How to Add GrabPay and PayNow to Your Shopify Store in Singapore

If you're running a Shopify store targeting Singapore customers and you're not offering PayNow and GrabPay at checkout, you're bleeding conversions. PayNow is used by over 68% of Gen Z consumers in Singapore. GrabPay has 4 million+ daily users. Together, they account for the majority of non-card digital payments in the country.

The problem? Shopify doesn't natively support either payment method. You need a third-party payment gateway to bridge the gap. We've set this up for multiple Singapore-based D2C brands through our Shopify development practice, and the difference in checkout completion rates is significant — one client saw cart abandonment drop by 22% after we added local payment methods.

This guide walks you through every option, every step, and every gotcha we've encountered.

What You'll Learn

• Which payment gateways support GrabPay and PayNow on Shopify
• Step-by-step setup for each option (HitPay, Stripe SG, OpnPayments)
• Exact transaction fees so you can calculate your margins
• How to display payment badges on your product pages using Liquid
• Common errors and how to fix them
• SGD currency and Singapore tax configuration

Prerequisites

• A live Shopify store (Basic plan or higher)
• A registered Singapore business entity (UEN required for PayNow Corporate)
• A Singapore business bank account
• Your Shopify store currency set to SGD

If you're still on a development store or haven't configured your currency settings, do that first. Payment gateways won't activate properly without SGD as your primary currency.

The Three Payment Gateway Options

There are three viable paths to accepting GrabPay and PayNow on Shopify in Singapore. Here's our honest take on each.

Option 1: HitPay (Our Recommendation for Most SG Stores)

HitPay is Singapore-built, Singapore-focused, and supports both PayNow and GrabPay out of the box. No monthly fees — you only pay per transaction. For most small to mid-size Shopify stores in Singapore, this is the path of least resistance.

HitPay Transaction Fees (Singapore):

• PayNow (online, under S$100): 0.9% per transaction (minimum S$0.20)
• PayNow (online, S$100+): 0.65% + S$0.30
• GrabPay: Included through HitPay's e-wallet support
• Domestic credit cards: 2.8% + S$0.50
• International cards: 3.65% + S$0.50
• Shopify plugin surcharge: Additional 0.5%
• Monthly fee: S$0 (zero)

The Shopify plugin surcharge is the one thing that catches people off guard. HitPay charges an extra 0.5% on top of normal transaction fees when processing through their Shopify app. Factor this into your margin calculations.

Step-by-Step: Setting Up HitPay on Shopify

Step 1: Create your HitPay account

Go to hitpayapp.com and sign up with your Singapore business details. You'll need your UEN, business bank account, and identity verification documents. Approval typically takes 1-2 business days.

Step 2: Activate payment methods

Once approved, log into your HitPay dashboard. Navigate to Settings → Payment Methods. Enable:

• PayNow
• GrabPay
• Credit/Debit Cards (Visa, Mastercard, AMEX)
• Any BNPL options you want (Atome, ShopBack PayLater)

Step 3: Install the HitPay Shopify app

Go to the Shopify App Store and search for "HitPay Payment Gateway." Click Add App and authorize the installation. You'll be redirected to connect your HitPay account.

Step 4: Configure in Shopify Admin

In your Shopify Admin, go to Settings → Payments. Under Alternative Payment Methods, you should see HitPay listed. Make sure it's activated and the payment methods you enabled in Step 2 are showing.

Step 5: Test a transaction

Place a test order using PayNow. When you select PayNow at checkout, HitPay generates a dynamic QR code. Scan it with your banking app, complete the payment, and verify the order appears in both your Shopify and HitPay dashboards.

The entire process takes under 15 minutes if your documents are ready.

Option 2: Stripe Singapore (Best for Stores Also Selling Internationally)

If your Shopify store serves both Singapore and international customers, Stripe gives you the broadest payment method coverage with a single integration. Stripe Singapore supports PayNow and GrabPay alongside cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Alipay, and WeChat Pay.

Stripe Singapore Transaction Fees:

• PayNow: 1.3% per transaction
• GrabPay: 3.3% per transaction
• Domestic cards: 3.4% + S$0.50
• International cards: 3.4% + S$0.50
• Monthly fee: S$0

Notice the difference: Stripe charges 1.3% for PayNow compared to HitPay's 0.65-0.9%. For GrabPay, Stripe charges a steep 3.3%. If your customers primarily use PayNow and GrabPay, HitPay is significantly cheaper. If you need Stripe's international payment coverage, the premium might be worth it.

Step-by-Step: Enabling PayNow and GrabPay via Stripe on Shopify

Step 1: Sign up for Stripe at stripe.com/en-sg with your Singapore business entity.

Step 2: In your Stripe Dashboard, go to Settings → Payment Methods. Enable PayNow and GrabPay.

Step 3: In Shopify Admin, go to Settings → Payments. If Shopify Payments is available in Singapore, Stripe powers it by default. If using Stripe as a third-party gateway, install the Stripe app from the Shopify App Store.

Step 4: Configure your Shopify Payments settings to enable the local payment methods you activated in Stripe.

Step 5: Test with a real PayNow transaction (Stripe's test mode doesn't fully simulate QR code flows for PayNow).

Important note on Shopify's third-party gateway fee: If you use Stripe as a separate payment gateway (not through Shopify Payments), Shopify charges an additional 0.5-2% transaction fee on top of Stripe's fees, depending on your Shopify plan. This can make the effective cost very high. Check if Shopify Payments with Stripe is available for your store — it eliminates this surcharge.

Option 3: OpnPayments (Formerly Omise)

OpnPayments is a solid alternative if you need coverage across Southeast Asia beyond just Singapore. They support PayNow and a range of regional payment methods.

Setup: Sign up at opn.ooo, install their Shopify integration, and enable PayNow in your dashboard. The process is similar to HitPay but with less Singapore-specific documentation.

We recommend OpnPayments only if you're also operating in Thailand, Japan, or Malaysia and want a single gateway across markets.

Displaying Payment Badges on Your Product Pages

Customers need to see that you accept their preferred payment method before they reach checkout. Here's a Liquid snippet we use across our Singapore Shopify builds to display payment badges on product pages:

{% comment %} Payment method badges - add to product-template.liquid or main-product.liquid {% endcomment %}
<div class="payment-badges" style="margin-top: 16px; display: flex; gap: 8px; align-items: center; flex-wrap: wrap;">
  <span style="font-size: 13px; color: #666;">We accept:</span>
  <img src="{{ 'paynow-badge.svg' | asset_url }}" alt="PayNow" width="48" height="32" loading="lazy">
  <img src="{{ 'grabpay-badge.svg' | asset_url }}" alt="GrabPay" width="48" height="32" loading="lazy">
  <img src="{{ 'visa-badge.svg' | asset_url }}" alt="Visa" width="48" height="32" loading="lazy">
  <img src="{{ 'mastercard-badge.svg' | asset_url }}" alt="Mastercard" width="48" height="32" loading="lazy">
</div>

Upload the SVG badge files to your Shopify theme's Assets folder. You can grab official badge assets from PayNow's and GrabPay's brand guidelines pages. As an official Shopify Partner, we typically handle this as part of our store setup — the badges need to match your theme's design language, not look like they were slapped on as an afterthought.

SGD Currency and Singapore Tax Configuration

Before enabling any payment gateway, make sure your Shopify store's currency and tax settings are correct:

1. Settings → General → Store Currency: Set to SGD (Singapore Dollar)
2. Settings → Taxes and Duties: Singapore charges 9% GST (updated from 8% in January 2024). Enable "Charge tax on this product" for all applicable products.
3. Settings → Markets: If you're using Shopify Markets, ensure Singapore is set as your primary market with SGD pricing.

A common mistake we see: stores set up with USD as the base currency and then use Shopify's auto-conversion for SGD. This causes rounding issues with PayNow (which only processes in SGD) and confuses customers who see slightly different amounts at checkout versus the product page.

Common Errors and How to Fix Them

"Payment method not available" at checkout

This usually means one of three things:

• Your payment gateway account hasn't been fully verified yet (check your HitPay/Stripe dashboard for pending verification steps)
• The payment method isn't enabled for your specific Shopify market
• Your store currency doesn't match the payment method's supported currency (PayNow only works with SGD)

QR code not generating for PayNow

If the PayNow QR code fails to render at checkout:

• Check that your HitPay API keys are correctly entered in the Shopify integration
• Verify your browser isn't blocking third-party scripts (ad blockers can interfere)
• Test on mobile — some desktop browsers handle the QR flow differently

Refund processing delays

PayNow refunds through HitPay are not instant. They typically take 1-3 business days, which is longer than card refunds. Set customer expectations in your refund policy. Original transaction fees are non-refundable on both HitPay and Stripe.

GrabPay showing "transaction failed"

GrabPay has a wallet balance limit of S$5,000 and an annual spend limit of S$30,000 per user (MAS regulation). If a customer's order exceeds their available balance, the transaction fails with a generic error. There's nothing you can do on your end except offer alternative payment methods.

Which Gateway Should You Choose?

After setting this up across multiple stores for Singapore-based clients, here's our decision framework:

• HitPay if you're primarily selling in Singapore and want the lowest PayNow fees. Zero monthly cost, fast setup, built for the SG market.
• Stripe if you're selling internationally AND in Singapore, and need one gateway for everything. Higher fees for local methods, but unmatched global coverage.
• OpnPayments if you're operating across multiple SEA markets and want regional consistency.

For most Singapore D2C brands we work with, HitPay is the answer. The fee savings on PayNow transactions alone — 0.65% vs 1.3% for orders over S$100 — add up fast when you're processing hundreds of orders monthly.

What We Can Set Up For You

As a Shopify Partner, we have direct access to Shopify's partner tools and can configure payment gateways, currency settings, tax rules, and checkout optimizations as part of a store build or standalone project. If you'd rather not deal with API keys and gateway configurations, book a discovery call and we'll handle the entire payment setup.

We've done this for brands like Baby Forest (which hit ₹4.2L in launch-month revenue with a clean checkout flow) and FloraSoul (where we improved mobile conversion by 41% — checkout optimization was a big part of that).