Comparison of Swiss online payment providers for 2023

Online Payments: Theory for Understanding

To accept payments in an online shop, merchants need an acceptance contract with an acquirer and a processing contract with a payment provider. The following explains exactly what an acquirer and a payment provider are and how they interact with the online shop.

What is a Payment Service Provider (PSP)?

A payment provider, or Payment Service Provider (PSP), refers to companies that handle the technical connection of online payment methods in online shops. An online merchant (Merchant) only has to negotiate with one payment provider to obtain all desired payment methods, integration systems, and e-commerce tools, and to meet security requirements. The corresponding contract with the payment provider is called a processing contract because it relates to the technical handling and processing of payments.

How a Payment Service Provider (PSP) works

What is an Acquirer and an Acceptance Contract?

An acquiring or acceptance contract is an agreement between a merchant and an acquirer (also known as an acquiring bank). This contract regulates the acceptance and processing of credit card payments and other electronic payments. The acquiring bank is the credit institution that processes card payments for merchants. Merchants can conclude an acceptance contract, for example, with acquirers such as Worldline or Concardis, or also with a Payment Facilitator (PF) such as Payrexx.

What is a Payment Facilitator?

A Payment Facilitator (also PF or collecting PSP) is in direct contact with the merchant and manages the account with the acquirer. The Payment Facilitator can sign the acceptance contract on behalf of the acquirer, thereby facilitating the setup because the merchant has fewer direct relationships. The Payment Facilitator thus enables the integration of various payment methods in the online shop with just one contract.

How a Payment Facilitator (PF) works

How do you choose the right provider?

Crucial for merchants is a simple and reliable connection, a wide range of payment methods and tools, good support, and a payment provider that is as cost-effective as possible to save unnecessary costs. In addition, every online shop should clarify the following prerequisites:

• Which payment methods should be offered in the online shop? Not every provider supports all common payment methods. Depending on the region or origin of the provider, different payment methods are available.

• Which tools are required for the online shop? Every provider has a slightly different range of integrated e-commerce tools. For example, some providers specialise in donation pages, others in online shops. However, some also offer an all-in-one solution for different business models.

• Which shop system do you use? Most providers offer plugins to the most well-known shop solutions* for integrating the payment solution into the online shop. If you do not have your own shop yet or if it was developed in-house, there are some providers that have a solution for every case.

• How is payment security guaranteed? A payment provider meets the highest security standards for online payments. Through a contract with a PSP, you also meet these standards and can guarantee your customers the highest level of payment security.

It is recommended to choose a payment provider that is also an acquirer or Payment Facilitator, so that merchants have a single point of contact for everything.

Overview of the Functions of Individual Payment Providers

The following table shows which payment provider offers which payment methods*, which shop systems are compatible, and how the companies are rated on Google.

*The most common methods in Switzerland are listed.

In addition to the most well-known shop systems, there are some providers that offer their own shop systems – setting them up requires no programming knowledge. In the table, such offers are listed as "Integrated E-Commerce Tools". This tool enables the simple creation of shops for products, vouchers, subscriptions, or donation pages.

Datatrans was merged with Planet as well as Hoist, protel, and Proximis under the joint brand planet. In this article, we refer to Datatrans (planet).

Function matrix of the various payment providers

**Datatrans was merged with Planet as well as Hoist, protel, and Proximis under the joint brand planet. In this article, we therefore speak of "Datatrans (planet)" and refer to the public conditions of Datatrans.

Cost Analysis

In this section, a calculation of the monthly costs (subscription and transaction fees) is made. The calculation is carried out once for an online shop with a turnover of CHF 20,000 and once for one with a turnover of CHF 100,000.

For the cost analysis, the most favorable offers of the individual payment providers for the corresponding commercial turnover were selected in each case. The price details are mostly* taken from the websites of the respective Payment Service Providers. In the diagram, any costs for the setup are not included.

*For Datatrans' offer, the acquiring costs are not publicly visible. Therefore, a value of 2% was assumed (average of all other providers).

Online Shops with a Monthly Turnover of CHF 20,000

The cost analysis shows the monthly fees for smaller online shops with a commercial turnover of CHF 20,000 with 200 credit card transactions per month. The average value of a transaction consequently results in CHF 100 per purchase.

Monthly costs with a turnover of CHF 20,000 (without setup)

The lowest fees as a smaller online shop are obtained with Payrexx, closely followed by PostFinance. With costs of CHF 790, PayPal is the most expensive for online shops with this volume. The absolute price difference between Payrexx and PayPal is CHF 441. The costs at the cheapest payment provider, Payrexx, are therefore more than 50% lower than with the most expensive offer. In addition, Payrexx offers startups and non-profit organisations exclusive discounts of 30% and 50% discount on all price plans respectively.

Online Shops with a Monthly Turnover of CHF 100,000

The cost analysis shows the monthly fees for medium-sized online shops with a commercial turnover of CHF 100,000 with 1,000 credit card transactions per month. The average value of a transaction consequently results in CHF 100 per purchase.

Monthly costs with a turnover of CHF 100,000 (without setup)

Payrexx is the cheapest provider with costs of CHF 1,549 per month, followed by wallee. For medium-sized online shops, PayPal, Stripe, and Worldline are significantly more expensive than the other providers. Payrexx is a total of CHF 2,401 cheaper than the most expensive provider, which represents a percentage price difference of over 60%.

No calculation was carried out for large online shops, as most payment providers do not offer public special conditions for larger customers – e.g., Datatrans, Payrexx, Stripe, wallee, Worldline, and zahls.ch.

All Payment Providers in Detail

Payrexx: Payment Facilitator with Integrated E-Commerce Tools

Payrexx is both a payment provider and a Payment Facilitator. Thanks to a favorable pricing model and a variety of payment interfaces and e-commerce tools, Payrexx represents a modern and user-friendly all-in-one solution.

With integrated tools such as payment link, One Page Shop with its own URL, virtual terminal, QR-Pay, and digital invoices, Payrexx meets the individual wishes of almost every merchant. Payrexx is suitable for selling products, services, online tickets, or vouchers, but also for collecting membership fees or processing donation projects. Thanks to the 30-day trial phase, the payment platform can be tried out for free. Payrexx has an average Google rating of 4.1 out of 5 stars from a total of 126 reviews.

Price Overview of Payrexx

* Preferred conditions between 1.5% and 1.3%

What do merchants need to do for integration?

Since every merchant receives a payment website with their own internet address, neither integration nor programming knowledge is required. If you already have a shop, you can integrate the payment solution using the available plugins. To sign up with Payrexx, you only need a valid photo ID and, if applicable, an entry in the commercial register.

PostFinance Checkout: a Fully Comprehensive E-Payment Solution

PostFinance enjoys high customer acceptance in Switzerland. PostFinance Checkout is a payment solution that offers all common payment methods (PostFinance E-Finance, PostFinance Card, TWINT as well as Visa and Mastercard) as well as various shop plugins. The prices listed below already include all payment provider and acquiring costs. PostFinance also offers a free trial period for 30 days in a simulation mode. PostFinance has an average Google rating of 2.5 out of 5 stars from 119 reviews.

Price Overview of PostFinance Checkout

What do merchants need to do for integration?

PostFinance Checkout is available to all companies based in Switzerland or the Principality of Liechtenstein that have a business account in CHF with PostFinance.

Worldline: Acquirer and Payment Provider

Worldline offers both acquiring and payment provider services and therefore usually provides the offers as a package. With the Worldline E-Commerce package, payments can be processed directly via a payment window. Transfers are possible in more than 20 currencies and customers can decide for themselves in which currency they want to pay. This is also because Worldline provides so-called Dynamic Currency Conversion. In addition, Worldline offers various payment functions, such as subsequent debiting or the booking of partial amounts. Worldline has an average Google rating of 2.8 out of five stars from a total of 420 reviews.

Price Overview of Worldline

What do merchants need to do for integration?

No programming knowledge is required. According to its own statement, Worldline is particularly suitable for existing e-commerce solutions and static websites.

Datatrans: Provider with a Lot of Experience

Datatrans is the largest provider in Switzerland and can be integrated both as an external payment option (external payment window) and through an implementation (via API in the shop layout). With Datatrans Payment Pages, merchants have access to all payment methods with a single integration. Datatrans Secure Fields blend seamlessly into the design and help improve the conversion rate of merchants. In addition, you also have the opportunity to create a test account with this provider. Datatrans has an average Google rating of 4.9 out of 5 stars from 16 reviews.

Price Overview of Datatrans

The setup costs cannot be found on Datatrans' website and an average value of CHF 100 was assumed. In addition, the minimum billing per month is CHF 290 (excluding external acquiring costs) and in addition to the costs of Datatrans, external acquiring fees of approximately 2% apply.

What do merchants need to do for integration?

Datatrans itself does not have an online shop tool, so you must already own your own online shop. This can be a self-developed shop or you can use a standard shop system. Since Datatrans is neither an acquirer nor a Payment Facilitator, merchants also need acceptance contracts with another acquirer.

PayPal: an International Payment Provider

PayPal is an easy solution for shop providers, but quickly becomes more expensive for larger order volumes. Payment links, email invoices, and various plugins are available. According to its own figures, the Payment Facilitator PayPal has more than 240 million active users and offers the possibility to carry out payments in over 100 currencies. PayPal is an international provider, allowing merchants to choose from a variety of different languages. PayPal has an average Google rating of 1.7 out of 5 stars from a total of 474 reviews.

Price Overview of PayPal Switzerland

PayPal charges neither setup fees nor monthly subscription costs, which is particularly worthwhile for shops with very few transactions.

What do merchants need to do for integration?

To use PayPal, merchants only need to provide company information as well as a commercial register number. No developer skills are required.

Stripe: Provider for Developers

Stripe offers developer-friendly tools for connecting payment provider services to various web and mobile apps with a modern design. It enables credit card payments and also offers some other payment methods such as Alipay. Stripe, like Payrexx and PayPal, is a Payment Facilitator. In general, Stripe is particularly attractive for smaller online shops due to its prices. The provider has a Google rating of 4.1 out of 5 stars from 48 reviews.

Price Overview of Stripe

Stripe also does not charge any one-time setup costs or fixed monthly fees. No additional fees are charged for refunds either.

What do merchants need to do for integration?

Merchants must have developer knowledge for the implementation. In addition, a valid photo ID and a company number are required for verification.

wallee: Omni-Pay Provider from Switzerland

Wallee is a Swiss payment provider based in Winterthur. Over 1,000 customers trust this company. Payments can be integrated online either on the website or carried out by redirection. The templates can be changed as desired and plugins for various shop systems are also available. A test mode is also available. Wallee has a Google rating of 3 out of 5 stars from 39 reviews.

Price Overview of wallee

What do merchants need to do for integration?

To use one of the many integrations, merchants generally have to take some technical steps and integrate a wallee plugin or an API into their shop.

saldiaPay: Payment Provider with its Own Shop System

SaldiaPay is a Swiss payment provider that offers digital payment solutions for businesses. They enable the processing of credit card payments, accept digital wallets, and offer secure, user-friendly payment services. saldia offers diverse solutions such as online payments, online shops, or logistics services and is thus building a good reputation in various industries.

Price Overview of saldiaPay

What do merchants need to do for integration?

Programming knowledge is not necessary to use saldiaPay. With saldiaShop, you can easily create an online shop and immediately have the matching payment provider saldiaPay and many other integrations such as bexio, saldiaLogistics, and swissbilling. The verification process includes personal identification with a photo ID and, if available, the entry in the commercial register.

zahls.ch: New Swiss Payment Solution for the Web

Zahls.ch is a Swiss provider whose offer is very clearly structured. In addition to classic payments, e-commerce tools are also available. This includes an online terminal, payment links, digital invoices, and a self-configurable payment page (small online shop). Zahls.ch provides all Swiss payment instruments and a large selection of foreign payment methods. Zahls.ch has an average Google rating of 5 out of 5 stars from a total of 3 reviews.

Price Overview of zahls.ch

What do merchants need to do for integration?

Programming knowledge is not necessary to use zahls.ch, on the contrary. You can very easily create an online shop using the built-in tool. The verification process includes providing a photo ID and, if available, the entry in the commercial register.

Conclusion: Which payment provider is right for you?

Basically, it is recommended to clarify the individual requirements of the online shop precisely and then, if possible, start with low-cost options instead of starting with too high expectations and paying unnecessarily much. For young and digital enterprises, for example, Payrexx is an exciting option. Payrexx offers an all-in-one solution with various tools that you can test and is the cost leader for medium-sized online shops – followed by PostFinance and wallee. PayPal, Stripe, and Worldline, on the other hand, demand relatively high transaction fees and Datatrans incurs high monthly fixed costs.

In addition to prices, the range of functions and supporting services should also be considered. The most diverse and useful tools are offered by zahls.ch and Payrexx.

With over 200 payment instruments (including integrated External providers), Payrexx offers the largest selection of payment methods, followed by Datatrans (planet) with over 40 different payment instruments.

In terms of simplicity of installation, PayPal, Payrexx, and zahls.ch tower over the other payment providers. In general implementation, Stripe is more extensive than the other providers. With PostFinance, you need advanced developer knowledge to install the plugins.

The opportunity to test the provider and its functions in a free phase is of great advantage for merchants, as it allows you to ensure that the payment provider meets your needs. Datatrans, Payrexx, PostFinance, wallee, Worldline, saldiaPay, and zahls.ch allow customers to try out the provider.

Datatrans, PostFinance, and Worldline have the most experience in the area of Payment Service Providing.

In summary, when choosing a payment provider, it is worth not only looking at the well-known ones but also keeping an eye on the newer digital payment providers. This is because they are often cheaper but still offer a variety of tools and can better address the individual needs of individual merchants. For smaller and medium-sized shops, Payrexx and wallee offer great advantages, while for larger companies it can be worthwhile to look into the larger providers with a lot of experience. Basically, Payrexx clearly belongs to the frontrunners in the areas of price, diversity, and simplicity.

Sources

Prices: Datatrans, PayPal, Payrexx, PostFinance, Stripe, wallee, Worldline 1, Worldline 2, saldiaPay, zahls.ch

Plugins for shop systems: Datatrans, PayPal, Payrexx, PostFinance, Stripe, wallee, Worldline, saldiaPay, zahls.ch

Payment instruments: Datatrans, PayPal, Payrexx, PostFinance, Stripe, wallee, Worldline, saldiaPay, zahls.ch

Icons: Flaticon

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Authors

Authors: Melanie Frutiger and Sven Otziger, Payrexx AG

Email address: melanie.frutiger@payrexx.com