Ultimate Guide to Integrating a Cryptocurrency Payment Gateway with Your WooCommerce Store

You're reading this because you're interested in integrating a crypto payment gateway with your WooCommerce store. We don't blame you! Cryptocurrencies are the future of online payments, and as a business owner, it's important to stay ahead of the curve.

In this article, we'll walk you through the six best cryptocurrency payment providers for your WooCommerce store and the criteria you need to consider while selecting one. We’ll also help you through the process of integrating a crypto payment gateway into your store. We'll also provide a few tips to help you get started.

What is a crypto payment gateway?

A cryptocurrency is a virtual currency created using encryption algorithms. While most of them work on the concept of blockchain technology, there are some that use the DAG (Directed Acyclic Graph) concept. There is no central authority to regulate these currencies. Instead, they are broadly distributed among cryptocurrency users through a complicated network.

Now, as a merchant, if you want to provide your customers with the flexibility of paying for purchases through cryptocurrencies, you have to integrate a cryptocurrency payment gateway provider into your store. A crypto payment gateway allows customers to pay for goods and services using cryptocurrencies. It's a merchant service that allows businesses to accept digital currencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin as payment from their customers.

Crypto payment gateways are perfect for businesses that want to start accepting cryptocurrencies as payment from their customers. They're easy to set up and use, and they provide a secure way for customers to pay for goods and services using their digital currencies.

What are the benefits of accepting cryptocurrency payments on your e-commerce store?

There are a few reasons why you might want to integrate a crypto payment gateway into your WooCommerce store and start accepting payments in cryptocurrencies. Some of the reasons include:

1. Accept payments from anywhere

As is the case with any other digital currency, a cryptocurrency payment gateway allows you to accept payments from anywhere, anytime. This is especially good for businesses that want to go international or have a target audience that mainly deals with cryptocurrencies.

2. Provide flexible payment options to customers

By allowing customers to pay for their orders in cryptocurrencies, you are opening the doors for more flexible payment options. The market for cryptocurrencies is huge, and you could easily tap into this by integrating a cryptocurrency payment gateway with your WooCommerce store. Your customers can pay in different cryptocurrencies and wallets.

3. Get to choose payment options

While you allow your customers to pay from any crypto wallet, the payment services offer you the option to select settlements in cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, or fiat currencies.

4. To lead the competition

Given the fierce competition in the e-commerce sector, cryptocurrency offers you an opportunity to move a step ahead in the game. As per a survey, 32% of millennials are very likely to switch to a competitor that accepts a crypto payment. You can benefit from this untapped customer segment and also attract customers from your competitors to your store.

5. Lower transaction fees

The transaction fees for traditional payment systems range from 2% to 3.5%, whereas they are between 1% and 2% for cryptocurrencies. This is a considerable saving when you are a small business.

6. No chargeback fees or fraud

The concept of chargebacks or fraud is nearly nonexistent in crypto payments. That is because a payment made by crypto is verified through the ownership chain, and there are no chances of errors or fraud. It saves merchants from chargeback fees. Yes, customer disputes may arise, but WooCommerce or the service provider offers excellent support services to resolve them immediately.

7. Faster settlements

The settlement process for cryptocurrencies is faster when compared to traditional modes of payment. The payment is reflected in your cryptocurrency wallet or bank account by the end of the day or within hours, in the case of some crypto payment gateway services.

8. It opens doors for NFTs

You must have heard of non-fungible tokens or NFTs. They are unique tokens. For instance, you can have several Bitcoins. But a one-of-a-kind trading card is non-fungible. These NFTs are part of blockchains to keep track of who’s holding and trading them. So, by accepting payments in cryptocurrencies, you open up a new revenue stream with wide futuristic opportunities, and NFT is just the beginning.

9. Increase sales

Of course, it goes without saying that by offering one more payment option to customers, you increase the chances of sales and profit for your WooCommerce store!

Now that you know the benefits of integrating a cryptocurrency payment gateway with your WooCommerce store, let’s try to understand some basic concepts in crypto payments.

Understanding crypto payments for WooCommerce

When it comes to accepting cryptocurrency payments in your WooCommerce store, you have to choose between a custodial and non-custodial payments provider.

Custodial crypto payment providers

Usually called crypto lite, the custodial payment provider option offers merchants much more peace of mind as they get access to excellent features from WooCommerce.

Non-custodial crypto payment providers

Merchants who are well-versed in cryptocurrencies can choose to go with non-custodial payment providers. Here, you have full control over the security and management of your crypto account.

We recommend going with the custodial crypto payment providers if you are not familiar with cryptocurrency payments. WooCommerce offers many plugins to help you accept cryptocurrency from your customers. But before we list out the popular cryptocurrency payment providers for your WooCommerce store, let’s make you familiar with these three crypto words:

Fiat currency- It is the currency issued by a government. Here, it refers to traditional currencies like the US dollar (USD), pound (GBP), or euro (EUR).

Stablecoin- This is a type of cryptocurrency whose value is pegged to a fiat currency. For example, 1 USD Coin=1 USD.

Cryptocurrency- This is the currency set up by its cryptographic principles. For instance, Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), or Dogecoin (DOGE).

Before you hurry to integrate a cryptocurrency payment provider with your WooCommerce store, there are certain criteria that you must be aware of.

Criteria to consider when choosing a crypto payment provider

When you are choosing a crypto payment gateway for your WooCommerce store, there are several factors that you should consider.

1. Security

When you sign up for a crypto payment-providing service, you also sign up for their terms of service. So, make sure that the provider is trustworthy and offers good security for crypto transactions. Make sure the payment processor you choose has a good reputation and offers checks and balances for fraud prevention. PCI DSS compliance is the basic security feature all financial services have to provide. But check if the crypto payment services have other security measures in place to help you secure customer data.

2. Cryptocurrency range

Another important point to consider is the range of coins the provider supports. There are plenty of cryptocurrencies out there, so make sure the provider is able to support as many as possible. This will ensure that you can accept payments from as wide a range of customers as possible.

3. Exchange rate and conversions

The cryptocurrency payment provider should be able to support automatic exchange to stable coins or other crypto coins. For instance, you would want all the cryptocurrencies to be converted into bitcoins. Also, the payment provider should be able to automatically convert the crypto coins into fiat currencies. Check if they use real-time conversion rates or if they do it hourly, or at the end of the day. Since cryptocurrency rates fluctuate every second, it is essential that you consider the conversion rate while selecting the payment provider.

4. Settlement

All said and done, the payment provider has to convert the cryptocurrencies into fiat currency or stablecoins and credit them into your merchant account. Check the number of days required for the payments to reflect in your bank account. The less, the better, so that you have enough cash flow for your business. Also, ensure that you can choose to have your funds settled automatically.

5. Transaction fees

You should also look into transaction fees, both for you and your customers. You don’t want to get stung with hefty fees, while at the same time, customers may look elsewhere if they see their crypto payments are subject to high fees. The benefit of crypto payments is that they offer slightly lower transaction fees (1-1.5%) than traditional payments (2-3.5%). Some providers charge network or ‘gas’ fees, while others absorb them.

6. Merchant-specific features

Many of the crypto payment providers offer additional and advanced features to improve your payment processing efficiency. For example, risk profiling helps ensure that you don’t receive funds from bad actors. Under/overpayment protection and email invoicing are some features that are necessary merchant-specific features you would expect to help you improve efficiency.

7. Chargebacks

A chargeback occurs when the customer disputes a transaction due to a service error or attempt at fraud. In such cases, the merchant cancels the order and refunds the money back to the customer to increase customer confidence. Here, the merchant has to bear the expenses of both the initial transaction and the refund processing fee. Chargebacks and automatic refunds are features provided by traditional payment gateways. As such, crypto removes the risk of chargeback fraud. There’s a minimal chance of a transaction error. But check for any other additional or hidden fees that may occur for crypto payments.

8. Support

Accepting cryptocurrencies from your customers is no easy task. There are a lot of rules and regulations from different countries, and you need to be sure that they are all followed. At such times, you would want your cryptocurrency payment provider to give you a solid customer support service to help you deal with queries and resolve any technical issues. Check for providers that provide stellar customer support.

9. Speed

Finally, speed is key — no one likes a lengthy checkout process! Make sure your provider has proven fast transaction speeds and reliable customer service in case there are any issues with payments or refunds down the line.

6 best cryptocurrency payment gateways for your WooCommerce store

After understanding the requirements for choosing a cryptocurrency payment provider for your WooCommerce store, the next step is to determine which platform works best for your store. There are several options out there, but some are more suitable for WooCommerce than others.

1. Coinbase Commerce

Perhaps the most popular crypto payment provider is Coinbase Commerce, operated by one of the top cryptocurrency exchanges, Coinbase. It supports payments in a wide range of digital currencies, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Litecoin (LTC). Coinbase has an easy-to-use interface and offers extensive documentation on how to integrate with WooCommerce.

Some of its features and benefits are-

Note: Transferring cryptocurrency from a customer’s wallet to your Coinbase Commerce account incurs a network processing fee that is paid to the miners in the cryptocurrency network. Also, converting cryptocurrency payments to fiat currencies is done using a cryptocurrency exchange, which might charge you additional fees.

2. DePay Payments

DePay Payments supports the Ethereum, BNB Smart Chain, and Polygon blockchains. It supports multiple wallets and is available worldwide. Some of its benefits are-

3. HAYVN Pay

HAYVN Pay is regulated in Australia, Abu Dhabi, and the Cayman Islands. It offers merchants the most secure and reliable way to accept crypto payments.

Some of its features and benefits are-

Note: You have to set up your HAYVN Pay account before integrating this plugin into your WooCommerce store.

4. OpenNode Bitcoin Payments

This is the best choice for Bitcoin-powered payments and local currency settlement. Merchants can choose automatic conversion to receive local currency and get paid instantly.

Some of its features are-

5. BitPay

Another great option is BitPay, which also accepts popular cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum. BitPay is known for its low transaction fees and no monthly costs. It also supports instant currency conversions, so you don’t have to worry about fluctuating exchange rates.

Some of its features are-

6. CoinGate

Finally, there's CoinGate, which supports more than 50 major coins and can automatically convert them into US dollars or Euros for you upon checkout. CoinGate also has an API that allows you to extend functionality with custom features.

Some of its features are-

How to set up a crypto payment service on WooCommerce?

Now that you have selected one of the best cryptocurrency payment providers for your WooCommerce store, here’s how to set it up to start accepting cryptocurrencies as payment:

First, you'll need to sign up with a crypto payment provider. There are many to choose from, as we have mentioned above. Understand your requirements and their terms and conditions before you select one.

Once you've registered for an account, add your store's details and configure the settings for your chosen currency. You'll need to provide an address for receiving payments and specify the minimum and maximum order amounts.

Next, you'll need to add a payment button to your store. Copy-paste the code from the provider's dashboard into your website's code editor.

Test out the payment gateway by making a purchase and confirming that the funds have been transferred to your account. All done! You can now start accepting cryptocurrencies as payment on your WooCommerce store.

Common challenges in crypto payment gateway integration and ways to overcome them

Integrating a crypto payment gateway with your WooCommerce store may sound challenging, but it doesn’t have to be. There are some common challenges that you can expect when setting up the gateway, but there are also strategies you can use to overcome those obstacles.

For instance, you might be concerned about security and data privacy. The good news is that a reputable crypto payment processor will be PCI DSS-compliant and offer data encryption and tokenization technology. This ensures that all customer information is securely stored and protected from unauthorized access.

Another challenge is ensuring smooth integration with WooCommerce. The best way to do this is to find a crypto payment provider that works with this popular e-commerce platform natively, such as Coinbase Commerce or BitPay, which require no additional coding or plugins. This way, you can ensure quick and flawless implementation of your crypto payment gateway on your store.

Conclusion

Every business is different, and it is up to you to weigh the pros and cons of accepting payments in cryptocurrencies. If you have decided to move ahead, select the best cryptocurrency payment gateway service provider for your store. This will help you reach a global audience and boost your online sales.

When it comes to the ways and means to boost online sales for your WooCommerce store, we have a great recommendation for you: the no-code app builder Swipecart. With this plugin, you can create a mobile app for your store in minutes without having to code. Just install and activate the Swipecart plugin on your store, and you are ready to design your app. The product list and details are fetched from your WooCommerce store. You can even extend the features of other installed plugins and third-party tools to your app! So, just as on your website, you can also allow customers to pay in cryptocurrencies on your app.

Having a mobile app for your WooCommerce store truly helps to increase customer engagement and retain them for the long term. Try Swipecart now!