Guides
E-wallets for merchants: how digital wallets work and which to accept
An e-wallet stores a shopper's payment details or balance so they can pay without typing card numbers. Pass-through wallets such as Apple Pay and Google Pay hand the merchant a tokenised card, so the payment runs as a card payment. Staged wallets such as PayPal pay the merchant from their own account. Local wallets such as TWINT, MobilePay, Bizum or BLIK dominate in their own countries.
What is an e-wallet?
An e-wallet, or digital wallet, is an app or account that keeps a shopper's cards, bank account or balance and lets them pay with a tap, a fingerprint or a login. In the euro area, wallets and mobile apps accounted for 29% of online transactions in the ECB SPACE 2024 study, against 48% for cards.
What types of e-wallets are there?
The type decides how the payment reaches you, who handles disputes and what you integrate.
| Type | Examples | How the merchant is paid | Disputes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pass-through (tokenised card) | Apple Pay, Google Pay | As a card payment through your acquirer | Card chargebacks |
| Staged wallet | PayPal | From the wallet provider's account | Wallet's own dispute process |
| Bank-linked local wallet | TWINT, MobilePay, Bizum, BLIK, Wero | Bank transfer or scheme settlement via your provider | Scheme rules, mostly no card chargebacks |
| Super-app wallets | Satispay, MB WAY | Via the wallet network and your provider | Wallet rules |
How do Apple Pay and Google Pay work for merchants?
Apple Pay and Google Pay replace the card number with a device or network token and a cryptogram, following EMVCo tokenisation. The shopper authenticates on the device, which usually satisfies strong customer authentication, and you receive a card payment through your acquirer. You do not need a separate contract, only a provider that supports the wallets and, for Apple Pay on the web, domain verification.
Which e-wallets should you accept?
Start with Apple Pay and Google Pay for mobile, add PayPal where shoppers expect it, and add the local wallet of each target market.
- Germany: PayPal had 28.7% of online retail turnover in 2025 (EHI).
- Switzerland: TWINT.
- Denmark and Finland: MobilePay, becoming Vipps on 12 January 2027.
- Spain: Bizum. Poland: BLIK. Portugal: MB WAY. Italy: Satispay.
How do you offer e-wallets through OrsunPay?
OrsunPay is a payment orchestration platform: you keep your own contracts with licensed providers (for example Stripe, Adyen or Worldpay), and OrsunPay is not a payment institution, acquirer or merchant of record and does not hold or transmit funds. Through OrsunPay you connect providers that support Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal and local wallets, show them in the hosted checkout and route each payment by country and method. For OrsunPay pricing, see the pricing page at /pricing.
Frequently asked questions
Is Apple Pay a card payment?
For the merchant, yes. Apple Pay passes a tokenised card, and the payment is processed and disputed as a card payment.
Do I need a contract with Apple or Google?
Usually no: you accept them through a payment provider that supports them, with domain verification for Apple Pay on the web.
What is the difference between PayPal and Apple Pay?
PayPal pays you from its own account and has its own dispute process; Apple Pay passes a tokenised card through your acquirer.
Which wallet matters most in Europe?
It depends on the country: PayPal in Germany, TWINT in Switzerland, BLIK in Poland and Bizum in Spain.
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- European Central Bank: SPACE 2024 study (checked 2 November 2026)
- EHI Retail Institute: Online-Payment 2026, press release (checked 2 November 2026)
- Apple Developer: Apple Pay (checked 2 November 2026)
- Google for Developers: Google Pay API (checked 2 November 2026)
- PayPal Developer: checkout documentation (checked 2 November 2026)
- EMVCo: payment tokenisation (checked 2 November 2026)