Review of Checkout.com - a great payment gateway for your E-Commerce business?

Hannes Ausmees

24.08.22 (updated more than 1 year ago)

5 minute read

Payment gateways facilitate payments from customers to merchants, from traditional POS terminals to online ecommerce stores and everything in between. Payment gateways can also offer extra add-on services such as payouts to customers, fraud prevention and more.

There are a range of payment gateways to choose from if you’re looking for a way to get paid easily by your customers, or make global payouts - including Checkout.com, which we’ll look at in depth here.

This guide covers a full Checkout.com review, plus all you need to know about Checkout.com pricing, support and payment options. To help you keep more of your money when you trade internationally we’ll also cover Wise as a way to save money on conversion fees.

Table of contents
What is Checkout.com? Is Checkout.com safe? How Checkout.com works - payment processing and payouts Checkout.com pricing - what are the fees? Avoid high currency conversion fees with Wise Business Payment gateway comparison: Checkout.com vs Stripe vs Adyen Summary

What is Checkout.com?

Checkout.com¹ is a cloud based end-to-end payment platform, which offers incoming and outgoing payment support in a range of currencies, plus fraud detection and prevention services².

Checkout.com processing is available in 150+ countries³ including Singapore, USA, UK and more, with domestic processing on offer in close to 50 of them. Around 20 settlement currencies are available. Checkout.com also has local support teams in a range of locations around the world, to help businesses navigate local regulations in different areas - and so you’ll always be able to get the help you need when you need it.

checkout-com-homepage

Is Checkout.com safe?

Yes. Checkout.com is regulated by a range of bodies around the world - including the Monetary Authority of Singapore⁴. That means you know it follows legal requirements and industry best practices to keep customers and their money safe.

Among other security measures, Checkout.com offers 3D Secure authorisation, dispute management support, tokenisation, plus risk management and fraud prevention solutions⁵ .

How Checkout.com works - payment processing and payouts

Checkout.com supports ecommerce businesses to take payments from customers online, through mobile apps, social media channels and email. It also offers payout services for businesses involved with moving money around the world.

As a business owner you’ll be able to integrate Checkout.com to your site through its unified API (Application Programming Interface). This gives you the opportunity to add some or all of the functionality provided by Checkout.com to your site without having to build out your own solutions. Just pick the modules from Checkout.com that suit your specific business needs, and use the full API documentation and Checkout.com support to add these tools to your business.

Checkout.com - getting paid

Checkout.com supports an impressive range of local, regional and global payment methods, including⁶:

Apple Pay
Google Pay
AliPay
Touch n Go
WeChat Pay
And many more

By incorporating Checkout.com customers can pay for goods and services using their preferred payment method, and in many cases, using their local currency too. You’ll also be able to securely store payment details to make it easier for returning customers to buy again.

Checkout.com - payouts⁷

Checkout.com also supports global payouts to allow you to improve customer experience when moving money at scale.

From Singapore you can send money to customer banks cards, which can arrive in minutes - in a broad range of currencies. Part of Checkout.com’s service is in supporting regulatory requirements and fraud prevention, making this a safer way to add functionality to your business.

Checkout.com pricing - what are the fees?

Checkout.com pricing is based on the type of business you run and the associated risks. That means you’ll get a tailor made quote for a flat fee covering the services your business needs. Checkout.com also has granular and detailed data showing card-association fees, processor fees and interchange fees, so you can see exactly how much you’re paying for any given transaction.

Here’s what Checkout.com says about costs⁸:

No setup fees
No account maintenance fees
Full visibility of the cost of accepting payments
No surprise fees

As part of the fees you pay you’ll also get data migration assistance and risk and fraud management tools.

One other cost that’s worth knowing about is the Checkout.com FX fee⁹ which applies if you’re paid by a customer in one currency, and get a pay out to your bank in another. In this case, you’ll pay an exchange rate markup of 1.99%. This is a fairly standard charge in payment gateways - but you may be able to save money if you choose to get payouts to a low cost multi-currency account, like Wise. More on that, next.

Avoid high currency conversion fees with Wise Business

Connecting with customers all over the world can be great for growing your revenue - but your profits can take a hit if you need to pay high fees for currency conversion.

One smart option is to use a Wise Business account. Wise provides local bank details to receive money from platforms like Checkout.com in 9 different currencies, including SGD, USD, EUR, GBP - and exchange it with low costs and the mid-market exchange rate.

Wise-card-business
Illustration of Wise Business products

Wise business accounts can hold and exchange 50+ currencies, and make payments to 80+ countries. You’ll also be able to get linked international debit cards for you and your team to make it easier to manage your business spending and employee expenses day to day. See how much you can save with Wise Business today.

Learn more about Wise Business

Payment gateway comparison: Checkout.com vs Stripe vs Adyen

To help you decide if Checkout.com is the best payment gateway for you, let’s compare it with another couple of industry leaders - here’s a summary of Checkout.com vs stripe and Checkout.com vs Adyen.

There’s more on Stripe - including what it is and how Stripe fees work, in this Stripe payment guide. Or, learn more about Adyen in this full Adyen review.

	Checkout.com	Stripe	Adyen
Available currencies	150+	135+ currencies¹⁰	Customers can pay through Dynamic Currency Conversion in 30+ currencies¹³ 30 settlement currencies
Payment methods accepted	Huge range of local, regional and global payment methods, including: Apple Pay Google Pay AliPay Touch n Go WeChat Pay And many more	Payment options vary based on your location. Singapore users can accept Visa, Mastercard, China UnionPay debit cards	Payment options vary based on your location.
Integrated payment platform	Flat fees with granular visibility of all costs involved with payment processing	Fees vary by location and payment method For example, in Singapore: 3.4% + 0.5 SGD per card transaction¹¹ In the US: 2.9% + 0.3 USD per card transaction¹²	Fees vary by location and payment method Generally around: 0.12 USD + a % fee based on the card type (often 3% - 4%)¹⁴ Monthly minimum invoicing also applies
Currency conversion	1.99%	Fees vary by location and payment method For example, in Singapore: 2% markup is applied per card transaction In the US: additional 1% fee for currency conversion + 1% for foreign card use	Fees vary by currency Generally costs range from 1.2% - 3%¹⁵

Summary

If you’re running an online business and need smart ways to connect to customers around the world, payment gateways are a great solution. Take a look at Checkout.com for easy integrated payment solutions and options for global payouts.

And don’t forget, if you get paid in foreign currencies, you could get more flexibility and a better exchange rate if you withdraw your funds directly to a Wise Business account and switch your money to the currency you need with Wise’s low fees and mid-market exchange rates.

Sources:

Sources checked on 24.08.2022

*Please see terms of use and product availability for your region or visit Wise fees and pricing for the most up to date pricing and fee information.

This publication is provided for general information purposes and does not constitute legal, tax or other professional advice from Wise Payments Limited or its subsidiaries and its affiliates, and it is not intended as a substitute for obtaining advice from a financial advisor or any other professional.

We make no representations, warranties or guarantees, whether expressed or implied, that the content in the publication is accurate, complete or up to date.