If you see „Pay by Mollie“ as an option in your WooCommerce shop, or you are thinking about setting Mollie up, the basic question comes up quickly: what exactly is Mollie, how does it work, and which payment methods does it give your customers? I set Mollie up in WooCommerce shops regularly, and here I explain the basics for you — without the marketing speak, but with the points that matter in practice. If you want to compare Mollie and Stripe directly, read my post Stripe vs. Mollie; this one explains Mollie on its own.
What is Mollie?
Mollie is a Dutch payment service provider (PSP for short). Put simply: Mollie sits between your online shop and the banks or credit card providers. Instead of signing a separate contract for each individual payment method (with a credit card acquirer, with your bank for SEPA, with PayPal …), you sign one contract with Mollie — and enable all the methods you want with just a few clicks.
Mollie deliberately targets small and medium-sized businesses. There is no monthly base fee and no complicated onboarding — you pay per transaction. That is exactly what makes Mollie attractive for sole traders and small shops in Austria, where Stripe, with its more developer-heavy approach, is often too much.
How does Mollie work? (Step by step)
- Create an account. You register with Mollie and provide your company details as well as your business account (for the payouts).
- Verification. Mollie checks your details (a legal anti-money-laundering requirement). This usually takes one to a few working days.
- Connect the plugin. In WooCommerce you install the official Mollie plugin and enter your API key. Done — no programming required.
- Activate payment methods. In the Mollie dashboard you enable what you want to offer (credit card, EPS, Klarna …).
- The customer pays. At checkout your customers choose their method, pay, and Mollie reports the payment status straight back to WooCommerce.
- Payout. Mollie collects your revenue and transfers it to your bank account in bundled amounts — by default on a fixed, regular schedule.
„Pay by Mollie“ on a bank statement? If, as a buyer, you see a charge with the note „Mollie“: that is not a shop in its own right, but the payment service provider through which the respective merchant settles its payments. The actual reference usually also names the shop.
Which payment methods does Mollie offer?
This is Mollie's greatest strength: a wide range of common and local methods from a single source. Particularly relevant for the Austrian market:
- Credit card — Visa, Mastercard, American Express.
- EPS — the Austrian online banking method that many customers here expect.
- SEPA Direct Debit & SEPA Credit Transfer — classic options for recurring payments and B2B.
- Apple Pay & Google Pay — faster mobile checkout.
- PayPal — managed directly through Mollie.
- Klarna — „buy now, pay later“ and instalments, strong on conversion in the DACH region.
- iDEAL & Bancontact — relevant if you also sell to the Netherlands or Belgium.
More methods mean fewer abandoned purchases — but only activate what suits your target audience. An overloaded checkout confuses more than it helps.
What does Mollie cost?
The pricing model is transparent: no monthly base fee, no setup costs, but a fixed fee per successful transaction. Important: each payment method has its own rate — a credit card payment costs differently than an EPS or SEPA transaction. The exact terms change from time to time, so always check them directly with Mollie for the current figures. You will find a detailed breakdown, with a comparison to Stripe, in my post Stripe vs. Mollie.
A practical rule of thumb: with small transaction volumes and low basket values, Mollie's flat per-transaction model often works out cheaper and more predictable than percentage-heavy providers.
Who is Mollie worthwhile for?
Mollie is my standard recommendation for small to medium-sized WooCommerce shops in Austria that want to get started quickly and without technical effort — especially when EPS and Klarna matter to the target audience. Anyone scaling heavily across borders, who needs a lot of developer customisation, or who is building a sophisticated subscription/billing system, should also weigh the advantages of Mollie against their own requirements. I have summarised the details specifically for small businesses in Mollie for small businesses.
Frequently asked questions
Is Mollie secure and GDPR-compliant?
Yes. Mollie is a regulated payment service provider based in the EU (the Netherlands), meets the PCI-DSS requirements for card payments, and processes data within the EU. You can read about what you need to watch out for yourself in Mollie: security & data protection.
Do I need programming skills?
No. There is an official Mollie plugin for WooCommerce. You install it, enter the API key, and you are ready to go. That is exactly what I set up together with you in your own shop during my training sessions.
Setting up Mollie yourself — with guidance
Mollie is deliberately beginner-friendly, but the right choice of payment methods, a clean checkout and legally compliant integration make the difference. That is exactly what I show you in a location-independent online training via video — we go through it together in your real WooCommerce shop, wherever in Austria you are based. Get in touch with me, and I will set up with you what your shop really needs.