How to Add Payment Methods to Shopify for More Sales

Introduction

Adding the right payment methods to your Shopify store is a direct way to reduce cart abandonment and improve the customer experience. When a shopper reaches your checkout and finds their preferred way to pay—whether that is a credit card, a digital wallet, or a local bank transfer—they are far more likely to complete the transaction.

Configuring these options involves navigating your Shopify admin settings to activate providers and individual payment gateways. While the initial setup is straightforward, high-volume merchants often find that simply adding every possible method creates a cluttered checkout. Using a tool like install HidePay allows you to manage these options more effectively by showing or hiding specific methods based on the customer’s location or cart contents.

In this guide, we will walk through the technical steps to add various payment methods, from Shopify Payments to manual options like cash on delivery. We will also explain how to optimize the visibility of these methods to protect your margins and simplify the checkout process for your customers.

Activating Shopify Payments

Shopify Payments is the most common way to accept credit cards and integrated digital wallets. Because it is built directly into the platform, it eliminates the need for third-party accounts and extra transaction fees.

Eligibility and Initial Setup

Before you begin, ensure your business is located in a supported country. Shopify Payments requires specific business information, including your tax ID and bank account details for payouts.

1. From your Shopify admin, navigate to Settings > Payments.
2. If you haven't set up a credit card provider yet, click Activate Shopify Payments.
3. Enter the requested details about your business, your personal information, and your banking details.
4. Click Complete account setup.

Once activated, your store will automatically be able to accept major credit cards like Visa, Mastercard, and American Express. You can also enable "accelerated checkouts" like Shop Pay and Apple Pay within the Shopify Payments settings to let returning customers check out with a single click.

Managing Integrated Wallets

Within the Shopify Payments section, you can toggle specific wallets on or off. For example, if you find that Apple Pay or Google Pay creates issues with specific third-party fulfillment apps, you can manage their visibility here. However, for more granular control—such as showing Apple Pay only for domestic customers—you would typically use a rule-based customization tool.

Adding Third-Party Payment Providers

If Shopify Payments is not available in your region, or if you prefer to use a specific provider like Authorize.net or a regional specialist, you can add a third-party provider.

How to Select a Provider

Shopify supports hundreds of external gateways. When choosing one, consider the transaction fees, supported currencies, and the provider's reputation for security.

1. Go to Settings > Payments.
2. In the Payment providers section, click Choose a provider.
3. Search for your provider by name or filter by the credit card brands they support.
4. Select the provider and enter your account credentials (usually an API key or Merchant ID provided by the gateway).
5. Click Activate.

Keep in mind that using a third-party provider instead of Shopify Payments often results in additional transaction fees charged by Shopify. These fees vary depending on your specific Shopify subscription plan.

Integrating PayPal and Express Checkouts

PayPal is one of the most widely used payment methods globally. Shopify usually sets up a "PayPal Express Checkout" account automatically using the email address you used to sign up for your store.

Completing PayPal Setup

To actually receive funds, you must complete the account linkage:

1. In the Payments settings, find the PayPal section.
2. Click Activate.
3. You will be redirected to PayPal to log in and grant permissions to Shopify.
4. Once finished, ensure that your PayPal account is upgraded to a "Business" account to avoid transaction limits.

PayPal is powerful because it offers buyer protection, but it can also be a source of high chargeback rates for certain high-risk products. Many merchants choose to hide the PayPal button for specific high-value orders or for customers with certain tags to mitigate this risk—see how to hide the PayPal Express checkout button if you need to restrict it.

Setting Up Alternative Payment Methods

Alternative payment methods (APMs) include cryptocurrency, "Buy Now, Pay Later" (BNPL) services, and regional favorites like Sofort or iDEAL. These are added separately from your primary credit card processor.

Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL)

Services like Klarna, Affirm, and Afterpay allow customers to pay in installments while you receive the full payment upfront.

• Step 1: Go to Settings > Payments and look for the Additional payment methods section.
• Step 2: Click Add payment methods.
• Step 3: Search by method (e.g., "Klarna") or by provider.
• Step 4: Follow the prompts to install the provider's app and link your account.

BNPL options are excellent for high-ticket items, but they often come with higher merchant fees than standard credit cards. It is often wise to only show these options when the cart total exceeds a certain threshold to ensure the fees are worth the conversion boost.

Cryptocurrency

If your audience is tech-savvy, adding crypto payments via providers like Coinbase Commerce or BitPay can be a differentiator. The setup process follows the same logic as BNPL: search for the provider in the Additional payment methods section and link your external wallet or merchant account.

Adding Manual Payment Methods

Manual payment methods are those that are not processed in real-time by a gateway. These are common for B2B stores or businesses operating in regions where cash is still the primary medium of exchange.

Cash on Delivery (COD) and Bank Transfers

1. In Settings > Payments, scroll down to Manual payment methods.
2. Select Cash on Delivery (COD), Bank Deposit, or Money Order.
3. Provide instructions that will be shown to the customer at checkout and on their order confirmation page.
4. Click Activate.

When a customer uses a manual method, the order is marked as "Payment Pending." You must manually mark the order as "Paid" once you receive the funds. To prevent abuse, we recommend using rules to hide manual options for international shipping addresses or for digital-only products where physical collection is impossible.

Adding Payment Methods for Shopify POS

If you sell in person using Shopify Point of Sale, you need to manage those payment methods separately to ensure a quick checkout experience at your physical location.

Configuring the POS App

Payment methods for POS are managed under the Point of Sale sales channel in your admin:

1. Navigate to Point of Sale > Settings > Payments.
2. Ensure Shopify Payments is active for your card reader.
3. You can also add Custom payment methods, such as "Trade-in" or "Store Credit," which are specific to your in-person operations.
4. For individual devices, you can toggle these options on or off. For instance, if a specific pop-up location does not have a cash drawer, you can deactivate the "Cash" option for that specific iPad.

How to Optimize and Manage Your Payment Methods

Adding methods is only the first step. If you offer ten different ways to pay, you risk overwhelming the customer, a phenomenon known as "analysis paralysis." Effective management involves sorting and hiding methods based on the context of the sale—learn how to create a payment customization to get started.

Sorting for Better Conversions

The order in which payment methods appear matters. Most merchants want their most cost-effective or highest-converting methods at the top. For example, if you prefer customers use Shop Pay because of its high conversion rate, you should ensure it appears first.

While Shopify has a default order, you can use our tool to reorder the list. Moving a preferred method to the top can subtly guide customer behavior without removing their other choices—see the guide to Sort and rename payment methods for step-by-step instructions.

Hiding Methods to Reduce Risk

Not every payment method is appropriate for every order. Here are three common scenarios where hiding a method is the smart move:

• Geography-based hiding: If you offer Cash on Delivery, you may want to restrict it to your home country. Offering COD internationally is often logistically impossible and financially risky—if you also manage shipping visibility, consider pairing HidePay with a shipping manager like HideShip on the Shopify App Store.
• Product-based rules: If you sell high-risk items or digital downloads, you might want to hide payment methods that have high chargeback rates or long dispute windows.
• Cart total thresholds: You might want to hide BNPL options for very small orders where the high transaction fee eats too much of your margin.

Renaming for Clarity

Sometimes the default name of a payment method is confusing to customers. Renaming "Bank Deposit" to "Direct Wire Transfer (Local)" can provide the clarity a customer needs to feel confident in their purchase. We built our app to handle these renames natively within the Shopify checkout—refer to the Sort and rename payment methods documentation to rename labels cleanly.

Protecting Your Margins with Rules

Every payment method comes with a different fee structure. As your store grows, these small percentages add up. By implementing smart rules, you can protect your bottom line.

Preventing High-Fee Transactions

If a specific provider charges 6% for international transactions but only 2.9% for domestic ones, you can create a rule that hides that provider for international shoppers, encouraging them to use a more cost-effective option.

Reducing Chargeback Exposure

Certain regions or customer profiles are statistically more likely to result in chargebacks. By using customer tags in Shopify, you can identify high-risk accounts and restrict them to "low-risk" payment methods like bank transfers or specific verified gateways—see the article on how to hide payment options by customer tag for configuration tips. We provide the infrastructure to make these decisions automatically at the moment of checkout.

Advanced Customization with Shopify Functions

In the past, merchants had to use "Shopify Scripts" to hide or sort payment methods. This was often complicated and required a Shopify Plus subscription. Today, Shopify has moved toward Shopify Functions — learn why in our post, Why Shopify Functions are the future.

Nextools built our app on this native Shopify Functions architecture. This means our customizations run directly within Shopify’s infrastructure. The result is a faster, more reliable checkout experience that doesn't rely on theme code edits or fragile workarounds.

If you prefer a codeless approach for building Functions (discounts, payment rules, or shipping logic), check out SupaEasy on the Shopify App Store for a no-code functions generator.

Key Takeaways for Merchants

Setting up your payments is a balance between offering choice and maintaining order. Follow these principles to ensure your checkout remains a high-converting asset:

• Start with Shopify Payments: It is the easiest to manage and offers the best integration.
• Add regional favorites: If you sell in Europe or Asia, research which local methods (like iDEAL or WeChat Pay) are essential for those markets.
• Limit manual methods: Only use COD or bank transfers if you have a clear process for verifying and collecting funds.
• Use rules to simplify: Don't show every method to every customer. Filter your options by country, cart value, and product type.
• Monitor your fees: Regularly review which payment methods are costing you the most and adjust their visibility accordingly.

For a broader look at how payment and shipping controls work together, read our post on HideSuite: the bundle for smart Shopify merchants.

By taking control of how payment methods appear, you create a cleaner, faster checkout that builds trust with your shoppers.

Conclusion

Adding payment methods to your Shopify store is a foundational step in building a global business. From the basic activation of Shopify Payments to the more complex integration of regional gateways and BNPL services, each new option is an opportunity to reach a new customer segment. However, the most successful merchants don't just add every available option; they curate the checkout experience to match the specific needs of each shopper.

Using a dedicated tool like HidePay allows you to implement these strategies without touching a line of code. Whether you need to hide high-fee options for certain countries or sort your most popular methods to the top, our app provides the control you need to optimize your checkout.

Action Steps:

1. Verify your Shopify Payments setup and ensure all relevant accelerated checkouts are enabled.
2. Research the top payment methods for your primary shipping destinations and add them via "Additional payment methods."
3. Evaluate your chargeback and fee history to identify which methods should be restricted or prioritized.
4. Get HidePay for your store to start building rules that protect your margins and simplify your checkout.

FAQ

Can I add a payment method that isn't listed in Shopify's official gallery?

If a provider is not officially supported as a gateway, you can sometimes add them via a custom app or as a "Manual Payment Method." However, for automated transaction processing and security, it is highly recommended to use one of the hundreds of vetted third-party providers available in the Shopify admin settings.

How do I change the order in which payment methods appear at checkout?

By default, Shopify determines the order of payment methods. To gain full control over this sequence, you can use our app to sort methods exactly how you want. This allows you to place low-fee or high-conversion options at the top of the list to influence customer choice—see the Sort and rename payment methods guide for details.

Is it possible to hide PayPal for specific products?

Yes, you can hide PayPal or any other payment method based on the contents of the customer's cart. This is useful for high-risk items or products with specific licensing restrictions that prohibit the use of certain payment gateways. You can set these rules easily within our app interface or consult the guide to hide the PayPal Express checkout button.

Will adding more payment methods slow down my checkout?

Adding payment methods through the official Shopify admin settings does not significantly impact checkout speed. However, a cluttered UI with too many buttons can slow down the customer's decision-making process. It is best to use logic-based rules to show only the 3–5 most relevant options for each specific shopper.