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European Payment Methods

Cards have low adoption in some EU markets. In the Netherlands, 60% of online shoppers use iDEAL (bank transfer), not cards. If you're selling to Europe and only accepting cards, you're losing 20-60% of potential sales.

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When to Add European Payment Methods​

Add EU payment methods when:

  • 10%+ of your customers are in EU
  • You're seeing cart abandonment from specific EU countries
  • Your processor is Stripe, Shopify Payments, or Adyen
  • You've already localized pricing (EUR), shipping, and language

Skip EU methods when:

  • Under 5% EU customers
  • You're on Square or US-only processor
  • You haven't set up EUR pricing yet
  • Your product doesn't ship to EU

Processor Support for EU Methods​

MethodStripeShopify PaymentsSquareAdyenPayPal
iDEAL✅✅❌✅❌
Bancontact✅✅❌✅❌
SEPA Direct Debit✅✅❌✅❌
Klarna✅✅❌✅❌
Giropay✅✅❌✅❌
SOFORT✅✅❌✅❌

Bottom line: If you're on Stripe or Shopify Payments, all major EU methods are available. If you're on Square, you're limited to cards.

iDEAL (Netherlands)​

What It Is​

iDEAL is online bank transfers for Dutch customers:

  • Customer selects their bank during checkout
  • Redirected to bank's online banking
  • Authorizes payment directly from bank account
  • Instant confirmation to merchant

Not a card. Not a wallet. Direct bank-to-merchant transfer.

Why It Matters​

Netherlands payment preferences:

  • iDEAL: 55-65% of online transactions
  • Cards: 25-30% of online transactions
  • Other: 5-20%

If you don't offer iDEAL in Netherlands, you're losing half your potential customers.

Implementation (Stripe)​

Effort: 4-8 hours

Steps:

  1. Enable iDEAL in Stripe dashboard (Settings → Payment methods)
  2. Add iDEAL to checkout (Stripe Elements auto-detects Dutch customers)
  3. Test with Stripe test bank accounts
  4. Handle redirects (customer leaves your site, returns after payment)
  5. Go live

Stripe fee: €0.29 flat fee per transaction

Pricing Comparison​

€100 transaction in Netherlands:

  • iDEAL: €0.29 (0.29% effective)
  • Card: €3.20 (3.2% effective)
  • iDEAL saves: €2.91 per transaction

At €10K/month Netherlands sales:

  • 60% choose iDEAL: €6K × 0.29% = €17 in fees
  • 40% choose cards: €4K × 3.2% = €128 in fees
  • Total: €145 vs €320 all-cards

iDEAL is cheaper than cards, not more expensive.

Gotchas​

  1. Customer redirects: Flow is: your site → bank → your site. Some customers abandon during redirect.
  2. No refunds to iDEAL: Refunds go back to original bank account, but it's a separate transaction.
  3. Not instant: Payment is instant, but settlement is T+2-3 (similar to cards).
  4. Dutch customers only: Don't show iDEAL to non-Dutch customers (Stripe handles this automatically).

Bancontact (Belgium)​

What It Is​

Bancontact is Belgium's national debit card scheme:

  • Also works as online bank transfer
  • 15M+ cards in circulation (Belgium population: 11M)
  • Accepted by 99% of Belgian merchants

Ubiquitous in Belgium. Not offering it = lost sales.

Why It Matters​

Belgium payment preferences:

  • Bancontact: 40-50% of online transactions
  • Cards: 35-45% of online transactions
  • Other: 5-20%

Implementation (Stripe)​

Effort: 4-8 hours (same as iDEAL)

Steps:

  1. Enable Bancontact in Stripe dashboard
  2. Add to checkout (auto-detects Belgian customers)
  3. Test
  4. Go live

Stripe fee: €0.29 flat fee per transaction (same as iDEAL)

Pricing Comparison​

Same pricing as iDEAL: €0.29 flat fee, much cheaper than cards.

SEPA Direct Debit (EU-Wide)​

What It Is​

SEPA Direct Debit is recurring bank debits across EU:

  • Customer provides IBAN (EU bank account number)
  • You initiate debits for subscriptions/invoices
  • Covers 36 countries in SEPA zone

Best for: Subscription businesses selling to EU.

Why It Matters​

Subscription businesses in EU:

  • SEPA Direct Debit: 30-40% preferred for recurring
  • Cards: 50-60% preferred
  • Other: 10%

Lower fees than card-on-file for recurring billing.

Implementation (Stripe)​

Effort: 1-2 days

Steps:

  1. Enable SEPA Direct Debit in Stripe
  2. Collect IBAN + mandate at signup
  3. Handle mandate confirmations
  4. Initiate debits via Stripe API
  5. Handle failed debits (SEPA return codes)

Stripe fee: 0.8% (capped at €5)

Pricing Comparison​

€50/month subscription, 100 EU customers:

  • Cards: €50 × 100 × 2.9% = €145/month
  • SEPA: €50 × 100 × 0.8% = €40/month
  • SEPA saves: €105/month (€1,260/year)

At scale, SEPA is dramatically cheaper for recurring billing.

Gotchas​

  1. Chargeback windows are long: Customers can dispute up to 8 weeks (13 months if unauthorized).
  2. Mandate management: You must store signed mandates (Stripe handles this).
  3. Failed debits: NSF returns happen 2-3 days after debit. Build retry logic.
  4. Not instant: Debits take 3-5 business days to settle.

Klarna (EU + US)​

What It Is​

Klarna is buy now, pay later (BNPL):

  • Customer splits payment into 4 installments
  • Klarna pays you upfront
  • Klarna handles collections and credit risk

Available in: EU, US, Australia

Why It Matters​

Klarna increases conversion by removing payment friction:

  • Average order value: +20-30% (customers buy more)
  • Conversion rate: +10-25% (more complete checkouts)
  • Popular with under-35 demographics

Implementation (Stripe)​

Effort: 4-8 hours

Steps:

  1. Enable Klarna in Stripe dashboard
  2. Add Klarna to checkout
  3. Test payment flow
  4. Go live

Stripe fee: 3.3% + $0.30 (US) / 3.3% + €0.30 (EU)

Pricing Comparison​

Klarna is more expensive than cards:

  • Klarna: 3.3% + $0.30
  • Cards: 2.9% + $0.30
  • Extra: 0.4% (~$0.40 per $100)

Trade-off: Higher AOV and conversion often justify the extra 0.4%.

Gotchas​

  1. Higher fees: Klarna takes a bigger cut than cards.
  2. Customer qualification: Not all customers qualify (Klarna does credit check).
  3. Refunds are complex: Partial refunds with installments are messy.
  4. Klarna keeps the customer relationship: Customers remember Klarna, not your brand.

Giropay (Germany)​

What It Is​

Giropay is German online bank transfers:

  • Similar to iDEAL but for Germany
  • Operated by German banks
  • Being merged into European Payment Initiative

Market share: 15-25% of German online transactions.

Implementation (Stripe)​

Effort: 4-8 hours (same as iDEAL)

Stripe fee: €0.29 flat fee

Note: Giropay is being phased out in favor of other EU methods. Consider SEPA Direct Debit for German customers instead.

SOFORT (EU, Being Deprecated)​

What It Is​

SOFORT was an instant bank transfer across EU:

  • Being deprecated by Klarna (who owns it)
  • Being replaced by Klarna's bank transfer option

Status: Still works but don't implement new. Use SEPA Direct Debit or iDEAL instead.

Implementation Priority for EU​

If you have EU customers, add in this order:

1. Multi-Currency Pricing (EUR)​

Before any payment methods, support EUR pricing.

Effort: 2-4 hours Impact: 10-20% conversion lift

2. Country-Specific Top Method​

CountryAdd FirstExpected Adoption
NetherlandsiDEAL55-65%
BelgiumBancontact40-50%
GermanySEPA Direct Debit20-30%
NordicKlarna30-40%
FranceCards work60-70%
UKCards work70-80%

3. EU-Wide Methods​

Once you're established in EU:

  • SEPA Direct Debit (for subscriptions)
  • Klarna (for BNPL across EU)

Test to Run​

EU payment method audit (3 weeks):

Week 1: Customer analysis

  1. Pull EU sales by country
  2. Calculate: Netherlands + Belgium + Germany = ___% of revenue
  3. If over 10%, continue. If under 5%, skip EU methods.

Week 2: Method selection 4. Netherlands over 5%? Add iDEAL 5. Belgium over 5%? Add Bancontact 6. Germany over 5%? Add SEPA Direct Debit 7. Subscriptions? Definitely add SEPA

Week 3: Implementation 8. Enable methods in Stripe (1 hour) 9. Add to checkout (4-8 hours dev time) 10. Test with Stripe test accounts 11. Go live and monitor adoption

Success criteria: 30%+ of EU customers use regional methods within 30 days of launch.

Scale Callouts​

Under $50K/month, under 10% EU:

  • Skip EU methods
  • Cards work fine
  • Optimize US market first

$50K-$250K/month, 10-20% EU:

  • Add iDEAL if Netherlands is top EU country
  • Add Bancontact if Belgium is top
  • Skip SEPA unless subscriptions

$250K-$1M/month, 20%+ EU:

  • Add iDEAL + Bancontact + SEPA
  • Consider Klarna for AOV boost
  • Monitor adoption by country

Over $1M/month, 30%+ EU:

  • Full EU payment method suite
  • Local acquiring for better rates (consider Adyen)
  • Optimize method routing by country

Where This Breaks​

  1. Redirect abandonment: iDEAL and Bancontact redirect to banks. 5-15% of customers abandon during redirect. Mobile is worse.

  2. SEPA chargebacks are long: 8-week dispute window (vs 120 days for cards), but customers can claim unauthorized up to 13 months.

  3. Klarna increases returns: BNPL makes buying easier, which also means more returns. Factor this into pricing.

  4. Language matters: German customers expect German checkout. Bank redirects are in local language, but your site should be too.

  5. Compliance varies by method: SEPA requires mandate management. Klarna requires credit disclosure. Research per-method requirements.

Next Steps​

Ready to implement EU methods?

  1. Enable methods in Stripe dashboard
  2. Add to checkout (see Stripe docs for code)
  3. Test with Stripe test bank accounts

Want to optimize EU further?

  1. Add Klarna for AOV boost
  2. Implement dynamic payment method ordering (show iDEAL first to Dutch customers)
  3. Monitor method adoption by country

High-volume EU business?

  1. Consider Adyen for local acquiring
  2. Implement Smart Payment Routing
  3. Add more EU methods (Przelewy24, eps, Multibanco)

See Also​