How do online stores receive their money from customers? What are the most commonly used payment methods in online stores? Here is a list of the most used electronic payment methods:

eWallets

One of the fastest growing electronic payment methods, it is expected to represent 50% of international e-commerce sales in 2022, it stores the customer’s personal data and money, and when he makes a purchase, he will not have to enter his bank account details, but will be redirected from the payment process page to his wallet directly and he only has to Enter your username and password to complete the purchase.

Such as PayPal The globally trusted electronic wallet through which payments, withdrawals and transfers can be made. Its advantages are:

• Supports +200 countries, 25 currencies, +250 million users, 17 million companies, supports Gulf countries, Egypt, Jordan, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia and does not support Turkey. See the list of countries
• When you link the site to electronic payment, it will be accepted to accept payment on your site with credit cards and debit cards.
• PayPal Express allows your customers to pay by any method they prefer, such as by credit card or bank account. without sharing their financial information. But only for US companies.
• It allows you to benefit from all financial transactions provided that it is linked to credit cards such as Visa Card, MasterCard.
• US sales cost +0.30 USD 2.9%, international sales 4.4%, and up to 7% in some countries.
• Financial transactions may be slow due to strict safety and security procedures.
• Fees are a bit high for non-Americans.

Credit Cards

These are cards issued by the bank to its customers and pre-charged as a loan to be paid by the customer monthly. In the event that the payment period is exceeded, there are interests and then fines are imposed. The customer uses the card to purchase within monthly limits set by the bank. Credit cards are the most common options in the world for online purchases and constitute more than 40 % of e-commerce transactions are made through electronic payment gateways.

The most famous ones: American Express, Master Card, Visa Card, Paysera Card

Note: Cards become available for payment to customers as soon as the site is linked to one of the payment gateways that we will mention shortly, which allows accepting payment on your site through these cards. And not as some imagine that companies such as Visa and MasterCard will give website owners direct access to them without the presence of intermediary companies or banks.

Bank Transfers

This electronic payment gateway requires the customer to pay from his bank account with his own money, and it is considered not secure electronically, so please first obtain the approval of the bank for financial transactions, then the bank transfer redirects the user to the electronic banking services portal to log in and complete the transaction. Bank transfers accounted for 9% of the volume of e-commerce transactions in 2019 for Europe.

In our Arab region, the mechanism differs by issuing an initial invoice from your store to the customer with the bank account data to which you must transfer with a reference number that the customer writes in the transfer notes, and often this reference number is the same as the order number so that the accountant or the owner of the site can match the incoming transfer with the number The request and the conversion of the status of the request to paid, and this Arab scenario is safer than the European in fact Many still use it, so do not neglect it because not all customers prefer to use purely electronic methods.

Installment & Instant Lending Buy Now/Pay Later

One of the payment methods in new websites that has recorded significant growth in the last two years, is a form of instant loan, the customer has the option to pay later without the need to own a credit card, it accounted for 1.5% of e-commerce transactions for 2019 and is expected to rise in the future. But it is not widely available in our Arab region. But there is an alternative known as the interest-free installment system through credit cards for some banks such as SABB Bank, Samba Bank and others in Saudi Arabia.

Prepaid cards

Some stores are now issuing their own gift cards, which does not necessarily mean that it is a gift, but it is a card with a financial value that can be purchased with cash and uses its code to transfer the balance in the card to a balance in the customer’s wallet on the online store. One of the leading companies providing gift cards service for electronic stores is the company Blu Loyal It is active in loyalty programs for bank customers in the Gulf countries.

Where you can exchange your loyalty points at the bank for gift cards for stores available in the bank’s loyalty program, and therefore if you are an online store owner, you can contact Blue Loyal to issue gift cards for your store that customers of the items can benefit from And it’s a free marketing agent too, nice, isn’t it.

eChecks

Rarely used, its method is similar to what is done in ordinary paper checks, but it is faster, It is spread in the United States among large merchants onlySo, I mentioned it in passing, just out of knowledge.