How To Set Up A Payment Gateway In WooCommerce

If you have decided to use WooCommerce for your online shop, we commend you on your decision. As part of the WordPress platform, it’s incredibly customizable and very easy to use.

And WooCommerce comes with plenty of features that lend itself incredibly well to selling products and services online.

But, you cannot make any money on your WooCommerce store if you fail to set up some form of payment gateway.

But, there’s no need to worry because this article is going to explain exactly how to do so, in an easy-to-follow, step-by-step manner.

We’re going to start by looking into what payment gateways are compatible with WooCommerce.

What Payment Gateways Are Compatible With WooCommerce?

There are two types of payment gateways:

1) Payment gateways that accept credit cards (CC)

2) Payment gateways that allow users to pay using their PayPal account

For the purposes of this article, we’re going to focus on the former option, payment gateways that accept credit and debit cards.

This is because while many potential customers may have a PayPal account, they may not all have one, whereas everyone has credit or debit cards that they can use to shop with you.

Setting Up Your Credit Card Gateway – Step-By-Step Guide

Now, let’s get started with our guide. We’ll show you how to set up your own credit card gateway.

Step 1: Create a New Account With Stripe

If you want to accept credit card payments through your WooCommerce site, you’ll need to register for a new Stripe account.

To do this, head over to the Stripe homepage and click the Sign-Up button.

You’ll then be presented with a screen where you can fill out your personal information.

You’ll need to fill in your name, email address, phone number, password and security question answers.

After you’ve filled everything out, you’ll then be asked to verify your email address. Once you’ve done this, you’ll be taken back to the home page.

At this point, you should see a message stating, “Thank you! Your Stripe account has been created.” Click on the link provided to confirm your email address.

Step 2: Choosing Your Settings

Once you’ve confirmed your email address, you’ll be able to log in to your Stripe dashboard.

Click on the Settings tab located on the top right-hand side of the screen. Then scroll down until you find the Payments section.

From here, click on Add another method.

A popup window will appear asking you if you’d like to add a new payment method. Select Yes.

Next, select the type of payment method you would like to add. In this case, we’re going to choose credit cards.

Next, you’ll need to provide a short description of what your payment method does. For example, we could say “Stripe is an online payment service that lets people pay using their credit or debit card”.

Finally, you’ll need to fill in some additional information such as the currency your store accepts, whether, or not, you allow refunds, and the maximum amount you plan to charge per transaction.

We recommend leaving these settings at their default values. However, feel free to change them if you wish.

Step 3: Activate Your Payment Method

Once you’ve finished filling out the form, you’ll be taken to the next step. From here, you’ll need to activate your payment method.

Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the blue Activate button.

Step 4: Link Your Bank Account

When you first sign up for a Stripe account, you’ll receive an email containing a unique key which you can use to connect your bank account to your Stripe account.

Copy this key into your browser’s URL bar. Now, go back to the Stripe Dashboard and click on the Accounts tab.

On the left-hand side of the screen, click on the Edit button next to your bank account.

On the following page, paste the unique key from your email into the box labeled API Key. You may have to scroll down to find it.

Now, click Save Changes.

Step 5: Set Up The Integration

In order to process transactions, your website needs to know how to communicate with your Stripe account. This is called integration.

The best way to integrate your website with Stripe is by using the WooCommerce plugin. It allows you to easily set up your Stripe account within minutes. Here’s what to do.

Search for WooCommerce.

Select the Installation option.

The installation wizard will now guide you through the steps necessary to install the plugin.

After installing the plugin, open the WooCommerce admin panel.

Step 6: Setting Up The Stripe Plugin for your WooCommerce site

You’ll notice that there are two tabs – Orders and Customers. These are where you’ll configure all of your Stripe integrations.

First, let’s create a customer. On the Customers tab, click on New Customer.

Fill out the fields as prompted.

Click Create Customer when done.

Next, let’s create an order. Click on the Orders tab.

Enter a name, billing address and shipping address for the order. 

Enter any notes about the order.

Then, select your preferred payment method.

Step 7: Configuring the Settings Page

Before moving onto the Settings page, make sure your payment method has been activated.

To check, navigate to the Payments section of your dashboard.

If your payment method isn’t listed, then it hasn’t yet been activated.

To activate your payment method, simply click on the blue Activate link next to the payment method.

From here, you’ll want to enter your secret key that you’ve been emailed.

This key is used to authenticate your transaction requests.

Once you’re ready to proceed, click on the green Go To Settings button.

Step 8: Test Out A Transaction Request

Now, you’re in a position to test out a transaction and ensure that everything is running smoothly!

Final Thoughts

So, as you can see, setting up a payment gateway on your WooCommerce site is easy. It’s just a case of following a few simple steps, and you’ll be up and running and raring to go!

For more on this topic, check out our helpful resource guide.