PayPal Plus becomes PayPal Checkout: with the new PayPal Checkout, PayPal wants to recommend itself as a partner especially for the needs of smaller online shops. the focus is on the simple connection of foreign payment methods and a PayPal-independent purchase on account.
The payment service provider is thereby strengthening its commitment as a so-called Payment Service Provider and increasing the range of payment methods from a single source.
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Through the well-known PayPal Plus merchants have so far been able to offer the PayPal payment methods frequently used in Germany, including PayPal's own invoice and installment purchase, credit card and direct debit, with one integration.
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The new PayPal Checkout now replaces this offering and provides both existing and new merchant customers with a broader payment method portfolio (see below).
New Payment Methods
Giropay and Sofort are added as German payment methods in PayPal Checkout.
In addition, PayPal Checkout allows flexible selection of local foreign payment methods.
Store operators can now choose from eleven different methods: iDeal (Netherlands), Bancontact (Belgium), eps (Austria), My Bank (Italy), Przelewy24 and Blik (both Poland), Trustly (Sweden/Germany), Mercado Pago (Argentina/Latin America), Satispay (Italy/Germany), Safety Pay (South America) and Multibanco (Portugal).
Fees unchanged
For the payment methods already used by PayPal Plus, the costs remain the same after the changeover to PayPal Checkout, and the individually agreed terms and conditions also remain valid. For newly added payment methods, PayPal's fees for alternative payment methods apply. By default, these amount to 2.49 percent of the shopping cart value plus a currency-dependent, fixed transaction fee. In euro countries, this is 0.35 euros, for Poland, for example, 1.35 zloty, the equivalent of 0.29 euros.
New purchase on account
A new feature is the purchase on account option, which is also available to non-PayPal customers. PayPal has brought the invoice purchase specialist Ratepay on board for this. The maximum amount is 2,500 euros, and the payment term is also 30 days. The merchant receives his money immediately.
Unlike PayPal's own invoice purchase, the customer must settle the invoice independently within this period. With the PayPal option "Pay in 30 days", the amount is automatically debited from the user's bank account after 30 days. Therefore, this offer is also only available for PayPal users. The maximum amount is 1,000 euros.
Payment pause with “Pay Later”
PayPal bundles its "Buy now, pay later" options under the extra button "Pay later". Merchants can now integrate this directly into their product detail pages to make their customers aware of the option to defer or pause payment. Installment payment in 3, 6, 12 or 24 monthly installments is also linked to the button.
Deeper entry into the service buisness
With its expanded "Checkout" offering, PayPal is penetrating deeper into the market segment of payment service providers that enable merchants to easily integrate different payment methods.The company took a first step in this direction in 2015 with the introduction of PayPal Plus. This allows PayPal to benefit not only from transaction fees for PayPal payments, but also for payments by credit card and direct debit. At the same time, the payment service provider is trying to bind smaller and medium-sized merchants more strongly with an all-round carefree package - there is only one uniform transaction fee, one account, one contractual partner.
"We have greatly expanded our offering in recent years," says Jörg Kablitz, PayPal's Managing Director for the DACH region. "PayPal has developed into a comprehensive partner for small and medium-sized merchants. We offer them diverse solutions from a single source that go far beyond payment and support merchants across all sales channels. PayPal Checkout is another step in this development."
PayPal currently has 32 million active customers in Germany. In addition to private customers, these include merchant customers who use PayPal and PayPal products such as zettle.
The following regional payment methods are available at the launch of PayPal Checkout:
| Payment method | Countries | Currencies |
|---|---|---|
| Bancontact | Belgium | EURO |
| BLIK | Poland | PLN |
| Przelewy24 | Poland | PLN |
| eps | Austria | EURO |
| giropay | Germany | EURO |
| iDEAL | Netherlands | EURO |
| Multibanco | Portugal | EURO |
| MyBank | Italy | EURO |
| OXXO | Mexico | MXN |
| Sofort | Austria Belgium Germany Spain Italy Netherlands United Kingdom | EURO/GBP |
| Trustly | Estonia Finnland Netherlands Sweden | EURO/SKR |
How Smartstore merchants switch to PayPal Checkout
PayPal Checkout will be supported starting with Smartstore 5.
You as a Smartstore merchant using PayPal Plus up until and including Smartstore version 4.2 can upgrade to the new Smartstore version 5 soon, PayPal Checkout is already integrated in the Paypal plugin for Smartstore 5 .
So you don't have to do anything more than simply update your store system to version 5. This is especially convenient for shop owners with Smartstore Premium Flat or Platinum Support: our support team will update the store for you! Smartstore 5 will be available shortly, in the 3rd quarter of 2022.
Do you have any questions about "PayPal Checkout"? Or would like to send us your feedback? If so, you can reach us via the contact form, by email to info@smartstore.com or call us from Monday through Friday between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. at +49 231 5335 0.