France
Payments

France deserves a specific acceptance plan: compare the domestic card route, authentication performance and newer account-payment options before selecting a provider. A recognisable payment logo does not tell you which route processed a transaction or what the merchant will pay.

Choose the acceptance route

The table is a selection framework, not a ranking by market share. Test the routes that match your customers and business model rather than treating every listed method as essential.

Cartes Bancaires — The Domestic Network

Cartes Bancaires explains why card categories need care: a French deferred-debit card can carry the European CREDIT category without being the same product as revolving consumer credit. Debit, credit, commercial and prepaid should therefore remain separate in your pricing sample.

Ask the acquirer to identify the route actually used, which card products its CB support covers, and whether that support extends to your online, mobile and recurring flows. Do not interpret a payment-logo list as proof of every capability.

Compare total merchant charges on the same basket. A useful quote separates interchange, scheme charges, processor charges and optional services; a statement describing only interchange is not a complete merchant price. The quoted result may change with card category, issuer location, channel and contract. The card-scheme fee guide provides a framework for reading those components.

For example, take a representative month of transactions and group it by card category and issuer country. Ask each bidder to price that same file, including refunds and chargebacks. A lower headline percentage may not be the lower total cost when the fixed fees, exceptions and service charges are included. This is a comparison method, not a claim that one network always wins.

Authentication — Measure the Journey

Banque de France's authentication guidance describes strong customer authentication and recognises exemptions, including for some low-value online purchases. A requirement for SCA is not a statement that every payment must display a challenge to the customer.

Design the checkout around the PSP's supported authentication flow and ask how it handles exemptions, issuer requests and failed or abandoned authentication. Record the requested exemption and the resulting authentication and authorisation responses as separate fields.

Measure authentication starts, completion, authorisation and abandonment separately. A changed challenge rate does not by itself demonstrate better conversion or lower fraud. Compare equivalent traffic and card cohorts, and retain the result codes needed to explain a decline. Our 3DS2 analysis discusses that distinction.

Wero — Check the Live Integration

EPI's September 2026 announcement says BNP Paribas retail customers in France can pay online at merchants offering Wero. It identifies Sosh as offering Wero from 2 September; Air France, Decathlon and Fnac Darty are described as preparing their launches. Those statuses should not be treated as identical.

For a merchant evaluating Wero, ask for a live demonstration through the proposed PSP. Check the customer's bank journey, merchant eligibility, refund support and the identifier that joins an order to its receipt. An announcement naming a bank or a prospective merchant is not evidence that your own integration is enabled.

Keep future product capabilities separate from current contracted support. In-store, recurring and subscription use cases should be verified individually before they appear in your checkout design or customer promises.

Regulatory Environment

ACPR's capital guide distinguishes payment-institution services: money remittance only has a €20,000 initial-capital level, payment initiation only €50,000, and several other payment services €125,000. These figures are not a uniform entry cost for every payments business, and initial capital is only one part of the requirements.

Start with the activity: accepting payment for your own products is different from supplying regulated payment services to others. Identify who holds funds, executes transfers and contracts with the customer. Ask the provider for the authorised entity, permitted services and the basis for operating in France. Obtain professional advice for your own activity rather than relying on a provider's logo or licence badge.

Practical Notes for Operators

Localise the full checkout and recovery journey, not just the payment-method labels. Test the French error messages, authentication return path, refund notification and bank-statement descriptor. Include an expired session, an interrupted bank redirect and a duplicate callback in acceptance testing.

For recurring products, check whether the first payment, renewal and customer-requested refund use different mechanisms. For instalments, test partial returns before launch. For every route, reconcile the order, provider reference and merchant bank credit and document who investigates an unmatched payment.

The PSP coverage list is a starting point for due diligence. Select against your customer mix and required channels; it is not a claim of universal availability, lowest cost or best performance.