There are dozens of ways to pay online, with many payment providers available. There are 8 payment methods you should be familiar with. You can find them in this list.
Debit/Credit Cards
At practically every online retailer, you will find a debit or credit card option as a means to fund your account or pay for good and services. These work in the same way as any other online debit or credit card option you find at online retailers. Simply fill in your card information at the cashier, confirm the details are correct and click accept, then your account will be up and running.
At online retailers, the most popular options that you will find are Visa and MasterCard. These are two powerhouses in the debit/credit card world, with a combined market share of 80%. Many online retailers also offer support for smaller card companies such as Maestro and American Express, but Visa or MasterCard are your best bets.
The one downside to using debit and credit cards is the refund process. This generally will take longer than other options on our list, with processing taking around 3-5 days on average, as opposed to the instant procedure that others offer. If you are looking to use this type of payment method on Amazon or on your favourite gaming website, take a look at some some retailers and an online betting guide to discover which operators or shops allow visitors to pay this way.
Bank Transfer
Bank transfer is a slightly more dated and slower option to use, but is handy if you want a bit more security and don’t want to get to grips with new payment methods purely for your internet shopping. You will transfer money to an online retailer in the same way you might transfer to a friend or family member.
You acquire the details from the retailer, then log into your internet banking account, fill in the designated form, including the amount you want to deposit, and select transfer. Then you will likely have to wait up to a week for the funds to arrive there. Once they arrive, you can then use them. The issue here is the waiting time. It is by far the slowest means. If you are hesitant about sharing your card details or are a technophobe, this is a good choice.
Skrill & Neteller
Skrill and Neteller are what are known as e-wallets. You will charge your account with funds, which you can then transfer to online merchants. You will then load your Skrill and Neteller accounts with funds from a choice of 40 different currencies. You can quickly, cheaply, and most importantly, securely transfer these funds to and from the e-wallet to the online vendor.
These are by far the quickest ways of getting your money in and out of your account, with refund processes usually completed within 24 hours max. These firms have rode the wave of the internet payment phenomenon, both launching at the turn of the millennia, with around 20 years’ experience each. As such, they are tried, trusted and the ideal companion to online vendors.
PayPal
Owned by the auction website eBay, they have become a popular payment tool for countless online websites and are one of the best-recognised brands for online payments out there. Many of you reading this will already be a user, as they currently have somewhere in the range of 286 million (2019) users worldwide. They should be your go-to; you will not need to set up a separate account in order to start paying online.
If you have PayPal, you have several choices. You can connect it with your bank account or credit/debit card and use it as an interim service between your bank and the online vendor to ensure more secure and insured payments. Alternatively, you can fund the PayPal account, create a PayPal balance and then pay online using that, in the same way as you would with Skrill or Neteller. The downside is there may be slight fees attached and it is not widely found online as the above four options are.
Paysafecard
A Paysafecard is a pre-paid card you can buy in real-world stores or shops with cash or card which will have a designated amount on it. You will then fill in the details of the Paysafecard online and the funds from it will be transferred from it to the online vendor.
The cards are a safe option, but you will be limited in two areas. Firstly, you will only be able to transfer up to €250 using Paysafecards as this is the maximum size. And secondly, you can’t get refunded as there is no means of putting money back on the card.
Pay-By-Phone
If you are a fan of consolidating your monthly payments into one bill, then pay-by-phone options may be the ideal option for you. What you do is choose the amount you want to deposit on the website, choose the pay-by-phone option, fill in your number and then you will be asked to confirm the deposit via a text message.
Once you have done this, depending on your phone contract set-up, it will either debit you directly from your pay-as-you-go amount on your phone or, alternatively, it will come out of your phone bill at the end of the month. As such, it can help you manage your online payments and phone bill all in one go. However, again, the downside is refunding is not an option via this means.
Google and Apple Pay
Up and coming ways to pay online is either by Google or Apple Pay. You register a card or bank account onto an app on your phone and then simply use your phone to pay at online retailers with the click of a button. It is the ideal companion to mobile shopping, and you will never have to search for your card to authorise a payment again. It will all be done via your mobile. While this is a new option, it is starting to become a more frequently found option at online vendors.
Cryptocurrencies
Even when the concept of cryptocurrencies was new, they were already available at online vendors as a payment option. Since they hit the mainstream, this is truer than ever and alongside the main crypto, Bitcoin, you can also pay via other big-name coins and tokens, such as Litecoin, Ethereum and Dogecoin, plus many more. There are even crypto-dedicated retailers on the market where you can only use cryptocurrencies. The only issue is that you need to purchase them via an exchange platform beforehand. However, once you are up and running, they are the most secure and promising ways to bank online.
