In 2025, retail ecommerce sales totaled approximately $3.6 trillion globally, a number that’s expected to continue growing. To take advantage of that growth, businesses need a robust online payment processing system. To accept payments online, businesses need to choose a payment processor or gateway, and integrate it with the business website or storefront.

Below we'll cover the benefits of accepting online payments, the different types of payment methods available, how to choose an online payment provider, and how to set up online payment processing. Whether you're a small business owner or a decision-maker at a larger company, this guide will provide the information you need to accept online payments quickly, securely, and efficiently, and scale these processes as your business grows.

What’s in this article?

• How to accept payments online
  
• Types of online payment methods
  
• How payment processing works
  
• Benefits of accepting online payments
  
• How to choose an online payment provider
  
• Online payment processing fees
  
• How Stripe Payments can help
  

How to accept payments online

Accepting online payments might seem daunting for businesses that are new to ecommerce or digital payments, but with the right tools and strategies, it can be simple.

Here are the steps businesses can take to start collecting online payments:

Choose a payment processor

When shopping for a payment processor, business owners should consider factors such as pricing, features, security, and customer support.

Providers like Stripe take a comprehensive approach, helping businesses easily build a unified payments, billing, and omnichannel commerce ecosystem that encompasses more than just payment processing. This approach is becoming more popular as businesses move away from piecemeal payments infrastructure, which is not only more complicated and prone to inefficiencies and security risks, but typically wastes time and resources compared to a unified approach.

Set up a merchant account

If a business's payment processing provider also offers the functionality of a merchant account, like Stripe does, then that business won’t need to open its own merchant account to start accepting online payments.

Otherwise, businesses will need to set up a merchant account with their payment processor or acquiring bank. This account will allow the business to receive funds from transactions and manage its finances. The application process typically involves providing business and banking information, as well as undergoing a credit check.

Integrate a payment gateway

Once the merchant account is set up, businesses will need to integrate the payment gateway into their website or mobile app. This involves adding code snippets or plugins that connect the payment gateway to the business's platform. Most payment processing providers, including Stripe, offer flexible integrations for a wide range of use cases.

Test and launch

Before launching online payments, businesses should thoroughly test their payment processing system to ensure that it is functioning properly. Make test transactions, check for errors, and verify that funds are being settled into the correct bank account. Once the process is working as expected, businesses can launch online payments and start accepting transactions.

Optimize and monitor

Finally, businesses should continually monitor their online payment processing systems to improve performance and prevent fraud. This includes tracking performance analytics and using the data to inform optimization and growth strategies. This could also include implementing additional security measures, analyzing transaction data, and refining the checkout process to reduce cart abandonment rates.

Types of online payment methods

It’s important to consider your target audience’s preferences, the functionality of your primary sales channels, and the cost and security implications of each method when choosing an online payment method. You’ll likely decide to offer more than one or two payment methods, since online customers prefer a variety of options.

Here are some of the most common types of online payment methods:

• Credit and debit cards: Credit and debit card payments accounted for 32% of global online transactions in 2024. They offer convenience, speed, and security, and they are accepted by most online businesses.

• Digital wallets: Digital wallets, also known as e-wallets, are online accounts that store and manage payment information. Popular digital wallets include CashApp, Zelle, PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Wallet, WeChat Pay, Venmo for business, and store wallets on platforms like Amazon. In 2024, digital wallets accounted for more than half of all transactions.

• Bank transfers: Bank transfers move funds directly from customer bank accounts to a business's bank account. This method can be slower and less convenient than other payment methods, but it is often preferred by customers who do not have a credit or debit card, or who want to avoid credit card fees.

• Cryptocurrencies: Businesses that accept cryptocurrency payments could have a competitive edge and attract customers who prefer this payment method. Total cryptocurrency transaction volume for merchant payments was estimated to be around $640 billion in 2025, representing a small but growing fraction of the overall online payments market.

• Buy now, pay later (BNPL): Buy now, pay later services allow customers to split their purchases into interest-free installments over a set period. This method has seen strong growth among younger demographics who prefer predictable budgeting over traditional credit. By offering BNPL at checkout, businesses can increase conversion by offsetting the immediate financial hurdle for expensive items.

• Pay-by-link: Pay-by-link is a versatile payment method where a business generates a secure, unique URL and sends it to a customer via email, SMS, or social media. It provides a frictionless experience for the customer, who simply clicks the link to be directed to a prefilled, secure payment page.

• Agentic payments: Agentic payments are transactions where AI agents or automated systems are authorized to make payments on behalf of a user or business. These payments are often triggered by specific data points, such as a smart refrigerator reordering groceries or a SaaS platform automatically adjusting its own subscription tier based on usage.

How payment processing works

Online payment processing involves several components that work together to securely process and authorize transactions. These components include:

• The payment gateway captures customer payment details: A payment gateway is a secure online portal that connects the business’s website or mobile app to the payment processor. It captures and encrypts the customer’s payment information and sends it to the payment processor for authorization.

• The payment processor verifies the information: The payment processor verifies a customer’s payment information and authorizes the transaction. It communicates with the payment gateway and the customer’s bank or card issuer to ensure that the transaction is valid and authorized.

• The merchant account holds the approved transaction funds: A merchant account is a specific bank account that is required for businesses that want to accept and process credit and debit card payments. Merchant accounts are exclusively used to hold transaction funds, which are then deposited into the business’s primary business bank account, where the business can access and use them. The payment processor or acquiring bank usually sets up merchant accounts.

• The acquiring bank settles the funds into the business’s bank account: The acquiring bank is the bank that delivers the transaction funds to the business’s bank account, and it often provides the merchant account. It’s responsible for managing the financial aspects of the transaction, including fees and chargebacks.

• Security measures protect the transaction: Online payment processing systems include several security measures to protect both the business and the customer from fraud and unauthorized transactions. These measures may include SSL encryption, tokenization, and two-factor authentication, among others.

Benefits of accepting online payments

For many companies, accepting online payments is necessary to stay competitive and provide a positive customer experience. By offering convenient and secure payment options, businesses can reach new markets, attract new customers, increase revenue, and streamline their operations.

Accepting online payments can provide numerous benefits for businesses, including:

• Improved convenience for customers: By accepting online payments, businesses can offer a more convenient way to pay for goods and services. This flexible payment functionality reduces friction in the customer experience, which benefits businesses by boosting revenue, improving customer satisfaction, driving loyalty, and increasing customer lifetime value (LTV).

• Increased sales and revenue: Accepting online payments can help businesses expand their customer base, grow into new markets, and increase sales by removing barriers to purchase. With more payment options available, customers are more likely to complete their transactions.

• Reduced risk of fraud and chargebacks: Online payment processing systems are designed with security features that reduce the risk of fraud and chargebacks. For example, Stripe Radar uses machine learning that’s trained using data from millions of global companies to detect and block fraud for both in-person and online payments.

• Streamlined accounting and reporting processes: Online payment processing can be a powerful time-saver for businesses, with simplified accounting and reporting processes and automated transaction records and reports. Online payment processing providers like Stripe not only reduce the internal workload of businesses, but also gather, synthesize, and report on payment and customer metrics in actionable ways.

How to choose an online payment provider

Payment processors need to stay up to date on the always changing, highly complex, ultra-competitive world of online payments, and it's important for businesses of all shapes and sizes to choose a payment provider that meets their unique needs.

Early-stage startups, emerging brands, or brands that are newly expanding their ecommerce footprint might have resource constraints that preclude building an in-house payment-processing setup. Larger businesses and established ecommerce platforms might have more resources, but each mistake and operational inefficiency costs more and each improvement could significantly increase revenue.

With so many providers in the market, it can be difficult to know where to start. Here are a few key factors to consider when evaluating your options:

• Assess the overall value and total cost: Payment providers typically charge a percentage of each transaction as well as a flat fee per transaction. Businesses should compare fees and features across different providers to determine who provides the most value, and it isn’t always the provider with the lowest fees.
  

• Evaluate security, fraud prevention, and monitoring capabilities: Payment processing involves sensitive customer information, so security is a top concern. Businesses should look for payment providers that offer strong security features such as encryption, transaction monitoring, fraud prevention, and chargeback protection. Providers should also continually refine how they handle fraud detection and prevention—which is constantly changing—and how they flag suspicious transactions or customer behavior.

• Confirm the quality and availability of customer support: Inevitably, businesses may run into issues with payment processing, so responsive and helpful customer support is important. Businesses should look for payment providers that offer support at all times and multiple contact channels.

• Check integration options and ease of implementation: Businesses should choose a payment provider that integrates easily with their website or mobile app. This will make the payment process smoother for customers and reduce the risk of errors or technical issues. Look for a provider, like Stripe, that offers an expansive and flexible set of payment solutions that can be integrated with minimal effort.

• Research the provider’s payment methods: Payment providers may offer a variety of payment methods, including credit cards, debit cards, digital wallets, and bank transfers. Businesses should consider which payment methods are most popular with their target audience and choose a payment provider that supports those methods.

• Reputation: Finally, businesses should research the reputation of the payment providers they are considering. They should look for providers with a history of reliable service and positive reviews from customers—particularly other businesses in their industry, at a similar stage, with needs that resemble their own. For example, an ecommerce platform might get inspiration from Stripe customer Shopify.

Online payment processing fees

Understanding the cost of accepting payments is essential for managing your business’s bottom line. The most cost-effective solution depends on your specific sales volume, average transaction size, and business model.

Generally, the cost of online payment processing falls into one of the models below:

• Flat-rate pricing
  This is the most straightforward model, where a business pays a percentage and a set cent-per-transaction fee for every sale (e.g., 2.9% + $0.30). This model is highly predictable and is often the best fit for startups and small businesses since there aren’t varying tiers to track. Typically, this model has no monthly membership fees either.

• Interchange-plus pricing
  Interchange-plus separates the interchange fee (the cost set by the card networks like Visa and Mastercard) from the processor’s markup. Because businesses see exactly what the card networks charge versus what the processor keeps, this model is frequently favored by high-volume businesses looking to optimize their margins.

• Subscription-based pricing
  Under this model, businesses pay a recurring monthly or annual membership fee in exchange for very low or “at-cost” per-transaction fees. This can be the most economical choice for established companies with high monthly sales volumes or large average ticket sizes.

Beyond these base models, businesses should also account for secondary costs that may impact total expenditure, such as chargeback fees or international currency conversion fees. Aligning pricing models with transaction patterns can help ensure that payment infrastructure supports growth rather than increasing costs unnecessarily.

How Stripe Payments can help

Stripe Payments provides a unified, global payments solution that helps any business—from scaling startups to global enterprises—accept payments online, in person, and around the world.

Stripe Payments can help you:

• Optimize your checkout experience: Create a frictionless customer experience and save thousands of engineering hours with prebuilt payment UIs, access to 125+ payment methods, and Link, a wallet built by Stripe.
  
• Expand to new markets faster: Reach customers worldwide and reduce the complexity and cost of multicurrency management with cross-border payment options, available in 195 countries across 135+ currencies.
  
• Unify payments in person and online: Build a unified commerce experience across online and in-person channels to personalize interactions, reward loyalty, and grow revenue.
  
• Improve payments performance: Increase revenue with a range of customizable, easy-to-configure payment tools, including no-code fraud protection and advanced capabilities to improve authorization rates.
  
• Move faster with a flexible, reliable platform for growth: Build on a platform designed to scale with you, with 99.999% historical uptime and industry-leading reliability.
  

Learn more about how Stripe Payments can power your online and in-person payments, or get started today.