Congratulations on deciding to enter eCommerce, or upgrade the e-commerce offering of your business.
We've covered what you need to consider when choosing an e-commerce platform. We’ve also created a handy guide to choosing between hosted and self-hosted eCommerce shopping-cart solutions.
Now let's look at suitable payment gateways for companies in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The Payment Journey
It’s all very well having a beautiful e-commerce website, but how do you get paid? How convenient and easy is it for your customers to pay for your goods or services. A seamless and secure payment journey is vital for the success of your eCommerce business.
Not all shopping carts and payments gateways are supported in the U.A.E. Which solutions are available and which ones are suitable for your business in particular?
Payment Gateways
A payment gateway is a technology that truly transforms your internet presence into a functioning online shop. It's essentially a third-party between merchants and customers that securely take the money from customers and send it to merchant's' bank account. A payment gateway is a virtual equivalent of a physical point-of-sale terminal that located in most of retail outlets.
Based on research and experience we've created some convenient comparison tables for the following payment gateways that are supported into the UAE:
By looking at the following criteria:
- Support in U.A.E. and globally
- Pricing structure
- Supported shopping-cart platforms
- Available payment methods
- Integration options
1. Supported Countries
| Gateway |
U.A.E. |
Global |
Comments |
| Telr |
Yes |
Yes |
One of the most recommended options in the Middle East. |
Amazon Payment Services
(formally Payfort) |
Yes |
The Middle East primarily |
|
| 2Checkout |
Yes |
Yes |
One of the most stable options. Used in a vast number of businesses worldwide. |
| PayTabs |
Yes |
Yes |
An excellent option inside the U.A.E. |
| Checkout |
Yes |
Yes |
|
| Cashu |
Yes |
No |
Dubai-based service. Not a highly recommended option compared to the others. |
| PayPal |
Yes |
Yes |
For the U.A.E., you can send and receive payments, withdraw from your PayPal account to a U.S. bank account and in addition, withdraw to a credit or debit card. |
| Stripe |
Yes |
Getting there |
See stripe.com/global |
2. Pricing Structure
As of June 21 2020
| Gateway |
Set-up Cost |
Per Transaction Cost
(Per Transaction rate is the percentage of total payment amount plus any additional amount.) |
Monthly Cost |
Telr Entry Plan
AED 0 – 20K monthly volume |
Free |
Free |
AED 349 |
Telr Small Plan
AED 20K – 50K monthly volume |
Free |
2.69% + AED 1.00
(For every successful transaction, it will take 2.69% of the total payment plus 1 AED additional.) |
AED 149 |
Telr Medium Plan
Above 50k monthly volume |
Free |
2.49% + AED 0.50 |
AED 99 |
| |
|
|
|
Amazon Payment Services
(formally Payfort) |
Free |
2.94% + AED 1.84 |
AED 420 |
| |
|
|
|
| 2Checkout 2SELL |
Free |
3.5% + AED 1.28 |
None |
| 2Checkout 2SUBSCRIBE |
Free |
4.5% + AED 1.84 |
None |
| 2Checkout 2MONETIZE |
Free |
6% + AED 2.2 |
None |
| |
|
|
|
PayTabs Start-Up
up to $ 2000 |
Free |
None |
AED 183.50 |
PayTabs Growth Plan
over $ 2000 |
Free |
2.7% + AED 1 |
None |
PayTabs Enterprise
over $ 100,000 |
See paytabs.com/en/enterprise-plan/ |
| |
|
|
|
| Checkout |
Free |
2.9% + AED 1.10 |
None |
| |
|
|
|
| Cashu |
Free |
2.5% + AED 2.00 |
None |
| |
|
|
|
| PayPal |
Free |
2.9% + 1.10 AED |
None |
| |
|
|
|
| Stripe |
Free |
2.9% + 1.10 AED |
None |
3. Supported eCommerce Shopping-cart Platforms
| Gateway |
Shopping-carts |
Comments |
| Telr |
• Woocommerce
• Shopify
• Magento
• OpenCart
• Prestashop |
Almost all payment gateways provide plugin options to WordPress platforms like WooCommerce.
Shopify and Magento are big players and support almost all major gateways.
Shopify has its own payment gateway (Shopify Payments) powered by Stripe.
|
Amazon Payment Services
(formally Payfort) |
• Woocommerce
• Shopify
• CS-Cart
• Magento
• OpenCart
• Prestashop |
| PayTabs |
• Woocommerce
• Shopify
• CS-Cart
• Magento
• OpenCart
• Prestashop |
| 2Checkout |
Almost all E-commerce platforms |
2checkout.com/online-shopping-carts/ |
| Checkout |
• Woocommerce
• Shopify
• Magento
• Prestashop |
|
| PayPal |
• Woocommerce
• Shopify
• Magento
• Squarespace
• Wix
• Bigcommerce
• Webflow |
|
| Stripe |
• Woocommerce
• Shopify
• Magento
• Bigcommerce
• Opencart
• Squarespace
• Webflow |
|
4. Available Payment Methods
| Gateway |
Payment Options |
| Telr |
- Visa
- MasterCard
- American Express cards
- N.E.T. Banking (Indian banks)
- SADAD (Saudi Arabian banks)
|
Amazon Payment Services
(formally Payfort) |
- Visa
- MasterCard
- Apple Pay
|
| PayTabs |
- Visa
- MasterCard
- American Express cards
- Mada
- Stc pay
|
| 2Checkout |
|
| Checkout |
- Visa
- MasterCard
- American Express cards
- Apple Pay
- Google Pay
- PayPal
- Mada
- Alipay
- QPay
|
| PayPal |
- Visa
- MasterCard
- American Express cards
- PayPal
- Maestro
|
| Stripe |
- Visa
- MasterCard
- American Express cards
- Discover
- Maestro
- J.C.B.
- Apple Pay
- Google Pay
- Alipay
- Microsoft Pay
- Visa Checkout
- Masterpass by Mastercard
|
5. Integration Options
| Gateway |
Integration Options |
| Telr |
Three different methods:
- Telr will Host the payment gateway:
- Customer will redirect to Telr to make the payment. After payment, they will return to the website.
- iFrame method:
- Incorporate the checkout page into our website using an iframe and applying our CSS to the form.
- Complete integration of payment form to our website. This requires us to be PCI DSS certified
- (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard).
- Plugin option for Magento, Shopify, WooCommerce, Opencart, PrestaShop etc.
|
Amazon Payment Services
(formally Payfort) |
Checkout methods:
- Merchant Page (pay from a website without redirection)
- Tokenisation (substituting card details with a token).
Tokenisation API enables the merchant to store the Customer’s credit card details in a safe and secure environment substituting the Customer’s sensitive card details with a non-sensitive equivalent referred to as a Token. You can use the Token in processing new transactions for users without the hassle of entering the card details across multiple channels
Integration:
- ONE API - API Integration
- via Plugins
|
| PayTabs |
- Plugins
- Express Checkout
- No redirection. Checkout process for online shoppers which keeps them on the merchant’s website while making a payment and even after the payment is complete.
- Direct API
|
| 2Checkout |
|
| Checkout |
- Iframe
- Embed iframe payment form on our website. Payment gateway will process the payment by exchanging token.
- Checkout.js
- A widget that sits on our website checkout page and processes the payment.
- API
|
| PayPal |
- HTML Button method for small scale businesses
- API Method for medium businesses
|
| Stripe |
|
If taking your business online is still a question for you, consider that:
According to Statista: The UAE is the leading e-commerce market in the GCC. A primary accelerator of the e-commerce market is the mobile internet segment. Consumers in the UAE use their smartphones in various ways as an online shopping tool. According to a survey, 44 per cent of U.A.E. respondents used their smartphone to pay for their online shopping. Around a third of UAE respondents used their smartphone to review products they planned to purchase online. And more than 40 per cent have used their smartphones to compare competitor prices during their online shopping.
Armed with knowledge about what to consider when choosing your eCommerce solutions, which shopping-cart platforms fit the bill and the most suitable payment gateways for your needs, you can now go forth and conquer the world of online commerce.
If you need a Dubai-based digital agency to help you, connect with us. We're a boutique web design & digital marketing agency with over 16 years of experience connecting businesses, brands and users alike.
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