iDEAL is the most popular method for online payments in the Netherlands. It allows buyers to complete transactions online using their bank credentials. So if your business is based in the Netherlands or you want to go global and target new markets, adding iDeal as a payment option to your store checkout can help you get more sales.
In your store you can set up iDEAL through the Stripe payment gateway. Stripe is a reliable payment solution that allows you to receive a variety of payment methods from all over the world including credit cards, debit cards, mobile wallets, and dozens of other options your customers use.
iDEAL works with Euro currency. You can change your store currency from the store admin, in Settings → General → Regional Settings → Currency. You must use a business bank account in Europe to offer iDEAL payments in your online store.
Setting up iDEAL
To accept payments in your online shop via iDEAL:
- From your store admin, go to Payment.
- Scroll down and Choose Payment Method → iDEAL (via Stripe).
- Click Connect iDEAL. You’ll be redirected to a page where you can login into your existing Stripe account or create a new one.
If you create a new account, you’ll need to fill in information about your business and after that Stripe will connect to your store.
If you already connected your Stripe account to your store, you just need to log in to your Stripe account and iDEAL payment method will be added to your store. Make sure iDEAL is activated in your Stripe account. - After connecting iDEAL via Stripe, you will be redirected to your store. In the Payment method name at checkout field you can enter the name under which customers see this payment method at checkout or leave it as iDEAL.
- Make sure that the Enable this payment method at checkout setting is turned on to display iDEAL at checkout.
- In the Payment instructions for customers field you can add a description of the iDEAL payment method for your customers, it will appear at the checkout. For example, you can mention that iDEAL is available for customers from the Netherlands.
That’s it. Now your customers located in the Netherlands can choose iDEAL payment method at checkout and you can accept payments with iDEAL in your store.
Accepting iDEAL payments
When a customer selects iDEAL as the payment option at your store checkout, they should choose their bank, fill in the name and address information and click the Go to Payment button. They will be redirected to their online bank to authorize the payment. The status of the payment is known immediately, so if the transaction was successful, the order status in your store admin will change to Paid.
Since the customer must confirm the payment with their bank, the risk of fraud or unrecognized payments is low. As a result, you won’t have to deal with disputes that turn into chargebacks, with funds withdrawn from your Stripe account.
You can always check what payment method has been used for an order by viewing an order’s details in My Sales → Orders in your store admin. For an iDEAL payment method you will see "iDEAL" in the payment details:
In case you want to issue a refund to a customer, you can refund a customer through your Stripe Dashboard. The payment can be refunded within 180 days after the original charge.