You built a Shopify store, added products and wrote the product pages. Then you opened the payments settings and found that Shopify Payments, the easy built-in option, isn’t offered where you live.
You are not alone. Shopify Payments is available in about 39 countries. Sellers in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt, Sri Lanka, Vietnam and well over a hundred other countries can’t turn it on. This guide explains your options in plain language so you can pick one with your eyes open.
Why Shopify Payments isn’t everywhere
Shopify Payments is a payment processor that Shopify runs together with banking partners. Each partner needs a licence and a banking relationship in every country it serves, so Shopify has only switched it on where it has those. If your country, or the country of your bank account, isn’t on the list, the option simply isn’t there. It is not a sign that your store has done something wrong.
Your options
Option 1: A third-party payment gateway that Shopify supports in your country
Shopify connects to many outside payment providers. Which ones are available depends on your country, so open Settings → Payments in your Shopify admin and look at the list it shows for you.
- Good: you stay inside Shopify’s normal checkout.
- Watch for: the providers on offer in your country may be limited, and Shopify normally adds its own transaction fee on top of the provider’s fee when you don’t use Shopify Payments. Check the current rate for your plan.
Option 2: Manual payment methods
You can offer bank transfer, cash on delivery or similar methods that you confirm yourself.
- Good: no processor needed, and customers in some regions prefer cash on delivery.
- Watch for: many shoppers won’t trust or finish a bank transfer for a store they don’t know, and you carry the risk of unpaid or refused parcels. International shoppers rarely use these methods.
Option 3: An alternative hosted checkout paid through Whop
Here you keep your Shopify store but replace the last step, the checkout, with a hosted checkout page on your own domain. Payment goes through Whop, a payments platform that pays out to 200+ countries by bank, mobile wallet or crypto, depending on where you live. CheckoutFlare is one tool that does this.
- Good: shoppers can pay by card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal, Klarna and more, depending on what Whop enables for your account. The paid order is created back in Shopify, so apps such as DSers, AutoDS and CJ keep working.
- Watch for: you need your own Whop account (free to open) and must pass Whop’s verification, and Whop, not us, decides whether your account is approved and how payouts work in your country. Shop Pay isn’t available, because it is Shopify’s own wallet.
How to choose
Ask yourself four questions:
- Which methods do my shoppers use? If you sell to the US, UK or EU, they expect cards and wallets. Manual methods alone will hurt your conversion rate.
- How will I receive the money? Find out what payout options exist for your country, such as bank transfer, mobile wallet or crypto, before you spend on ads.
- What are the total fees? Add up the gateway’s fees, any extra Shopify transaction fee and any checkout tool fee. CheckoutFlare’s pricing page has a calculator that shows these side by side.
- How hard is setup? Pick the path you can finish and test properly this week.
Before you apply for any payment account
Payment companies, including Whop, can look at your store when deciding on holds, disputes and approvals. You can avoid most problems by checking these first:
- A clear refund policy, shipping policy, privacy policy and terms page, plus a contact page with a real email address.
- A real store name and logo, with no placeholder text or “lorem ipsum”.
- Honest delivery times. If your products ship from overseas, say so, and give realistic dates.
- No restricted or risky products such as counterfeit or brand-name goods, supplements with health claims, vapes or weapons.
- Product pages with real descriptions and real photos.
CheckoutFlare’s Store Readiness Check scans your store for exactly these gaps and gives you a fix list before you go live.
A simple plan for your first week
- Fix your policy pages and product descriptions.
- Choose your payment route using the questions above.
- Complete the payment provider’s verification. Have your ID, address and payout details ready.
- Place a test order and check that it appears in Shopify.
- Send a small share of your traffic through the new checkout first, then raise it as you gain confidence.
What nobody should promise you
No tool can guarantee approval in your country. Account approval, verification, reserves and payout speed are decided by the payment provider and can change. Read the provider’s own terms, and keep your Shopify store’s rules and local laws in mind. This guide is general information, not legal or financial advice.
If you want to see how the Whop route works end to end, read How CheckoutFlare works with Shopify and Whop. It is free to build and test your checkout, and you pay nothing until you sell.