Why online payments matter more than ever
Imagine launching your e-commerce store, uploading your first products, and waiting for the first sale—only to find your customers can't pay you the way they want. It's a common mistake for new businesses. In 2025, online payments are no longer an afterthought; they’re a critical part of the shopping experience.
Buyers expect payment to be fast, easy, and tailored to their region. They abandon carts if checkout feels clunky. And they prefer familiar, secure methods—whether that’s a credit card in the UK or a digital wallet in Indonesia. If your store can’t offer that flexibility, you lose the sale.
Let's get specific:
- Digital-first behaviours dominate: Most shoppers now browse and buy from their phones. Your payment setup needs to match that reality.
- Checkout experience shapes conversion: A smooth, trustworthy checkout builds buyer confidence and reduces drop-offs.
- Regional preferences affect performance: Supporting local methods like iDEAL, SEPA, or GCash can dramatically improve payment success rates.
- Recurring and one-click options are expected: Subscriptions and fast reorders are becoming the norm. Customers want to pay once and move on.
- Trust and security influence loyalty: Offering secure, recognised methods shows your business is credible.
Enabling payment online isn’t just about getting paid. It’s about giving your customers every reason to complete the purchase—and come back again.
What are the key elements of digital payments
Online payments rely on a set of interdependent components, each playing a role in moving money from your customer to your business account.
- Payment processor: The engine that moves payment data between the customer’s bank and yours. It ensures authorisation, communication, and settlement all happen smoothly.
- Payment gateway: Think of it as the digital bridge between your website and the processor. It encrypts card data, validates transactions, and facilitates communication between you and the acquiring bank.
- Merchant account: A holding account set up with an acquiring bank where customer funds temporarily land before being deposited into your main business account.
- Acquiring bank: Your banking partner that works with card networks and manages your merchant account. They’re responsible for receiving funds from issuing banks.
- Issuing bank: The bank that provides your customer’s card. When a payment is made, the issuing bank verifies if the customer has sufficient funds and approves or declines the transaction.
- Card networks: These are the brands that govern card rules and provide infrastructure—like Visa, Mastercard, and others. They handle communication between issuing and acquiring banks.
Understanding how these elements interact gives you more control over your payment process. For example, working with a provider that uses local acquiring banks in each market can help reduce fees and improve approval rates.
If your payments aren’t flowing as expected—maybe transactions are failing or fees are higher than you thought—chances are one of these components needs closer attention. Getting the setup right from the start saves time and revenue down the line.
How to set up online payments: a step-by-step overview
Starting to accept business payments online might seem complex—but it becomes manageable when broken into clear steps:
- Choose a payment provider: Research providers that match your technical skill level and customer needs. Look for transparent pricing, local payment support, and an intuitive dashboard.
- Create a merchant account: Sign up and complete your business profile. This usually involves submitting identity verification, business documents, and bank account information.
- Select your integration method: Depending on your platform, use a plugin (like Shopify, WooCommerce) or integrate using APIs. Most providers offer a range of options to suit technical and non-technical users.
- Test your setup: Use sandbox or test environments to simulate payments. This helps ensure checkout flows work smoothly across devices and browsers.
- Go live: Once verified, switch to production mode. Monitor your first transactions closely to spot any errors or unexpected behaviour.
- Enable value-added features: Activate tools like recurring billing, one-click payments, or multi-currency pricing to support your business model and improve customer experience.
- Review and iterate: Keep track of your payment metrics. Look at approval rates, drop-offs, and fraud activity. Use insights to adjust settings, add methods, or improve checkout flows.
While setting up may seem technical, providers like Antom make it easier by offering comprehensive documentation, onboarding support, and ready-made integrations to support your business needs.
Adapting to local and global payment preferences
To accept payments online from international customers, localising your payment options matters. A one-size-fits-all approach is likely to fall short when buyers expect to pay in the way that feels most familiar to them.
- Payment method localisation: Preferences vary by market. In the Netherlands, bank transfers through iDEAL dominate. In Singapore, digital wallets like GrabPay are essential. Offering these local methods helps you connect with your customers on their terms.
- Multi-currency support: Displaying prices in your customer’s local currency builds confidence. It also reduces cart abandonment caused by uncertainty over exchange rates. Look for providers that allow you to settle in your preferred currency while displaying localised pricing.
- User experience localisation: Payment isn't just about function—presentation matters. Translating checkout labels, adapting date and address formats, and accommodating local input habits make international buyers feel at home.
- Regional regulations: In some markets, specific data handling or authentication practices are mandatory. Your payment solution should help you navigate these requirements so that compliance doesn’t become a barrier.
- Local acquiring: Using an acquiring bank based in your buyer’s region can lead to higher approval rates and lower fees. Some providers offer smart routing to direct transactions through the most efficient regional pathway.
Tailoring your payment process to the geography and habits of your audience helps convert browsers into buyers. It signals that your business understands how they like to pay—and that’s a powerful step toward loyalty.
Popular online payment methods your customers expect
The more relevant payment options you offer, the more customers you reach. Key online payment methods include:
- Credit and debit cards: Still the go-to for many customers, globally.
- Digital wallets: Fast-growing in regions like Southeast Asia and Latin America.
- Bank transfers: Methods like ACH payments offer security and are preferred in certain markets.
- Buy now, pay later (BNPL): Lets customers split costs without using a credit card.
- Direct debit: Ideal for recurring payments like subscriptions.
- Payment links: Easy to send, click and pay—especially for one-off services or invoice-based sales.
Protecting your business and building buyer trust
Online payments involve sensitive data. Security isn’t optional—it’s expected. If your checkout feels uncertain, buyers won’t just hesitate—they’ll walk away. That's why trust starts with how you handle their payment information.
- PCI DSS compliance: This standard is required for businesses that store, process, or transmit cardholder data. Many providers simplify compliance by handling card data on your behalf, reducing your exposure.
- Tokenisation and 3D Secure: These tools replace card data with secure tokens and add an extra verification layer, making it harder for unauthorised payments to go through. It's safer for you and more reassuring for your customer.
- Fraud detection tools: Look for providers that offer behaviour-based risk scoring, real-time monitoring, and adaptive security. Tools like Antom Shield use AI to flag suspicious activity before it leads to loss.
- Dispute management: Chargebacks are part of doing business online. A strong partner helps you manage them efficiently, with clear evidence workflows and automated responses.
- Customer communication: Transparent messaging around failed payments, security prompts, and authorisations builds confidence. Let customers know what’s happening at every stage.
Securing your online payment process doesn’t just reduce risk—it improves conversion. Buyers spend where they feel protected.
Online payment integration: choosing what fits
There’s more than one way to integrate payment methods:
- Hosted checkout: A plug-and-play solution with minimal customisation. Faster to launch.
- Custom API: Gives you full control over the look and flow, but requires more development work.
- Mobile and QR-based checkout: Essential if your audience shops on phones. QR codes are also useful for cross-device flows.
- Flexible settlement: Need to split payments or schedule payouts? Some platforms, like Antom, handle this with ease.
Making payments perform better for your business
Setting up is only half the story. Once you’re live, improving how you accept payments online can directly influence your revenue and customer satisfaction.
- Track authorisation rates: Your authorisation rate is the percentage of attempted payments that get approved. A lower rate may point to issues with your checkout flow, fraud settings, or how your provider routes transactions. Monitoring this metric helps you spot and fix leaks in your payment funnel.
- Handle refunds and chargebacks: Refunds should be processed quickly and clearly. When a buyer opens a dispute, having a consistent process for managing chargebacks—including evidence submission and timely follow-up—protects your margins. Customers remember how you handle problems more than how you take their money.
- Use smart retries: If a card is declined due to insufficient funds or a temporary issue, a well-timed retry—ideally based on behavioural data—can recover that payment. This is especially useful for recurring billing models.
- Optimise your payment mix: Too many failed payments? Maybe your methods don’t match your market. Review your acceptance data and consider adding or prioritising alternative methods like wallets or local transfers.
- Keep your checkout updated: As browsers evolve and user habits change, so should your payment experience. Test regularly on mobile, ensure all elements load quickly, and remove any unnecessary steps.
Payments are more than a backend task—they’re a visible, influential part of your customer journey. Investing in performance leads to more revenue and stronger brand trust.
FAQs about accepting payments online
How can I accept a payment online?
By signing up with a payment service provider, integrating their gateway into your site, and verifying your business credentials.
What is the safest way to accept online payments?
Choose providers that offer PCI DSS compliance, 3D Secure, and fraud prevention tools.
What is the cheapest way to accept online payments?
Bank transfers and direct debit often have lower fees than card payments, but it depends on your volume and region.
How can I collect payments online?
Through e-commerce platforms, invoicing tools with payment links, or by integrating a checkout page into your site. The best payment platforms will enable you to accept payments online and in-store.
Why Antom fits your payment goals
Antom is designed to support businesses at every stage of growth—whether you're setting up your first online shop or scaling across regions. From quick onboarding to reliable global reach, Antom simplifies what can often feel complex.
With support for recurring payments, payment links, and regional payment methods, Antom helps you accept payments online the way your customers prefer. Our multi-currency capabilities and built-in fraud protection ensure your checkout works smoothly wherever you operate.
You don’t need a technical team to get started. Antom offers ready-to-use integrations, clear documentation, and responsive support. And when you're ready to grow, the platform adapts—supporting more markets, more methods, and more ways to succeed.
Antom takes care of the payment process so you can focus on running your business.