Online payments are payments that are initiated online for goods or services purchased either online or offline. Common methods to facilitate this includes: bank debits via online mandate, bank transfers, online debit or credit cards transactions, and digital wallet payments such as Amazon pay e.t.c. Online payment could also be used for e-commerce transactions like purchasing clothing, using Giftcards and cryptocurrency wallet to make payment like Bitcoin, Ethereum etc, or subscriptions to services like Netflix or Spotify. Online payment compared to manual payment could appear complex. Aside from using online payment options to pay for products online as an individual or a customer, it also makes it easier for customers or donors to support you through an online payment gateway without inconveniencing themselves. Below are several terms that can be used vice-versa when describing online payments:
Payment Gateway:
This receives the online payment request from your website and directs it to the payment processor. You can also refer to the payment gateway as the digital equivalent of the Point-Of-Sale(POS) machine where you insert your card in a shopping mall. Cryptocurrency wallets can also serve as a gateway for payments.
Types of payment gateways include:
- Hosted payment gateways,
- Self-hosted payment gateways, and
- API hosted payment gateways.
We will shed more light later in the article on examples of online payment gateways and their available countries.
Payment Procesor:
This helps validate the purchaser’s credit card details and check if the funds in their account is sufficient enough to complete the payment. If the customer has sufficient funds, the transaction is permitted,
and therefore the funds are transferred from the customer’s account. The status of the transaction is then communicated back to the payment gateway which then sends a standing message to your website.
Payment Service Provider:
Merchant Service Providers also known as Payment services provider are third-party companies that help business owners accept a broad range of online payment methods, like online banking, credit cards, debit cards, e-wallets, cash cards, cryptocurrency transactions and more.
Payment Service or System:
This is where a payment provider offers multiple kinds of payment gateways with different features and pricing. For instance, PayPal is regarded as a payment service provider that provides a variety of payment services or payment systems like PayPal Payflow Pro and PayPal Express Checkout.
Merchant Account:
Merchant Account: is a special kind of checking account used solely to hold funds received from debit and credit card transactions. When an online payment is successfully completed, the funds are transferred from the purchaser’s account to the merchant account. Before you can accept an online payment, you will have to set up a merchant account with your payment provider. Though some payments such as Paypal do not require a merchant account or can provide you one.
Though distinct but with subtle differences, all of them refer to a service or application that acts as a financial middleman between your website and your customer, and between both of you and your bank accounts. Each facilitates the completion of online transactions, and also the processing of online payments.
Examples of payment Gateways, Availability and Country Overview.
Apple Pay:
It offers a secure, easy and a private way to pay on iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad and Mac. Apple Pay is accepted anywhere payment is required and you see these symbols and marks in stores, within apps, and online in Safari. You can aswell add your debit, credit, or prepaid cards from participating banks and card issuers in these countries and regions: Argentina, Australia, China mainland, Brazil, Canada, Hong Kong,Colombia, Costa Rica, Isle of Man, Japan, Jersey, Macao, Mexico, Montenegro, New Zealand, Palestine, Singapore, Peru, Qatar, South Africa, United States of America, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, United Kingdom, Europe and Vatican City.
Amazon Pay:
This is a service that allows one to use the payment methods already associated with your Amazon account to make payments for goods, services, and make donations on third-party websites, in apps, and using Alexa. It is available in the following countries/regions; United States, Bulgaria, China, United Kingdom, Canada, Nigeria, India, Morocco, Switzerland & Norway.
Stripe:
The cost per Debit/Credit transaction 2.9% & $0.30 and 0.4% per recurring bill. It is the most flexible payment processor on the market. Stripe’s API will easily link your payments anywhere needed. You may even transfer from LLC to corporate status. Stripe is now available in countries/regions such as; United Kingdom, Australia, Hong Kong, United States of America, Japan, Mexico, Singapore, and all over Europe.
Google Pay:
Pay with Google, also known as Android Pay, is a digital wallet platform and online payment gateway developed by Google to increase in-app and tap-to-pay purchases on mobile devices, allowing users to pay with Android phones, watches, and tablets. Google pay is available in Austria, Canada, Australia, Chile, Brazil, Europe, New Zealand, Hong Kong, United Arab Emirates, Singapore, United States, Taiwan, United Kingdom and outlying territories.
Paypal:
Classified as one of the most widely used online payment service or payment providers, which is their biggest edge. Unlike other payment processors, Paypal takes security concerns very seriously, meaning you won’t be storing any MasterCard information. The charge is 2.9% + $0.30 per debit/credit transaction.
The Countries/Regions with the ability to send and receive payments includes; Argentina, Andorra, Bahamas, Botswana, Bahrain, Chile, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Colombia, China, Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Croatia, Ecuador, Faroe Islands, El Salvador, Georgia, Honduras, Hong Kong, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Mauritius, Israel, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Morocco, Mozambique, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Lesotho, Malaysia, Mexico, Moldova, Monaco, Oman, New Zealand, Senegal, Serbia, Singapore, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Uruguay, Venezuela, , South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, Venezuela, Uruguay, and Vietnam.
Countries/Regions with the ability to send and receive payments and have Automatic Transfer are; Albania, New Caledonia, Palau, Algeria, Barbados, Saint Lucia, Belize, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Dominica, Egypt, Fiji, French Polynesia, Seychelles, Grenada, Malawi, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Trinidad and Tobago.
Countries/regions with the ability to only send payments and can not receive payment includes: Angola, Armenia, Azerbaijan Republic, Belarus, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, British Virgin Islands, Brunei, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Falkland Islands, Gabon, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Kyrgyzstan, acedonia, Madagascar, Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Montenegro, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, Niger, Nigeria, Niue, Norfolk Island, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Rwanda, Swaziland, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Togo, Tonga, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, Yemen, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Authorize.net:
This payment gateway is one of the oldest and most wide-spread payment solutions. Authorize.net can do just about anything you will ever need payment-processing wise. With Authorize.net, you will never have an unsupported payment type since they are always on point on trending payment methods. Free monthly gateway, charges 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction.
They accept transactions from merchants located in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Europe or Australia.
Square:
Square introduced a MasterCard swiper that could be attached to a mobile phone, paired with an app and process transactions. It charges 2.65% per card transaction, 2.9% + 30cents per paid Square Invoice or online transaction, 3.4% + 15cents per manually entered transaction and $0.10 per Interac debit tap sales. Square is currently available in the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, France and Spain. They currently do not support the following countries in the United States; Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and Northern Mariana Islands.
Braintree:
It is a full-stacked payment gateway that allows you to easily accept payment. You do not have to source a payment gateway and merchant account from different providers. The charge per wallet- or card-based transaction is 2.9% + $0.40.
Braintree is available for merchants in the United States, Canada, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, Ireland, Australia, Europe, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia and New Zealand.
Skrill:
Skrill allows users to send and receive money, store cards, link bank accounts, and make payments with just your email address and password. Please look at the list below to find out which countries and regions let you use Skrill Account, do business with any merchant, and use different deposit and withdrawal options. The available countries are: Algeria, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Australia, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belize, Bhutan, Bolivia, Brunei, Botswana, Brazil, Cabo Verde, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Côte d Ivoire, Dominica, Dominican Republic, DR Congo, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Fiji, Ghana, Guatemala,
Haiti, Holy See, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Jamaica, Jordan, Kenya, Kiribati, Lebanon, Lesotho, Malaysia, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Monaco, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Qatar, Rwanda, Saint Lucia, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Seychelles, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, South Korea, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, St. Vincent & Grenadines, State of Palestine, Swaziland, Tanzania, Thailand, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, United Kingdom, United States, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Vietnam, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
Venmo:
This payment gateway lets customers pay for goods or services and receive money from donors and family and friends. You can pay on mobile web with an authorized merchant. Each transaction cost 3.49 percent plus 49 cents. This particular payment gateway is only supported within The United States and it is only compatible with The United States based bank accounts and phone numbers.
Wepay:
This is a way to collect funds online without having to open a merchant account, website, programming or other payment gateway. With a single integration, ePay enables businesses to embed transaction and payout capability.
WePay is only available in The United States, United Kingdom and Canada.
2checkout.com:
It helps small businesses to accept online credit payments for physical and online payments in over 200 countries including The United States. The cost is 3.5% plus 35cents per successful sale and up. All countries except North Korea, Cuba, Iran, Sudan, Syria, and Myanmar can use 2Checkout (Burma).
AffiniPay:
A payment gateway that helps in payment solutions for associations. It is fully PCI compliant and is built specifically for non-profit transactions. It helps support recurring donations and offers free support and there is also no set up or monthly fees. The countries that supports AffiniPay are as follows; Canada, the 50 US states and Washington DC can apply with the US territories excluded.
Dwolla:
This sort of payment solution is extremely flexible and possesses a wide variety of integrations. Dwolla can handle multiple payment structures like instalment payments, varying recurring charges and multiple stage interests. It cost $25 per month plus 0.5% per transaction. It is available in the following countries/regions; Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia,
Finland, France (Metropolitan France + overseas regions and departments (Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Martinique, Réunion, Mayotte)), Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary (only supported for marketplaces within Hungary and using HUF), Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico (only supported for marketplaces within Mexico or the USA), Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, The United States.
Due:
This is a feature-packed online payment gateway originally designed for 21st century needs. Due has several services, including debit and credit card processing, gift card processing, automatic deposit options, fraud prevention and chargeback protection and reporting. They provide access to virtual wallets, secure transactions and time tracking software. Due is a great choice for a broad solution with different forms of payment solutions. It charges 2.8% + 2.9% & $0.30 per Credit/Debit transaction.
WorldPay:
This payment gateway is a merchant services and payment processing provider offering a payment solution for online transactions. Worldpay supports mostly all major debits and credit cards such as Visa, MasterCard, American Express. worldpay supports only for companies based in the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Israel, and Singapore.
Cashfree:
This is an advanced payment gateway with exciting features like instant refunds, etc. among other products. cashfree payment’s linked with Shopify, Paypal, Amazon Pay, Google Pay, and others to accept local and international payments and collect money from customers. Aside from India, it is available in 8 other countries including the United States, Canada and United Arab Emirates.
Wise (Transferwise):
It is formally known as TransferWise. It is a payment gateway that allows you to move your money around the globe, as easy and as possible for a little process. With this payment option, you can either pay by debit or credit card or make a local bank transfer to Wise’s bank account in your country. You won’t have to link your bank account to Wise. Wise is available in the following countries; Hong Kong, Morocco, Kenya, Tanzania, Sri Lanka, India, Ghana, South America, Europe, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and The United States.
ecoPayz:
The following list shows all countries/regions where you can use ecoPayz, transact with merchants, and make deposits and withdrawals. The available countries/regions are: Cyprus, Netherlands, France, Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Latvia, Portugal, Estonia, Poland, Iceland, Greece, Lithuania, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Romania, Liechtenstein, Ireland, Luxembourg, Slovenia, Great Britain, Croatia, Monaco, Spain, Malta, Finland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Norway, United States, United Kingdom.
Veem:
Allows customers to send and receive payments be it domestic or international payment. It charges 2.9% fee for local credit card transactions, 1% fee for instant deposits and $29 USD for international payment when receiving in USD, therefore, it is advisable to tell your customers to pay in their local currency. Veem is available in more than 110 countries which include; Canada, India, Vietnam, Thailand, Taiwan, South Africa, Zambia, United Arab Emirates, Uganda, South America, Europe, United Kingdom and United States.
Clover:
A payment processing system that allows your business to accept in-person card payments using a personal device or a hardware designed for that purpose. It charges 2.3% plus $0.10 per transaction. Clover is currently available in; Canada, Republic of Ireland, United Kingdom and United States.
BitPay:
It works by allowing customers to pay with Bitcoin during their checkout process. They then pay the invoice to Bitpay at a locked-in charge per unit. After this, Bitpay uses modern technology to convert the Bitcoin into fiat whilst shielding the customer from any volatility risks. BitPay provides payment processing and cryptocurrency transactions for merchants in every country/region.
Wirex:
It has been growing successfully over the years and providing users with more and more convenient and various sources of payment gateway and solution. Algeria, Australia, Benin, Bermuda, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, European countries, Gabon, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Jamaica, Malawi, Malaysia, Mali, Morocco, Nepal, Nigeria, Oman, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Singapore, South Africa, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States of America, Vietnam, Zambia.
Alipay:
This is a single-use payment method where customers are required to authenticate their payment. Customers pay by redirecting from their website or app, authorise the payment through Alipay, then return to your website or app where you get immediate notification on whether the payment succeeded or failed.
Alipay is used in the following countries or regions:
Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Canada, Brazil, Russia, Germany, Spain, Italy, United States, United Kingdom and over 250 other countries, meaning Alipay is virtually available in every major country in the world.
GoCardless:
It provides a pull-based Direct Debit solution that does not suffer from the high level of per-transaction fees and failure rates that card payments are subject to. Gocardless is available in the following countries; Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France,
Germany, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland.
Intuit:
Also referred to as Quickbooks, is a payment gateway that allows one to receive and quickly process a variety of payment types, which also includes debit and credit cards and Automated Clearing House(ACH). You can accept payment online or on your phone as a merchant. Intuit Online supports most countries in North America, South America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Africa.
ProPay:
It offers payment solutions for little businesses, enterprise businesses, and different kinds of industries, including direct selling, auto dealers, and legal. They facilitate both payment processing and Credit payment and offer global disbursement and commission payment options. The supported countries are; Australia, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Argentina, Bahrain, Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada,
China mainland, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Greenland, Guernsey, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Isle of Man, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jersey, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macao, Malta, Mexico, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Palestine, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, United States, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates.
Payoneer:
It can help you get paid quickly, securely, and at low cost by international clients. Payments from other Payoneer customers are free and receiving accounts using Payoneer’s Global Payment Service is also free. But, payments directly from your customers are 3% on credit cards in all currencies and 1% on eChecks. Payoneer is available in the following countries; Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, United States, United Kingdom and all over 190+ countries.
Shoptify:
Accept credit cards directly with Shopify with no third-party required. Help keep track of your balance and payment schedule from a convenient store dashboard and acquire email alerts when new funds arrive in your checking account. Shopify POS makes it possible to just accept credit cards, whether you’re on the go or in a very mercantile establishment, while charging as low as 2.4% + $0.30 per transaction. it also facilitates Pinterest Buyable Pins, Facebook shops, Facebook Messenger, Amazon, eBay, and Enterprise-level accounts.
Shopify is available in the following countries; Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom and United States.
BlueSnap:
It provides a payment gateway solution, merchant account, and a variety of other features to assist you grow your business. Intelligent payment routing offers optimised conversions, payment analytics, chargeback management, and risk management together with the flexibility to process over 100 global payments. BlueSnap is available in; Argentina, Australia Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Finland, France, Germany
Gibraltar, Greece, Guernsey, Hungary, Iceland, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom,United States.
