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01 - The Brief
Europe is not a card-first continent, and treating it like one costs sales
The most common mistake non-EU sellers make in Europe is assuming a Visa/Mastercard checkout is enough. It isn't. Each major market has its own dominant local method, iDEAL in the Netherlands, Bancontact in Belgium, invoice payments in Germany, and shoppers routinely abandon carts when they don't see the way they normally pay. One German study found a large majority of shoppers will abandon checkout if their preferred method is missing.
A major pan-European payment shift is now actively underway
Wero, a bank-backed wallet from the European Payments Initiative, is rolling out across Europe and is set to absorb several established national methods. On 16 July 2026, the initiative confirmed the roadmap for migrating the Netherlands' iDEAL to Wero: from October 2026, all Dutch issuing banks will be connected, and iDEAL payments will begin gradually transitioning to the Wero infrastructure through 2027.
For merchants, the practical experience stays familiar, for now
The reassuring part: for Dutch consumers and the merchants serving them, the checkout experience is expected to remain largely unchanged during the transition, shoppers still pay through their own bank. The change is happening in the infrastructure beneath, not the customer-facing flow. But the direction of travel is clear: Europe is consolidating fragmented national payment methods into fewer, broader rails, and it's worth understanding before it reshapes your checkout for you.
02 — The Deep Dive
A practical, country-by-country guide to how Europe actually pays, and the shift that's starting to change it
After several issues on compliance and costs, this one is about something more directly tied to revenue: getting paid. Payment methods aren't a back-office detail in Europe, they're a core part of whether a shopper trusts you enough to complete a purchase. A checkout that feels foreign, missing the method someone uses for everything else, quietly loses sales that a good product and fair price would otherwise have won.
Here's the practical map of the major markets, drawn from current payment-industry data. The specific percentages vary by source and by how each study defines "usage," so treat these as directional indicators of what matters in each market rather than precise universal figures.
Germany, the anti-card market
Germany is the market that most surprises non-EU sellers, and the biggest single opportunity to get right. Credit is culturally unpopular. According to the EHI Retail Institute's 2026 online-payment study, PayPal leads online at roughly 29% of e-commerce revenue, followed closely by invoice payments ("Kauf auf Rechnung", pay after the goods arrive) at around 26%, then SEPA direct debit at roughly 14%, with cards playing a smaller online role. The takeaway: offer PayPal and an invoice/pay-later option (Klarna or similar), or you're invisible to a large share of German shoppers.
The Netherlands, iDEAL is non-negotiable
The Netherlands is a bank-transfer-first market. According to the Dutch Payments Association, iDEAL accounted for around 70% of online purchases in the first half of 2025 (down slightly from 73% a year earlier), making it comfortably the country's dominant online payment method. A Dutch checkout without iDEAL will see immediate abandonment. As covered in the Brief, iDEAL is now beginning its transition to Wero, but for the near term the practical requirement is unchanged: offer iDEAL.
Belgium, Bancontact dominates
Belgium's domestic scheme Bancontact is the dominant method, reported at around 64% of Belgian online payments (Bancontact Payconiq Company, 2025). Like the Dutch and iDEAL, Belgian shoppers expect to see it, and it too is gradually being brought under the Wero umbrella. Offering Bancontact is the baseline for selling into Belgium.
France, Cartes Bancaires runs on different rails
France has its own domestic card scheme, Cartes Bancaires, which processes the majority of French card transactions. It coexists with Visa and Mastercard but runs on different rails with a different cost structure, and many French cards are co-badged. PayPal is also widely used. For merchants, ensuring your processor supports Cartes Bancaires (not just international cards) is the key detail.
Portugal, MB WAY and Multibanco
Portugal runs heavily on its domestic Multibanco network and the MB WAY mobile method built on top of it. These are deeply embedded in how Portuguese consumers pay online, and international cards alone leave a meaningful share of shoppers without their preferred option.
Poland, BLIK and Przelewy24
Poland is one of Europe's most distinctive payment markets. BLIK, a mobile method linked directly to bank accounts, processed hundreds of millions of transactions and is deeply preferred, while Przelewy24 aggregates the country's banks. Card-only checkout underperforms significantly in Poland.
The pattern across every one of these markets is the same: a dominant local method that shoppers expect and international cards alone don't cover. The single highest-leverage checkout decision for selling into Europe is adding the right local method per country.
The shift worth watching: consolidation
For years, this fragmentation has been the tax you pay to sell across Europe: a different integration for each country's preferred method. That's now beginning to change, and Wero is the clearest example. Backed by a consortium of European banks, Wero has already replaced Giropay in Germany, Paylib in France, and is set to absorb Payconiq in Belgium and Luxembourg, and iDEAL in the Netherlands. It reports tens of millions of users across its launch markets and is expanding from person-to-person payments into full e-commerce checkout.
The strategic implication for merchants is genuinely positive over time: as these national methods consolidate onto shared infrastructure, one integration will progressively cover payment methods that today require separate builds per country. In the near term, though, the national methods are what shoppers still see and expect, so the practical advice doesn't change yet: support the local method in each market you sell into. Just know that the map is starting to simplify.
One recurring trap worth flagging
Many of these bank-transfer methods, iDEAL among them, offer no chargeback protection for merchants, unlike cards. That's often a benefit (fewer fraudulent chargebacks), but it shifts dispute exposure onto you, so your refund and customer-service processes need to be solid rather than relying on card-network dispute mechanisms. It's a different risk profile, not a free lunch.
Action plan, if you sell into multiple EU markets
Audit your checkout country by country. For each major EU market you sell into, confirm the dominant local method is actually offered. The biggest wins are usually Germany (PayPal + invoice), the Netherlands (iDEAL), and Belgium (Bancontact).
Prioritise Germany's invoice/pay-later gap specifically. If you serve Germany with card-and-PayPal only, adding an invoice or pay-later option addresses a preference that a large share of German shoppers actively look for.
Check processor support for domestic card schemes. Confirm your payment provider supports Cartes Bancaires in France, not just international Visa/Mastercard, since they run on separate rails.
Account for the chargeback difference. Where you add bank-transfer methods without card-style chargeback protection, make sure your refund and dispute handling is robust, since the risk shifts to you.
Keep an eye on Wero. As it absorbs iDEAL, Bancontact and others, it may eventually let you cover several markets with one integration. Not urgent yet, but worth tracking as you plan your payment stack.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or payments advice. Payment-method usage figures vary by source and methodology, and the details of schemes and migrations change over time. Confirm current requirements with your payment provider before making checkout decisions.
03 — The Stack
Payment providers with broad EU local-method coverage
Given this week's topic, the most useful "tool" is a payment processor that natively supports Europe's fragmented local methods from a single integration.
iDEAL ✓Bancontact ✓SEPA / invoice ✓Cartes Bancaires ✓Wero (emerging) ✓
Processors like Mollie, Adyen and Stripe are widely used for EU-facing checkout specifically because they bundle the major local methods, iDEAL, Bancontact, SEPA, invoice/pay-later, and domestic card schemes, behind one integration, rather than requiring a separate connection per country. Several are also already listed as Wero acceptance partners, which positions them for the consolidation now underway.
The one limitation worth noting: "supports a method" and "offers the best economics for it" aren't the same thing. Local methods carry different fees and settlement terms than cards, and these vary by provider and volume, so the right processor depends on your specific market mix and order values. Compare the actual per-method cost for your markets, not just the feature list.
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04 — The Number
~70%
The estimated share of online payments in the Netherlands made through iDEAL, according to the Dutch Payments Association, which describes it as the country's most widely used online payment method.
Source: Betaalvereniging Nederland (Dutch Payments Association), first half of 2025 figures (down from 73% in H1 2024)
A single method accounting for roughly seven in ten online payments in an entire country is a level of dominance that simply has no equivalent in the US or UK. It's the clearest illustration of why "we accept cards" is not a European payment strategy. Miss iDEAL in the Netherlands, and you're not losing a few percent of shoppers, you're missing the way the majority of the market prefers to pay.
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