Although Wix Payments has been operating in Europe since 2019, this marks the first time Wix and Stripe are expanding their partnership outside North America, the companies said in a Tuesday (Dec. 16) news release.
“Bringing Stripe as part of Wix Payments in Europe strengthens our partnership and reflects our shared commitment to simplifying how businesses earn and grow,” said Amit Sagiv and Vova Tsukur, co-heads of Wix Payments. “As commerce shifts across channels, we’re making sure merchants have a seamless, secure experience that grows with them, no matter their location or payment preferences.”
With the expanded partnership, eligible businesses in Austria, Belgium, Finland, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom can accept locally preferred payment methods and manage their operations via Wix.
The expanded offerings allow businesses to offer popular local payment methods like Klarna, as well as iDEAL in the Netherlands and Clearpay in the U.K.
“All payments, orders, bookings and payouts are managed directly within Wix, eliminating the need for third-party tools and simplifying workflows for business owners,” the release added.
Eventually, the companies say Wix plans to further expand Stripe-powered Wix Payments into additional markers in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and the Asia-Pacific region.
Experts have stressed to PYMNTS that companies hoping to do business in outside markets need to grasp the importance of local payment methods.
“Each of these countries treats the way money moves around differently — and you need to have someone that has already been through the process, and has any certifications and licenses that you may need to acquire in order to process payments within that country,” Juan Soto, general manager of Latin America for Nuvei, told PYMNTS earlier this year.
He added that there are pitfalls that await merchants who don’t recognize how consumers behave, with granular insight into payment preferences and market-by-market differences that require a careful, calibrated payments strategy.
Adopt a cookie cutter approach to eCommerce, he warned, “and you’re not going to be able to succeed in terms of acceptance rates or increased revenues.”
Meanwhile, research by PYMNTS Intelligence finds that 99% of cross-border shoppers expect to pay with their preferred, customary methods. As covered here in June, this emphasizes that “all payment is local” and choice is a deciding factor for consumers.
