The current OpenCart version supports many established payment systems, including PayPal services, Authorize.net, Moneybookers, 2Checkout, and so on, as well as basic payment options such as Cash on Delivery, Bank Transfer, Check/money order, etc.
Note
We can also get more payment gateway modules on the OpenCart extensions section by searching in Payment Methods.
We will now briefly learn the most widely used methods and their differences and similarities to each other.
PayPal is one of the most popular and easiest to use systems for accepting credit cards for an online store. PayPal has two major products to be used in OpenCart through built-in modules:
- PayPal Website Payment Standard
- PayPal Website Payment Pro
Both of these payment methods provide both payment gateway and merchant account functionality. Let's understand the details of each now.
It is the easiest method to implement accepting credit card payments on an online store. For merchants, a simple bank account and a PayPal account is enough to take payments. There are no monthly fees or setup costs charged by PayPal. The only cost is a fixed small percentage taken by PayPal for each transaction. So, you should consider this on price valuations of items in the store.
When the customer clicks on the checkout button on OpenCart, he/she will be redirected to the PayPal site to continue with the payment.
As you can see from the following sample screenshot, a customer can provide credit card information instantly or log in to his/her PayPal account to pay from the balance in the PayPal account:
In the next step, after the final review, the user clicks on the Pay Now button.
Tip
Notice that PayPal automatically localizes the total amount according to the PayPal owner's account currency. In this case, the price is calculated according to Dollar—Euro exchange rates.
After the payment, the PayPal screen shows the result of the payment. The screen doesn't return to the merchant store automatically. There is a button for it: Return to Merchant.
Finally, the website user is informed about the result of the purchase in the OpenCart store.
The main advantage of PayPal Website Payment Standard is that it is easy to implement; many online people are familiar with using it. We can state one minor disadvantage. Some people may abandon the purchase since the payment gateway would leave the store temporarily to complete the transaction on the PayPal website.
This is the paid PayPal solution for an online store as a payment gateway and merchant account. The biggest difference from PayPal Website Payment Standard is that customers do not leave the website for credit card processing. The credit card information is completely processed in the online store as it is the popular method of all established e-commerce websites. Even the customers will not know about the processor of the cards. Unless we put a PayPal logo ourselves, this information is well encapsulated.
Using this method also only requires a bank account and PayPal account for the merchant. PayPal charges a monthly fee and a one-time setup fee for this service. The individual transactions are also commissioned by PayPal.
This is a very professional way of processing credit cards online for a store but it can have a negative effect on some customers. Some customers can require seeing some indication of trust from the store before making a purchase. So, depending the on store owner's choice, it would be wise to put a remark and logo of PayPal stating that <<Credit card is processed by PayPal safely and securely>>
For a beginner OpenCart administrator who wants to use PayPal for the online store, it is recommended to get experience with the free Standard payment option and then upgrade to the Pro option.
If we already have a merchant account, we don't need to pay extra for it by using PayPal Standard or PayPal Pro. PayFlow Pro is cheaper than other PayPal services and allows us to accept credit card payments to an existing merchant account.