PayPal on Magento: what are your options?

Checkout is the make or break moment for brands. It's the final step where customers either seal the deal or abandon their carts in frustration – it's also the moment brands capture additional revenue with a personalized experience designed to drive conversion, average order value and lifetime value, or what Bold calls the Checkout Power Trio.

Adobe Commerce (Magento): Power and Flexibility

The Adobe (Magento) Checkout, as part of the broader Magento ecosystem, offers a robust set of features geared towards flexibility and scalability. Here are some highlights of its capabilities:

1. Composable Architecture: Built on Magento's composable architecture, Magento Checkout provides unparalleled flexibility. Merchants can customize every aspect of the checkout process, from form fields to payment methods, to suit their unique business requirements.
2. Multi-Store Support: For merchants operating multiple online stores, Magento Checkout offers native support for managing checkout processes across different storefronts. This centralized control simplifies administration and ensures consistent branding and user experience across all channels.
3. Advanced Reporting and Analytics: Understanding customer behavior is key to optimizing the checkout process. Magento Checkout provides robust reporting and analytics capabilities, enabling merchants to track key metrics, identify pain points, and iterate towards a more efficient and conversion-friendly checkout flow.
4. Third-Party Integrations: As part of the Magento ecosystem, Magento Checkout seamlessly integrates with a vast array of third-party extensions and services. Whether it's payment gateways, shipping providers, or marketing tools, merchants have access to a rich ecosystem of solutions to enhance their checkout experience.

There are multiple payment providers available on Magento to choose from and PayPal is one of them. Being one of the leading payment providers, PayPal offers a range of benefits that can significantly enhance your business's payment processing capabilities and customer experience:

• Boost Conversion Rates: PayPal's brand recognition helps give customers the confidence to buy, leading to a 46% higher checkout conversion rate compared to other payment methods. This trusted name in online payments encourages more shoppers to complete their purchases, helping to maximize your sales potential​.
• Flexible Payment Options: With PayPal, you can offer a variety of payment methods, including PayPal, Venmo, Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) options, credit and debit card processing, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and local payment methods. This all-in-one solution ensures that customers have multiple ways to pay, increasing the likelihood of completing transactions​.
• Improved Customer Retention with Pay Later: The Pay Later feature allows customers to pay in installments, either through Pay in 4 or Pay Monthly options. This flexibility can lead to a 35% increase in cart size compared to standard PayPal transactions, as it attracts and retains customers who prefer to spread out their payments.
• Appeal to Venmo Users: By integrating Venmo, PayPal helps you tap into its 92 million active accounts at no additional cost. This integration allows customers to pay using their preferred method, just like they do with friends, enhancing the visibility and appeal of your business.
• Simplified Payment Processing: PayPal enables you to process all major credit and debit cards at competitive rates. Consolidating payments under one roof simplifies reporting and settlement, providing a clearer understanding of your business's financial health​​.
• Enhanced Security and Compliance: PayPal's robust security measures, including AI-powered fraud detection and compliance with global standards, help protect your business and customers. Features like PayPal Seller Protection on eligible transactions and optional Chargeback Protection further minimize risks associated with fraudulent purchases​.
• Global Reach with Local Adaptation: PayPal supports country-specific payment methods, allowing you to reach international customers while making your business feel local. This capability helps build trust with customers by offering familiar and preferred payment options based on their location​.
• Fastlane by PayPal. Fastlane by PayPal offers a streamlined checkout experience to existing Fastlane customers and allows new customers to quickly and easily save their payment and shipping information for a seamless checkout experience in the future. Customers can use Fastlane wherever it’s available on the internet, allowing you to leverage a network of millions of PayPal customers. In addition, by reducing steps in the checkout, Fastlane can help boost conversions and increase lifetime customer value.

PayPal options: PayPal Complete Payments vs Braintree

PayPal comes in two flavors: Braintree and PayPal Complete Payments. Braintree is the incumbent payment gateway that was founded in 2007 and later acquired by PayPal in 2013. Braintree. Braintree payment products include Braintree Direct for accepting online product or services payments from customers, Braintree Marketplace, and Braintree Extend, providing payments data sharing tools. Braintree provides online marketplaces payout capabilities to online sellers and freelancers through PayPal-owned Hyperwallet.

Braintree’s payment methods include PayPal transactions, Venmo in the U.S., credit cards and debit cards, and digital wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay. Braintree also enables payments through ACH direct debit if customers prefer paying from their bank account.

PayPal Complete Payments is the next generation payment solution from PayPal. This is a strategic change for PayPal and in the end their goal is to move all the merchants from Braintree to PayPal Complete Payments.

While as of 2024 the difference in capabilities between the platforms are not very big, from a long-term perspective it is beneficial for a brand to go for PayPal Complete Payments, because it will be a priority for all the new features, integrations and development.

How to get PayPal on Magento

There are two main options for a brand to get PayPal Complete Payments on Magento:

• Adobe Payments
• Bold extension

Adobe Payments is the native payment provider for Magento platform but it has certain limitations:

• It is not available for the Magento 1 platform as it is an end of life platform that is not supported by Adobe.
• Any merchants on Magento 2 platform with version below 2.4+ are also out of luck - as these versions are not supported by Adobe Payments.
• It doesn’t include Fastlane by PayPal as a payment option.

Bold extension for Magento works with your existing checkout and is certified by PayPal:

• It works with Magento 1 and Magento 2 platforms
• It works with any Magento 2 version, below and above 2.4, so that you don't have to worry about which version you are on.
• It doesn’t change your checkout, only adds additional payment methods, so all your customizations are left intact.