OTTAWA, ONTARIO — Aug. 12, 2013 —Shopify, the leading ecommerce platform used to create and run online stores, today introduced Shopify Payments, a powerful and easy-to-use credit card processing system. Shopify is the first and only ecommerce platform to offer a payment solution that is fully integrated with an online store. Shopify merchants can now accept and manage VISA, MasterCard, and American Express payments directly through Shopify instead of having to go through a third-party payment gateway.

“Traditional payment acceptance methods for ecommerce merchants are extremely complicated. You have to go through a third-party provider and be approved for a merchant account before you can process payments. And once your store is up and running, your finances are never synced up with your sales and inventory,” said Louis Kearns, Director of Payments at Shopify. “That’s why Shopify Payments is such a big step for the ecommerce industry. It’s the first and only payment solution that lets you accept credit cards and manage all of your finances directly through your ecommerce platform. This is a game changer.”

In addition to seamless integration with Shopify, Shopify Payments offers a number of unique features and benefits, including:

• Instant setup and approval: New stores are automatically set up with Shopify Payments so merchants can start selling immediately. Since store owners don’t have to sign up for a separate gateway or merchant account to use Shopify Payments, you can sign up for Shopify and be selling online in minutes.
• Real-time payment tracking: Payment information will be available in real-time from within Shopify. Store owners can track their active payment balance and upcoming payout schedule, and can be notified by email when funds hit their bank account.
• Fully integrated: Within Shopify, payments will be synced with their corresponding orders, making it easier than ever for merchants to understand how much they have been paid for individual orders, without ever leaving Shopify.
• Chargeback recovery: Shopify Payments gives merchants the best chance of winning chargeback disputes and recovering lost sales. For any chargebacks received, Shopify automatically provides responses custom-generated from the order, shipping, and customer details of the disputed charge.

Shopify Payments comes at no additional cost with existing Shopify plans. Shopify merchants that are on the Starter plan will pay 2.9% + 30c per transaction, while those on the Unlimited plan will pay 2.25% + 30c. Unlike other payment solutions, Shopify Payments charges no additional fees for accepting American Express or international credit cards, and no fees for included PCI Compliance protections.

Shopify Payments leverages Stripe technology, and can be enabled with just 2-clicks in existing Shopify stores. The revolutionary new payment system will be available first to Shopify stores in the US, with Canada and other countries to follow shortly. For more information about Shopify Payments go to http://www.shopify.com/payments.