Choosing a WooCommerce payment gateway in Pakistan comes down to three facts. Stripe and PayPal are not options. Wallets carry most online payments. And every provider wants different paperwork. This guide lists the gateways a Pakistani store can actually use, what each one accepts, what it asks for, and which combination I set up on the stores I build.
Everything below was checked against the providers' own pages and plugin listings on 5 November 2026. Fees and terms change, and several providers do not publish them at all, so treat this as a shortlist and confirm the numbers with the provider before you sign.
The best WooCommerce payment gateway setup for a Pakistani store
For most Pakistani stores, the right setup is one gateway that takes cards and wallets, plus cash on delivery for the customers who will not pay up front. A bank gateway suits a registered business that wants low card rates and already banks there. An aggregator suits a smaller store that wants one integration and published pricing. Connecting JazzCash or Easypaisa on their own only makes sense if nearly all your customers already pay that way.
How Pakistanis pay online
The State Bank's payment systems review for FY25 reports that digital channels carried 88% of retail transactions, and that account and wallet based channels made up 93% of e-commerce transactions. In plain terms: when a Pakistani customer pays online, they mostly pay from a bank app or a mobile wallet, not with a card.
That shapes the choice. A gateway that only takes cards leaves out most of the people who would pay online. A store with no online payment at all pushes everyone onto cash on delivery, with the refusals and courier costs that come with it.
Bank gateways: Bank Alfalah, HBL and UBL
Banks offer gateways directly to merchants. Three publish enough to compare:
- Bank Alfalah (Alfa Payment Gateway). Its e-commerce page lists cards, Pay by Link, JazzCash, Raast QR, Request to Pay and buy now pay later, with plugins for WooCommerce and other platforms. It offers an instant merchant account to individuals and sole proprietors. It states no setup or annual fee, and settles on the next working day. Rates depend on volume and are not published.
- HBL (HBLPay). The HBLPay WooCommerce plugin takes Visa, Mastercard and UnionPay cards, plus account and wallet payments through HBL and partner banks. The plugin is free; HBL charges merchants separately and does not publish the rates.
- UBL. UBL's internet payment gateway is open to businesses registered with the SECP or sole proprietors with a valid NTN, and needs a UBL business account first. It takes Visa and Mastercard, including international cards. Pricing is a per-transaction rate plus setup and annual fees, none of them published.
The trade-off with banks is paperwork and time. You negotiate rates, and you usually need an account with that bank. Approval can take weeks for a company, though Bank Alfalah's instant account is quicker for individuals.
Aggregators: Safepay, Paymob, XPay and PayFast
An aggregator gives you cards and wallets through one integration, and some publish their prices.
- Safepay describes itself as a regulated payment service provider and is the clearest on cost. Its pricing page lists 2.9% plus Rs 30 for cards, 1.5% for wallets, up to 1.5% for Raast, and Rs 3,000 per chargeback. Sole proprietors need a CNIC, a recent bank account maintenance certificate and an NTN, and there is a sandbox with test cards. One caution: its WordPress.org plugin was last updated in 2020, so I would test it carefully or integrate through their current checkout.
- Paymob. The official Paymob plugin is actively maintained and lists debit and credit cards, Easypaisa and JazzCash for Pakistan.
- XPay, from PostEx, lists cards, wallets, bank transfer and cash on delivery and says it is built for WooCommerce and Shopify. It does not publish fees.
- PayFast holds a commercial licence from the State Bank, as reported by ProPakistani, and takes cards, wallets and bank accounts. Ask them directly about their WooCommerce plugin and pricing.
JazzCash and Easypaisa on their own
JazzCash offers a payment gateway for checkout with a JazzCash account or a voucher paid at a shop, and lists Raast QR as well. Any eligible Pakistani with a valid CNIC who runs a business can apply through the JazzCash Business app; fees are shown in the app, not published. There is no official WooCommerce plugin. The old one on WordPress.org was closed for a security issue in 2023, and the current option is an independent third-party plugin.
Easypaisa, now run by Easypaisa Bank, offers an online payment gateway with a merchant portal, a sandbox for testing, and biometric verification before you go live. It takes payment through the Easypaisa app or over the counter. I found no official WooCommerce plugin, so this one usually means custom integration work.
Because aggregators such as Paymob, and Bank Alfalah's gateway, already include these wallets, connecting them directly is rarely worth the extra integration unless wallets are almost all your customers use.
Raast: the free option most stores ignore
Raast is the State Bank's instant payment system. Its person to merchant service lets merchants take payments by QR code, Raast ID, IBAN or Request to Pay, acquirers were told to make it available to e-commerce merchants by March 2024. Customers cannot be charged a fee for paying with it. A store does not connect to Raast directly; you get it through a gateway that supports it, such as Bank Alfalah, Safepay or JazzCash.
Why not Stripe or PayPal?
Pakistan is not on Stripe's list of supported countries. It does not appear on PayPal's worldwide country list either, so a Pakistani business cannot use either to take payments in its own name. Most international WooCommerce tutorials assume Stripe, which is why so many Pakistani store owners get stuck at this step.
Cash on delivery: keep it, but control it
Cash on delivery is built into WooCommerce, and you can limit it to the shipping methods you choose. Keep it, because plenty of customers will not buy without it. But make prepaid the easy default, and put a confirmation step before you dispatch. The confirmation flow, courier integration and the rest of the COD setup are in my WooCommerce Pakistan guide.
The options side by side
| Accepts | WooCommerce plugin | Published fees | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bank Alfalah | Cards, JazzCash, Raast, pay by link | Yes | No setup or annual fee; rates on request |
| HBLPay | Cards, bank accounts, wallets | Yes, by HBL | On request |
| UBL | Visa, Mastercard | Not confirmed | On request |
| Safepay | Cards, wallets, Raast | Yes, last updated 2020 | Cards 2.9% + Rs 30, wallets 1.5% |
| Paymob | Cards, Easypaisa, JazzCash | Yes, maintained | Not confirmed for Pakistan |
| JazzCash | JazzCash account, voucher, Raast QR | Third-party only | Shown in the app |
| Easypaisa | Easypaisa app, over the counter | None found | Not confirmed |
| Cash on delivery | Cash at the door | Built in | Courier charges only |
How I set it up for a Pakistani store
- Pick one gateway that covers cards and wallets, based on which bank the business uses and whether it is registered.
- Build and test the whole flow in the provider's sandbox before applying for the live account, so approval is the only wait.
- Fail a payment on purpose and read what the customer sees. A clear message and a retry button save more sales than any fee difference.
- Keep cash on delivery, limited to the cities and shipping methods where it pays, with confirmation before dispatch.
- Check that each order records how it was paid, so refunds and reports do not turn into guesswork.
If you are opening a store and are not sure which gateway your paperwork qualifies you for, send me what you sell and how your business is registered, and I will tell you which one to apply for first. You can also see what a full build involves on the website cost in Pakistan page.
