Best Payment Gateways in Pakistan (2026): Fees, Setup & Which One Fits Your Store

Your store can have great products, fair prices and a beautiful website — and still lose the sale at checkout. In Pakistan, that usually happens for one reason: the customer could not pay the way they wanted to. Picking the right payment gateway in Pakistan is not a technical detail. It decides how many of your visitors actually become paying customers.

Disclosure: this article contains affiliate links. If you buy through them, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

1What a Payment Gateway Does (and Why It Matters Here)

A payment gateway is the service that takes a customer’s payment at checkout — card, mobile wallet, bank transfer or Raast — verifies it with their bank or wallet, and tells your store whether the payment succeeded. In most countries that is a solved problem. In Pakistan it is not: PayPal does not work for receiving money here, Stripe is not officially available, and Shopify Payments does not operate in Pakistan at all. What we have instead is a growing set of local, State Bank–licensed options — and they are not interchangeable. The wrong choice costs you customers, not just fees.

This guide compares the seven gateways that matter for Pakistani online stores in 2026, with real PKR fee math, setup requirements and an honest verdict on which one fits which kind of store.

When a customer clicks “Pay Now”, four things happen in about two or three seconds: the gateway encrypts their payment details, sends them to the relevant bank or wallet for authorisation, receives an approved or declined signal, and tells your store the result. If it worked, a webhook fires and the order is confirmed.

Two things make Pakistan different from the markets most gateway guides are written for:

• Your customers pay in several different ways. A majority of online orders are still cash on delivery, but among prepaid orders the split runs across JazzCash and Easypaisa wallets, debit cards, bank transfers and increasingly Raast. A gateway that only takes cards leaves wallet-first customers stranded.
• Trust is the real currency. Pakistani shoppers are cautious about paying online in advance, and a familiar name at checkout — JazzCash, Easypaisa or a known bank — converts better than an unfamiliar one. A checkout page that redirects to a page your customer does not recognise is where sales quietly die.

2The Best Payment Gateways in Pakistan at a Glance

Fees are indicative — most Pakistani gateways negotiate pricing based on your volume and category, and few publish a fixed rate card. Always get your rate in writing before you sign. Settlement is typically T+1 to T+3 (funds in your account one to three business days after the sale).

3PayFast — The Established All-Rounder

PayFast (GoPayFast, run by Avanza Premier Payment Services) is the most established independent gateway in Pakistan: licensed and regulated by the State Bank, and the first gateway to go live with Raast person-to-merchant (P2M) payments. It is the default shortlist entry for a reason — it accepts the widest mix of payment methods through one integration: local debit and credit cards, JazzCash and Easypaisa wallets, bank transfers and Raast.

Pros

• Broadest method coverage; strong brand recognition at checkout (customers have seen the name); WooCommerce plugin available; SBP licence and a long merchant roster including large e-commerce brands.

Cons

• The checkout experience is a hosted redirect rather than a fully embedded on-page flow, which costs some conversions; pricing is sales-led and opaque — expect to negotiate; support quality varies with merchant size.

Verdict: the safe default for a general WooCommerce store that wants one integration covering every payment method. If you only pick one gateway, this is the one most Pakistani stores start with.

4Safepay — The Modern Shopify Favourite

Safepay is the gateway Pakistani Shopify sellers talk about most, and for good reason. It is developer-friendly, offers an embedded on-site checkout (customers pay without leaving your store), and supports domestic and international cards, wallets, Raast, payment links and subscriptions. It is backed by Stripe and supports multi-currency acceptance through CyberSource and MIGS — the closest thing Pakistan has to a Stripe-like experience.

Pros

• Embedded checkout that keeps customers on your page; strong Shopify and WooCommerce options; no setup fee; supports international cards, which matters if you ever sell abroad.

Cons

• Pricing is custom and sales-led, so small stores may wait longer for a quote; as a younger company it has a smaller merchant roster than PayFast, so fewer customers recognise the name at checkout.

Verdict: the best choice for a Shopify store where checkout completion is the priority. If your store runs on Shopify, Safepay is the first gateway to evaluate — it is built for exactly that stack. (For the full Shopify cost picture in Pakistan, see our Shopify store cost guide for 2026.)

5JazzCash & Easypaisa — The Wallet Giants

Pakistan’s two dominant mobile wallets are gateways in their own right, and they deserve a section of their own. JazzCash (backed by Mobilink Microfinance Bank) and Easypaisa (backed by Telenor Microfinance Bank) each serve tens of millions of wallet users — and those users are exactly the customers who do not have, or do not use, a debit card online.

Both offer merchant payment gateways with plugins for WooCommerce and Shopify, plus card acceptance alongside the wallet. JazzCash adds 3-D Secure on cards and a merchant portal with real-time tracking; Easypaisa adds over-the-counter token payments for customers who prefer to pay cash at a shop.

Pros

• The lowest fees in the market for wallet payments (typically 1–2%); the most recognisable payment brands in Pakistan — customers trust them; instant familiarity at checkout lifts conversion among wallet-first shoppers.

Cons

• Neither works well as your only gateway — wallet-only coverage misses card customers; merchant onboarding for the full gateway (as opposed to a simple wallet account) still takes paperwork and time.

Verdict: do not choose between them — add one or both alongside a primary card gateway. That combination (PayFast or Safepay + JazzCash/Easypaisa) covers virtually every Pakistani buyer. If most of your customers are on one wallet, prioritise that one first.

6PayPro, XPay & Bank Gateways — The Specialists

Beyond the big four, three more options fill specific gaps:

PayPro

PayPro is the gateway for businesses that invoice. It combines online card and bank payments with digital invoicing, recurring billing in PKR and an over-the-counter cash-collection network across partner locations. It is the strongest fit for education, B2B, insurance and subscription businesses — less so for a standard retail store.

XPay (by PostEx)

XPay focuses on embedded, on-site checkout for Shopify stores, positioning itself squarely around conversion: no redirect, the customer never leaves your page. It is used by several large Pakistani retailers and is worth evaluating if you run Shopify and care about checkout completion. Like Safepay, pricing is negotiated rather than published.

Bank merchant gateways

HBL (CyberSource), Bank Alfalah (Mastercard Internet Gateway Service and its own Alfa Payment Gateway), UBL, Faysal Bank and MCB (MIGS) are the direct route. They suit high-volume businesses with negotiating leverage, and they are the only local route to reliable multi-currency international card acceptance. The trade-off is slower onboarding, more paperwork and a direct bank relationship to manage.

Verdict: most stores never need these. Add PayPro if you invoice or bill subscriptions; look at XPay as a Safepay alternative on Shopify; talk to a bank gateway only once your monthly volume gives you something to negotiate with.

7Selling to Customers Abroad? Read This First

If you sell to customers outside Pakistan, your local gateway may not be enough. The international options that actually work for Pakistani merchants are 2Checkout (now Verifone) and Payoneer — both accept international cards, but with higher fees, stricter approval and (for 2Checkout) a more complex setup.

Check the underlying processor. Several smaller aggregators operate in partnership with SBP-licensed providers. That is legitimate — but always confirm the underlying processor is SBP-licensed before you sign up. Your money’s safety depends on it.

For most Pakistani stores, the honest answer is: serve local customers with a local gateway, and add 2Checkout or a bank gateway only when international orders are a real, measured share of your sales.

8What a PKR 2,500 Order Really Costs You

Fees look small as percentages. They look different on a real order. Here is what each option takes from a typical PKR 2,500 sale (indicative rates — your negotiated rate may differ):

The last row is the point. A failed COD delivery — courier charges both ways, plus the returned parcel — routinely costs more than ten successful card payments. That is why the gateway conversation is not about saving 1% on fees. It is about shifting even a fifth of your COD orders to prepaid, where the fee is tiny and the return rate is near zero.

9How to Choose: Match the Gateway to Your Store

There is no single best gateway — there is a best gateway for your store. Use this decision guide:

• Just starting out (WooCommerce, under 100 orders/month): PayFast + JazzCash or Easypaisa. One integration, every payment method, lowest friction.
• Shopify store: Safepay first, XPay as the alternative. Embedded checkout matters more on Shopify, where every redirect costs sales.
• Wallet-heavy audience (fashion, cosmetics, food): lead with JazzCash and Easypaisa, backed by PayFast for cards. Your customers already have the wallets installed.
• Invoicing, courses or subscriptions: PayPro. Recurring billing and over-the-counter collection are built for you.
• High volume (PKR 1 million+/month): negotiate with a bank gateway (HBL or Bank Alfalah) and use your volume as leverage. The rate you negotiate will beat any published price.
• Selling abroad: 2Checkout or a bank gateway with multi-currency support — only once international orders justify it.

If you are still choosing your platform, our WooCommerce vs Shopify comparison for Pakistan covers how the gateway picture differs on each one — and our WordPress vs Shopify guide covers the wider trade-offs.

10The Setup Checklist (Before You Apply)

Gateway approval in Pakistan is paperwork, not a formality. Having these ready before you apply cuts approval from weeks to days:

1. NTN and business registration — sole proprietorship is fine for most stores; get the NTN through the FBR IRIS portal first.
2. Business bank account in the registered name. Gateways settle to this account, not a personal one.
3. A live store with real products, PKR pricing and working checkout. Gateways review your site before approving you.
4. Policy pages: About, Contact, Privacy Policy, Shipping Policy, Returns & Refunds, Terms of Service. Several gateways require these before approval.
5. Active Taxpayer List (ATL) status — couriers and gateways both treat this as a trust signal.
6. A contact number and email you actually answer — the gateway’s risk team will call.

11COD + Gateway: The Combination That Works

Here is the setup we recommend to clients, and the one this guide is built around: offer COD, a wallet option and one card gateway at launch. That covers virtually every Pakistani buyer — the cash customer, the wallet customer and the card customer — without a single point of failure.

Then nudge the mix over time. A 5% prepaid discount, a “pay now” badge on product pages, and a WhatsApp order-confirmation message all push customers gently away from COD. You do not need to eliminate COD — you need to get prepaid to 20–30% of orders, where the savings on failed deliveries start to outweigh the gateway fees many times over. For the full cost picture, including courier and COD charges, see our e-commerce website cost guide for Pakistan.

12Mistakes to Avoid

• Choosing on fee percentage alone. A cheap gateway that converts poorly costs you far more than a 1% fee difference.
• Offering only one payment method. Every method you skip is a segment of customers who abandon the cart.
• Skipping the paperwork. Applying without an NTN, bank account or policy pages guarantees a slow rejection.
• Forgetting the redirect test. Place a test order yourself on a real phone, on mobile data. If checkout feels slow or unfamiliar, your customers feel it too.
• Trusting an unlicensed aggregator. If you cannot verify the underlying SBP-licensed processor, do not send your customers’ money through it.
• Ignoring settlement timing. T+3 settlement on a Friday sale means cash on Wednesday. Plan your inventory purchases around it.

?Frequently Asked Questions