Shopify Payments Explained: Fees, Payouts, When to Use It

Shopify Payments is Shopify’s own payment processor: you accept major cards and Shop Pay without setting up a third-party provider or merchant account, and Shopify does not charge third-party transaction fees on those orders. You pay a card rate that depends on your plan instead, and payouts go to your bank account on a daily, weekly or monthly schedule. It is available in 41 countries and territories.

What Shopify Payments does

According to Shopify’s Shopify Payments page, read on October 23, 2026, you are set up to accept all major payment methods as soon as you create your store. You can also run it alongside a direct third-party provider to add methods such as Shop Pay and local payment methods, and to recover failed transactions. The Payments activity report gives a reconciled breakdown of your balance activity, fees and payouts.

To activate it, go to Settings > Payments and complete the Shopify Payments setup with your business details and bank account; each country’s page lists the verification it needs. Shopify requires two-step authentication on your Shopify account before you can use Shopify Payments, because a stolen password could otherwise redirect your payouts. Turn it on for staff accounts too.

Shopify’s Spring ’26 Edition added two things worth knowing: multi-currency payouts in the US, Hong Kong and Singapore, which let a business settle in more currencies (France listed as coming soon), and Shopify Payments in the United Arab Emirates for Shopify Plus stores.

Fees: what you pay and what you don’t

The table follows Shopify’s pricing overview, read on October 23, 2026. Card rates vary by plan and between online and in-person payments, so read the current rates on Shopify’s pricing page for your country; the fee logic across plans is in Shopify fees.

Shopify’s pricing page for the US, read on October 31, 2026, lists the third-party payment provider fee at 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow, 0.6% on Advanced and 0.2% on Plus. A Basic store selling $10,000 a month through another card provider pays $200 a month to Shopify on top of that provider’s own card rates; through Shopify Payments that $200 does not exist, and the card rate is the only processing cost. If Shopify Payments is not available in your country, you use a third-party provider and pay both.

Payouts

Funds go to the bank account you set up; Shopify’s payouts pages cover the details. Shopify accepts a checking account that meets your country’s requirements, or a Shopify Balance account. You choose daily, weekly or monthly payouts, though some countries, such as Japan, limit the options, and higher-risk accounts may be put on a custom schedule of 5 to 20 business days.

Shopify lists a minimum settlement time in business days: 2 for Australia; 3 for Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the United States and EUR-based countries; 4 for Hong Kong SAR and Singapore; 5 for Japan and the United Arab Emirates; 7 for Mexico. Charges captured from Friday to Sunday are grouped into one payout, and your bank can take another 1 to 3 business days to show the money. In some cases, payouts for new merchants can take up to 5 business days, and an incomplete setup delays them. You can receive payouts in a currency different from the one you sell in. Your bookkeeper will want the activity report; see bookkeeping apps for what connects to it.

Requirements and countries

Shopify’s supported countries page lists 41 countries and territories: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Hong Kong SAR, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States. Each country has its own page with bank account and verification requirements, and Shopify’s terms say which business categories are supported. If your country or your business type is not covered, you need a third-party provider.

Shopify Payments or a third-party provider?

Use Shopify Payments when it is available to you, since it removes the transaction fee and keeps payments, payouts and reports in one admin. The Fall ’26 Edition (October 28, 2026) adds seven local payment methods to Shopify Payments, among them Alipay, WeChat Pay, OXXO and GrabPay, so check the current list before you add a provider for one of them. Add a third-party provider only for a method or country Shopify Payments does not cover, and expect transaction fees on those orders. PayPal can sit beside it without that fee. If you want to accept crypto, the providers and limits are in accepting crypto on Shopify. More store-running guides are in the running a store hub.

Frequently asked questions

Is Shopify Payments free? Shopify Payments charges no third-party transaction fee on the orders it processes, but you pay a credit card rate that depends on your plan. Credit card fees are not returned when you refund an order.

How long do payouts take? The minimum settlement time is 2 to 7 business days depending on the country, and your bank can take another 1 to 3 business days. New merchants should allow up to 5 business days for the first payouts in some cases.

Can I use PayPal with Shopify Payments? PayPal can run beside it. When Shopify Payments is your primary payment provider, PayPal transactions are exempt from third-party transaction fees.