Payment providers
When selling online, you need reliable payment options that let customers pay safely and easily. In Europe, there are many trustworthy providers, each with different costs, features, and coverage. We made a selection of reliable providers that offer popular European payment options, and the right support for your target markets.
List of European payment providers
There are a lot of different factors you should take into account when selecting a payment provider. Some well knows European payment service providers are (in alphabetical order):
Dutch payment platform for large, cross-border or fast growing merchants. It offers global acquiring, local payment methods, and unified reporting. Known for reliability, high uptime, and strong APIs. Best suited for international retailers with high volumes.
- local payment methods worldwide
- high uptime and scalable infrastructure
- direct acquiring at global scale
- advanced fraud and risk management tools
- unified reporting across all channels
- based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands
International payment service provider headquartered in London. It was founded in 2012 and mainly targets mid sized and large online businesses and platforms. For smaller merchants onboarding can be strict (or slow).
- strong multi-currency and cross-border support
- API first, strong for custom setups
- active in 50+ countries
- advanced fraud prevention
- based in the United Kingdom
Among the market leaders in the Dutch and Belgian market, now growing mainly internationally. Focused on small and medium sized retailers, with fast onboarding and transparent online payments. Best suited for retailers that value speed, simplicity and clear pricing over deep technical customization.
- editors’ choice for small or midsized retailers
- easy setup: plug and play plugins and API
- integrations with Shopify, Webador, Wix WooCommerce
- clear pricing, no long term contracts
- strong support for cross-border selling in Europe
- Headquarters: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Italian payment provider with deep local presence in many European markets and with strong acquiring and issuing capabilities. Serves over 3 million merchants and processes tens of millions of cards across more than 25 countries.
- large Southern and Nordic payment group
- strong in Italy, Nordics, DACH, Central Europe
- Direct acquiring in several EU countries
- strong POS and card acquiring network
- based in Milan, Italy and listed on Euronext
German payment service provider focused on the DACH region. It offers online and in store payments, card acquiring, terminals, and local payment methods. Best suited for small to medium sized retailers that want strong local support in Germany and surrounding countries.
- German language support and local service teams
- contracts under German law
- suitable for retailers with regional focus
- based in Frankfurt, Germany
French payment provider that’s active worldwide. In Europe it runs its own acquiring and processing services. They acquired multiple European payment providers, such as SIX Payment Services and Ingenico. They offer a lot of payment solutions, both online and offline (including terminals).
- full acquiring services for merchants
- APIs focused integrations
- strong in card payments and terminals (Ingenico)
- operates all over Europe
- stock market listed: Euronext Paris
- based near Paris, France
What is a payment provider?
A payment provider is a company that provides online sellers with online payment systems. They provide the technical payment gateway between the customer, the payment method and the online store.
Well-known online payment methods in Europe are for example online debit cards, Wero, credit cards such as Mastercard and Visa, Paypal, and Klarna (which enables purchasing on account). Sometimes payment providers develop their own software and their own online payment systems, but usually, they are an intermediary between a payment system and the online seller.
How do providers work?
The provider has contracts with multiple payment services and systems. This means that you will be able to offer your customers multiple payment gateways. A payment provider does not only provide the technical link to the payment system, but it also processes the incoming payments.
The payment provider makes it possible to offer multiple payment methods to your customers.
After a customer pays for one of your products, the payment will be transferred directly to the payment provider. The transaction is then checked for validity, after that the amount will be transferred in the desired currency to your account.
The costs for a payment provider depends on the provider. Usually there is a transaction fee based on a percentage of each transaction, some charge a set amount per transaction.
What to look out for in a payment provider?
It can be difficult to decide which payment provider and payment methods you should select for your online store. One factor is the nationality of your customers. In each country, different payment methods will be popular. When looking at payment providers, make sure to look at the payment systems they offer and whether those are popular in the countries you’re selling to.
Another important factor to keep in mind is whether the provider supports payments on mobile phones, terminals or other point-of-sale methods. Another very important factor is whether the payment provider has plugins for your ecommerce software, or other plug-and-play solutions to integrate with your website.
Popular payment systems across Europe
Knowing which payment systems are popular across Europe might help you with selecting a suitable payment provider for your online store.
Although Paypal, Klarna, Mastercard, and Visa are widely used global payment systems, often customers prefer national systems. Implementing those in your website will give those customers a more familiar feeling with your checkout. Inquire whether your payment provider has contracts with those national payment systems.
