Entering a new market confronts merchants with dozens of local payment options. Market share alone cannot determine checkout placement, so this guide walks you through four availability checks first, then a simple comparison you can think of as a quadrant. Merchants should apply it only after confirming that a method is available and suitable for the relevant buyers and payment scenario.
What this framework covers
- A payment method must pass four availability checks before you compare it on buyer adoption and checkout friction.
- Buyer adoption and checkout friction are the two factors that decide where each method belongs in your checkout.
- Methods that pass the checks fall into four placement categories, each with its own checkout rule.
- Antom's Mexico Retail Market Report applies this method to show how all four categories work in one market.
- Relying on market share data alone leads to misplaced payment methods and lower digital conversion.
The payment selection framework and supporting data in this guide come from Antom's cross-border payment research.
Why popular payment methods may not work for your buyers
Popularity figures describe transaction share or adoption across a market, not whether a method fits your specific buyers, product, or provider. A method can rank first on market share and still be the wrong choice for your checkout if it fails any of four availability checks.
We developed a two-factor comparison to help merchants place methods after those checks are done, but the checks come first.
Before you compare methods on buyer adoption and checkout friction, confirm that each candidate passes these four checks. Each check is qualitative, so record the evidence and the assumption behind your answer.
1. Buyer market
Does the method actually serve your target buyers, rather than being prominent in the market overall? Popularity figures describe transaction share or adoption, not whether your specific audience can or will use the method.
Worldpay's Global Payments Report puts digital wallets at 56% of global e-Commerce transaction value in 2025 and cards at 31%, with US e-Commerce at 40% wallets, 32% cards, and 6% BNPL, all measured as transaction-value shares.
2. Payment scenario
Does the method fit the actual purchase? Check whether it works online, on the buyer's device, at the typical order value, and inside your purchase flow, including whether it needs an app, a redirect, or an offline step.
3. Actual availability
Does your provider support the method for the relevant market and currency, and for your business? A checkout usability research found that 21% of sites offered only one payment method and that 11% of US shoppers had abandoned a checkout in the previous three months because their preferred method was not offered.
4. Required capabilities
Does the method meet the capabilities your business needs, such as payment confirmation, refunds, and disputes, plus recurring or off-session charging where relevant?
Not every method can be saved and reused; check whether a method supports recurring or off-session charging before you offer it.
The payment method selection framework explained
After the four checks, compare methods on two factors: how widely they are used by your target buyers, and how many steps the buyer must take to complete the payment.
The first factor is buyer adoption, measured by a metric that matches your audience, such as the share of your target buyers who use the method or the share of relevant e-Commerce transactions it handles. Do not interchange brand awareness, registered accounts, wallet-market share, and the share of all buyers.
The second factor is checkout friction, which includes buyer actions, authentication, redirects, and any offline steps. When no comparable numerical measures exist, treat the assessment as qualitative. The combination of these two factors suggests where each method can be tested in the checkout stack.
After the four checks and the two-factor comparison, methods fall into four placement categories based on the combination of buyer adoption and checkout friction. Each category suggests a different checkout rule:
- High adoption, low friction: Prominent placement in the default checkout view.
- High adoption, high friction: Extend coverage but not the default for every buyer.
- Low adoption, low friction: Test for relevant products or customer segments.
- Low adoption, high friction: Collapse by default; surface only for enterprise or B2B transactions.
Merchants should draw from multiple categories, not optimize for one.
How to place payment methods in your checkout
After you compare methods on buyer adoption and checkout friction, group them into four placement categories based on the combination of these two factors. Each category suggests a different checkout rule.
1. High adoption, low friction: prominent placement
Methods that are widely used by your target buyers and have a short completion flow are candidates for prominent placement in the default checkout view. Examples may include FPX (Financial Process Exchange) in Malaysia or GrabPay in Singapore. Validate their performance with your own buyer and payment data before committing.
2. High adoption, high friction: extend coverage
Methods that are widely used but require redirects, offline steps, or manual actions can extend your coverage but should not be the default for every buyer. Placement depends on the target segment and purchase flow. OXXO in Mexico is one example: it adds an offline cash-payment option, but the extra step makes it less suitable as the first option for every buyer.
3. Low adoption, low friction: test for relevant segments
Methods with lower adoption but a short completion flow can be tested for relevant products or customer segments. A BNPL method may fit here in one market but occupy a different category elsewhere.
4. Low adoption, high friction: collapse by default
Methods with minimal reach and high friction should be collapsed by default and surfaced only for enterprise checkout flows or large-value B2B transactions.
Adding relevant payment methods can broaden customer choice. Merchants should test the selected mix and placement after launch.
From framework to practice: Mexico case study
Our Mexico Retail Market Report applied this framework to the Mexican market and found examples of all four placement categories in use.
- High adoption, low friction: Mercado Pago is a widely used wallet option in Mexico. Treat prominent placement as a hypothesis to validate with the target audience.
- Low adoption, low friction: Kueski Pay, a BNPL (Buy Now, Pay Later) provider, can be tested for relevant higher-ticket purchases.
- High adoption, high friction: OXXO adds an offline cash-payment option. Its placement should reflect the target audience and the extra step required to complete payment.
- Low adoption, high friction: International wire transfers fall here: high friction and negligible digital checkout volume in the Mexican consumer market. Collapse by default; surface only for high-value B2B transactions where no other method applies.
Choosing a lower-friction method as the default may simplify payment selection, so test the result before you commit. Once you have placed your methods, the next step is configuring how they appear at checkout, which is covered in the e-Commerce Checkout Optimization guide.