By industry · Singapore
Taking payment for a Singapore online store
Online, the payment methods barely change but the plumbing does. You need a checkout that accepts cards and QR without sending customers somewhere that looks like a different company, and — if you also sell in person — you want both channels on one merchant account rather than two sets of books.
In short
- A hosted checkout page is the fastest route to card and QR acceptance online.
- Your abandoned-cart data is the real method list. Read it before shortlisting providers.
- Online is card-not-present — different risk, different underwriting, and worth understanding.
- If you sell online and in person, insist both sit on one merchant account.
- Chinese wallets matter for cross-border shoppers as much as they do at a counter.
The checkout is where the sale is lost
Most online payment failures are not declines — they are customers who did not find the method they wanted, or who did not trust the page they landed on. A hosted checkout page handles the first problem by carrying the methods; it handles the second only if it does not look like a different company.
Uniweb Pay provides a hosted checkout page accepting cards and QR for websites and e-commerce, and an SDK if you sell inside your own mobile app so payment happens in the app rather than bouncing the customer to a browser.
What to test on any provider: complete a purchase on a phone, on mobile data, and count the taps.
Let the abandoned carts pick the method list
Every online merchant has a better source of truth about payment methods than any comparison article: their own checkout analytics. Which methods do customers select and then abandon? Which country are the abandoning sessions from?
For a Singapore store the answer usually contains cards, PayNow, and — if you ship to or sell to visitors from China and the region — Alipay+ and WeChat Pay. Those last two are as relevant online as at a counter, and they are the ones most Singapore checkouts are missing.
Take that list into the provider conversation. It turns "which gateway is best" into "which of these can you enable on one account", which is an answerable question.
Card-not-present is a different animal
Online acceptance carries risk that in-person acceptance does not: the card is not present, the cardholder may not be either, and disputes are resolved on evidence rather than on a signature or a PIN. Acquirers underwrite it accordingly, which is why an online application asks about your website, your delivery terms and your refund policy.
Have those ready and published before you apply. A website with no contact route and no refund terms fails a basic card-scheme expectation, and it is one of the most common reasons an application stalls — covered in the merchant account guide.
On disputes specifically, Uniweb Pay does not publish a chargeback process. For an online-only business that is worth asking about directly rather than assuming.
One account across channels
A store that also sells at a pop-up, a showroom or a market stall has two acceptance types and very often two providers, which means two payouts, two portals, two statements and a monthly reconciliation nobody enjoys.
With Uniweb Pay, in-store, online and in-app sit on one merchant account, settle into one SGD payout in T+1 batches, and appear in one portal with the payment-method split and transactions filterable by channel and exportable to Excel.
Ask any provider the direct version of this: will a customer who buys online and a customer who buys at the counter appear in the same transaction list? The answer is not always yes.
Questions merchants ask
What do I need to accept payments on a Singapore online store?
A merchant account with a licensed acquirer and a checkout that carries the methods your customers use — cards and PayNow at minimum, plus Alipay+ and WeChat Pay if you sell to Chinese and regional shoppers. Uniweb Pay provides a hosted checkout page, and an SDK for payments inside your own app.
Can online and in-person sales use the same merchant account?
Yes. With Uniweb Pay one account covers in-store, online and in-app, settling into a single SGD payout in T+1 batches and appearing in one portal with transactions filterable by channel. Splitting across providers means reconciling twice.
Why does the application ask about my website?
Because online acceptance is card-not-present and is underwritten on what you sell and how you deliver it. A site with no contact route and no published refund terms fails a basic card-scheme expectation and is a common reason an application stalls.
Are Chinese wallets worth enabling for an online store?
If a meaningful share of your customers are Chinese or regional shoppers, yes — Alipay+ and WeChat Pay are as relevant at an online checkout as at a counter, and they are the methods most Singapore checkouts are missing.
Talk to us about your counter
Uniweb Pay is a Singapore merchant acquirer, licensed by MAS as a Major Payment Institution (No. PS20200612). Tell us what you sell and who pays you, and we will tell you whether we are the right fit — including when we are not.