Shopify Payments is the payment provider built into Shopify. It takes cards, Shop Pay and other wallets, then sends the money to your bank daily, weekly or monthly. In the US, an online card sale costs 2.9% + 30¢ on Basic, and Shopify adds no transaction fee. Shopify's list names 41 countries and regions where it works.
A first busy week ends, and the payout page still reads Pending. Then an email says your payouts are on hold while Shopify reviews your account. Shopify Payments spares you Shopify's transaction fee. Its timing and its holds are what catch you out.
What is Shopify Payments?
Shopify Payments is Shopify's own payment provider: it charges the shopper's card or wallet and pays the money into your bank, all from your Shopify admin. Behind it, Shopify names processing partners such as Stripe, PayPal or Adyen, depending on your region.
In the US, Shopify Payments takes Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover and Diners Club. Apple Pay and Google Pay switch on with it, and so does Shop Pay, the checkout that remembers a shopper's card and address, as what is Shop Pay explains. Shopify says its platform is certified Level 1 under PCI DSS, the card industry's security standard.
What does Shopify Payments cost?
In the US, an online card sale costs 2.9% + 30¢ on Basic, with no setup or monthly fee of its own and no Shopify transaction fee on top. A premium card costs 3.5% + 30¢, a card from abroad adds 1%, and a card in person costs 2.6% + 10¢. PayPal Wallet starts at 3.49% + 49¢. Grow, Advanced and Plus pay lower rates, and our Shopify pricing guide lists every plan's rate.
Say an $80 order on Basic: the card fee is $2.62.
Orders paid through Shopify Payments, Shop Pay, Shop Pay Installments or manual payments don't carry Shopify's transaction fee. PayPal orders skip it too, as long as Shopify Payments is your main provider.
Two costs are easy to miss. Refunding an order doesn't give the card fee back, whether you shipped it or not. A sale in another currency costs you a conversion fee, 1.5% if your store is in the US and 2% elsewhere, covered in Shopify multi currency.
If another card provider is your main one, its card sales pay Shopify's transaction fee. Shop Pay orders then cost the usual Shopify Payments rate plus 1.25%. To see your own rates, go to Settings, then Payments, and click "Manage", the button in the Shopify Payments section.
How do you set up Shopify Payments?
Open Settings, then Payments, click Activate Shopify Payments, submit your personal and business details for verification, then add the bank account your payouts go to. You qualify when:
- Your business is in a country on Shopify's list, further down this page.
- What you sell isn't on Shopify's prohibited list. It names regulated goods such as cannabis, tobacco and firearms, plus crypto, adult content, gambling and counterfeits.
- You're at least 18. Otherwise a parent or guardian sets it up.
- Two-step authentication is on for your account.
- In your Shopify admin, go to Settings, then Payments. In the Shopify Payments section, click "Activate Shopify Payments".
- Enter your personal, address and ID details, then click Next.
- Add your business details and the phone number shoppers see on their bank statement.
- Review your business type and store details, click Confirm, then "Submit for verification", which sends it to Shopify to check.
- Once Shopify verifies your account, click "Add bank account" in the same section and connect the bank your payouts go to.
- Click Manage, then pick daily, weekly or monthly under Payouts schedule and save.
Shopify's Help Center lists these steps, read November 10, 2026.
- Only the store owner can turn it on. A store on another provider can switch without turning that one off first.
- Early orders have a deadline. Some new stores take orders before setup is done. Finish by the deadline your admin shows, or Shopify cancels those orders.
- Test mode comes after setup. It needs a paid plan, and it can't test Shop Pay Installments, PayPal Wallet or card readers in person.
When do Shopify Payments payouts arrive?
In the US, money usually reaches your bank 3 to 5 business days after a payment is captured, on the daily, weekly or monthly schedule you pick. Captured means the card is charged, not just authorized. The minimum wait, which Shopify calls settlement time, is 3 business days, and a new store starts on a longer one that can shorten as it ships orders on time.
Weekends and holidays don't count. Sales from Friday, Saturday and Sunday go out together in one payout. In Shopify's own example, at a three-day settlement time, a Friday sale's payout goes out the next Wednesday.
Once Shopify sends a payout, your bank can take 1 to 3 days to show it. Shopify sets no minimum payout amount in the US. For the other countries in Shopify's table, the minimum settlement time runs from 2 business days in Australia to 7 in Mexico.
Three changes move the date. Changing your payout bank account after setup pauses payouts for 3 to 5 business days. A new schedule holds pending money until the next date on it. In the US, a Shopify Balance account can receive payouts within 1 business day, Shopify says, and moving payouts there causes no pause.
To track your money, go to Settings, then Payments, and click "View payouts". It lists each payout as pending, in transit, paid or failed.
Why would Shopify hold your payouts?
Shopify can pause payouts while it reviews your account, or keep part of each sale in a reserve for a set period to cover chargebacks and refunds. Say a launch week triples your sales, and the next email says 10% of every sale now waits 120 days.
Shopify's Help Center gives these reasons for a hold:
- Chargebacks, customer complaints or high-risk orders.
- Fulfillment problems.
- Missing onboarding documents or wrong bank details.
- Products or a business type Shopify Payments doesn't support.
- Compliance checks, sanctions, or legal action by a creditor.
During a hold, your store stays open, and in most cases shoppers can still check out. In some cases, though, your store can't take new orders. Only the store owner can see the details, and Shopify writes to the owner's email address. Check your spam folder, and watch for fake emails that copy these notices.
A reserve is a different hold. Part of each sale, sometimes all of it, waits for a set period, and what's left at the end comes back in full. Shopify's examples are 10% of each sale or a flat $1,000, each held for 120 days. Long billing cycles, chargebacks, a high refund rate and sudden jumps in sales can all bring one. So can a long wait before delivery, and Shopify names event organizers, custom orders and pre-orders.
Your payouts page then splits the balance into Pending and Reserve. To appeal, reply to the email that set the reserve terms within the time it gives. Some reserves can't be appealed. An account Shopify judges higher risk can also get a custom schedule of 5 to 20 business days, and Support can't shorten it on request.
Which countries can use Shopify Payments?
Shopify's list names 41 countries and regions, and if your business is outside them, you use another provider and pay Shopify's transaction fee on each sale.
The list covers every EU country except Slovakia, plus the UK, Gibraltar, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. Beyond Europe it covers the US, Canada and Mexico, Australia and New Zealand, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong SAR and the UAE. China is in early access, by invitation only. Selling in person has a separate country list.
Outside the list, Shopify's transaction fee comes on top of your provider's own rate: 2% of each sale on Basic, 1% on Grow, 0.6% on Advanced and 0.2% on Plus. On an $80 order on Basic, that is $1.60 before the provider's cut. When you refund, Shopify credits its fee back in proportion, which it doesn't do where Shopify Payments is offered.
How do chargebacks work on Shopify Payments?
On Shopify Payments, a chargeback comes out of your next payout: the disputed amount plus a $15 fee in the US, both returned if you win. You usually get 7 to 21 days to send your evidence. The review can take up to 75 days, and you can't appeal its decision.
Shopify now writes a defense for you with AI and adds it to card chargebacks and inquiries by default. To send only your own evidence, untick "Include Shopify-generated insights to strengthen case (recommended)". A high chargeback rate can hurt your account's standing and cost you features such as the Shop app.
Refunds or chargebacks that push your balance below zero hold back payouts until new sales cover it, or Shopify debits your bank account. For US stores, the free Shopify Protect covers chargebacks for fraud or charges a shopper doesn't recognize, on eligible Shop Pay orders.
What do you lose without Shopify Payments?
Shop Pay, Shopify Protect and charging shoppers in their own currency all lean on Shopify Payments, and another provider means Shopify's transaction fee on every sale.
- Shop Pay. It comes with Shopify Payments. Only stores in Australia, France and the US that meet Shopify Payments' requirements can run it beside another provider.
- Local currencies. Only Shopify Payments stores with one-page checkout get every currency feature. Adyen, offered to enterprise-level stores, can also charge in local currencies.
- Shopify Protect. It covers only payments that go through Shopify Payments.
- Fraud recommendations on Basic. Without Shopify Payments, they start on Grow.
- Pre-orders. Shopify's own pre-order payment terms, deposits included, work only with Shopify Payments or PayPal Express, as taking a pre-order deposit explains.
- Shopify's transaction fee. Every sale through another provider pays it, from 2% on Basic.
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Is Shopify Payments the same as Stripe?
No, though Stripe can be behind it. Shopify Payments is Shopify's own provider, run from your admin and paid out on your schedule. Shopify's help pages name processing partners such as Stripe, PayPal or Adyen, depending on your region. You don't open a separate merchant account: rates and payouts sit under Settings, then Payments, and disputes on their orders.
How much does Shopify Payments charge per transaction?
In the US on Basic, 2.9% + 30¢ for a standard card online, 3.5% + 30¢ for a premium card and 2.6% + 10¢ in person. A card from abroad adds 1%. Grow, Advanced and Plus charge less. Shopify adds no transaction fee on top, but refunding an order doesn't give the card fee back.
How long do Shopify Payments payouts take?
In the US, payouts usually reach your bank 3 to 5 business days after the payment is captured. The minimum is 3, and a new store's wait starts longer and can shorten as it ships on time. Friday to Sunday sales share one payout. Once Shopify sends a payout, your bank can take 1 to 3 days to show it.
Why is my Shopify Payments payout on hold?
Shopify holds payouts while it reviews an account, for reasons such as missing documents, wrong bank details, chargebacks, high-risk orders or fulfillment problems. In most cases shoppers can still check out, but the money waits until the hold is cleared. Only the store owner can see why and reply, through Shopify's email or the note in your admin.
Which countries can use Shopify Payments?
Shopify's list names 41 countries and regions: every EU country except Slovakia, plus the US, Canada, the UK, Australia, Japan, Mexico, Singapore and the UAE, among others. China is by invitation only. If your business is elsewhere, you use another payment provider, and Shopify adds its transaction fee, 2% of each sale on Basic.
Can I use PayPal with Shopify Payments?
Yes. When Shopify Payments is your main provider, PayPal orders skip Shopify's transaction fee. In the US, PayPal comes inside Shopify Payments as PayPal Wallet, paid out with your other sales. Or run Shopify Payments beside one other provider that takes your card sales: those sales pay Shopify's transaction fee, and Shop Pay orders cost the usual rate plus 1.25%.
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