Polish online shoppers pay differently from shoppers in the UK or the US. BLIK codes from a banking app and instant bank transfers (“pay-by-link”) are everyday checkout options, alongside cards. A shop selling in Poland needs a payment gateway that handles them.
The three gateways most small Polish shops use are PayU, Przelewy24 and Tpay. This guide explains what a gateway does, what you need to sign up and how to connect one to your shop. We don’t quote commission rates here, because they change and depend on your turnover. Each provider’s price list is linked below.
What a payment gateway does
A gateway sits between your shop and the customer’s bank. When a customer clicks “Pay”, the shop sends the order amount to the gateway, the customer pays on the gateway’s page (BLIK, a transfer, a card) and the gateway sends your shop a notification that the payment went through.
Three things follow from that:
- You have your own account with the provider. The money lands in your account at PayU, Przelewy24 or Tpay and then in your bank.
- The provider charges a fee per transaction, under its price list.
- The shop needs your API keys to talk to the gateway, and the gateway needs your shop’s notification address to confirm payments.
What you need before you sign up
- A registered business. All three providers sign agreements with companies. Whether you can sign up without a registered business (for example under the small-activity rules) isn’t clearly stated on their official pages, so ask the provider directly.
- A working website with your business details and shop terms. Providers check the site during verification. Our legal checklist for online shops in Poland covers what the terms must include.
- Your company documents and the details of the people who represent the company.
- A business bank account for payouts.
PayU
According to PayU’s commercial offer page, you register online, provide your company registration details and the representatives’ personal ID numbers, and confirm your data with a verification transfer from the company account. A sole trader may use a private account for this.
Two details are worth knowing. Verification starts after your first transaction, and until it’s complete you can accept up to PLN 2,500 in online transfers and BLIK. PayU also charges a one-time registration fee in addition to a fee per transaction; both are on the same page.
Testing: PayU has a self-service sandbox. You register with just an email at secure.snd.payu.com and get test keys straight away.
Przelewy24
On Przelewy24 you also register and sign the agreement online, confirm your data with a verification transfer and then send your documents. Their homepage says you can start selling “even the same day”, but in practice the timing depends on how quickly your documents are verified.
Testing: according to the Przelewy24 developer documentation, a sandbox account can only be set up once you have access to the production service. Plan your testing for after sign-up.
Tpay
Tpay describes three steps: registration, verification and integration, and says on its homepage that an account can be ready to accept payments within 24 hours. Fees are charged per transaction, grouped into price packages.
Testing: Tpay has a self-service sandbox with its own registration, panel and API (environments documentation).
The three side by side
| Sign-up | Sandbox | Price list | |
|---|---|---|---|
| PayU | Online, verification transfer, verification after first transaction | Self-service | poland.payu.com |
| Przelewy24 | Online, verification transfer, documents | After production access | przelewy24.pl |
| Tpay | Online, verification | Self-service | tpay.com |
All three handle BLIK and instant transfers from Polish banks. The choice usually comes down to the fees on your mix of payments, the panel you find easier and the time you have before launch.
Connecting a gateway to your shop, step by step
- Open an account with the provider and complete verification.
- Find your API keys in the provider’s merchant panel. The names differ:
- PayU: POS ID (
pos_id), second key (second_key, also called the MD5 key), and OAuthclient_idandclient_secret. - Przelewy24: merchant ID (
merchant_id), POS ID (pos_id, needed only if your account uses a separate one), the CRC key (crc) and the API key (api_key). - Tpay:
client_idandclient_secretfor the API, plus the security code (security_code) used to check notifications.
- PayU: POS ID (
- Paste the keys into your shop’s payment settings, never into an email or a chat.
- Set the notification address (sometimes called the notify or callback URL) in the provider’s panel if your shop requires it, so the gateway can tell the shop that an order has been paid.
- Run a test payment in sandbox mode, then switch to production and make one small real payment.
In Webomat, each provider has a form with step-by-step instructions next to the fields: where to sign up, where the keys are, which value goes where and which notification address to copy. A “check connection” button tests the keys before you go live.
Start selling before the gateway is ready
Verification can take a while, but you don’t have to wait. Two payment methods need no gateway at all:
- Bank transfer. The customer pays to your account using the order number as the reference. Webomat shows a QR code that a banking app can scan, so the account number, amount and reference fill in automatically.
- Cash on delivery. The courier collects the payment. Check your carrier’s cash-on-delivery terms.
Many small shops launch with these two and add online payments once verification is done.
A note on cash registers. Item 41 of the annex to the regulation on till exemptions exempts mail-order sales where the whole payment reaches your account via the post office, a bank or a credit union (SKOK), and your records clearly show what each payment was for and who made it, including the buyer’s address. Bank transfers and gateway payments usually meet that test. Tax rulings on courier cash on delivery are mixed, because a courier company is neither a post office nor a bank, so ask your accountant before you switch it on. A separate exemption applies if your sales to private customers stay at or below PLN 20,000 a year, and neither covers goods such as electronics, perfume or alcohol.
Costs to keep in mind
Gateway fees are only one part of the cost of each order. Shipping, packaging and, on some platforms, a platform commission come on top. Our guide to how much an online shop costs in Poland puts all of it together.
Webomat doesn’t handle your payments and takes no commission on sales: money goes from the gateway straight to your account. The shop works with PayU, Przelewy24 and Tpay in Polish złoty, plus bank transfer and cash on delivery; Stripe and PayPal aren’t supported, so it suits businesses selling in Poland. You pay once, no subscription. The package is a one-off payment; after that you only pay for hosting and maintenance of the website with its shop: the first year is included, then PLN 299 net ($99) a year. See how the Webomat shop works or check the shop packages.