Shopify Payment Gateways for COD Markets (2026)

EasySell
2026-04-13T15:25:32+01:00

Shopify Payments works in 39 countries. If you're selling COD in Pakistan, Egypt, Nigeria, Vietnam, or Colombia, yours isn't one of them — and choosing the right Shopify payment gateways for COD markets is the difference between 2% and 5% per transaction.

That means you need a third-party payment gateway — and Shopify charges you an extra fee on top of whatever that gateway costs. Pick the wrong one and you're paying 4-5% per transaction before you've shipped a single order. Pick the right one and you get local payment methods your customers actually trust, faster settlements, and a checkout that doesn't feel foreign.

This guide maps the best payment gateways to each major COD region so you can stop guessing and start selling.

Why COD Markets Get a Raw Deal on Payment Gateways

Shopify Payments expanded from 23 to 39 countries between 2024 and 2026. Most additions were Eastern European nations plus Mexico. Not a single major COD market made the list.

That matters because Shopify Payments is the only way to avoid Shopify's additional transaction fee. Use any third-party gateway and you'll pay 2% extra on the Basic plan, 1% on Grow, or 0.6% on Advanced — on every transaction. That's on top of whatever your gateway charges.

Quick math: if your gateway charges 2.5% and you're on Shopify Basic, you're paying 4.5% per online transaction. On a ₹2,000 order in India, that's ₹90 gone before shipping costs. For stores running tight margins on COD (where failed deliveries already eat 10-15% of revenue), every percentage point matters.

The other problem: most international gateways don't support the local payment methods your customers prefer. A customer in Saudi Arabia wants to pay with mada. A customer in the Philippines wants GCash. If your gateway only processes Visa and Mastercard, you're leaving prepaid conversions on the table — which is exactly the revenue COD merchants need to grow.

MENA: PayTabs and Tap Payments Cover the Region

Two gateways dominate Shopify stores in the Middle East and North Africa.

PayTabs has the widest coverage: UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Oman, Jordan, Kuwait, Iraq, Morocco, and Qatar. It supports Visa, Mastercard, mada, Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, STC Pay, and a long list of local methods — including BNPL options like Tamara and Tabby. For Egyptian merchants, PayTabs handles local methods like Aman and ValU that no international gateway supports.

Tap Payments is strongest in the GCC (Kuwait, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman). It powers over 100,000 businesses and has a native Shopify plugin that integrates directly into checkout. Tap supports mada, KNET, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and SADAD — the payment methods Gulf shoppers actually use.

Which one to pick depends on where you're selling:

GCC only: Tap Payments — tighter integration, built specifically for Gulf markets

Egypt, Morocco, Iraq, or multi-country MENA: PayTabs — wider geographic coverage and more local payment methods

Saudi Arabia or UAE: Either works. Test both and compare settlement times for your volume

South Asia: Razorpay Leads, Cashfree Competes on Price

India is the biggest Shopify market without Shopify Payments. Two gateways handle the bulk of Indian Shopify transactions.

Razorpay charges 2% on domestic transactions and 3% on international cards. It supports UPI, cards, net banking, and wallets — over 100 payment methods. Shopify integration is straightforward, and Razorpay's documentation is among the best of any regional gateway. Most Indian Shopify merchants default to Razorpay for good reason.

Cashfree undercuts on price: 1.95% for domestic transactions (and a promotional 1.6% flat rate for new signups through April 2026). International cards run 3.5% + ₹7 per transaction. If you're processing high volume, that 0.05% difference adds up.

For Pakistan and Bangladesh, the gateway landscape is thinner. Most merchants use third-party integrations through local providers like JazzCash or bKash for mobile money, with a traditional gateway (often 2Checkout or PayPal) handling card payments. Neither country has a dominant Shopify-native gateway yet — which is one reason COD remains so dominant there. For a deeper look at these markets, see our guide on COD ecommerce in Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Southeast Asia: PayMongo for the Philippines, Regional Gaps Elsewhere

PayMongo is the go-to for Philippine Shopify merchants. It supports GCash, GrabPay, Maya (formerly PayMaya), credit/debit cards, and over-the-counter payments at 7-Eleven and Cebuana Lhuillier. Setup takes under 5 minutes through their Shopify plugin, and they're PCI-DSS Level 1 certified.

The Philippines is a standout because PayMongo covers both digital and cash-based payment methods. A customer can pay via GCash (digital wallet) or walk into a 7-Eleven and pay cash for an online order. That hybrid approach bridges the gap between COD and prepaid in a market where 78% of orders are still COD.

Vietnam and Thailand are harder. Neither has a Shopify-native gateway as polished as PayMongo. Vietnamese merchants typically use VNPay or OnePay through Shopify's third-party provider list, while Thai merchants rely on Omise (now Opn Payments) or 2C2P. Check Shopify's payment provider directory for your specific country — the options change frequently.

Latin America: Mercado Pago Is the Default

Mercado Pago operates in Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Colombia, Peru, and Uruguay. It's the closest thing Latin America has to a universal payment gateway. For Colombian merchants — where "contraentrega" (COD) dominates — Mercado Pago supports PSE (bank transfers), Efecty (cash payments), and local cards alongside Visa and Mastercard.

The integration is solid. Mercado Pago has a dedicated Shopify app that handles checkout natively. Customers see familiar payment branding, which matters in markets where trust is a conversion factor. A checkout page showing PSE and Efecty logos converts better than one showing only international card brands.

For Mexico specifically, Shopify Payments is now available — making Mexico the only major COD-heavy market with native support. If you're selling in Mexico, use Shopify Payments and skip the third-party fee entirely.

Africa: Limited Options, Growing Fast

Nigeria and Egypt are Africa's two largest ecommerce markets, and neither has Shopify Payments. Egyptian merchants have PayTabs (covered above). Nigerian merchants have fewer choices.

Paystack (acquired by Stripe) is the most common Shopify gateway in Nigeria. It handles local cards, bank transfers, and USSD payments. Flutterwave is the main alternative, with broader African coverage across Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, and other markets.

Both gateways charge around 1.5% for local transactions (capped at specific amounts). The challenge isn't the gateway fee — it's that most Nigerian shoppers don't trust online payments. COD still accounts for the majority of ecommerce orders, and no gateway solves that trust gap on its own.

How to Set Up COD Alongside Your Prepaid Gateway

Every COD merchant should offer prepaid as an option. Even if 80% of your orders are COD today, that 20% prepaid revenue is more profitable — no failed deliveries, no cash handling, no courier remittance delays.

The setup in Shopify is straightforward:

1. Go to Settings → Payments in your Shopify admin

2. Under Alternative payment methods, add your regional gateway (PayTabs, Razorpay, PayMongo, etc.)

3. Under Manual payment methods, add Cash on Delivery

4. Configure your gateway's supported payment methods (enable local options like mada, UPI, or GCash)

5. Test a transaction end-to-end before going live

The key is making prepaid attractive enough that customers choose it over COD. Offer a small discount (3-5%) for prepaid orders, or use partial payments — collect a deposit online and the rest on delivery. This reduces your failed delivery risk while keeping COD available for customers who need it. Our COD-to-prepaid conversion playbook covers the full strategy. EasySell's order form supports partial payments and COD/prepaid switching directly on the product page, so customers choose their payment method before checkout.

What Does a Payment Gateway Actually Cost on Shopify?

Most merchants compare gateways by transaction fee alone. That's a mistake. Your real cost per transaction is:

Gateway fee + Shopify's third-party fee + currency conversion fee (if applicable)

A gateway charging 1.5% looks cheap until you add Shopify's 2% Basic plan fee and a 1% currency conversion surcharge. That's 4.5% — and you haven't counted chargebacks or failed COD deliveries yet.

Three ways to reduce your total payment cost:

Upgrade your Shopify plan. Moving from Basic (2% third-party fee) to Grow (1%) pays for itself once your monthly revenue crosses roughly $3,000 in online payments

Push prepaid volume. Every order that's paid online — even partially — reduces your COD costs (failed deliveries, courier fees, cash handling). A 10% shift from COD to prepaid often saves more than any gateway fee reduction

Negotiate with your gateway. Most regional gateways offer volume discounts. If you're processing over $5,000/month, ask. The worst they can say is no

The payment gateway you choose today shapes your unit economics for every order you'll process this year. Spend an hour setting up the right one for your market. The compounding difference between a 2% and a 4% total transaction cost will show up in your margins every single month.