These are the popular online payment methods in Europe 

Every country in Europe is different. So, it’s no surprise consumers of these countries have different online payment methods they prefer to use. In 2017, DPDgroup released its Barometer E-shopper report which shows the most popular online payment methods in Europe.

When it comes to paying for the goods they have ordered online, shoppers in Europe globally prefer to pay through digital wallets, such as PayPal and Alipay. Visa and Mastercard are also very popular, followed by domestic bank credit and debit cards.

Credit and debit cards popular in Western Europe

In Western Europe, it’s very common to pay with credit or debit cards for online purchases. But also here, there are many big differences among the countries. For example, in the Netherlands the credit card isn’t very popular, because 84 percent of the Dutch use the national payment method iDeal for online purchases. And in Germany, consumers prefer to pay by invoice and digital wallets, followed by direct bank transfers. And did you know Portugal is the only country where Visa/Mastercard doesn’t appear in the top three of most popular payment methods?

Cash-on-delivery popular in Eastern Europe

In Eastern Europe, cash-on-delivery is still very popular. In Slovakia for example, 72 percent of online purchases is made this way! A huge advantage of this payment method is that online shoppers don’t have to give their personal data over the web and pay only when they have their goods in their hands. And in Poland, the majority of people (51 percent) use Payu, which is also popular in Turkey.

One might think that when you offer a digital wallet, Visa/Mastercard and a domestic bank credit or debit card, you can suite all shoppers in Europe. But each country has its own special needs when it comes to paying online. You should adapt your offer to each country if you don’t want to miss out on sales. These are the most popular payment methods per country, accompanied with the percentage per country.

Most popular payment method per country

Country	Payment method	%
Austria	Invoice	43%
Belgium	Visa/Mastercard	51%
Croatia	Digital wallet	53%
Czech Republic	Bank transfer	58%
Estonia	Bank transfer	67%
France	Visa/Mastercard	45%
Germany	Invoice	51%
Hungary	Cash-on-delivery	54%
Ireland	Digital wallet	46%
Latvia	Visa/Mastercard	56%
Italy	Digital wallet	51%
Lithuania	BankLink	66%
Netherlands	iDeal	84%
Poland	Bank transfer	52%
Portugal	Digital wallet	62%
Romania	Cash-on-delivery	69%
Slovakia	Cash-on-delivery	72%
Slovenia	Cash-on-delivery	53%
Spain	Digital wallet	57%
Switzerland	Visa/Mastercard	55%
UK	Digital wallet	46%

Source: Ecommerce News

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