Best Shopify Payment Gateway Israel: A Strategic Guide

Introduction

Israeli merchants operating on Shopify face a specific hurdle: Shopify Payments is not currently available for businesses based in Israel. This means you cannot rely on the platform’s native, one-click payment activation. Instead, you must integrate a third-party gateway to process transactions in Israeli New Shekels (ILS) and offer local payment methods like Bit or credit card installments.

Selecting the right provider is only the first step. To maintain a high conversion rate, you need to manage how these options appear to different customers. We built HidePay on the Shopify App Store to give you this exact control, allowing you to hide, sort, or rename payment methods based on the customer's location, cart value, or order type.

This guide explores the best payment gateway options for Israel and provides practical strategies for optimizing your checkout experience. We will cover the technical requirements for local compliance, the most popular gateways among Israeli merchants, and how to structure your checkout to reduce abandonment.

Why You Need a Local Gateway in Israel

Because Shopify Payments is unavailable, choosing a local provider is essential for several reasons beyond simple transaction processing. Israeli consumers have specific expectations regarding how they pay online, and failing to meet these can lead to immediate cart abandonment.

Processing in ILS

While you can sell in any currency, Israeli customers expect to see and pay in Shekels. Local gateways ensure that the transaction is settled in ILS without excessive foreign exchange fees for the merchant or the customer. If you use an international gateway like Stripe (which is also not fully supported for Israeli entities), you often encounter high conversion costs and potential settlement delays.

The Popularity of Bit and Apple Pay

In the Israeli market, the digital wallet Bit has become a standard. Most leading Israeli gateways now offer Bit integration. Additionally, Apple Pay usage is high among the Israeli demographic. Providing these "fast" payment options significantly reduces the friction of entering credit card details on a mobile device.

Installments (Tashlumim)

A unique aspect of the Israeli credit card market is "Tashlumim," or interest-free installments. This is a cultural and financial standard. Customers buying high-ticket items often expect the ability to split the payment into 3, 6, or even 12 installments. Local gateways are built to handle this logic natively within the Shopify checkout flow, whereas international providers generally are not.

Top Shopify Payment Gateways for Israel

Several providers have established themselves as the go-to choices for Shopify merchants in Israel. Each offers different fee structures and technical capabilities.

Allpay

Allpay is a popular choice for its straightforward integration and modern interface. It supports major credit card brands like Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Diners.

• Key Features: Allpay supports Bit and Apple Pay, which are critical for local conversion. It also provides a multilingual checkout page that can display in Hebrew, English, Russian, and Arabic.
• VAT and Receipts: The app integrates with local accounting software like Morning (formerly Green Invoice) and EasyCount to automate digital receipts.
• The Tashlumim Factor: You can set rules for installments, such as requiring a minimum order amount (e.g., 500 ILS) before the installment option appears.

PayPlus

PayPlus is one of the most robust gateways in the Israeli market, known for its high security standards and extensive feature set. It is a PCI DSS Level 1 compliant provider, ensuring the highest level of data protection.

• Integration: It offers a dedicated Shopify app that simplifies the connection process.
• Customization: PayPlus allows for significant customization of the payment page, which helps maintain brand consistency.
• Regional Support: They offer strong technical support in Hebrew, which is a major advantage for local business owners who prefer not to navigate complex technical issues in English.

Cardcom

Cardcom is a long-standing veteran in the Israeli clearing industry. They are often favored by larger enterprises due to their reliability and deep integration with various ERP and accounting systems.

• Stability: Because they have been in the market for decades, their infrastructure is incredibly stable.
• Feature Rich: Beyond standard clearing, they offer advanced tokens for recurring payments and sophisticated fraud prevention tools.

Tranzilla

Tranzilla is another major player that offers comprehensive clearing services for Shopify. They focus heavily on security and offer a wide range of add-on services, such as credit insurance and advanced reporting.

Managing the Teudat Zehut Requirement

A common point of friction in Israeli e-commerce is the requirement for a "Teudat Zehut" (Israeli ID) number during credit card processing. This is often required by Israeli clearing houses for fraud prevention and verification.

However, if you are selling internationally, asking a customer in New York or London for an Israeli ID number will cause immediate confusion and an abandoned cart. Most Israeli Shopify apps allow you to toggle this field. Using our tool, you can further refine this experience by ensuring that Israeli-specific fields or even the entire local gateway are only shown when the shipping address is within Israel.

Optimizing Checkout with Strategic Rules

Once you have selected your gateway, the next challenge is organization. Presenting too many options or irrelevant payment methods can overwhelm the customer. We designed our app to solve this by using native Shopify Functions to hide or sort methods based on real-time cart data.

Sorting for Conversion

If your data shows that Bit has a higher conversion rate and lower processing fees than standard credit card entries, you should move Bit to the top of the list. By default, Shopify might list payment methods alphabetically or in the order they were installed. Sort and Rename payment methods within the HidePay app lets you manually reorder options so the most effective methods are seen first.

Hiding Methods by Geography

If you use an Israeli gateway for local customers and a different provider (like a specialized B2B gateway) for international orders, you don't want both appearing to everyone. You can create a rule that hides the Israeli gateway if the customer's country is not Israel. See the help guide on How to Hide Payment Methods for Foreign Currencies with HidePay for step-by-step configuration.

Protecting Your Bottom Line

Some payment methods carry higher risks or fees. For example, if you offer Cash on Delivery (COD) in Israel, you might want to hide it for orders over 2,000 ILS to avoid the risk of high-value refusals. You can also hide certain gateways if the customer has a specific tag, such as "Wholesale," ensuring they only see the bank transfer or "Pay on Account" options intended for them.

Handling VAT and Invoicing

Israeli law requires that prices shown to private consumers include VAT (currently 17%). Shopify's tax settings allow you to include tax in the product price, which is the recommended setup for the Israeli market.

When a transaction is completed through a gateway like Allpay or PayPlus, the integration typically triggers your accounting software to issue a "Tax Invoice/Receipt" (Cheshbonit Mas/Kabala). It is vital to ensure that your Shopify tax settings align with your gateway settings so that the VAT amount is correctly itemized on the final receipt.

Action Plan for Setting Up Your Gateway:

1. Select a Provider: Compare Allpay, PayPlus, and Cardcom based on their monthly fees and per-transaction rates.
2. Open a Clearing Account: Contact the provider to set up your "Masof" (terminal). You will need business registration documents.
3. Install the Shopify App: Use the official app from the Shopify App Store for your chosen provider.
4. Configure Installments: Decide on your minimum threshold for "Tashlumim."
5. Test Transactions: Always run a successful test transaction using a real card before going live.

The Role of Shopify Functions

In the past, many merchants used "Shopify Scripts" to customize their checkout. However, Shopify is phasing these out in favor of Shopify Functions. HidePay is built entirely on these native Functions.

This matters because Functions run directly on Shopify's infrastructure. This means your checkout remains fast, and the customizations are more reliable than older, script-based workarounds. For Israeli merchants who often need complex logic (like managing multiple gateways for different regions), this native performance is a significant advantage. For a deeper explanation, read our article on Why Shopify Functions are the future and scripts are the past.

Enhancing the User Experience

The goal of a high-performing checkout is to remove any reason for a customer to hesitate. In the Israeli market, this means the checkout must feel local.

Renaming for Clarity

Sometimes, a gateway's default name in the checkout is confusing. Instead of a vague "Credit Card" label, you might want to rename it to "Credit Card / Bit / Apple Pay" to immediately signal that those popular methods are available. Hide Sort or Rename Payment Methods on your Shopify Store with HidePay shows how to rename labels without changing the underlying provider settings.

Blocking Express Buttons

Shopify often forces "Express Checkout" buttons (like PayPal or Shop Pay) to the top of the page. While these are great for some, they might distract from your preferred local methods. You can use HidePay to hide these express buttons based on specific conditions, such as the total value of the cart or the customer's location. See the help article Hide the Express Checkout with HidePay for configuration details.

Conclusion

Setting up a Shopify payment gateway in Israel requires moving beyond the default platform settings. By integrating a local provider like Allpay or PayPlus, you provide the currency, installment options, and local payment methods that Israeli customers expect.

To truly optimize your store, you must go a step further and control the presentation of these methods. Using HidePay, you can ensure that the right customer sees the right payment option at the right time. This reduces friction, protects your margins, and ultimately increases your conversion rate.

• Choose a local gateway to support Bit, Apple Pay, and installments.
• Use geography-based rules to show the correct gateway to the correct audience.
• Sort your methods to put high-conversion options at the top.
• Automate your invoicing by connecting your gateway to local accounting software.

Ready to take full control of your Israeli checkout? You can install HidePay today and start creating rules that streamline your payment process. If you need broader checkout automation or to migrate legacy logic into Functions, consider pairing HidePay with SupaEasy on the Shopify App Store.

FAQ

Why can't I see Shopify Payments in my Israel-based store?

Shopify Payments is currently only available in specific supported countries, and Israel is not yet on that list. Merchants in Israel must use "Third-party payment providers" to accept credit cards and local digital wallets like Bit.

Do I need to show the Teudat Zehut field at checkout?

Most Israeli gateways require an ID number for local credit card transactions to prevent fraud. However, it is best practice to only show this field to customers located in Israel. Many gateway apps have a setting for this, or you can use a tool to hide the gateway entirely for international customers.

How do I offer installments (Tashlumim) on Shopify?

Installments are handled by your third-party payment gateway (e.g., PayPlus or Allpay). Once you configure the installment rules in your gateway's dashboard, the option will appear on the hosted payment page where the customer enters their credit card details.

Can I use different gateways for Israel and international orders?

Yes, many merchants use a local gateway for ILS transactions and a different provider for international sales. You can use HidePay to create rules that show or hide specific gateways based on the customer’s shipping country, ensuring a clean experience for every user.