECLINED-REROUTE distinct missing declined payment
BNPL basket threshold: PAYUNAV517-REROUTE #517 distinct country restriction
Country restriction = grounded local alternative. Device basket threshold = PAYUNAV #517 reroute.
Essential country payment KPIs
Five CNTRYPAY management metrics.
cntrypay_local_alt_cite_rate: LOCAL-ALT-CITE / total cntrypay local_alt
cntrypay_checkout_complete_rate: customer finalizes after ticket / total cntrypay map
cntrypay_method_promise_violations: promised method outside country audit target 0
cntrypay_misroute_payunav_rate: routed #517 on country restriction low target
cntrypay_declined_misroute_rate: routed declined on missing method low target
Target: cntrypay_local_alt_cite_rate above 95% and cntrypay_checkout_complete_rate increasing post-training.
CNTRYPAY Anti-patterns
Five common errors regarding payment restrictions by country.
Confusing PAYUNAV #517: PAYUNAV517-REROUTE threshold device distinct geographical restriction
Agent-invented alternative: LOCAL-ALT-CITE local_alternatives_copy map only
Unidentified country: COUNTRY-CITE shipping_country before diagnosis
Promising global PayPal: NO-METHOD-PROMISE blocked_methods_copy map
Bank decline processed as absent: DECLINED-REROUTE card attempted distinct invisible method
CNTRYPAY with Qstomy
Qstomy on Shopify: detect cntrypay intent, CNTRYPAY-MAP RAG grounded, country lookup, local alt cite, handoff #760 bot tier 1 checkout international.
Pipeline: #760 bot local alternative medium tier 1 → #759 agents ops payment config escalate provider.
Explore AI support and request a demo.
Checklist, FAQ and going further
CNTRYPAY Checklist (8 steps)
CNTRYPAY-MAP v1: shipping blocked local_alternatives reason card billing exclusions
Policy CNTRYPAY-SUP: 6 rules COUNTRY LOCAL-ALT NO-METHOD PAYUNAV517 DECLINED
8 typologies cntrypay_*: tags helpdesk payment_country checkout_international
4 macros CNTRYPAY-*: BLOCK LOCAL CARD MISMATCH
Country lookup shipping: NL BE DE CH US test agents
30-minute agent training: COUNTRY-CITE before LOCAL-ALT CNTRYPAY-FLOW
Sync ops payment provider: local methods Shopify Payments test checkout
Dashboard KPI: cntrypay_* section 9 local_alt_cite checkout_complete misroute
FAQ
Difference PAYUNAV #517?
#517 = unavailable threshold cart device product. #759 = restriction shipping country + local alternative.
What alternative for the Netherlands?
CNTRYPAY-LOCAL-01 LOCAL-ALT-CITE iDEAL map card according to CNTRYPAY-MAP NL.
Card declined or method missing?
Missing = CNTRYPAY-BLOCK-01. Attempted declined = DECLINED-REROUTE payment declined.
Relation #760 bot?
#760 = bot alternative local method tier 1. #759 = agents ops payment config escalate provider.
Go further
This week: index CNTRYPAY-MAP NL BE local_alternatives, sync country lookup checkout, test macro CNTRYPAY-LOCAL-01 missing iDEAL scenario.
Enzo
July 1, 2026
