Overview – Offering Swiss online shop payment methods on MyCOMMERCE
Do you understand the landscape of Swiss payment methods? Are credit cards, PayPal, and Twint no problem? Anyone who confidently answers “yes” to these questions is a rare breed. That’s why we’ve compiled a simple overview of online shop payment methods for you.
Anyone who owns an online store should think carefully about how payments are accepted. Often, it’s a balancing act between two opposing needs. As a seller, you want to get your money as easily and securely as possible, but the customer wants to shop as quickly and easily as possible. You have to decide how much effort you are willing to put into making the shopping experience pleasant for your customers.
What payment options are available for online shops?
- Cash
- Prepayment
- Invoice
- Payrexx / PayPal / Stripe
- PostFinance
- Credit Cards
- and more
Manual payment options
The easiest way, of course, is to collect the money in cash. This is possible by offering “pickup in store.” This way, the customer comes directly to you, saving you the hassle. The downside is that this is too much effort for many customers, and you lose out on potential sales.
Other manual options include prepayment and invoice. With prepayment, the customer transfers the amount before you ship the item. This is a welcome process for companies, as it eliminates the need for collection. This option is rather unpopular with customers and is viewed as time-consuming. According to the 2019 eCommerce Study (Y&R Wunderman), purchase on account is by far the most popular payment method in Switzerland. However, it also carries a higher risk, for example, if customers fail to pay.
Besides prepayment, Payrexx is the simplest solution for online shop payment methods
Payrexx is a simple solution for shop owners. The Swiss payment service provider based in Thun allows you to connect all common payment methods with a single contract – Visa, Mastercard, PostFinance Card, TWINT, Google Pay, WIRpay, AntePay, Apple Pay, Sofort, Bitcoin, PayPal, Swissbilling, ViaCash, and many more. This is a significant advantage over other providers.
All you have to do is register online and conclude the contract digitally. Payrexx also offers its merchants support from Switzerland. You can find more information about integrating Payrexx here.
Connect credit cards directly
The credit card jungle in Switzerland is often difficult to understand. Exactly how the payment process works and the true difference between an acquirer and a payment service provider can be confusing. Those who prefer to connect credit cards directly via Datatrans need to proceed as follows:
Who are the parties:
Buyers: Your customers
Online Shop: This is you
Acquirers: To offer credit card payments in an online store, a merchant needs a contract with the credit card issuer (Visa, Mastercard, etc.). However, the issuers don’t enter into direct contracts with merchants. This is done by acquirers, their business partners (e.g., SIX Payment Services). After deducting a commission, they also pay you the sales proceeds.
Payment Service Provider (PSP): The PSP is the technical link between your store and the individual financial institutions and works closely with the acquirer. It enables you to process payment transactions using a wide variety of payment methods through a single interface. Professional payment management often determines the success of a purchase. Simple and secure processing (e.g., 3-D Secure) reduces abandoned carts and thus ensures higher sales.
Offer payment via credit card in three steps:
To offer credit card payments in your store, you need a separate agreement with all parties. Review various offers before making a decision.
- Contract with credit card company
- For Visa, Mastercard, and Twint, please contact SIX Payment Services or Concardis, for example.
- PostFinance requires a separate contract. Please contact PostFinance directly.
- Contract with a payment service provider
The payment methods only work if the PSP technically enables this. MyCOMMERCE offers a direct and easy connection to Datatrans.
- Activate online payment in MyCOMMERCE
MyCOMMERCE Help Center
- Last but not least: Don’t underestimate the time required to manage the PSP or acquirer’s systems.
Conclusion
Anyone looking for affordable payment methods or Swiss payment methods for an online shop will need to invest time to find the right partners. Money means a lot to any business, so it’s best to double-check whether you can afford the payment method. Some may have better features, but they will also come with higher costs. For small shops, invoices are usually sufficient for the time being. Get to know your customers online first. That’s why we recommend starting with cost-effective options and then responding to your customers’ needs, possibly expanding with Payrexx.
You can find more information about creating an online shop here.
Convinced? Start your online shop for free today.
