Payments

PayPal has announced it will allow customers to buy, sell and hold Bitcoin and other crypto coins using its online wallets. Starting in early 2021, customers will also be able to use these virtual coins to shop at the 26 million connected merchants.

Nexi, the biggest payments processor in Italy, has agreed to acquire fintech rival SIA for about 4.6 billion euros. The combined company will be one of Europe's biggest payments companies.

For over half of the nearly 3.5 million online shoppers in Hungary, ecommerce is a frustrating experience. It seems that 9 out of 10 consumers have stopped an online order before checkout was completed.

Ebay will bring its managed payments service to sellers in three new markets in Europe next year. In the first quarter of 2021, eBay will manage payments in France, Italy and Spain.

German ecommerce company Otto wants to found a subsidiary to handle all payment functions. It's the latest step, and a bold one, in the further development of Otto as an online platform.

MultiSafepay, a Dutch collecting payment service provider, has announced today it will open an office in Germany. By making this step, the company wants to strengthen its German presence and support further growth internationally.

Afterpay has announced plans to buy Pagantis, its European rival. The Australian company is set to pay 50 million euros for the buy-now-pay-later company. The acquisition is part of Afterpay's global expansion plans.

For almost a third of all online shoppers in Germany, purchase on account is the most popular payment method. Last year, this method gained even more sales than in the year before. PayPal ranked second among the payment methods with the highest turnover.

Swedish fintech company Klarna has entered Spain today with the launch of its 'buy now, pay later' service. This service allows shoppers to pay in three interest-free installments at some online retailers across the Southern European country.

Analysis shows that 58 percent of European checkouts have at least three basic errors, which could complicate the checkout process for customers. Many online stores don't automatically verify the card number or they let customers attempt to pay with an expired card date.

Stripe has expanded its payment services in Europe. The American tech company is now generally available in the Czech Republic, Romania, Bulgaria, Cyprus, and Malta. The payments company can now support businesses in 29 countries across Europe.

Payments platform VibePay has opened up its APIs for bank-to-bank payments and subscription payments, making payments available for retailers, businesses and SMEs. The move comes after the UK-based company secured about 1.4 million euros in funding.

eBay will introduce its managed payments experience in the United Kingdom, making this the third market to offer the new payments experience, after the US and Germany. The service offers buyers flexibility and choice in payment methods, while giving sellers a better way to manage their businesses.

German consumers prefer to pay with PayPal when they are shopping online. This payment method was the favorite of 57 percent of customers who have a preferred way to pay for their online orders.

BigCommerce introduced a collection of multi-currency features, which enables merchants to present and process online purchases in over 100 foreign currencies. This should make it easier for online stores to sell cross-border to shoppers across Europe and beyond.