Want to collect international payments?

We discussed how that breaks automation, ruins the experience, and ultimately loses you sales.

Now,  I let’s shift gears. Here’s today’s question that comes up just as often –especially for growing clothing brands:

“How docollect international payments on my website?” Let’s break it down.

You’ve got a website. You’ve set up the design, product pages, and checkout. You’ve launched ads and SEO.

Suddenly, a customer from Dubai or the US visits your store and wants to buy. But when they click “Pay Now”, it doesn’t work. Why? Because your payment gateway doesn’t support international cards.

Let’s fix that before it happens.

Here are the top 3 ways to collect international payments (from my experience):

1)  Razorpay International Payments (Highly Recommended)

Many people still don’t know this, but Razorpay itself supports international transactions. And the best part? You don’t need to use any other app or plugin. It works beautifully inside Shopify.

But there’s a small catch – you need to enable it manually from your Razorpay dashboard.

They’ll ask you to:

• Submit an international payments activation form

• Upload shipping policies, return policies, IEC code (in some cases), and a few business docs

• Explain how you’ll ship products internationally

Once approved, Razorpay lets you:

• Accept cards in USD, EUR, GBP, AED, and 90+ currencies

• Display international currency options at checkout

• Track foreign transactions inside the same dashboard

Typical Charges:

• 3% – 6% per international transaction

• Includes currency conversion fees

My take: If you’re selling from India, Razorpay is your easiest and most reliable option. No third-party setup, no confusion. We use it for most of our clients’ stores.

2. PayPal

PayPal has been around forever, and there’s a reason global customers trust it.

It’s widely accepted, easy to set up, and works with Shopify, WooCommerce, Wix, Webflow –  basically every major platform.

Setup is simple:

• Create a business PayPal account

• Connect it to your website

• Start accepting international payments the same day

Typical Charges:

• 4.4% + $0.30 USD per transaction

• +2.5% currency conversion

So that’s about 6.9–7% total on every international sale.

💡 My take: Yes, PayPal is expensive.

But it’s a great starting point, especially if you want to go live fast and test international waters.
Many global customers prefer PayPal for trust, refunds, and buyer protection.

3. Stripe

Stripe is the gold standard in international payment processing. Beautiful UI, strong analytics, powerful API, and deep integration with Shopify and other platforms.

But Stripe India is currently not onboarding new merchants.

You can use Stripe if:

• You have a US LLC or business entity abroad

• Or you wait until Stripe resumes onboarding in India

Typical Charges: 

• 2.9% + ₹15 per international card transaction

• +2% currency conversion

• Total: ~5–5.5% per order

My take: If Stripe opens up again for Indian merchants, grab it. It’s cheaper than PayPal, works more smoothly than Razorpay in many cases, and gives excellent control.

Until then, Razorpay + PayPal combo is your best bet.

A quick real-world example:

Say someone from Dubai wants to order your T-shirt worth ₹2,000. They use their international card. You’ve integrated Razorpay.

✅ The payment goes through seamlessly.
✅ You get paid in INR (auto-converted)
✅ The buyer doesn’t even realise you’re using Razorpay

No WhatsApp chasing, no manual billing, no back-and-forth. And that’s exactly how global e-commerce should work.

Final Thought:

If you plan to sell internationally, don’t wait. Enable international payments from day one, even if you’re not actively targeting other countries yet.

Because when the first global visitor lands on your site, it shouldn’t feel like a dead end. It should feel like: “Wow. This brand is ready for the world.”