What is the most popular online payment?
PayPal is the world's most widely used payment acquirer, processing over 22,3 billion payments in 2022. More than 30 million merchants and 400 million active customers use PayPal. Payments are made using a user's existing account or with a credit card.
Cards are still the most-used payment method, with American Express, Mastercard, Visa as large global card schemes. Even though they're recognized globally, other payment methods like online banking, direct debit, digital wallets, or Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) are more common elsewhere.
PayPal is the go-to payment service for people that do a lot of online shopping. The service is convenient, multi-platform, easy to use, and almost universally accepted.
We asked U.S. consumers about "Most used online payments by brand" and found that "PayPal" takes the top spot, while "Skrill" is at the other end of the ranking. Find this and more survey data on most used online payments by brand in our Consumer Insights tool.
| Product | Best for▼ |
|---|---|
| PaymentCloud Read Review | 4.5/5 Best for High-risk merchants |
| Amazon Pay Read Review | 4.5/5 Best for Streamlined checkout |
| Adyen Read Review | 4.0/5 Best for Omnichannel commerce |
| BlueSnap | Best for Splitting payments with other vendors |
Credit and debit card payments are the most common payment type. Credit card companies, including Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover, extend credit to purchasers; they cover the purchase price, and customers pay their card balance every month.
- Credit cards. Credit cards remain one of the safest options for online purchases. ...
- PayPal. For peer-to-peer transactions or when shopping on sites that accept it, PayPal is a wise choice. ...
- Apple Pay/Google Pay. ...
- Gift cards.
Contactless payments are one of such digital payment trends that you'll see growing rapidly in the year 2024. Contactless payment allows customers to simply wave their smartphones or cards across the reader and make payments. This method is near-instant and more convenient than cash or swiping a card.
Debit cards are a step above cash in terms of security, but are still a relatively risky payment method. Debit cards could leave you liable for funds lost to fraud, provide criminals direct access to your bank accounts, expose you to overdraft fees and risk tying up your money in hold charges.
Contactless payment is considered a quick and easy way to pay since it doesn't require consumers to input a PIN.
Is it safer to use debit card or ACH?
ACH payments are more secure than card payments. A clearinghouse must clear all ACH transactions, and they typically have uncompromising regulations. All account numbers stay confidential, and ACH transfers go directly from one bank to the next.
Payments via bank account are actually much less likely to face fraud than passing your credit card number or having a check sit in an unguarded mailbox, so paying by bank account is the most secure way to go.
Payments with a debit card are taken instantly from your checking account and shopping online comes with the added risk that your information may be stolen. Using a debit card opens up the possibility that the thief will gain access to the funds in your checking account.
Unified Payments Interface (UPI)
The UPI is a payment system that culminates numerous bank accounts into a single application, allowing money transfers between parties.
- The increase in global cashless payment volumes.
- The acceleration of cross-border, cross-currency instant and B2B payments.
- The use of data and analytics to streamline the customer journey.
- Innovations in security measures to reduce digital payments fraud.
Stripe offers both online and in-person payment options. While PayPal's card transaction fee is 2.99%, plus a 49-cent fee, Stripe's 2.7% plus 5 cents per card transaction fee makes it a better option for budget-conscious businesses.
- Credit Cards. Credit cards offer a quick and convenient way to make financial transactions both large and small. ...
- Debit Cards. ...
- Automated Clearing House (ACH) ...
- Cash. ...
- Paper Checks. ...
- eChecks. ...
- Digital Payments. ...
- Money Orders.
Despite the benefits, businesses should be aware of PayPal transaction fees, account freezes, lack of customization options, high currency conversion fees, and the possibility of chargebacks.
Top Competitors and Alternatives of PayPal
The top three of PayPal's competitors in the Payment Management category are Stripe with 37.65%, Authorize.net with 5.38%, Square Point of Sale with 4.08% market share.
- Google Pay.
- Skrill.
- Tipalti.
- Payoneer.
- Square.
- Stripe.
- Venmo.
Does PayPal charge a fee?
It's free to use PayPal to donate or to pay for a purchase or any other type of commercial transaction unless it involves a currency conversion.
Services like Apple Pay and Google Pay don't charge any extra fees on top of credit card processing fees, so the cost is the same as accepting card payments directly. PayPal does charge an additional fee for each transaction, so it's more expensive for merchants – but it's also a more established payment method.
Buy now, pay later (BNPL) is now the fastest-growing payment method. By 2024, an estimated $306.8 bn of e-commerce purchases will be made via BNPL, increasing from $97.2bn in 2020.
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