Guides · · 5 min read
Bizum, card and Apple Pay in your online store: what you really need
Your customers in Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa want to pay the way they pay everywhere else: with the card saved on their phone or with Bizum. This guide explains what you have to contract, what you have to configure and what you need in writing before you open the store.
How an online store takes money
An online store does not charge on its own. Between the pay button and your bank account there is a payment gateway: a service that verifies the card, authorises the amount and pays it into your account. The store only has to be properly connected to that gateway.
In Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa there are two usual routes. The first is your own bank's gateway, which runs on Redsys, the platform most banks in Spain use. The second is a platform such as Stripe, contracted online and independent of the bank you work with.
Both routes work. The bank's gateway tends to fit if you already have a commercial relationship with it and want the money to arrive in the same account you use for everything else. Stripe fits if you want to start quickly, take subscriptions as well or sell outside Spain without extra paperwork.
Bizum, Apple Pay and Google Pay: where they come in
Bizum does not connect to the store by itself. It comes in through the gateway: if you use your bank's, Bizum is switched on as one more method inside Redsys; if you use Stripe, it is switched on from its dashboard. In both cases the customer picks Bizum at checkout, confirms on their phone and the store receives the payment as if it were a card.
Apple Pay and Google Pay work the same way: they go through the gateway. For the customer it is a button that appears when paying from an iPhone or an Android phone with a saved card, and the payment is confirmed with a fingerprint or a face. For you it is one more method in the same report.
What matters is that every method goes through the same gateway and lands in the same place. That way you have a single sales report, and reconciling it with your accounts does not become a separate job.
What has to be ready before you charge anyone
The invoice. Every sale needs a correct invoice, with your details and the customer's if it is a business. The sensible thing is for the store to generate it automatically when the payment is confirmed, or to connect it to your invoicing software, so you never copy orders by hand.
Shipping. Decide which areas you serve, how much you charge to ship to each one and above what amount shipping is free. The store has to work it out before the customer pays, not afterwards. If you sell mostly in Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa, it makes sense for the local rate to be the most visible one.
Returns. Write down how a return works, within what period, who pays the return shipping and how you refund. A clear policy avoids disputes and reduces abandoned baskets, because customers buy with more confidence.
The legal texts you cannot skip
A store that takes payments needs terms of sale, a privacy policy, a cookie notice and a legal notice, written for your case and accepted by the customer before paying. They are not decoration: they are what protects you if there is a claim.
The gateway adds its own part: strong customer authentication, which is what the card asks of the customer when it sends a code or asks for confirmation in the bank's app. Your store has to support it properly so the payment does not break halfway through.
If you have doubts about the texts, have whoever handles your legal matters review them. We prepare the structure and the integration; you adjust the legal content with your adviser.
What you can see in the demo
On the store and payments page there is a demo that reproduces the whole process: catalogue, basket, coupons, shipping zones, business mode with invoice and the payment methods, including Bizum with phone number and code. Nothing is stored or sent: it is there so you can see the customer's experience before commissioning anything.
Try it on your phone, which is where most of your customers will buy. If you would hesitate at any step, so will the people buying from you.
Once you are clear about what you want to sell and how, tell us through the form. We will tell you which gateway fits your bank and your volume best, and what you need to prepare on your side.
Frequently asked questions
Can I take Bizum if my bank does not offer it in its gateway?
Yes. Bizum is also available through platforms such as Stripe, so you do not depend on your bank's gateway to switch it on.
Do I need a new bank account for the store?
No. Payments usually land in the account you already use for your company. What you need is the gateway contract, with your bank or with the platform you choose.
Does the store generate invoices by itself?
It can. We set it up to issue the invoice when the payment is confirmed or to send it to your invoicing software. We decide that with you, depending on how you keep your accounts.
Does this sound like your case?
Tell us about it through the form or at web@golkosystems.com and we will tell you where to start.