Sweden payments: officially went ‘debit first.’ What will be an impact on eCommerce?

September 2, 2020

Sweden payments. In order to increase consumer protection for online shopping and curb rising household debt amongst Swedish consumers (currently growing at a rate of 7% average per annum since the financial crash in 2008), the Swedish Parliament has voted in favor of new legislation that came into effect on July 1, 2020. For eCommerce merchants and payment providers, that means adjusting the way debit, and credit payment options are presented in the checkout.

Payment cards that support both debit and credit, the debit and credit options either should be separated or treated as a whole as one credit-based payment method.

How does it change the way customers shop?

The new law doesn’t forbid consumers from using credit when shopping online, yet it does promote thinking twice before buying on credit carelessly. Speaking technically, this means moving a debit option, where available, to the top of the checkout page. As a result, the online shop’s checkout page must include:

Displaying debit payment options to the shopper first if available. Following the legislation, debit options include bank transfers and debit cards.
Guaranteeing that credit options are not pre-selected. Following the current changes, the customer must actively choose to use a credit-based payment option. Among credit choices are credit cards, invoices, and installment or pay-later payment options.

Interestingly, in payment cards that support both debit and credit, the debit and credit options should either be separated or treated as a whole as one credit-based payment method.

Those who will miss the current changes might face charges. The Swedish Marketing Practices Act (2008:486) entails that prohibitions and sanctions, according to the Marketing Practices Act, may be imposed. Approximately € 94,000 are often seen for other breaches of the Marketing Practices Act. Although it’s not clear how hefty fines will be, it’s much wiser to follow the recent online payment law changes.

Staying up to date with checkout page changes

If you’re a PrestaShop eStore owner and have a few single-payment options, you can easily change the payment options’ order following our how-to steps:

If you offer many payment options, the changes could not be applied without modifying the entire payment integration. Whether you have an in-house developers’ team or outsourcing, we offer an official payment integration fix led by our PrestaShop certified developers. It will ensure that your integration complies with the recent law changes and seamlessly integrates into the customers’ checkout process.

Stop delaying your business digitization!

Could Sweden start a new wave in online checkout?

While Sweden is the first government to apply this law in the online checkout process, other EU countries might follow a good example. Therefore, it’s important to note that consumers in Sweden have positively welcomed this announcement. Recent research from Trustly, the famous Swedish payment method, found that 70% of shoppers favor the new checkout legislation.

Nevertheless, both eCommerce merchants and payment providers need to start adapting checkouts to this new law. Having a positive customer appraisal, there is a high chance that other countries will follow Sweden’s example. Thus, having the skilled tech team behind your business will make sure that changes can be promptly implemented and continue to provide a seamless payment experience.