Easily Accept Payments in the EU with Klarna, PayPal Plus, iDeal, Giropay, Sofort, and SEPA (2024)

European merchants, today isyour lucky day: Ecwid E-commerce now supports six additional payment options— including some ofthemost popular payment platforms inEurope!

Now your customers can pay fortheir purchases via Klarna, PayPal Plus, iDeal, Giropay, Sofort, andSEPA inaddition tothe50+ payment methods already supported byEcwid. What does that mean foryou?

• More satisfied shoppers: since these payment methods are wildly common among European customers, they expect them atthecheckout inyour store.
• Fewer abandoned carts: providing popular payment methods ensures more customers finish their purchases. Many European shoppers prefer topay with debit cards, bank transfers, orininstallments rather than with acredit card.
• Lower payment fees foryou: new payment options have lower fees compared toother methods.

Best ofall, with Ecwid E-commerce, you can use all those new payment options without having topay transaction fees! That’s right, unlike many other e-commerce platforms, Ecwid doesn’t charge anytransaction fees, nomatter how many sales you make. You only have tocover thepayment provider fees.

Ifyour store islocated inEurope, oryou have lots ofcustomers from European countries, read on! We’ll give you thelow-down onall our new online payment providers andshow you why diversifying your payment options isvital when selling toEuropean shoppers.

Inthis post:

• New European Payment Providers Supported byEcwid E-commerce
• Why You Need toOffer More Payment Methods
• How toAdd New Online Payment Options

New European Payment Providers Supported byEcwid

Excited toconvert more European customers (as in, get them tobuy stuff) byoffering their favorite ways topay? Here are six new payment providers they’ll behappy tosee atyour checkout.

Klarna

Klarna is#1market leader in“buy now, pay later” services. Itallows online shoppers tomake apurchase without paying upfront, which makes itmuch easier todecide onapurchase. That, inturn, creates more opportunities forhigher conversions andbigger sales foryou asaseller.

With Klarna, you can let your customers pay fortheir orders via three payment options:

• Klarna. Pay now: customers pay fortheir orders immediately using their online banking details
• Klarna. Slice it: customers pay infour interest-free installments
• Klarna. Pay later: customers can order first andpay 30days after purchase byinvoice without anyfees.

Even ifyour customers choose topay later orover time, you get paid upfront andinfull byKlarna.

Klarna’s payment methods are available inSweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Germany, Austria, The Netherlands, Great Britain, Australia andtheUSA. One million transactions are made with Klarna every day. Adding such awidespread payment method ensures you’re meeting theneeds ofyour customers. That, inturn, minimizes cart abandonment inyour store.

Learn how toaccept Klarna payments inyour Ecwid store.

PayPal Plus

PayPal Plus isapopular payment solution created fortheGerman market. Itallows you tooffer PayPal, credit cards, direct debit andPay byInvoice asindividual payment options atcheckout.

Note: PayPal PLUS isavailable intheGerman andLatin American markets. With Ecwid, you can accept payments with PayPal Plus only inGermany.

With PayPal Plus, customers can pay forpurchases inyour store even ifthey don’t have aPayPal account.

Learn how toaccept PayPal Plus payments inyour Ecwid store.

iDEAL

Ifyou sell intheNetherlands, you simply can’t dowithout iDEAL. This popular payment method enables consumers topay online using their bank credentials. Itredirects shoppers totheir online banking environment toauthenticate apayment, using two factor authentication.

iDEAL isthemost popular online payment method intheNetherlands, with ashare ofonline transactions close to55%. Just think about it: every other transaction there ispaid with IDEAL. Set itupinyour store andexpect more orders from your Netherlands shoppers.

Learn how toaccept iDEAL payments inyour Ecwid store.

Giropay

Giropay isacommon online bank transfer payment method that iswildly popular with German customers. 85% ofall German shoppers can enable Giropay. Even more impressive, this payment gateway accounts for16% ofall online transactions inGermany.

Giropay isaccessible bymore than 45million users. With noextra registration, customers can make transfers with their online banking credentials. Right after thepayment, you receive anirrevocable payment guarantee. That allows you toprocess theorder immediately andship itquickly. Plus, compared toother payment methods, giropay has lower fees.

Learn how toaccept giropay payments inyour Ecwid store.

Sofort

Sofort isareal-time bank transfer payment method that serves 13markets across Europe: Germany, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, theUnited Kingdom, Poland, Slovakia, Spain andSwitzerland. More than 30,000merchants throughout thecontinent use SOFORT each month.

With Sofort, shoppers can transfer funds directly tomerchants from their bank accounts. All they have todoislogin with their banking information andenter atransaction authentication number (TAN) (or theequivalent version fortheir country andbank). Remember, theeasier itisforacustomer topay inyour store, themore they are likely tofinish thecheckout process.

SEPA Direct Debit

Selling across theborders intheEU? Then SEPA isforyou! Itisapayment method widely used across countries intheEuropean Union.

Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) allows you toreceive online payments from European customers ineuros using asingle bank account.

SEPA currently covers 36countries andterritories: the27EUMember States plus theUnited Kingdom, Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Monaco, San Marino, Andorra andVatican City/Holy See. Your EUcustomers might expect tosee SEPA atcheckout, somake sure you can provide itforthem.

InGermany, SEPA direct debits account for22% ofthepayment market. SEPA isalso very popular inDenmark, Norway, theUK, andPoland.

Learn how toaccept SEPA payments inyour Ecwid store.

Why You Need toOffer More Payment Methods

One ofthemain factors that influence abuyer’s decision topurchase are payment methods available intheonline store:

• Alack ofpayment method variety isone oftheprimary reasons that shoppers abandon their carts. Arecent survey found that 20% ofdigital shoppers abandoned their carts because their “preferred payment option was not offered.”
• Customers are more digitally integrated than ever before, andlike toexplore new payment methods. In2019, one out offive Europeans preferred touse fintech payment methods like giropay, SEPA, orSofort fortheir online purchases.
• European shoppers have diverse choices regarding online payments. For example, customers intheUKandFrance prefer card payments ande-wallets. Payment byinvoice ranks high inGerman-speaking countries, while Dutch shoppers predominantly use theonline banking method iDEAL. Soifyou sell across borders, you can’t gowrong with having multiple payment options inyour store.

Also: How toPick aPayment System For Your E-commerce Store

How toAdd New Online Payment Options

Toaccept payments online, open amerchant account with apayment provider that issupported byEcwid. Then choose this payment processor when adding anonline payment method inyour store.

InEcwid, giropay, Sofort, iDeal, SEPA, andKlarna are available via Stripe integration. Stripe isacommon andeasy-to-set-up payment provider, that allows you toaccept payments inover 30countries. With Stripe, you can accept credit anddebit cards, mobile wallets, andenable lots ofother payment options including Apple Pay andGoogle Pay.

Here’s how toset upGiropay, Sofort, iDeal, SEPA, andKlarna inyour store:

1. GotothePayment page inyour Control Panel.
2. Scroll down andclick “Choose Payment Method.” You’ll beable tochoose “Giropay with Stripe”, “SOFORT Banking (via Stripe)”, “iDEAL (via Stripe)”, “SEPA Direct Debit (via Stripe)”, or“Klarna (via Stripe).”
3. Click “Connect.” You’ll betaken totheStripe website where you’ll need tolog into your existing Stripe account orcreate anew one.
4. Make sure thepayment method you choose isactivated inyour Stripe account.
5. After connecting thechosen payment method via Stripe, you will beredirected from theStripe website toyour Ecwid store. Inthe“Payment method name atcheckout”, enter thename under which customers see this payment method atcheckout.
6. Turn onthe“Enable this payment method atcheckout” setting.



7. Inthe“Payment instructions forcustomers”, add adescription ofthepayment method foryour customers, itwill appear atthecheckout. (optional)

That’s it! Now you can accept payments with giropay, Sofort, iDeal, SEPA, orKlarna.

For PayPal Plus, things work alittle differently. Here’s how toenable itinyour Ecwid store:

1. GotothePayment page inyour Control Panel.
2. Scroll down andclick “Choose Payment Method” →PayPal PLUS.
3. Apply forPayPal Plus byclicking onthelink:

   

   You will beredirected toPayPal website where you can log into your existing account orcreate anew one andapply forPayPal Plus.

4. Once your PayPal Plus account isapproved, enter your PayPal email andclick “Save.”
5. Make sure that PayPal Plus isactivated inyour PayPal account. Click “Continue toPayPal” tocheck thestatus ofthePayPal Plus.
6. You can also accept payments with thePay upon Invoice option. Toactivate it, simply click on“Apply forPay upon Invoice.” You will beredirected tothePayPal website where you can apply fortheinvoice payment option.
7. Inthe“Payment instructions forcustomers field”, add information foryour customers atcheckout. (optional)

After that, thePayPal algorithm will automatically offer relevant payment options toyour customers atcheckout based ontheir location andbrowser cookies.

Connect New Payment Methods

The more convenient thecheckout process isinyour store, themore likely your customers are tofinish their purchase, andreturn asrepeat customers. Alot depends onpayment options you offer, somake sure you choose theones that best cater toyour customer’s needs.

Are you thinking ofadding new payment methods toyour store? Which providers would you like tosee onthelist ofgateways supported byEcwid? Leave your thoughts andsuggestions inthecomments!

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