How WooCommerce payment gateways work, where to configure them, when bank transfer, cheque or cash on delivery make sense, which official extensions cover which countries, and a checklist for choosing.
A WooCommerce payment gateway is the part of checkout that takes the customer's payment, or sends them to a provider who does, and reports back whether it worked. WooCommerce includes three offline methods (bank transfer, cheque and cash on delivery) and adds online card and wallet payments through extensions and plugins. Which ones you can use depends first on the country your business is in. This guide is written as of October 2026 and checked against the current WooCommerce documentation.
In short
When a customer presses Place order, WooCommerce creates the order and asks the chosen gateway to process it. The Payment Gateway API documentation says the gateway tells WooCommerce where to send the customer next, and on failure shows an error at checkout. For a paid order the gateway marks the payment complete, and WooCommerce chooses Processing or Completed and handles stock. When payment cannot be verified at once, as with a cheque, the order goes On hold.
The same page describes four kinds of gateway:
| Kind | What happens at checkout | What the docs say it means for you |
|---|---|---|
| Form based | The customer clicks a button and is redirected to the payment processor | Data is posted off-site, so fewer security issues for you |
| iFrame based | The provider's payment system loads inside an iframe on your store | Data is posted off-site |
| Direct | Payment fields appear on your checkout page, and payment is made on Place order | Direct gateways require server security to be implemented |
| Offline | No online payment is made, as with cheque or bank transfer | You confirm the payment by hand |
Newer gateways often use fields hosted by the provider. WooCommerce's PCI-DSS guide says that with off-site or hosted-field gateways, such as Stripe, PayPal or WooPayments, your site does not handle raw cardholder data. Ask each provider which kind it uses.
Open WooCommerce > Settings > Payments. The settings documentation says to choose Enable for an available provider or Manage for one already enabled, and to use the drag handle beside a provider to change the order at checkout. Take offline payments holds the three built-in methods. Extensions add their own screens: WooPayments has a Payments menu with Settings, where test mode lives. The main Payments page has been rebuilt in recent versions, so if your screen differs, search it for the provider's name.
For each method, click Enable, then Manage, and set the title, description and instructions. WooCommerce labels the cheque method Check payments.
| Method | What the customer sees | Order status | Sensible when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Direct bank transfer | Your bank details on the Order received page and in the order email | On hold until you confirm the funds | Customers prefer to transfer, orders are large or business-to-business, or you launch before a gateway is approved |
| Check payments | Your instructions, such as payee name and mailing address | On hold until the cheque clears | Your customers genuinely pay by cheque |
| Cash on delivery | A pay-on-delivery option you can limit to chosen shipping methods | Processing until the cash is collected | Customers expect it and your couriers collect and pass on the cash |
The money moves outside the store, so WooCommerce cannot confirm it: you check the bank account or courier statement before moving the order forward, and refunds are manual. A missing transfer is for you, the customer and the bank to resolve. For the Gulf, read shipping and cash on delivery in Saudi Arabia first. Enable only the methods you will actually reconcile.
Country availability is the first filter, and it changes, so confirm on the official page before you plan. As of October 2026:
| Extension | What it is | Availability |
|---|---|---|
| WooPayments | WooCommerce's own payments extension, built and supported by Woo. Sign-up runs through Stripe, its payments partner | The countries page lists 38 countries, including the UAE (business accounts only). Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman and India are not listed |
| WooCommerce Stripe Payment Gateway | A plugin by WooCommerce for the Stripe service. You need a Stripe account, and Stripe alone sets the fees | The plugin's country list has the UAE and India but not Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain or Oman. Stripe's global page lists the UAE and shows India as Preview, so confirm India with Stripe |
| WooCommerce PayPal Payments | A plugin for PayPal buttons, Pay Later and card processing. You need a PayPal account | The page lists no countries and says Pay Later is available in select countries, so check PayPal for your account country |
As our guide to payment gateways in Saudi Arabia explains, a store in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain or Oman finds no official WooCommerce gateway on these lists and normally installs a local provider's plugin. A UAE business appears on both the WooPayments and Stripe lists. Confirm fees with each provider.
Local and specialist providers publish their own plugins, on wordpress.org or their own sites. Compare:
Use the gateway's test or sandbox mode. In WooPayments, tick Enable test mode under Payments > Settings. The WooPayments testing page says test mode accepts only test card numbers, a real card makes the order fail, and test orders get a notice, an order note and a [Test] email prefix. WooCommerce itself does not flag test orders: its testing orders page says they can trigger emails and appear in Analytics, so test on staging and delete them afterwards. Turn test mode off before launch, then make one small real order and refund it. Gateway fees are typically not refunded.
The order statuses page defines the ones to watch. Pending payment means the order was received but no payment was made. Failed means the payment failed or was declined. On hold means payment still needs your confirmation, with stock already reduced. With Hold Stock on, eligible Pending payment orders are cancelled after the time limit and their stock released. WooCommerce sends a Failed order email to the store and a notice to the customer, so check the error message customers see by testing a declined card.
Open WooCommerce > Orders, choose the order and click Refund. The refund guide separates an automatic refund through a compatible gateway from a manual one, which only records the refund while you return the money yourself. Changing an order's status to Refunded does not refund the customer. Tick Restock refunded items if goods come back, and keep a credit note for VAT: see VAT and invoices for online stores in Saudi Arabia.
This guide makes no compliance claims about any gateway or store. WooCommerce's PCI-DSS guide says compliance is ultimately the store owner's responsibility even when a hosted gateway reduces what your site handles, and that your payment processor may require a self-assessment questionnaire or scans. Ask your provider in writing what it expects of you, and follow its guidance. Practical basics:
The WordPress security checklist covers the rest.
There is no single best one. It depends on your business country, currency, customers' methods and fees. Start with the official country pages, then compare providers with the checklist above.
Yes. The Payments settings let you enable several and reorder them. Each adds choices and testing work, so keep the list short.
Not as of October 2026: its countries page does not list Saudi Arabia. A Saudi store normally uses a local gateway plugin, as the Saudi guide explains.
Common causes are a plugin without block checkout support, a currency or country the provider does not serve, or a method that is not enabled. Check block compatibility first.
Compare Saudi providers in payment gateways in Saudi Arabia, follow how to set up WooCommerce for the full store, and use the shipping setup guide for delivery. You can also browse WooCommerce plugins on DevMarket and check each listing's support period and update policy.
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