An introduction to local payment methods

Expanding into new international markets requires more than adapting your marketing. Beyond language and cultural nuances, you also need to understand which local payment methods consumers prefer in each country you plan to target. 

Card payments continue to play a major role globally, but alternative payment methods (APMs) are gaining traction and even outpacing cards in some areas. Consumers are increasingly realizing the benefits of methods like digital wallets and buy now, pay later (BNPL), and if you fail to pay attention to these changing trends, you risk losing out on sales.

However, the popularity of different local payment methods varies widely from market to market, so it’s vital you take the time to fully understand what they are, how they work, and where they resonate most with customers.

What are local payment methods?

Local payment methods are geographically restricted payment options that are specific to a particular region or country. These payment methods often cater to the unique needs of customers in that region and may differ from the standard payment methods that are commonly used in other parts of the world.

For example, while credit cards are a nearly universally accepted payment method, Bizum – a secure instant payment service – is used only in Spain. Other local payment methods include digital wallets, bank transfers, local networks, and BNPL.

Types of local payment methods

Here are some of the most popular types of local payment methods:

Digital wallets

A digital wallet is an app – usually downloaded onto a smartphone or other device – that allows users to store and manage their payment information, such as credit card details or bank account information, to use for online or in-app purchases, removing the need to carry around an actual wallet with physical cash or cards. Digital wallets use encryption to store payment info securely and protect it from unauthorized access.

Digital wallets are already a major part of the ecommerce landscape in Europe, and their share is still growing. They’re expected to account for 40% of total ecommerce transaction volume in the region by 2027, up from 30% in 2023. This includes popular options like Alipay, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. 

Bank transfers

A bank transfer is simply the transfer of funds from the customer’s bank account to the merchant's bank account. The sender just needs the recipient's bank details, including their account number and, for the US, bank routing number. Bank transfers are a fairly accessible payment method, making them a popular option worldwide.

For example, if you operate in the Netherlands, consider offering iDEAL – the country’s leading payment method. It powers 70% of online transactions, is used by most Dutch consumers, and is accepted by over 210,000 businesses. 

Buy now, pay later

BNPL lets customers split the cost of a purchase into manageable instalments or defer payment for a set period of time. This increases customer spending power, helps merchants attract more customers, and boosts sales. 

You can offer BNPL through providers like Klarna, Tabby, and Tamara. Klarna typically charges a merchant fee of around 5%, while costs and commercial teams vary across other providers. With Checkout.com, it’s easy to integrate the BNPL options that best suit your customers, helping you localize the checkout experience and drive higher conversions. 

Cash on delivery

Cash on delivery is essentially a transaction where a customer pays for goods or services when they’re received. Because there’s no risk of the payment failing, cash on delivery is a common local payment method in countries where a lack of financial infrastructure can make other payment types difficult or even impossible.

Pay on delivery payment methods are not just for countries with a developing financial infrastructure though, and are growing in popularity in all over the world as they enable goods to be checked by customers before the payment is made. A notable example is the service Splitit enabled for AliExpress customers in partnership with Checkout.com, which launched in Germany, Spain and France.

Invoice

Someone buys a product or service, and the merchant sends an invoice requesting payment within a particular time frame, often between 14 and 30 days. Invoices are commonly used for business-to-business payments (B2B) or by service providers.  

Which businesses should offer local payment methods?

Offering local payment methods can help you to stand out in a competitive market, increase conversions and grow your customer base, but which businesses should offer them?

Online Marketplaces

Online accounted for 62% of global retail ecommerce sales in 2024, generating $2.4 trillion. That gives third-party sellers access to an enormous potential customer base, but in order to fully take advantage of those consumers, they need to offer as many local payment methods as possible.

B2B Businesses

If you trade with businesses in different regions, offering local payment methods is the best way to ensure a quick and easy transaction process between client and supplier, by avoiding the sticking points that plague cross-border payments. Not only does this mean everyone gets paid sooner, which helps to improve your cash flow, but it also maintains long-lasting business relationships.

Ecommerce

According to an analysis of 48 different studies by the Baymard Institute, the average cart abandonment rate is a staggering 70%, with limited payment options frequently cited as one of the top reasons for an abandoned purchase. This statistic alone shows the benefits of offering local payment methods, allowing you to cut down on abandoned carts and boost regional sales.  

Remittance solutions

As discussed above, if your business facilitates cross-border payments and you want to avoid the delays, inconsistencies, and fees that they can entail, you can do so with local payment methods, which maximize the ways funds can be transferred from one region to another.

Learn more: Safe payment methods

Local Payment Methods in different regions

With the above in mind, it’s worth identifying which payment methods are the most popular in the regions in which you operate so you know which you should offer.

Europe

Home to around 44 nations and at least three of the world’s largest ecommerce countries (Germany, the UK, and France), Europe is one of the world’s most active markets for online sales, with a projected value of $730bn in 2023.

• iDEAL – The most popular way to pay in the Netherlands, supported by all major Dutch banks, and powering 70% of online transactions. iDEAL is now transitioning to Wero, a new European payment system based on the same foundation and rolling out across Europe, with full migration expected by 2027
• EPS – bank transfer method that’s most popular in Austria, and backed by every major bank
• Klarna – a BNPL service that’s popular in Sweden, Germany, Finland, Austria, and the Netherlands
• Bancontact – Belgium's go-to way to pay. Connected to over 20 local banks, and available via app or card, it offers a trusted, real-time payment experience for online and in-store shoppers
• Przelewy 24 – connected to over 165 local banks, it gives millions of shoppers access to online payments with no cards required. With 85% brand recognition and more than 80% of shoppers choosing bank transfers, P24 is how Poland prefers to pay online
• Multibanco – a widely used payment method in Portugal, enabling customers to pay via ATM or online banking. It's supported by more than 13,000 ATMs nationwide
• Alma – a leading BNPL service most popular in France, offering shoppers the option to pay in three or four installments and used by more than 21,000 brands
• Twint – Switzerland's leading mobile payment method, with over 5 million active across bank-linked and prepaid wallets. Popular with digital-native shoppers and trusted by more than 75% of Swiss merchants
• Vipps MobilePay – the go-to wallet in Norway, trusted by over 11 million people across the Nordics. It's the preferred way to pay in Norway, Denmark, Finland, and Sweden
• Swish – Sweden's leading mobile wallet, used by nearly 9 million people and backed by the country's major banks

Gain an advantage in Europe by accepting SEPA, which facilitates more than 20 billion transactions across 36 countries.

North America

Home to the world’s second and 10th biggest ecommerce markets, as well as Amazon – the world's most visited online marketplace – North America is soemthing of an ecommerce superpower, forecasted to reach $1.45 trillion in 2025.

• ACH Network – a US-based automated clearing house for electronic fund transfers that facilitated the transfer of an astonishing $72.62 trillion dollars in 2022
• Interac – a local debit network that’s most popular in Canada
• Venmo – a popular mobile payment app in the US, known for its ease of use, and especially favored by younger consumers who transact frequently

APAC

When it comes to ecommerce sales, no country comes close to China – the Asia Pacific region's biggest market – with an estimated $1.53 trillion sales in 2025. The region is also home to Japan, a top-tier market in its own right: its ecommerce market value is forecast at around $186 billion in 2025.

• AliPay – a leading mobile and online payment platform widely used across China and Hong Kong, with more than one billion users. Designed for QR and app-based journeys, AliPayCN offers a familiar, smooth-flowing checkout experinece that helps increase conversion
• WeChat Pay – a major mobile payment and digital wallet service with over 38% wallet share. Most popular in China and Hong Kong, it's also used by more than one billion people
• Truemoney – a digital wallet that's most popular in Thailand. Shoppers can top up in-store or online, then pay securely using their mobile device
• Dana – one of Indonesia's most popular digital wallets, offering smooth and secure payments through QR, mobile, and app-based checkouts. It has over 30 million active users in Southeast Asia's largest economy
• GCash – a digital wallet that's most popular in the Philippines and trusted by 94 million users
• Touch ’n Go – a smart card that's adopted by over 17 million people and one of the most trusted digital wallets in Malaysia
• Kakaopay – South Korea's most-used digital wallet, built into the widely adopted KakaoTalk app. It's the country's preferred way to pay and is trusted by more than 40 million users

MENA

Ecommerce has seen less penetration into The Middle East, North African and Pakistan economic areas than it has other major regions, but there are still plenty of digital consumers and a number of regional payment methods to be aware of.

• Tamara – a leading BNPL service with over 7 million customers, most popular in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait
• Qpay – Qatar's preferred domestic payment method, offering fast, mobile payments via smartphones and bank accounts
• BenefitPay – a smooth and secure solution to accept debit cards in Bahrain
• KNET – Kuwait's national debit card network and the leading online payment method in the country, handling nearly 80% of ecommerce transactions
• Stc Pay – a digital wallet that’s most popular in Saudi Arabia
• Tabby – the largest BNPL provider in MENA, offering shoppers interest-free, four-installment payments

Popularity of local payments

Now that we’ve discovered the most popular local payment methods in each region, let’s take a closer look at how consumers across the globe use these methods. The cited statistics comes from our guide: Switch on the right payment methods.

Europe

Traditional payment solutions like credit and debit cards, PayPal and bank transfers are still preferable to alternative payment methods (APMs) for most European consumers, but the latter is growing in popularity. Methods vary from country to country, so you should conduct a fine-grained analysis of methods in the countries you operate in. Here are some things to be aware of when trading in Europe.

• APMs continue to gain traction – Sweden's payments market is now almost entirely digital, with local solutions like Klarna remaining central to how consumers pay. In Germany, BNPL usage is also accelerating, with the market forecast to reach more than $69 billion in 2025. Digital wallets are projected to account for 40% of total ecommerce transaction volume in Europe in 2027, an increase from 30% in 2023
• Many merchants are still scaling – many European online retail merchants still face gaps in their payment-method offering. And while the BNPL market continues to grow quickly across the region, only a minority of merchants have integrated it at scale. That leaves plenty of opportunity for forward-thinking businesses to differentiate by expanding their payment options sooner rather than later 
• Localize your strategy – some payment methods, such as Giropay in Germany, iDEAL in the Netherlands, and Przelewy 24 in Poland, are almost exclusively used by consumers in those countries. With European shoppers preferring to use the method they’re most familiar with, it’s important to gain a deep understanding of hyper-local payment options so you can offer the right one

APAC 

Digital wallets dominate online payments across the APAC region. In fact, an estimated 74% of online payments in APAC were made through digital wallets in 2024. That’s no surprise, given the region pioneered the concept – but the picture is more nuanced than headline figures suggest:

• APAC remains the world's largest market for card transactions – the total card-payments market is expected to reach almost $25 trillion this year. Traditional schemes such as Visa, Mastercard, JCB, and UnionPay continue to play a major role across the region, even as digital wallets gain ground
• BNPL is growing – adoption continues to accelerate across APAC, with the region's BNPL market expected to reach $211 billion this year and remain on track to become the world's largest by 2027. Consumer appetite is especially strong in Southeast Asia: in Indonesia, the BNPL market alone is forecast to reach $8 billion this year. Thailand shows similar momentum among younger shoppers, where BNPL remains a key driver of online purchases 
• Mobile payments are gaining ground – businesses operating in APAC should prioritize mobile-enabled payment experiences. Shoppers increasingly prefer to buy through mobile apps, and this trend is especially pronounced across major Southeast Asian markets

MENA

Traditional methods of payment like cards and even cash-on-delivery are still the most widely used in MENA, but there are signs that APMs are becoming more widely adopted:

• More people are going cashless – Covid accelerated a shift away from cash across the region, with governments encouraging the use of local card schemes and digital wallets. Today, many Gulf markets show particularly strong adoption of both card payments and mobile-first wallet solutions, reflecting a broader move toward fully digital payment ecosystems
• The power of the digital generation – the region’s digital-first generations, who make up the largest share of the MENA population, remain far more likely to adopt APMs. According to Checkout.com’s State of Digital Commerce in MENA 2025 report, 43% of consumers now use apps or digital wallets at least once a week. BNPL is also continuing its upward trajectory, building on the strong growth seen in recent years 
• Plenty of growth potential – digital commerce in MENA continues to expand at pace, with the regional ecommerce market forecast to grow significantly in the years ahead. Analysts predict the market could reach more than $80 billion by 2029, highlighting strong and sustained momentum across sectors. Every major industry stands to benefit as consumers increasingly shift their spending online 

Learn more: A guide to payment methods

Benefits of offering local payment methods

So, the growth of local payment methods and the importance of offering the most widely used options in any country in which you operate is clear, but what are the benefits for merchants?

Stay competitive

Whether you’re entering a market for the first time or you’ve been operating there for a while, offering the correct payment options (or even the broadest range) will set you apart from the competition and encourage consumers to choose you over a rival.

More trust between customer and business

Loyalty is so important in local markets. Customers are more likely to trust a business offering local payment methods and will continue to shop with merchants they have built a relationship with.

Better checkout experience

A consumer who reaches the point of payment and discovers their preferred payment method will have a much better checkout experience than one who doesn’t, even if they can still pay but only with an inferior method.

Higher conversion

As we explored earlier, a lack of payment methods is one of the top reasons for an abandoned cart. Even if, for example, a consumer who prefers BNPL could make a card payment at checkout if they wanted to, they might choose not to complete the purchase if they aren’t able to pay in installments.

Reach more people

The more payment methods you can offer, the more people you can reach, especially when it comes to hyper-local options. You can also target specific demographics. For example, not offering BNPL could mean you miss out on Gen Z and Millennial consumers, the most likely to use this option worldwide.

Start offering local payment methods with Checkout.com

Local payment preferences shape buying behavior across every market. Checkout.com helps you offer the methods your customers expect – from BNPL to digital wallets – all through a single, flexible payments platform. Our expertise ensures you can introduce the right APMs with confidence, attract more customers, build loyalty, and drive higher conversion. 

For a full list of the payment methods Checkout.com supports, see our directory.