How to Configure Payment Gateways in WooCommerce

What is WooCommerce

WooCommerce is a free WordPress plugin that turns your site into an online shop. It manages products, orders, taxes, shipping and payments.

Popular payment gateways

1. WooCommerce Payments. Built in, lets you accept cards and manage payments from your dashboard.
2. PayPal. Popular and trusted, with hosted payments.
3. Stripe. Keeps customers on your site during payment and supports cards and many local methods.
4. Square. Suits shops that also sell in a physical store.
5. Authorize.Net. A solid choice that supports many payment types.
6. Direct bank transfer. Customers pay straight from their bank account. You confirm manually.
7. Cash on delivery. The customer pays when the order arrives.

Availability depends on your country.

Step 1: Install and activate WooCommerce

In the dashboard go to Plugins > Add New, search for WooCommerce, click Install Now and then Activate.

Run the setup wizard to set the store address, currency and products.

Step 2: Open the payment settings

Go to WooCommerce > Settings > Payments.

Step 3: See the available payment methods

The page lists the methods available for your store.

Step 4: Enable a payment method

Use the toggle next to the method.

Step 5: Manage the method

Click Manage (or Set up) to open its settings.

Step 6: Configure the gateway

Each gateway has its own options. For example, for a gateway such as Stripe or PayPal:

• Enter the API keys or connect your account.
• Use test mode first and place a test order.
• Set the title and description that customers see at checkout.
• Choose the payment actions (capture right away or authorize first).

For bank transfer enter your bank details. For cash on delivery set the instructions.

Save the changes.

Step 7: Add more gateways

If you need other methods, go to Plugins > Add New and search for the gateway's plugin, or use Add payment methods in the Payments page.

Test before you go live

1. Turn on the test mode of the gateway.
2. Place a test order with a test card.
3. Check that the order status and the email are right.
4. Turn off the test mode.

Security tips

• Use HTTPS (an SSL certificate) on the whole shop.
• Never store card data on your server. Use a gateway that hosts the payment form.
• Keep WooCommerce and the gateway plugins updated.
• Use strong passwords and two-factor authentication for admins.

Quick recap

• WooCommerce > Settings > Payments, enable a method, manage it, test and go live.