The Best Online Payment Systems for Ecommerce

If you’re looking to turn your company website into an online shop, you’re in luck! It’s easier than ever to set up your very own ecommerce website to let your customers browse and buy your products online. You just need a good payment provider, and there are plenty of online payment systems to choose from…

But which one? That’s the big question.

Here are some of the biggest and best payment gateway providers available. Take a look at the pricing, the pros and cons, and see which is best for your business.

1. WorldPay
2. PayPal
3. Stripe
4. Amazon Pay

1) WorldPay

WorldPay Online Payments is the UK’s most popular payment provider. It handles about half of the country’s online payments. Its flexible payment plans make it a great choice for small businesses, and you can integrate the payment gateway into your website.

As the name suggests, WorldPay lets you take payments from around the world, supporting over 120 currencies. It also boasts advanced fraud protection, and its reputation and popularity will make your customers more comfortable paying on your website.

Pricing

You can either pay as you go for each payment, or sign up for a simple monthly payment plan:

Pay As You Go: 2.75% + £0.20
Gateway Standard: From £19/month
Gateway Advanced: From £45/month

WorldPay Pricing

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2) PayPal

Another familiar face is the one and only PayPal. Having gained its reputation through eBay as a fast and handy payment gateway, PayPal checkouts have an 88.7% conversion rate, while checkouts that don’t use PayPal average at 55.3%.

PayPal is simple enough to set up and use, and it offers strong fraud protection, email invoices, and PayPal Checkout integrated on your website. Its fast online transfers make it a favourite for ecommerce businesses.

Pricing

PayPal lets you set up a PayPal Business account for free. On this free Business account, each transaction charges:

2.9% + £0.30
+ 0.5-2% cross-border fee for non-UK cards
+ 2.5% currency conversion (if applicable)

PayPal Pricing

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3) Stripe

Much cheaper than rival payment providers like WorldPay, Stripe offers great fees for cards in the European Union and accepts over 135 currencies. On top of this, it boasts fast payouts, a checkout you can embed on your website, real-time sales reporting, and simple pay-as-you-go pricing.

Pricing

Integrated

Simple pay as you go:

1.4% + £0.20 for European cards
2.9% + £0.20 for non-European cards

Customised

Businesses with a high sales volume can design a custom package for themselves for discount rates.

Stripe Pricing

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4) Amazon Pay

Another quick, simple and popular system is Amazon Pay. With its easy checkout and 1-click payment options, using payment info from your customer’s Amazon account, 89% of consumers are more likely to buy from Amazon than from another ecommerce website.

Using Amazon Pay in your online store presents your customers with fast checkout from a familiar brand.

Pricing

Amazon Pay’s pay-as-you-go fees will vary for Amazon Payments accounts in different countries. For accounts in the UK, you can pay as you go at a rate of:

2.7% + £0.30

However, if your monthly payment volume is above £50,000, you can apply for a discount.

Amazon Pay Pricing

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So, there you have it. Which of these online payment systems do you think is best for your business?

Of course, in order to get your website visitors to pay at all, you need an ecommerce website that converts them into customers.

To sell more products on your website, visit our Ecommerce Website Design page.

(Pricing figures correct at time of posting. Click the links for each supplier’s up-to-date pricing.)