New Zealand small businesses can accept online payments in three main ways: payment links, virtual terminals, and ecommerce gateway integrations. The right fit depends on whether you have a website, how your customers buy from you, and how much setup you want to take on.
Payment links — you generate a URL and send it to the customer via email, SMS, or on an invoice. They click the link and pay by card on a secure online checkout. No website needed. Good for service businesses, tradespeople, and one-off transactions.
Virtual terminal — you enter the customer's card details manually through a browser, usually while taking an order over the phone. Standard for mail-order and phone-based businesses.
Ecommerce gateway integration — connects your online store to card processing. For platforms like Shopify and WooCommerce, plugins typically handle the setup without custom development. Most providers also offer a hosted payment page (where the customer is redirected to a standalone checkout), an iFrame embedded directly in your store, or API integration for more custom builds.
Eftpos NZ offers online payment tools built for NZ merchants, including payment links, a virtual terminal for phone and mail-order payments, and ecommerce integrations for taking payment on your online store.
Merchants using both instore EFTPOS terminals and online payments can manage transactions and reporting through a single portal, Verifone Central. This is useful for businesses running both a physical shopfront and an online store, as it removes the need to reconcile across separate systems. Local support is based in New Zealand. If something goes wrong with a transaction or integration, you're not waiting in an offshore queue.
Pricing: eftpos.co.nz/online-payments/pricing
Stripe is a popular international provider offering ecommerce checkout pages, recurring subscriptions, and invoicing. It works well for online-only retailers. As an international provider, payout times can be longer than NZ-based alternatives, and some merchants report the interface is less intuitive at high transaction volumes.
Pricing: stripe.com/nz/pricing
Shopify Payments is built into the Shopify platform, making it convenient if you are already running a Shopify store. It supports major payment methods and international currencies, which is useful if you sell to overseas customers. It only works within Shopify — if you change platforms, you will need a new provider.
Pricing: shopify.com/nz/pricing
Windcave (formerly Payment Express) is an NZ-based gateway that works for merchants running both a physical store and an online presence. It supports Apple Pay and PayPal and integrates with WooCommerce and Shopify. Windcave charges a monthly fee on top of per-transaction fees and a separate merchant services rate meaning, costs stack up across multiple line items. For lower-volume businesses, that fixed monthly commitment can make it one of the higher-cost options relative to what you're processing.
Pricing: Contact Windcave
Worldline is an NZ-based payment gateway with overnight settlement, no-code options (payment links and a virtual terminal), and integrations with Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento, and others. They also offer 24/7 local support. Their solution is well-suited to larger or scaling businesses — particularly those with complex integration needs or high transaction volumes.
Pricing: Worldline ecommerce payments
| Your situation | Best fit |
|---|---|
| No website, occasional invoicing | Pay By Link |
| Taking card payments over the phone | Virtual Terminal |
| Online store | eCommerce integration |
| Mix of instore and online | Multi-channel provider |