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The most important online payment methods for your website

Merchants have a lot of possibilities in offering payment methods to their clients. But which ones are the best in each situation? Look at our brief overview of all the different type of payment methods there are:

  • Credit cards
  • Mobile wallets
  • Bank payments
  • Buy now, pay later
  • Crypto payments

Credit cards

The credit card is worldwide still the most used payment method, but the market share varies per country. The major benefit of this payment method for the customer is that they are secured of any malversation from the merchant. The customer has the possibility to do a chargeback, which basically is a one-side pay back of the full amount.

The credit card brands with the most card holders are:

  • VISA – 336 million card holders
  • Mastercard – 231 million card holders
  • UnionPay – 150 million card holders (outside mainland China)
  • JCB – 130 million card holders
  • American Express – 63 million card holders
  • Diners/Discover – 39 million card holders

In a next article we will talk more about processing credit card transactions on your website.

Mobile wallets

We all know Apple Pay, Google Pay, Amazon Pay and Samsung Pay. Mobile wallets enable customers to pay with their credit or debit card and other payment methods (like PayPal) without having to carry the cards around. Instead, customers pay from an app on their phone. For example, when the customer uses a mobile wallet to pay at a store, they might tap their phone over a reader at the checkout station. The merchant charges the customer directly from the card provided in the mobile wallet. 

A characteristic of this payment method is that customers deposit a balance into their wallet and use that to conduct secure online payments. The most known wallet in the world is Paypal. But there are not that many global wallets.

Local wallets

Everybody knows Alipay and WeChat. But most of the users are from China. The users need to have a Chinese bank account to start using these wallets. Not all mobile money accounts require a traditional bank account, which makes them popular in developing countries where more people are likely to be “unbanked.”

Are you interested in using this kind of payment methods in your website? Let us know and we will talk about the possibilities. In a next article we will explain more about the used mobile wallets per region.

WeChat is currently considered as a Global wallet. At least that’s their message from the moment they started supporting US and UK.

Bank payments

Open Banking is a secure way for customers to give merchants or service providers access to their financial information or to authorize a payment directly from their bank account, usually via a third party. Open Banking has the potential to revolutionize the way we move and manage money.

Open banking payment methods:

  • Sofort
  • Trustly
  • Skrill
  • iDeal
  • NuaPay
  • Volt
  • Finshark
  • And more

Open Banking is often talked about in conjunction with PSD2 (the Second Payment Services Directive). But there are a lot of different, local, open banking payment methods. In a next article we will show you specific, local payment methods per country / continent.

Buy now, pay later

BNPL (short for “Buy now, pay later”) is a short-term lending option that enables customers to make purchases without paying the entire cost upfront, often without interest. 

Customers pay off the balance off in interest-free instalments over a set of time. Missing or being late on payments can result in customers acquiring interest or late fees for the purchase. BNPL arrangements are becoming an increasingly popular payment option, especially when shopping online. 

Pros

  • Convenient, disciplined way to pay for purchases over time
  • Frequently zero-interest or lower interest than credit cards
  • Good credit/high credit score not necessary to qualify
  • Fast approval

Cons

  • A credit check is needed where you have to share a lot of information
  • Payments can be hard to track
  • Missing or late payments result in late fees, damage credit score
  • Payments may continue even if item is returned

Are you interested in offering BNPL payment methods on your website? Let’s get in touch with us, and we will explain what your options are.

Crypto payments

Cryptos are digital balances managed with cryptographic algorithms. This means a crypto has no physical appearance. It is an encrypted code like a password. There are various kinds of cryptos. You may have heard of bitcoin, but there are hundreds more, such an ether, litecoin and ripple.

There are benefits and drawbacks to the use of cryptos. The biggest benefit is their accessibility. You can use cryptos to pay or get paid without the involvement of any other party, such as a bank. A drawback is the fact that the value of most cryptos is very volatile. As a result, they can quickly lose much of their value. This makes them unsuitable as a means of payment. By contrast, a stablecoin could be used for payment. But this requires that its provider reduces the risks of money laundering, tax evasion, and privacy infringements and protects customers. These risks occur because the accessibility and anonymity of cryptos make them vulnerable to illicit activities.

Merchants have the possibility to add crypto payment methods in their website. Magnius connects to several crypto payment gateways to make this possible, like BitPay, OpenNode and TripleA. Do you think your target group is interested in using crypto to pay for their orders? Let us know, and we will help you with the best possible setup for your website.

Conclusion

Customers use a lot of different ways to pay. It is up to you to decide which payment methods you want to offer to your customers. If you know your customer (location, repeating customer, etc.), you can show the payment methods that are best fitting their needs. Let us assist you in your optimal set-up. Get in touch to optimize your payment method setup in your website.