Best ways to accept online payments in Pakistan

Getting paid is where selling online in Pakistan gets complicated. The global tools many guides recommend are not available to Pakistani businesses, customers still lean towards cash, and every method has a different mix of cost, paperwork and risk. This guide lists the realistic options for a small business, as of October 2026, and when each makes sense.

We keep fees and approval rules general on purpose: they change, and they differ by bank and provider. Ask each provider for its current terms before you commit.

1. Cash on delivery (COD)

Still the default for a lot of online shopping in Pakistan, especially with a store the customer has not tried before. The customer pays the courier's rider, and the courier pays the money back to you after deduction of its charges, on its own schedule.

• Good for: winning first-time customers' trust.
• Watch out for: refused parcels (you pay delivery both ways) and the wait for the courier to remit the cash.

Cash on delivery is built into Biizay's checkout and on by default. Our guide to setting up COD and cutting returns covers the risk side.

2. Bank transfer

The customer transfers the amount to your business account from their banking app, and sends you a screenshot. No provider to sign up with and no fee from a gateway. The cost is your time: you have to match each transfer to an order by hand, and screenshots can be faked, so always confirm the money arrived in your account before you dispatch.

3. Raast

Raast is the State Bank of Pakistan's instant payment system. Money arrives in seconds between participating banks and wallets, which removes the 'has it cleared?' wait of older transfers. It is an excellent way to take payment for an order agreed on WhatsApp or the phone. Ask your bank how to receive Raast payments to your business account, including by QR code.

4. Mobile wallets: JazzCash and Easypaisa

Huge numbers of customers have one of these wallets. The simplest use is a personal or business wallet number customers send money to. For payments taken automatically inside a website checkout, you need a merchant account with the wallet provider and a store platform that integrates with it, which usually involves business documents and an approval process.

5. A Pakistani payment gateway

Payment gateways licensed by the State Bank, such as PayFast, combine several methods (cards, wallets, bank accounts) behind one checkout and handle the paperwork with the banks. They suit businesses taking a steady volume of prepaid orders. Expect an onboarding process, documents, and a fee per transaction, and check that the gateway works with your store platform before you sign up.

6. Payment links

Many gateways and banks can generate a link for a set amount that the customer opens and pays. Useful for custom orders, advance deposits and anything agreed in chat, without needing a full website checkout.

7. Card payments through Stripe

Stripe is the card processor most international platforms use, and Biizay's card payments run through your own Stripe account. Be clear about the limit: as of October 2026, Stripe's list of supported countries does not include Pakistan, so a business registered in Pakistan cannot open a Stripe account. Stripe does support the United Arab Emirates, which makes card checkout straightforward for a UAE business.

8. Card at the counter

If you have a shop, a card machine from your bank lets walk-in customers pay by card. That is separate from online payments, but worth recording properly: Biizay's point of sale records each sale as cash or card, so your end-of-day totals match what the machine and the drawer say.

Which payment methods should a new online store offer?

1. 1Start with cash on delivery. It removes the biggest barrier to a first order.
2. 2Add bank transfer or Raast for repeat customers and large orders, and give a reason to use it, such as faster dispatch.
3. 3Move to a gateway or wallet merchant account once prepaid orders are a steady share of your sales and the per-order effort of manual transfers is costing you.

How do I keep track of which orders are paid?

The more payment methods you accept, the more important this becomes. A cash on delivery order is paid when the courier remits the money, not when the rider collects it. A bank transfer is paid when it shows in your account, not when the customer sends a screenshot. A gateway payment is paid when the gateway settles it to you. Treat each of these as a separate moment and record it.

• Give every order a number and ask customers to put it in the transfer reference.
• Check your bank or wallet statement, not screenshots, before dispatching prepaid orders.
• Match your courier's COD remittance statement against your delivered orders every week; missing amounts are much easier to chase while they are recent.
• Record card and cash separately at the counter, so the drawer and the card machine can each be checked at closing.

What about customers paying from abroad?

Overseas customers usually cannot pay cash on delivery and may not have a Pakistani bank account or wallet. For occasional orders, a payment link from a gateway that accepts international cards, or a bank transfer, is the practical route. If a large share of your customers are abroad, choose your payment provider with that in mind from the start, and check its rules on international cards and payouts in rupees.

What Biizay's checkout supports today

To be precise: Biizay's online checkout offers cash on delivery and card payments through your own Stripe account, which needs a business in a Stripe-supported country such as the UAE. It does not take JazzCash, Easypaisa or bank transfer as checkout methods yet. If an automatic wallet payment at checkout is essential to you right now, choose a platform that integrates your wallet or gateway; our comparison of the best ecommerce platforms in Pakistan notes which can.