A day without filling his basket online? Unthinkable for some of us. Today, more and more consumers are shopping online. Whether it’s clothing, electronic products or food, just one click to enjoy at home. If e-commerce has been slow to start in France, it is now part of our daily lives.
For the consumer, the benefits are indeed clear: just order from his sofa and wait for delivery, often offered. We keep what we like, and return the rest generally without charge. In France, the majority of payments are by credit card but there are many ways to pay on the Internet. One of the most used online payment services is PayPal. Although it is considered a safe and reliable system, many reservations have been made about the company’s privacy policies and the potential for security breaches. So what are the alternatives to PayPal? Here is an overview of the main solutions to work around PayPal.
Paylib
Paylib is a payment method launched in 2013 by French banks, initially Banque Postale, BNP Paribas and Société Générale. After having proved itself, the service is joined by Boursorama, Crédit Mutuel but also Crédit Agricole which then abandons its Kwixo solution (launch in 2011 and withdrawal in 2015). As with most services, Paylib does not generate any fees for the individual. The major advantage for the consumer is that he does not need to enter his bank details. The Paylib account is configured from the site of your bank. To validate your purchases, simply click on the Paylib logo and enter the previously configured credentials.
The offer for traders is quite competitive. If safe values like Leroy Merlin, Voyages-sncf, La Redoute or Sarenza have adopted the solution, it remains however little widespread. This means of payment is accessible from your computers, your smartphones or tablets.
Stripe
Stripe is another good alternative to PayPal. The American company has been developed for many businesses in Europe including France, Germany, Spain, Italy and Switzerland. It allows payments by credit card and debit card. Its price offer is really clear and transparent for startups, with commissions of 1.4% + 0.25 € on transactions for European cards and 2.9% + 0.25 € for non-European cards. You have no fixed fees to add, no setup fees, no subscription fees. Stripe has a clear desire to support small businesses with a particular focus on supporting Skype in its early stages. Medium and large companies can request personalized rates. Privacy issue, Stripe is certified PCI Level 1, the highest level of security set up for online payments.
The young San Francisco-based company has grown steadily in recent years and now counts Twitter and Facebook as customers. The advantage is that the solution offers great flexibility to online shops and remains transparent to the customer. Indeed, Stripe is a payment gateway, the service is not directly visible to the consumer. Moreover, he is not obliged to create an account either.
Thanks to the solution, you can create your own payment forms. The installation of the service is fast and allows you to manage your income easily, by configuring in particular the frequency of payment from a well-designed dashboard.
Masterpass
The Masterpass solution was initially an alternative to PayPal only available to holders of MasterCard cards who offered the offer. The solution was then opened to other debit cards, credit cards and prepaid cards; now, this method of payment is available to Visa, American Express or Diners Club International and Discover Network.
Like PayPal, Masterpass considers itself a digital wallet. It is necessary to create a personal account and to record your payment information. Thus, this data is at your disposal to make payment faster online. They make it possible to avoid filling your delivery address and your bank details many times for each online purchase. The customer can validate his payment quickly by entering his email address and his predefined password. At the time of validation, you receive an authentication code by SMS or application, which allows additional security. Masterpass uses a multi-level validation system. Its use works on your computer or with a mobile browser as for native applications Android and IOS.
Amazon Pay
Amazon Pay is the own payment service of Amazon’s online commerce giant. Amazon Pay benefits from the reputation and reputation of the parent company and has been adopted by many leading online stores. This alternative to PayPal is still not as well known as the market leader.
With Amazon Pay, you pay for purchases on the partner site through your Amazon account. Only your email address and associated password are required to validate the order. The previously entered information on Amazon is then retrieved. While it is of course mandatory to have an active Amazon account, no other condition is required. The major advantage is that no payment information needs to be entered on the third party site. Amazon stands out as an important intermediary between the customer and the merchant. The end user has no charge for creating and using his account. Payment is possible by credit card or direct debit to your account following what you set up on Amazon. The trader, on the other hand, must have a commission of nearly 1.9% and 35 cents per transaction, almost like with PayPal.
Apple Pay
The Apple Pay alternative of the group that is no longer present, is initially a payment service for mobile devices. This alternative to PayPal is, for now, only accessible to users of new products launched by Apple. The payment service was initially based on CCP (near-field communication) (NFC) technology, ie near-field communication, for the iPhone: thus, it is possible to pay with Apple Pay in physical shops through what is called contactless payment. But it is also possible to make integrated purchases in certain applications, for example Airbnb, Starbucks or Kickstarter.
Since the launch, some online stores have also decided to offer Apple Pay as a means of payment. Initially only available for the United States, the service is now available, among others, in France, the United Kingdom and Switzerland. It is likely that Apple Pay will grow even further in Europe.
Google Pay
When it comes to new technologies, Google is of course never far away. The search engine also offers its online payment solution with Google Pay, formerly Android Pay. This is Google’s second try, which started with Google Wallet. It is essentially for Google to compete with Apple Pay, developing in Europe, where Android users are more numerous. The service, first developed in the United States, is now available in 18 countries. It should be commissioned in France during the summer of 2018.
Google Pay is an application that you can install on your phone and then use in physical stores. The only requirement is to have a laptop compatible with NFC technology. The solution can however also be integrated by the online shops. Then just click on the application to validate your purchase. The principle is the same as with Apple Pay: the credit card data are entered and then stored securely; no data is communicated to the merchants. Use of Google Pay is free.
Yesbycash
Yesbycash of the company TSI is not strictly speaking an alternative to PayPal because it is not exactly an online payment service. The solution proposed by the company is indeed to pay your Internet purchases in cash. This is possible thanks to a network of 5,600 outlets in France (tobacco shops, kiosks, bookstores, stores etc.) that Yesbycash offers to collect your cash payment. To do this, simply select the YesbyCash option when validating your order and then choose your payment point. You then receive a “good to pay” (a barcode) that you can print or simply keep on your mobile. This barcode must then be presented to the selected address to validate the purchase. Ironically, you can also choose to pay by credit card on this point of payment. Once the payment is accepted, your order can be sent.
Be careful however to pay your purchase on time. Controlled products are normally reserved for up to 7 days, but merchants can reduce or increase the time. The solution requires to be able to move quickly.
The service is therefore convenient for people reluctant to enter their bank details on a site or who would have been denied their payment by card. According to Yesbycash, it would be 12 to 24% of the transactions that would lead to a bank rejection. Do not underestimate the fact that the first difficulties to make a payment on a site, inspire distrust to the consumer, especially if he knows little or no brand. Yesbycash helps to work around this problem. For traders, Yesbycash offers a new alternative to their customers. You still have to charge a commission amounting to 6% of the transaction.
In addition, Yesbycash has not yet sealed major partnerships. In addition to the giant Amazon, its customers are little known.
Skrill
The Skrill payment system, formerly known as Moneybookers, comes straight from England. It is a free alternative to PayPal, which is based on the principle of prepaid card. A customer account is indeed supplied from your credit card or current account. You can then use it for your online purchases or transactions. Thanks to this solution, your banking data are never communicated to merchants. The prepaid card is a good alternative to PayPal because it allows you to control your expenses and avoid exceeding the limits you have set. The disadvantage is that customers must advance money before they can use the service.
Overview of the best alternatives to PayPal
So there are many alternatives to PayPal. The decisive criterion for many customers is whether the offer is extended to a wide range of partners: how many online stores have really opted for this payment service? On this issue, PayPal is unbeatable. This is indeed the most common means of payment. In terms of services and data protection, however, it is not one of the first choices. Paylib is a good alternative to PayPal that has proven itself on the French market, and that allows you to not communicate your details through a service managed by your bank itself. In addition, Stripe is an effective means of payment that allows you to respond to peak activity on your site without the risk of being interrupted or the subject of a study as may be the case with PayPal .
For online shops, it is important in all cases to diversify your payment solutions offer. Yesbycash is a growing service that allows your most reluctant consumers to validate their order anyway.
To better identify you, here is an overview of the alternatives for which you can opt: