Payment methods by country · Payment methods
How do French shoppers pay online?
Checked
French shoppers mostly pay online with their bank card, which nearly always runs on Cartes Bancaires, France's local card network. Stripe says more than 95% of CB cards are co-badged with Visa or Mastercard, and a store in the EEA must let the shopper choose which network to use. PayPal and Apple Pay are common, Klarna offers pay later and pay in 3, and the bank wallet Wero is available in France.
- Currency
- Euro (EUR)
- Local card network
- Cartes Bancaires (CB): over 95% co-badged with Visa or Mastercard
- Disputes
- CB dispute rules are stricter than Visa and Mastercard
- Buy now, pay later
- Klarna: pay later up to €500, pay in 3 €1–€3,000
- Bank wallet
- Wero (EPI)
- PlatformDTC offers
- Cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal, Klarna
What PlatformDTC does
PlatformDTC checkout takes French bank cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay and PayPal in euros, and Klarna on one-time orders from €1 to €4,000 when the store's Stripe account is in the EEA, UK or Switzerland. Wero is not offered today.
Cartes Bancaires in plain words
Stripe calls Cartes Bancaires a common payment method in France. Because CB's dispute rules are stricter than Visa's and Mastercard's, disputes on CB payments are less frequent on average.
The ECB's 2024 SPACE study found that 10% of respondents in France named mobile payments as their preferred non-cash method, against 29% in the Netherlands.
Pay later and wallets
Klarna in France offers pay later in 30 days up to €500 and pay in 3 from €1 to €3,000. Wero links a shopper's bank account to a wallet app; EPI lists France among its live countries.
Frequently asked questions
- Do I need a separate contract for Cartes Bancaires?
- On Stripe, Cartes Bancaires needs extra configuration, unlike Visa and Mastercard. Nearly all CB cards also carry Visa or Mastercard.
- Can French shoppers pay in 3 on PlatformDTC?
- Klarna decides which options a shopper sees. PlatformDTC shows Klarna on one-time orders from €1 to €4,000 in France, never on subscriptions.
Sources
- Cartes Bancaires (CB) — Stripe
- Study on the payment attitudes of consumers in the euro area (SPACE) 2024 — European Central Bank
- Klarna payments — Stripe
- Wero — EPI Company SE
- Cards: supported card brands — Stripe
Related
- Belgium — Bancontact cards and app payments are the local habit; Wero and Klarna pay later are also live.
- Germany — E-payment wallets such as PayPal lead online, alongside Klarna invoices and SEPA Direct Debit.
- Spain — Cards and Bizum, the bank-backed phone payment, with PayPal and Klarna pay in 3 alongside.
- Netherlands — iDEAL bank payments, now becoming Wero, are by far the usual way to pay online.
- Austria — EPS online bank transfers are accepted by most Austrian shops, with Klarna and cards alongside.
- Switzerland — TWINT mobile payments are the Swiss favourite, with cards, PayPal and Klarna alongside.
- Ireland — Cards and phone wallets lead; open-banking Pay by Bank and Klarna pay in 3 are newer options.