Most Common Payment Methods Across the Globe

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Planning to expand your online business in the international arena but you need some information about the global payment methods? Or, you have already started working on going global but want to know which steps does it require to successfully expand your online presence? Aside from planning your resources and budgeting, running localization operations for your target market and doing all the necessary digital marketing work, there is also laying the foundation for receiving payments from your new customers, regardless of their location. This is a very crucial step to complete before kicking-off your international operations. You need to decide how to receive payments and which options to offer your customers. In this article, we have gathered all the necessary information to assist you in your expanding strategy in terms of payments.

Different methods of payment and popularity varies from country to country. This has to do with what is available at each country and region but other factors can come into play as well. Factors such as the stability of the government, economy, strength of currency and more have effect on which types of payment methods are preferred. However, regardless of the current situation, we live in an era where people pay, shop, buy, consume; whatever you want to call it. Therefore, either traditional or alternative payment methods are being used every single second. Keep reading to find out more about the best online payment methods for small businesses, as well as the offline ones and the most common payment phenomenons to help you reach international audience.

Payment Preferences Across the Globe

This is a difficult topic to categorize on a global scale, given the different types of payment options available around the world. One thing is certain, cash may never go out of business. Firstly, across the world 43% of the population prefer credit card payments before any other form of payment. Second place goes to electronic payments with applications such as Paypal. Thirdly goes to debit cards, then cash payments, then bank cards, and then various other miscellaneous forms of payment that don’t exist in every country throughout the world.

However, with the different payment methods, electronic payments are becoming more and more popular. Means of electronic payments include mobile and online payments. Now with security advancements, it is becoming an easier option. Furthermore, allowing people to make payments and purchases across the world without ever having to leave their couches. Before we go into details about what is preferred the most or which method rules them all, here are some of the statistics concerning where the world is at in terms of general payment preferences:

Statistics on Global Payment Methods:

  • Consumers have been making payments online more than ever before. (2020 data)
  • Especially, mobile payments have been on the rise by 17% increase overall.
  • 42% of consumers think credit is the safest payment method and PayPal is the second followed by 26%, and debit cards being in the third place with 12%.
  • According to WorldPaymentsReport , by 2022 the number of worldwide non-cash transactions is expected to reach 1,045.5 Billion USD.
  • Adoption of QR-based payments has increased the volume of non-cash transactions in the past decade.
  • By the end of 2019, approximately 2.1 Billion people had used eWallets to make purchases or send/receive money.
  • Its expected that eWallets will take the lead by 2022 worldwide.

As time goes on more technological advancements will be made and it will only get easier.  You may be starting a business and wondering which online payment methods prevail the most these days. Or simply planning to expand your online business to international markets through localization. Well, it literally comes with a cost and requires knowledge regarding online payment phenomenons. To give you a better understanding, we prepared a list of payment methods on the most common providers of our time. We believe this list is a good demonstration of the versatility in the types of payment methods online.

Global Payment Providers 101: Things to know before starting your online operations in the international arena

 

eft payment method

 

 

 

 

VISA & MasterCard

    1. The most common online payment method worldwide.
    2. Both credit and debit card supplier.
    3. Consumers’ number one choice out of all other brands.
    4. Offers Meastro Cards, a debit card which doesn’t require a bank account and is extremely popular in Europe, Australia and Brazil.

 

payment method ACH

 

PayPal

    1. The most popular one among alternative online payment methods.
    2. Paypal payment method operates in 200+ countries and works with 25 currencies.
    3. Currently, there are 250M personal and 17M business PayPal accounts out there.

 

 

app store payment method

American Express

    1. One of the most prestigious brands among competitors.
    2. Allows for high volume payments at once.
    3. Can be considered if the target market is US.

 

 

 

Amazon Pay

    1. Has been on the rise since its establishment.
    2. Amazon payment methods offer trusted and convenient experience with familiar branding.
    3. Reported increase in conversion rates by 76% when sellers add Amazon Pay option to their stores.

 

google play payment method

Google Pay / GPay

    1. Google payment methods are trusted by majority of people worldwide.
    2. Provides top notch security through encryption.
    3. Free of charge for both businesses and customers.

 

apple id payment method

 

Apple Pay

    1. One of the simplest ways of making online payments.
    2. Saves huge amount of time during checkout.
    3. Offers sending/receiving money through messaging.
    4. An ultimate iTunes payment method.

 

Paysafecard

    1. Used mainly in the gaming industry.
    2. Prepaid card offering options in different amounts.
    3. One of the e-commerce payment methods those are popular in the US.

 

VISA Checkout

    1. One of the most popular online payment methods, trusted by more than 300,000 businesses.
    2. Used in 23 countries with 20M+ registered users.
    3. Provides convenience to sellers and buyers.

 

 

 

 

Alipay

    1. 1B users currently.
    2. Offers world-class payment security.
    3. Focuses on member protection.

 

UnionPay International

    1. Offers wide product range including online payment, mPos, debit cards, crossborder B2B etc.
    2. Accepted in 178 countries.
    3. Extremely easy to use features.

 

Hopefully, this breakdown of all countries and regions will help give you a better picture of the direction the world is going in and more specifically certain countries. It will be interesting to see how these numbers change as online payment becomes more dominant around the world.

 

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But more than that, Protranslate aims to provide more than a service, but a partnership, a relationship, a team of people to walk you through whatever goals you have and make sure you reach them. To know you have a group of qualified experienced people behind you. And the cherry on top? Protranslate makes payment as easy as possible so that no matter where you are in the world you can get your translation projects done and pay with ease. With payment options including everything from Paypal, wire transfers, credit/debit card payments and more. So don’t wait another day, reach out to Protranslate today.

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Post updated on 8 Apr, 2023.

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