What payment gateway options work best for UAE-based drop shippers?

[Hagar-m]

Hello,

My name is Hagar, based in UAE, I am new to Shopify and I'm working on an online store as a drop shipper in UAE, I don't have a license yet, as I'm still checking if Shopify is useful to utilize outside the US, or it's built only to be used in the US?

I am facing a problem setting up the payment gateway methods,  as many gateways are not supported in the UAE. Also, many of them do not support drop shippers, and others do not support businesses without licenses.

I need your recommendations for a proper payment gateway. Paypal is not a useful gateway for customers in the UAE, and it won't enrich the traffic to my dropshipping or retail business.  Customers in UAE need quicker and easier methods like Visa, Mastercard, or Apple Pay. 

Would you guys recommend any Payment gateway? or ay support from the Shopify team in that topic, if quick and possible, please.

Thanks for your kind reply in advance.

[Hagar-m]

Hello Chikookie,

Thank you so much for your kind offer to help. I would like to hear from you. Please send me your suggestions/solutions here or in a private message, as I don't know how to message you privately, it's my first day here 🙈. 

[Victoria · Accepted solution]

Hi, @Hagar-m.

Welcome to the Shopify Community. Thanks for sharing your questions here.

I understand you're inquiring if Shopify is useful to be utilized outside of the United States or if it's built only to be used in the United States. I would like to advise that Shopify is available in multiple countries and supports businesses from around the world. We provide the tools and features that enable businesses to sell products and services globally. This means you can utilize Shopify outside of the United States. You can find more information in our blog resource: What Is Shopify and How Does It Work?

You also mentioned you're seeking a payment provider to support your business and customers in the UAE. We have provided an Online payment gateways and payment provider integrations resource to share with you payment gateways available in the UAE.

I'll share some of the payment gateways listed for better visibility:

• Stripe
• 2Checkout Convert Plus (by Verifone)
• Payoneer Checkout
• Skrill Official

I understand that your main concern when sourcing a payment provider is ensuring it supports drop-shipping and accepts a business without requiring a business license. Once you've explored Shopify's Payment Gateway resource, I recommend contacting your desired payment gateway to see if a business license is required.

Lastly, I know the importance of being able to allow your customers in the UAE to check out using Visa, Mastercard or Apple Pay. I've gone ahead and submitted a request to our developers to look into implementing Shopify Payments for the UAE in the future. While this is not guaranteed, I have shared your feedback and I recommend keeping our Shopify Changelog on hand for updates that roll out to the platform. 

If you have additional questions, feel free to share them here.

I hope this helps!

[Hagar-m]

Thank you, Victoria for your sufficiently helpful reply. I will check the links you've shared with me and will dig more into your blogs. Hopefully, your technical developing team will implement the Shopify Payments for the UAE, as you might be aware it's a booming market nowadays and customers here usually seek easy and quick processing. 

[Victoria]

No problem, @Hagar-m.

I'm glad my reply was helpful. 

If you have additional questions in regard to setting up your Shopify store or need help during the building process, feel free to post your questions here.

[nwk]

I would say this should be of the absolute highest priority since so many merchants are relocating to the UAE and selling world wide.  Can you offer a more detailed explanation as to why this hasn't been implemented yet as the technical implementation is simple, so is it a legal issue?

[Arminomino]

Hi, Shopify Paments is required to display local currencies when selling products from the UAE to the EU and US. As far as I can see, Shopify payments are currently not supported in UAE. Is there any other solution for the markets to display prices in local currency.

[nwk]

Hi Arminomino, I've been working to cobble together a solution of sorts to this.   Here are some points to consider.

- Wherever your store is based, you can still display USD to customers in the USA, that's not an issue.

- The issue is taking payouts to the UAE and still using Shopify Payments, this at present is not possible and Shopify have bugger all information on when they will give any solid information on this subject.

- Shopify payments uses Stripe.  Stripe is available in the UAE so again... why no Shopify payments?

- You can sign up directly for Stripe when based in the UAE.  I have now done this and their support is excellent, vastly superior to Shopify support.

- Your checkout will look the same, you will still be able to offer Amex, Visa & Mastercard payment as well as Apple Pay.

- Your payouts will be as AED to your UAE bank account

- Shopify will STILL apply a 2% fee on top of your Stripe fees meaning each transaction will be circa 4.5%

- If you challenge Shopify as to why they are still taking a cut despite not providing you a payment solution they will tell you that they've earned it through provision of services or similar dogsh*t reasoning.  

Here is my two cents:

They have already lost SFN, so now my fulfilment is external (ShipBob), they have now lost the ability to provide me with a payment gateway since I went to the UAE.  Support is vastly inferior to a mere 18 months ago, yet they are scalping off my business whilst doing less.  I think unless Shopify have a better solution available for UAE based companies by mid 2024 I'll remove my stores completely from their platform.

[DK1313]

Very true Nwk. Ridiculous. As soon as I have another option I will run away from Shopify. There is room for a new player that is more customer-centric for the GCC market. 

[LoveLashUAE]

Hey NWK,

Very helpful and informative what you wrote.

I am fairly new to the e-commerce world (launched end of 2023) and i am struggling with a lot here!
i hate that my customers cannot check out in USD or EUR - there are apps that show the amount in a different currency but as soon as the customer wants to check out it jumps back to AED which is super confusing, it causes a lot of abandoned check outs for me from Germany where a big amount of my clients are.

did you find any other solution in the meantime? I like how easy shopify is to handle but the issue with the missing shopify payment is causing a lot of loss for me!

Happy to hear back!

[nwk]

Hey! 

Yes I absolutely agree, that could be a bit jarring for your customers and no doubt causes drop off.  Somehow, and I have half an idea why, mine is still displaying in multi currency and allowing that all the way through checkout without reverting to AED at any point.  

I think I found your brand on IG, drop me a message on there @nealewkelly and we can compare store settings and hopefully get you on USD! 

N

[reda8]

Hi,

Nwk  could you help me too.
My site is international and registered in the UAE, but it is very inconvenient when the currency on the site is displayed in dirhams.

Thanks

[nwk]

For sure! Pop me a message in Instagram, @nealewkelly and I'll be happy to help out. 

For reference my sites are UAE based, selling primarily in USD because it's mainly international sales.  A couple of my sites sell in USD mainly, but in EUR for the Eurozone and GBP to UK so it is possible to get some flexibility there depending on your audience.  Drop me a message and we'll work out what is going on with yours!

[JamaliBox]

Hey Nwk,

Would you care to expand on your comments here:

"You can sign up directly for Stripe when based in the UAE.  I have now done this and their support is excellent, vastly superior to Shopify support. Your checkout will look the same, you will still be able to offer Amex, Visa & Mastercard payment as well as Apple Pay."

How exactly do you sign up for Stripe directly in the sense of using Stripe at Shopify checkout and enabling Apple Pay. I am not understanding the difference for the setup.

Thanks in advance,

[Sardarr]

hi @Hagar-m kindly tell me which payment gateway you chose, as i am also in UAE and wants to do international dropshipping and i also don't have trader license, could you please tell me also which payment gateway you chose and why it is best? i am waiting for your reply and very thankful to you if you guide m properly.

[reda8]

Hi Victoria,

 please tell me
the site is registered in the UAE with the Stripe payment system. Moreover, the site is international and I would like the currency on the site to be displayed in dollars. But the currency is displayed only in dirhams. Is it possible to display currencies in dollars?

[Almarar6]

Hey there an a app its called Zina Works with Shopify for payment 

Hey 👋 I recently discovered Ziina and it's been a game-changer for collecting payments. ✨ Sign up using my referral link and pay 0 fees on the first 5,000 AED you collect. This is my invitation link for the app https://join.ziina.com/Liwastore

[nwk]

That looks like a good alternative for UAE based business.  I wonder whether it can seriously compete with Stripe on stores selling internationally, as it doesn't take American Express payments.

[gonetoolong369]

Hello @nwk , was wondering about the business license requirements for using Stripe in the UAE, or Ziina?

[Banap]

With Easy Pie Checkout for Shopify, a 3rd party Stripe powered checkout solution, you can accept payments and subscriptions with many payment methods supported by your Stripe account. (If your business is not on Stripe's Prohibited and Restricted Businesses list)

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