Shopify Payments Explained: Rates, Payouts, Holds and Alternatives

Shopify Payments is Shopify's built-in payment processor. It lets your store accept credit and debit cards, Shop Pay and other payment methods without signing up for a separate merchant account, and it's managed from your Shopify admin. The main reason to use it is cost: when Shopify Payments is your only card processor, you pay just the card rate for your plan and no third-party transaction fee.

As of October 2026, Shopify Payments is available in 40 countries and regions, including the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, Japan and most of the European Union. US online card rates run from 2.9% + 30¢ on Basic down to a published 2.25% + 30¢ on Plus. US payouts settle in a minimum of 3 business days.

This guide explains how Shopify Payments works, where it's available, what it costs, how payouts and holds work, how disputes are handled and what to do if you can't use it. For the full list of per-sale fees, see our Shopify transaction fees guide, and for the rest of the series, visit the Shopify hub.

What Shopify Payments is

Shopify Payments is the payment provider that "integrates directly with your checkout," in the words of Shopify's Help Center. Once it's set up, you can accept major credit and debit cards, accelerated checkouts such as Shop Pay, and local payment methods, all from one account.

Shopify lists the main advantages as:

• You pay only the card rate, "without additional third-party transaction fees."
• Customers enter payment details at checkout without leaving your store.
• Setup happens in your Shopify admin instead of on another provider's website.
• You can see payouts in real time in your admin.

It also unlocks features that depend on it. Shopify's pricing page marks built-in fraud analysis, local currency pricing, local payment methods and shipping insurance as requiring Shopify Payments, and Shop Pay Installments, Shopify Protect and Managed Markets all need it too.

Where Shopify Payments is available

According to Shopify's supported countries page, Shopify Payments is available to businesses in these 40 countries and regions as of October 2026:

Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Hong Kong SAR, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and United States.

Availability depends on where your business is based, not where your customers are. In-person availability has its own list, so check it separately if you plan to sell with Shopify POS. Slovakia, for example, isn't on the online list.

Even in a supported country, you may be asked to verify personal and business information before you can accept payments or receive payouts. Shopify's US page notes that "You might be required to verify personal information and business information."

Shopify Payments rates

Your card rate depends on your Shopify plan. These are the US online and in-person rates from Shopify's pricing page:

Rates are different in other countries. For example, UK stores on Basic pay 2% + 25p for standard online cards, and Canadian stores on Basic pay 2.8% + 30¢. You can check your own rate in your admin under Settings, then Payments, then Manage, where Shopify lists your domestic and rest-of-world card rates.

If you change plans, your Shopify Payments rate updates automatically. Card fees aren't returned when you refund an order. In Switzerland, the EU, Australia and Singapore, Shopify adds tax to its processing fees, which you can see on the Payouts page.

Using Shopify Payments with other providers

You can offer PayPal or manual payment methods (cash on delivery, bank transfer and similar) alongside Shopify Payments without paying extra third-party fees. Shopify's pricing overview says orders paid through Shopify Payments, Shop Pay, Shop Pay Installments, PayPal Express Checkout or manual methods don't attract the third-party fee when Shopify Payments is active.

Adding a second card processor is different. If you run Shopify Payments alongside a direct third-party provider, Shopify's Help Center says:

• Transactions processed by your third-party provider pay the normal third-party fee for your plan.
• Transactions processed by Shopify Payments, such as Shop Pay and local payment methods, "are charged at standard Shopify Payments rates plus a 1.25% premium."

Unless you have a strong reason to run two card processors, that premium makes it expensive.

How payouts work

A payout is the transfer of your sales, minus fees, refunds and chargebacks, from Shopify Payments to your bank account. Shopify's payout timing guide explains the rules.

• Schedule: you can choose daily, weekly or monthly payouts, and switching is free. Merchants in Japan can't choose daily payouts.
• Settlement time: funds become available after a minimum settlement time that depends on your country, risk level and payment method. Only business days count.
• Bank processing: once a payout is sent, banks typically take 1 to 3 business days to show it.
• Weekends: payments captured on Friday, Saturday and Sunday are grouped into one payout.

Shopify gives a worked example: an order on Friday with a 3-business-day settlement time is paid out on Wednesday. If you use Shopify Balance, Shopify says payouts can arrive "within 1 business day," although new merchants can wait up to 5 business days.

Changing your payout bank account pauses payouts for 3 to 5 business days while Shopify verifies the new account. Plan bank changes around busy sales periods.

Holds, reserves and custom payout schedules

Shopify can slow or hold payouts when it sees risk. Its Help Center lists the common reasons for an account review or hold:

• Chargeback disputes
• Compliance checks or possible violations of the Shopify Payments terms
• Customer complaints
• High-risk orders
• Fraud or compliance investigations by Shopify's financial partners
• Fulfillment issues
• Onboarding steps that need more documents or verification

Shopify may also keep part of your funds as a reserve "to cover potential losses from disputes or refunds." You can keep accepting payments, but you receive the full amount later. Accounts "deemed higher risk" can be moved to custom payout schedules of 5 to 20 business days.

Other causes of delays include an incomplete setup (for example, no bank account added), a negative balance from refunds or chargebacks, and tax ID problems. The store owner is notified in the admin or by email when a hold is placed, so make sure the right people on your team receive payout notifications.

Most of those triggers are within your control. Complete verification as soon as you activate Shopify Payments, ship orders on time with tracking, answer customer complaints before they become disputes and respond quickly to any request for documents in your admin.

Disputes and chargebacks

When a customer disputes a charge, Shopify withdraws the disputed amount and a chargeback fee ($15 in the US) right away. You then have "usually 7-21 days" to submit evidence, and the card company can take up to 75 days to decide. If you win, the amount and the fee come back. Shopify doesn't decide the outcome, and there's no appeal once the bank rules.

Shopify Payments includes some order information in your response automatically, and the admin shows your chargeback rate. Keep it low: Shopify warns that a high chargeback rate "can affect your Shopify Payments store status and eligibility for features, such as the Shop app."

US merchants also get Shopify Protect, free fraud chargeback protection for eligible orders paid with Shop Pay. It applies to physical products, and orders need to be fulfilled with tracking within set time limits. Check the Shopify Protect eligibility rules in the Help Center before relying on it.

For more on preventing fraud and account problems, see our Shopify security guide.

Setting up Shopify Payments

1. In your Shopify admin, go to Settings, then Payments.
2. Choose to activate Shopify Payments and enter your business details, personal details and tax information.
3. Add the bank account that will receive payouts (or a Shopify Balance account in the US).
4. Pick your payout schedule.
5. Turn on the payment methods you want, such as Shop Pay, and review which local methods are available in your markets.
6. Place a test order before launch. Our Shopify launch checklist lists the other pre-launch checks.

US merchants should also read Shopify's page on Form 1099-K reporting for Shopify Payments, since payments processed through it are reported for tax purposes.

When you can't use Shopify Payments, and the alternatives

You'll need another option if your business is based outside the 40 supported countries, if you're not approved, or if you sell something your country's Shopify Payments terms don't allow. Shopify's pricing FAQ says simply that "Shopify Payments is available only in certain countries."

Your alternatives are:

• A third-party payment provider that integrates with Shopify. You pay that provider's fees plus Shopify's third-party transaction fee: 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow, 0.6% on Advanced or 0.2% on Plus.
• PayPal Express Checkout, as an extra option alongside your main processor.
• Manual payment methods such as bank transfer or cash on delivery, which suit some B2B and local businesses.

If you must use a third-party provider, the third-party fee changes the plan math. On Basic, a 2% fee on $10,000 of monthly sales is $200, while on Grow it's $100. That gap can justify a higher plan sooner than it would with Shopify Payments. Our plan comparison includes break-even points for third-party gateways.

Conclusion

For most stores in supported countries, Shopify Payments is the cheapest and simplest way to get paid on Shopify. It removes the third-party transaction fee, keeps payouts and disputes in one admin, and unlocks features such as Shop Pay Installments and local currency pricing. Complete verification early, keep your chargeback rate low and avoid running a second card processor unless you need one. If you're setting up or migrating a store and want payments, checkout and tracking configured properly, eSEOspace can help through our Shopify website design service.

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