The Best Shopify Payment Gateways You Should Know

Ideally, you want excellent Shopify payment gateways with a frictionless checkout experience. You want a Shopify payment gateway that will not give you nightmares during payouts and account reconciliation.

The problem is, there are a plethora of payment gateways out there promising sunshine and rainbow. Choosing the best Shopify payment solution is daunting for the average e-commerce business owner.

This article will unveil the seven best Shopify payment gateways you should know. But before we take a deep dive into that task, let’s share some insights on what you should look for when choosing a Shopify payment solution for your e-commerce.

Must-have Features of a Great Shopify Payment Gateway

Below are some essential features every great Shopify payment gateway must have.

1. Ease of onboarding and excellent customer service

Your ideal Shopify payment gateway has seamless onboarding and integration with other frameworks. And they should make your customer’s shopping experience memorable. That includes fraud detection and security that matches your business model. Choosing a payment gateway that doesn’t fit your e-commerce business model will cost you a lot of money. You’ll equally lose your customers.

2. Transparency of cost and transaction fees

Before you onboard any payment gateway, be clear about the total cost you’ll incur at the end of the day. There are three angles you should be evaluating. The first is the setup fee, the second is the monthly fee and the third is the transaction fee.

Consider the volume and value of your transactions when making your computation, and ensure the transaction fee rate is around 2.9% + 30ç. It makes sense to onboard a payment gateway that allows fixed monthly and low transaction fees if your business model requires high-value transactions.

3. Worldwide availability

When choosing a Shopify payment gateway, consider the scalability of the framework. Platforms like PayPal do not support specific geographic locations (unless you're using a white-label payment service provider). Be sure the solution will support your potential target market or prospective geographic area as your e-commerce begins to scale.

4. Accepted payment cards and multiple currency support

Ensure your preferred Shopify payment gateway accepts the cards your customers could use for payments. Most people use credit cards such as Visa, MasterCard, and Amex when making payments. But what if your users pay you with crypto or mobile money? Will your payment gateway accept that?

Equally vital, ensure that your payment gateway can handle payments in different currencies, and other countries if you do international business. Customers don’t have to worry about currency conversion before making payments. Instead, they can pay in their local currency. This will enhance customer loyalty and the checkout experience.

5. Recurring billing and holding time

Suppose your e-commerce is subscription-based. In that case, you need to find a Shopify payment gateway that understands your business model and can handle your payment needs adequately. You don’t have to manually charge credit cards on subscription schedules or offer retry options for failed transactions. Your payment processor should automate these.

You must also understand the payment holding time. Holding times range between 1-7 days, depending on the payment solution you choose. The holding time for your Shopify payment provider can impact your cash flow.

Best Shopify Payment Gateways You Should Know

Now that we’ve covered the essential features to look for in a Shopify payment gateway, below are the payment providers you should know.

💰#1: Shopify Payments

The best place to start this listicle is Shopify’s native payment processor.

Shopify Payments is the simplest way to accept payments online. It eliminates the hassle of setting up a third-party payment provider or merchant account and entering the credentials into Shopify. With Shopify Payments, you're automatically set up to accept all major payment methods when you create your Shopify store.

Further, Shopify Payments is integrated - you only pay for Shopify subscription fees. You have real-time monitoring functionality, the interface can be set up and integrated seamlessly, the checkout process is effortless, and the security framework is equally well thought out. Shopify Payments is available only to stores in certain countries and regions.

Your card rate is based on your store's Shopify subscription plan, and you can change plans whenever you want. The credit card processing fee is the same as the standard for your store location. Payment conversion rates are 1.5% in the US and 2% in all other countries.

🤑#2: Stripe

A complete payments platform engineered for growth. With Stripe, you can accept payments and move money globally with Stripe’s robust APIs and software solutions designed to help you capture more revenue.

From e-commerce stores to subscription businesses to platforms and marketplaces, Stripe offers a complete stack for all your payment needs across channels. You can create an account online in minutes and use our libraries and SDKs to accept payments securely.

They’ll deposit your funds directly into your bank account, and their security framework helps you protect yourself from fraud and increase authorization rates on every payment using our machine learning and data from millions of businesses.

It dynamically adapts to your customer’s device and location to increase conversion and supports coupons, tax rates, and more. With 135+ currencies and dozens of payment methods, Stripe makes it easy to launch new markets and add your customers’ preferred payment methods to increase conversion abroad.

On the fee side, installing Shopify for Shopify is free, but you will have the standard transaction fee of around 2.9% of all sales plus $0.30 per sale back to Stripe. While Shopify payment is limited in some regions, you can choose to use another Shopify POS app with Stripe payment.

💹#3: PayPal

PayPal believes that every person has the right to participate fully in the global economy. With over 416 million active consumer and merchant accounts, PayPal is one of the leading Shopify payment gateways.  

It has a user-friendly feature that allows for a plug-and-play setup that helps you manage your money the way you want.

Paypal offers to check out with crypto, buy now, pay later with pay in 4, QR code payment, and many other exciting payment options that help users quickly and securely spend, send, and manage their transactions—all in one place.

PayPal has both premium and freemium service options for Shopify store owners on the subscription side. Their pricing options are wide-ranged, with the basic plan starting at 2.9% + $0.30 and the Pro plan going for $30/month.

💵#4: Square

Square offers businesses tools that connect every side of their business. With Square, you accept every kind of payment. Getting started with Square on Shopify is easy as Square has an in-built app you can easily integrate.

Whether you’re a small business or enterprise, Square makes accepting card payments as fast, painless, and secure as possible, with no extra fees, no long-term contracts, and no tricks. It’s one Shopify payment processing you can depend on so that you never miss a sale.

With Square's seamless syncing between your online and offline stores, you can have an omnichannel selling point without hassle.

The in-built security protocols give you several benefits, such as end-to-end encryption, complete PCI compliance, fraud, and account takeover protection. Account reconciliation and the payout is also quick and often take less than two days. And their customer support is reliable.

Square’s pricing is transparent and straightforward. You will pay one low rate (2.9% plus 30 cents) for every swipe, dip, or tap based on the payment method you choose. That’s it. There are no additional fees. The lowest Pro plan for Square starts at $12 per month with publishing on a custom domain. The premium option is $72 per month, and with that, your transaction rate reduces to 2.6% plus 30 cents per purchase.

🎯#5: Verifone

Verifone, formerly 2checkout, is an all-in-one monetization platform that maximizes your revenues and makes global digital sales easier. Whether you're tapping into international markets, looking to boost conversion rates, or running a subscription-based business, Verifone can help you tackle the complexities of digital commerce globally. With Verifone, you choose only what you need; add as your business expands.

The platform's modular design was created to meet these dynamic needs such as global payments, digital commerce, subscription billing, global tax and financial services, risk management, compliance, and partner sales.‍

Moreso, you get everything you need to sell domestically and internationally. They enable merchants to accept mobile and online payments from buyers no matter where you are on the map, whether you sell physical or digital goods and services, one-time or repeatedly.

Verifone monetization package helps global businesses selling digital goods to grow their digital commerce revenue streams. Their subscription fee ranges from the standard 3.5% + $0.35 per successful sale to 4.5% + $0.45 per successful sale for subscription-based businesses, to 6.0% + $0.60 per successful sale designed for vendors that sell digital goods.

🚀#6: Opayo

Opayo, formerly Sage pay, is a payment solution designed to suit your needs, whatever your size, whatever the type.

Their online payment system is easily integrated into major e-commerce and POS platforms. The setup process is quick. With secure encryption and custom payment pages, you can choose between four simple integration methods. Each method offers the ability to maintain different levels of control and communication between your website and your platform of choice.

Another crucial benefit of using Opayo as your Shopify payment gateway is that it allows customers to pay through PayPal if they choose to, giving a merchant multi-faceted opportunities to secure a sale.

However, some vendors find Opayo’s customer authentication solution quite problematic in that it can take up to 5 weeks to verify your account. The value, though, is that the full-frame security procedure helps you limit fraudulent transactions.

Opayo is quite popular among UK and US e-commerce vendors, and their pricing is not like that of most payment gateways. Instead of transaction fees, Opayo charges monthly fees that start from £25 for 350 transactions per month instead of transaction fees. You can also choose top-tier corporate plans if your monthly processing needs are upwards of 1000 transactions.

✨#7: Klarna

Klarna’s buy-now, pay-later strategy gives customers the liberty to split any purchase into four interest-free payments, online or in-store.

Suppose you’re an established e-commerce business or a vendor selling expensive, high-risk products, and you’re looking for a seamless Shopify payment gateway for your customer. In that case, Klarna brings so much value to the table. Their simple cart integration system makes it easy for you to start accepting payments without hassle.

Klarna notes that millions of people are discovering the benefits of their payment plans. And that’s understandable in light of prevailing circumstances in today’s global commerce.

Their transparent credit options, offered in partnership with WebBank, a member FDIC, give users flexible financing to shop larger purchases seamlessly.

On their prince point, Klarna’s costs and fees aren’t cumbersome either. Vendors receiving payment on the UK or Ireland card pay around 2.49% plus 20p per transaction, but those collecting payments from other regions could pay differently.

Choose the Best Shopify Payment Gateway for Your Business

Choosing the best Shopify payment gateway for your e-commerce largely determines the sustainability of your business. You want a one-click payment solution that makes your customers want to come back again. And you want to ensure there are no hidden costs that'll flush your revenue down the pipe.

Then again, the perfect Shopify payment gateway for your business depends on your business model. As you would have noticed from the descriptions above, there are no one-size-fits-all payment solutions. Review the recommended platforms above and choose the processor that makes sense for your customers.

See how Chargeflow can help you stop eCommerce chargebacks before they happen or recover disputes on autopilot.