If you choose to sell your products and services online with WooCommerce, you have to make a crucial decision that can directly affect your online sales: which WooCommerce payment gateway should you choose?
Since a payment gateway plays a vital role in your ecommerce, it can be difficult to find the most suitable for your store. I can help you understand how it works, how to choose the best WooCommerce gateways, and the different factors to consider when choosing the right options for your business and your customers.
Payment Gateway: The Basics
A payment gateway is a service that processes all online payments. To make this happen, customers send credit/debit card information at the final moment of purchase, which will be transmitted to the store and finally to the bank.
In addition, a payment gateway reports to you if the charge has been approved or not; if not, the amount will be canceled. Finally, the payment amount is deducted from the customer’s account and deposited in your store account.
Thus, the role of the payment gateway is to accept or reject a transaction, with your store account before the amount is deposited into your bank account. Technically, you need a merchant account and a payment gateway to accept online payments.
Usually, you can count on Payment Service Providers (PSP) to get both. This means what I have been calling a “payment gateway” so far is PSP. This is the case with some services like Stripe and PayPal.
How Does a Payment Gateway Work?
A payment gateway performs several important operations when your customer makes a payment through your WooCommerce store. First, it passes the payment through the store’s server, then transfers the payment from the payment portal to the issuing bank and asks for confirmation.
Based on the bank’s response, the payment authorization request can be either accepted or rejected, the response returns to the payment gateway through the merchant server, and the server response allows the customer to proceed with the purchase. This process takes about a couple of seconds.
The choice of WooCommerce payment gateways is among the most important business decisions store owners could make. Several great options integrate well with WooCommerce and provide a great experience for you and your customers. You can learn more about the technical side of payment gateways or how payment processing works.
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How to Choose a Payment Gateway?
The first step to start accepting online payments is activating a payment gateway. It plays a huge role in the success of your online business. I’ve listed the key features you must look at before choosing a payment gateway.
Compatibility: WordPress and WooCommerce accept all major systems, so you shouldn’t have any problems, but it’s always best to check out compatible plugins. For WooCommerce, you can check the official documentation.
Platform Integration: The most important thing you need to check is that the payment gateway is easy to install and configure: make sure it works well on your ecommerce store.
Digital Payments: Make sure that the gateway, in addition to receiving online card payments, also accepts PayPal, Apple Pay, and so on. Customers are increasingly used to making purchases on websites through these channels that do not require credit card details.
Online Reputation: This may seem like an obvious indication but always do some research before choosing one payment gateway over another. Take the time to read public comments looking for flaws that may also affect your business.
Target Market: There are hundreds of different purchase channels all over the world, from the most used large circuits on WooCommerce with Visa and MasterCard credit cards to systems that are only widespread in specific geographic regions. Choose the payment gateway considering the audience you want to reach.
Customer Service: WooCommerce offers excellent technical support, but for some problems, you will have to speak directly with the customer care of the payment gateway, who must guarantee you 24/7 expert support.
Fraud Protection: The presence of a fraud protection system will make you safe from any disputes for unauthorized transactions in case of stolen or cloned credit cards.
Fees and Commissions: One of the things you must remember is commissions for receiving payments online. Some gateways ask for higher rates or provide a monthly fee to use their services. Check carefully what the costs are so as not to run into surprises.
Best WooCommerce Payment Gateways
Generally, most WooCommerce stores offer the same payment solutions. However, it is important to differentiate yourself from the competition by offering other means of payment to your customers. Therefore, I have listed your online store’s best WooCommerce payment gateways.
Note: The following payment gateway has been listed in alphabetical order and hence does not rank in any way.
1. AliPay
If you have ever done business with a Chinese firm, you might be well aware of AliPay. It’s a widely used WooCommerce payment gateway in the region but is now slowly making its mark globally. AliPay has more than 550 million users worldwide and handles around 8.5 million transactions per day.
AliPay is a secured payment processor that offers privacy protection, real-time monitoring, and world-class payment security. The platform is also as stable as your online store, which means it can handle a large number of concurrent transactions. It is also compatible with different browsers along with mobile browsers as well.
The payment gateway protects its members through 100% reimbursement of unauthorized transactions and a 90 days of payment protection. Also, settlements with international partner merchant companies are remitted directly to the merchant’s international banking account in any of the twelve supported currencies.
Fees
- 0.1% transaction fee on credit card payments above $294
Currencies
- AUD, CAD, EUR, HKD, GBP, SGD, USD.
Countries
- India, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Korea, Hong Kong, and Malaysia
2. Amazon Pay
Amazon Pay is a payment service by online ecommerce giant Amazon.
With Amazon Pay, you can offer your customers a payment option through your Amazon account. Only your email address and password are usually required for account validation. While it is mandatory to have an active Amazon account, no other condition you will face.
The major advantage is that you don’t need to enter payment information on the third-party website. Amazon is an important intermediary between a customer and an online store. The end-user has no charge for creating and using his account.
The payment is possible by credit card or direct debit to your account following what you set up on Amazon. On the other hand, the seller must have a commission of nearly 1.9% and 35 cents per transaction, almost like PayPal.
Key Features: PSD2 compliant, Multi-currency, Recurring payment support, Automatic Decline Handling, Payment Protection Policy, Amazon Pay A-to-z Guarantee, and Delivery Notifications.
Fees
- Amazon Pay charges a domestic processing fee of 2.9% and an authorization fee of $0.30, plus tax where applicable.
Currency
AUD, GBP, DKK, EUR, HKD, JPY, NZD, NOK, ZAR, SEK, CHF, and USD.
Country: Amazon Pay is available only in the USA, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Ireland, Spain, Luxembourg, Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, Portugal, Hungary, Denmark, and Japan.
3. Apple Pay
Apple Pay is initially a payment service for mobile devices. However, it is only available to users of new products launched by Apple. The payment service was initially based on the iPhone’s NFC technology, i.e., near-field communication.
It is possible to offer your customers to purchase with Apple Pay in online stores and physical shops. However, it is also possible to make integrated purchases in certain applications, for example, Airbnb, Starbucks, or Kickstarter.
Since the launch, some online stores have also decided to offer Apple Pay as a means of payment. Initially only available in the United States, the service is now available, among others, in France, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland. Apple Pay will likely grow even further in Europe.
Fees
- Apple charges 0.15% per transaction on US purchases.
Currency
- Apple Pay supports all major credit or debit cards, including American Express, Visa, Mastercard, etc.
Country
- There are 30+ countries and regions that support Apple Pay.
4. Authorize.net
Authorize.net is another great WooCommerce payment gateway that is widely known for its easy integration and smooth payment processing. The plugin lets you accept payments through credit cards and e-check payments from your customers. A great feature of this plugin is that it keeps your customers on your site while processing the payment, which gives them a sense of security, unlike other tools that redirect them to another page.
It accepts all major credit cards, including Mastercard, Visa, American Express, Discover, JCB, and Diners Club. For the ease of your customers, the logo of these credit cards will be displayed on the checkout page.
In addition to accepting payments through credit cards, the plugin also accepts payments through e-checks. This applies to customers with Checking, Business Checking, or Saving Accounts.
Authorize.net comes with an intuitive dashboard that simplifies all your payments in a grid that you can use to capture payments and process refunds in just a few clicks. The plugin also lets you process partial refunds in addition to full payments.
Lastly, Authorize.net provides easy customization for your payment page, such as payment method title, order button text, showing preferred cards on the checkout page, and enabling CVV number on the checkout page.
Fees
- The plugin will cost you a one-time fee of $79 for a single site. The license comes with a year of support and updates.
Country
- Currently, the plugin supports the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe, Australia, and Canada.
5. Braintree
Founded in 2007, Braintree is a very simple way to provide online payment to your users. Braintree overcomes the problem of multiple sellers with the ability to split payments.
Braintree protects your data, complying with the Payment Card Industry (PCI-DSS) security standard. This WooCommerce payment gateway also has an advanced fraud detection system that protects you and your users from any threat of this kind.
Finally, Braintree is practical, consistent, and innovative in that you can migrate whenever you want. You can leave with your confidential data because these are your property here.
It is a flexible payment gateway that accepts more than 135+ currency currencies and offers features such as regular payment, strong reports, and split payments.
In contrast, Braintree is not compatible with escrow funds in a marketplace.
Fees
- For each transaction, Braintree withdraws 2.9% + 0.30¢.
Currency
- Braintree currently supports 135+ currencies.
Country
- Braintree is available in 45+ countries.
6. PayPal Pro
PayPal is one of the oldest payment platforms on the Internet, and because of that, it is everywhere. The bottom line is simple: it is a one-stop online gateway for payments. Users can access all the credit cards, bank accounts, and addresses they want and are ready to shop at your store.
In many ways, PayPal has become the de facto way to pay on the Web. People can usually choose between payments by credit card or PayPal. Which, for you, means that your customers probably already have a PayPal account. Therefore, they press a button to pay, and you get your money, their address, and all the other relevant information here and there.
PayPal offers complete protection for buyers and sellers, allowing you to go through specific and well-defined dispute resolution processes.
It is easy. Not only on the client-side, either. From your point of view, PayPal is a default payment method – if not the only one – for a large number of plugins and ecommerce solutions. In many cases, all you need is to have a loan account, and you just put your email address. That being, you can pay.
You can find all the information you need on your PayPal dashboard. Click a few buttons, launch a few reports, and you can export just about any data you need in PDF, CSV, TAB, or QuickBooks format.
There are about 200 countries in which you can use PayPal. You are good if you live in one of them and use or want to accept one of their 25 accepted currencies. PayPal offers you one of the largest payment networks, no matter where you are or to whom you are selling.
Fees
- 9% + 30¢ per transaction for local payments.
- 9% transaction fee for international payments.
Currency
- PayPal accepts more than 20 currencies, including USD, GBP, AUD, CAD, etc.
Country
- PayPal Pro supports businesses in more than 200 countries.
Here is the guide on how you can integrate PayPal for WooCommerce.
7. Skrill
The Skrill payment system comes straight from England, formerly known as Moneybookers. It follows the principle of the prepaid card. You only need a customer account from your credit card or current account. You can then use it for your online purchases or transactions.
Thanks to Skrill, your banking data are never communicated to merchants. The prepaid card is a good alternative to PayPal because it allows you to control your expenses and avoid exceeding your set limits. The disadvantage is that customers must advance money before using the service.
Fees
- Skrill charges a 1.9% transfer fee and takes a 3.99% margin on the exchange rates.
Currency
- EUR, GBP, USD, DKK, RON, CZK, HUF, PLN, SEK, CAD, SGD, CHF, NZD, BGN, AUD, and NOK
Country
- Skrill offers its services in 200+ countries.
8. Stripe
Stripe is an online service that accepts credit card payments on your WooCommerce store. You will need an SSL certificate to encrypt the data exchanged between your server and the bank so the store cannot cache the entry of confidential information.
Stripe works in a white label, which has the huge advantage of keeping your customers at home and not sending them back to an external payment page. This type of solution is unavoidable when we know the importance of making the buying experience as fluid as possible to minimize abandonment.
It is the most economical solution with the calculation like this:
Source: Stripe
For large volumes of transactions, it will be interesting to negotiate a discount but also to contact your bank to consider a potentially more economical solution.
Fees
- 4% tax on each transaction plus 0.25¢ for European cards
- 9% tax on each transaction plus 0.25¢ for non-European cards
Currency
Stripe supports processing payments in 135+ currencies.
Country
Stripe is available for businesses in 26 countries.
9. Verifone
Verifone (formerly 2Checkout) provides various solutions to ecommerce store owners to ensure that their online business runs smoothly without any hurdles. Its payment gateway is a well-known tool in the ecommerce community which enables online merchants to accept mobile and online payments from buyers around the world.
The payment gateway is supported in over 200 countries and accepts payments from all major credit cards, including Visa, Mastercard, American Express, JCB, and Discover. You can also collect payment through PayPal using 2Checkout.
The payment gateway comes with a powerful API that lets you integrate it with several different carts, including Shopify, Wix, Ecwid, and WooCommerce.
2Checkout works seamlessly on mobile devices as well. It is also customizable, and you can match the interface and design to your brand. The gateway is supported in 29 languages and accepts payments in 100 currencies.
Fees: 2Checkout payment gateways charge 3.5% plus $0.35 per successful sale. The plan will let you accept payments from 200 plus countries and 100 currencies. You also get access to recurring billing.
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Summary
I have only listed the best WooCommerce payment gateways that seek to simplify the payment process for customers.
The criteria can vary between the ease of use, the speed of transaction, security, aesthetics of the interface, and many others. The answer can vary from one store to another, depending on the terms of the relevant market and targets.
If you like this article, I am sure you will love Cloudways hosting for the WooCommerce store. Now ask yourself, which WooCommerce payment gateway will be useful to your store? Which will make customers want to come back?
Mansoor Ahmed Khan
Been in content marketing since 2014, and I still get a kick out of creating stories that resonate with the target audience and drive results. At Cloudways by DigitalOcean (a leading cloud hosting company, btw!), I lead a dream team of content creators. Together, we brainstorm, write, and churn out awesome content across all the channels: blogs, social media, emails, you name it! You can reach out to me at [email protected].