Shopify Payment Gateways by Country 2026: US, EU, India, MENA, LATAM

Picking the right Shopify payment gateway is the single largest fee decision a merchant makes. Shopify Payments is available in 23 countries and is always the cheapest option where it's offered, but if you sell into India, the GCC, most of Africa, or much of Southeast Asia, you'll need a third-party gateway. The wrong choice costs you 1-3% in extra processing fees plus another 1-2% in failed-payment loss. This guide covers the active gateways per region in 2026, real fee data, payout timelines, and the integration tradeoffs we've seen across Shopify Plus and standard merchants.

Key Takeaways

• Shopify Payments is in 23 countries and skips the 0.5%-2% third-party gateway transaction fee
• Outside Shopify Payments coverage, Stripe is the broadest fallback (47+ countries)
• India must use Razorpay or Cashfree — Stripe still doesn't support Indian sellers
• GCC merchants typically use Tap, Telr, or Checkout.com; Saudi-only adds Mada
• LATAM splits: Mercado Pago dominates Brazil/Argentina, dLocal/EBANX cover the rest
• Africa is fragmented: Paystack (Nigeria/Ghana/SA), Flutterwave (most), Yoco (SA)
• Shopify charges an additional transaction fee (0.2%-2.0% by plan) when not using Shopify Payments

How Shopify pricing actually works

Two separate fees stack on every transaction:

1. Gateway processing fee — paid to the gateway (Stripe/Razorpay/etc.). Typically 1.4%-3.5% + a flat fee.
2. Shopify transaction fee — paid to Shopify when you don't use Shopify Payments. Plan-based:

When you use Shopify Payments, the second fee is waived entirely. That's why moving from Stripe to Shopify Payments — where eligible — saves 1-2% immediately.

Region 1: United States, Canada, UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand

Best choice: Shopify Payments (Stripe under the hood).

Standard rates (online, North America, 2026):

UK rates are similar (2.0% + 25p Basic, scaling down). Australia 1.75% + A$0.30.

Alternatives: Stripe direct (no advantage over Shopify Payments), PayPal (always-on for buyer choice), Affirm/Klarna/Afterpay (BNPL, integrated).

Region 2: European Union

Shopify Payments covers Austria, Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, plus Switzerland.

EU rates (typical):

Local payment methods to enable for EU conversions:

• Bancontact (Belgium) — close to mandatory for BE
• iDEAL (Netherlands) — 60%+ of NL ecommerce
• Sofort (Germany/Austria)
• Klarna (Germany, Sweden, Netherlands) — strong BNPL preference
• Apple Pay / Google Pay — universally expected

Without iDEAL or Bancontact in their respective markets, you'll see 30%+ checkout abandonment.

Region 3: India

Shopify Payments is not available. Top choices:

UPI is now 60-65% of Indian online payments. Whichever gateway you choose, enable UPI Intent flow (deep link to PhonePe/GPay/Paytm) — not just collect. UPI Intent converts ~2x better than card on mobile.

Region 4: Pakistan

No Shopify Payments. Common gateways:

For Pakistan-domiciled merchants the realistic choice is JazzCash or Easypaisa for domestic + 2Checkout for international cards. Cash on Delivery still represents 50%+ of Pakistani e-commerce; budget for COD reconciliation overhead.

Region 5: GCC and MENA

United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Egypt, Jordan

Shopify Payments is now in UAE and Saudi (rolled out 2024-2025) at standard rates around 2.49% + AED 1.00. Outside those two:

For Saudi Arabia, Mada (the local debit network) is mandatory — it's 80%+ of cards in circulation. International gateways without Mada acceptance see massive decline rates. STC Pay (wallet) and Tabby/Tamara (BNPL) round out checkout.

Region 6: Latin America

Pix in Brazil deserves special attention: it's free for the buyer, settles in seconds, and converts 50%+ better than cards on mobile. Mercado Pago supports it natively. Without Pix, you're leaving money on the table in BR.

LATAM also requires installments (cuotas) — buyers expect to pay in 3, 6, or 12 monthly chunks at no extra cost (the merchant absorbs the fee). Skipping installments cuts cart conversion 25-40%.

Region 7: Sub-Saharan Africa

In Kenya, M-Pesa Express (STK Push) is the default — 90%+ of mobile e-commerce. Ignoring M-Pesa is fatal. Flutterwave's M-Pesa Express integration via Shopify is the standard path.

Region 8: Southeast Asia

Shopify Payments is in Singapore, Malaysia (2024), Hong Kong. Outside those:

E-wallets dominate (60%+ in Indonesia, Philippines). Card penetration is low. Always enable QR-based wallet payments.

Plus-only options

Shopify Plus merchants get access to gateways unavailable on lower tiers:

• Adyen — global single-acquirer, useful for multi-country Plus shops
• Cybersource — enterprise card processing for B2B
• Worldpay / FIS — legacy enterprise relationship
• Custom payment apps via Payments App SDK — write your own (we've built several for niche markets)

The Payments App SDK is the only sanctioned way to add a new gateway to Shopify Checkout. Any "alternative" gateway integration that uses iframes or post-checkout redirect is not supported and breaks under Shopify's CSP.

Fee comparison summary

For a hypothetical $100 USD transaction on Shopify Basic plan:

The Shopify Payments savings are dramatic in covered countries.

Implementation notes

For each gateway, the integration steps are:

1. Install the gateway's Shopify app from the App Store
2. Enter API credentials (publishable key + secret)
3. Configure webhook callbacks (most gateways set automatically)
4. Test mode → live mode toggle
5. Configure fraud filters (3DS, AVS)

Multi-currency presentment: the gateway settles in the merchant's primary currency unless you use Shopify Markets with localized payment methods. See our Shopify Markets pricing and tax guide.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I run multiple gateways at the same time?

Yes — Shopify supports a primary gateway plus alternative gateways and manual methods. Common pattern: Shopify Payments primary, PayPal alternative for buyer choice, Affirm/Klarna for BNPL. Each appears as a payment option at checkout.

Why is my Shopify Payments application rejected?

Most rejections are KYC mismatches: business name on Shopify doesn't match registered entity, country of incorporation differs from declared address, or industry is on Shopify's restricted list. The rejection email always names the specific reason; fix and re-apply.

What happens to chargebacks?

You eat the loss plus a $15 chargeback fee (Shopify Payments) or whatever the third-party gateway charges. Use 3DS2 (Strong Customer Authentication) wherever the gateway supports it — it shifts liability to the issuing bank for authenticated transactions.

Does Shopify Payments work for B2B / wholesale?

Yes, including PO terms via the B2B feature. Manual payment terms (Net 30, etc.) are supported on Plus. For invoice-based collection without checkout, you'll still need a separate AR workflow — most ECOSIRE clients route those through their connected ERP (Odoo, NetSuite).

Can I migrate gateways without losing customer payment methods?

Cards-on-file (saved methods) are tokenized to the gateway. Migrating from Stripe to Adyen, for instance, means customers re-enter cards on first purchase post-migration. Some gateways (Adyen, Stripe) offer migration tooling for cards-on-file but it requires PCI-compliant data transfer and explicit customer notification.

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ECOSIRE has integrated 14+ Shopify payment gateways across India, GCC, LATAM, and Africa for Plus and standard merchants. Our Shopify integration team handles gateway selection, multi-region rollout, and BNPL/wallet enablement end-to-end.