How to Add Local Payment Methods on Shopify (2026)

Adding Shopify local payment methods is the single most impactful change COD merchants in emerging markets can make — yet most stores never do it. Shopify Payments supports 23 countries. If your customers are in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Egypt, or the Philippines, that list doesn't help you. The default payment setup covers Stripe, PayPal, and Shop Pay — none of which your COD customers use or trust.

Meanwhile, the MENA digital payments market hit $248 billion in 2025 and is projected to reach $462 billion by 2031. Mobile wallets like JazzCash, bKash, GCash, and STC Pay are growing fast in markets where COD still dominates. Your customers want to pay digitally — they just don't want to use a credit card. If your Shopify store only offers COD and card payments, you're missing the middle ground where most of the payment shift is actually happening.

Why Local Payment Methods Matter for COD Stores

COD orders have return-to-origin (RTO) rates between 25% and 40%. Prepaid orders sit below 5%. That gap is the single biggest margin killer in emerging market ecommerce.

But asking a COD customer to pay by credit card doesn't work. Most don't have one. In Pakistan, over 60% of online shoppers prefer mobile wallets like JazzCash and EasyPaisa over cards. In the Philippines, GCash processes more ecommerce transactions than all credit cards combined. These aren't alternative payment methods — they're the primary ones.

Adding local digital payment options alongside COD gives customers a prepaid path they'll actually use. Merchants who introduce digital payment options alongside COD report 20–40% lower RTO within the first 60 days. You're not removing COD. You're giving customers a reason to prepay before the courier shows up. (For a deeper look at the COD-to-prepaid shift, see our COD-to-prepaid conversion playbook.)

Which Shopify Local Payment Methods Are Supported Natively?

Shopify Payments includes some local payment methods — iDEAL in the Netherlands, Bancontact in Belgium, PIX in Brazil. If you're in one of the 23 supported countries, these activate automatically in your Shopify Payments settings.

But Shopify Payments isn't available in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Egypt, Iraq, or most of Southeast Asia outside Singapore. For these markets, you need third-party payment gateways that connect to your store through Shopify's payment provider system.

That's where most guides stop. They tell you to "use a supported gateway" without specifying which ones actually work in your market. Here's the region-by-region breakdown.

Pakistan: JazzCash, EasyPaisa, and bSecure

Pakistan has two dominant mobile wallets: JazzCash (50+ million accounts) and EasyPaisa. Neither has a native Shopify integration, but there are two solid paths:

• CartDNA's JazzCash app — a Shopify-approved app that integrates JazzCash directly into Shopify checkout. Install the app, enter your JazzCash merchant API credentials, and activate. Customers pay via JazzCash wallet or mobile account during checkout.
• bSecure — a Pakistani payment aggregator that bundles JazzCash, EasyPaisa, NIFT, HBL, and Qisstpay into a single checkout integration. One install covers multiple local methods.

If you're only selling in Pakistan, bSecure is the simpler choice. One integration, multiple wallets. If JazzCash is your primary payment method and you want tighter control, the CartDNA app gives you a direct connection.

Bangladesh: bKash and SSLCommerz

bKash dominates Bangladesh with over 70 million active accounts. It's how most Bangladeshis pay for everything from groceries to ecommerce.

The most reliable Shopify integration path is through SSLCommerz, Bangladesh's largest payment gateway. SSLCommerz supports bKash, Nagad, Rocket, and all major local banks through a single integration. They have a Shopify plugin that adds these methods to your checkout.

Setup involves creating an SSLCommerz merchant account, getting API credentials approved, and installing their Shopify app. Approval typically takes 3–5 business days for Bangladeshi businesses.

Philippines: GCash, Maya, and Dragonpay

GCash has over 90 million registered users in the Philippines — in a country of 115 million. Maya (formerly PayMaya) is the second largest wallet.

Two integration options work well on Shopify:

• Dragonpay — a Philippine payment gateway that supports GCash, Maya, bank transfers, and over-the-counter cash payments at 7-Eleven and other retail outlets. Dragonpay has an existing Shopify integration through their payment module.
• PayMongo — a newer Philippine gateway with a cleaner API and Shopify app that supports GCash, Maya, and card payments. If you're starting fresh, PayMongo's developer experience is smoother.

For the Philippines specifically, enabling GCash at checkout is the single highest-impact payment change you can make. It removes the biggest barrier to prepayment in a market where most customers don't carry cards but have a GCash balance.

MENA: STC Pay, Fawry, and Tap Payments

The MENA region is the most varied. Saudi Arabia hit 79% non-cash retail transactions by Q1 2025, surpassing its Vision 2030 target. Egypt still runs 70%+ COD. You need different approaches for each.

Saudi Arabia and UAE: Tap Payments is the strongest Shopify-compatible gateway for the Gulf. It supports STC Pay, Apple Pay, Mada (Saudi debit network), and KNET (Kuwait). Tap has a Shopify app and handles the regional card networks that Stripe doesn't cover.

Egypt: Fawry is the dominant payment method — customers generate a reference number at checkout and pay at one of 250,000+ Fawry outlets. For Shopify integration, Paymob is the most reliable gateway. It supports Fawry, Vodafone Cash, and local card payments through a single integration.

For merchants selling across multiple MENA countries, Tap Payments covers the Gulf states while Paymob handles Egypt. Two integrations cover the entire region. If you're entering the Saudi market specifically, our STC Pay guide for Shopify merchants covers the full payment landscape.

How to Set Up a Third-Party Payment Gateway on Shopify

The process is the same regardless of which gateway you choose:

1. Create a merchant account with the payment provider. This requires business registration documents and bank account details. Approval takes 2–7 days depending on the provider.
2. Get your API credentials — the gateway gives you a merchant ID, API key, and secret key after approval.
3. Install the gateway's Shopify app from the Shopify App Store, or add it as a manual payment provider under Settings → Payments → Additional payment methods.
4. Enter your API credentials in the app's settings panel.
5. Test with a real transaction — send a small payment through the full flow. Don't skip this. Gateway sandboxes don't catch every issue.
6. Enable the payment method in your store's checkout settings.

One thing most guides miss: if you're running COD alongside digital payments, the checkout needs to clearly present both options. Customers should see "Pay with JazzCash" and "Cash on Delivery" as equal choices — not one buried under the other.

Running COD and Digital Payments Side by Side

The goal isn't to replace COD overnight. It's to offer a prepaid alternative that nudges customers toward digital payment without forcing the switch.

Three tactics that work:

• Offer a small discount for prepaid orders. Even 5% off shifts buyer behavior. Frame it as a "digital payment discount" rather than a "COD fee" — same economics, better psychology.
• Show the digital wallet option first. Order matters in payment selection. When GCash or JazzCash appears above COD in the payment list, more customers choose it — not because COD isn't available, but because the digital option is the path of least resistance.
• Use partial payments as a bridge. Some customers aren't ready to prepay the full amount but will pay a deposit. A 10–20% deposit collected through a mobile wallet, with the rest on delivery, gives you commitment without forcing a full payment shift. EasySell's partial payment feature handles this directly on the order form — the customer picks their deposit amount and pays via their preferred method.

Which Payment Gateway Should You Use for Each Market?

Pick the gateway that covers your primary market first. If you sell across multiple regions, you'll likely need two gateways — one for your main market and one for secondary countries. Don't try to find a single provider that covers everything. The best local coverage comes from local providers.

Start with one market, one gateway, one wallet. Get the integration live, monitor conversion rates for 30 days, and measure how many customers choose digital over COD. That data tells you whether to expand — and where your customers are already ready to stop paying cash.