31 May 2008

Your choice of payment processors ultimately determines the number of people who can potentially purchase your product or service. Looking at the differences between PayPal and Google Checkout, I couldn't find a comparison of the countries each processor supported so I quickly whipped up my own using the data presented in the country list drop-downs that each processor presents on its sign up page.

Summary

PayPal supports substantially more countries than Google Checkout but it doesn't support a complete superset. If you want to reach the largest possible audience, you should implement both payment methods.

Details

Paypal supports 190 countries while Google Checkout supports just 142.

122 of those countries are the same (intersection).

By implementing both checkout methods, you can support a total of 210 countries (union).

These are the 68 countries that PayPal supports that Google Checkout does not (difference):

  1. Andorra
  2. Anguilla
  3. Argentina
  4. Aruba
  5. Bhutan
  6. Brazil
  7. Burundi
  8. Cayman Islands
  9. Chad
  10. China Worldwide
  11. Comoros
  12. Cook Islands
  13. Democratic Republic of the Congo
  14. Djibouti
  15. Dominica
  16. Eritrea
  17. Ethiopia
  18. Falkland Islands
  19. Federated States of Micronesia
  20. Fiji
  21. French Guiana
  22. French Polynesia
  23. Gambia
  24. Grenada
  25. Guadeloupe
  26. Guinea
  27. Guinea Bissau
  28. Guyana
  29. Kiribati
  30. Kyrgyzstan
  31. Lesotho
  32. Madagascar
  33. Malawi
  34. Marshall Islands
  35. Martinique
  36. Mauritania
  37. Mayotte
  38. Mongolia
  39. Montserrat
  40. Nauru
  41. New Caledonia
  42. Niger
  43. Niue
  44. Norfolk Island
  45. Palau
  46. Papua New Guinea
  47. Pitcairn Islands
  48. Republic of the Congo
  49. Reunion
  50. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
  51. Samoa
  52. Sierra Leone
  53. Solomon Islands
  54. Somalia
  55. South Korea
  56. St. Helena
  57. St. Kitts and Nevis
  58. St. Lucia
  59. St. Pierre and Miquelon
  60. Suriname
  61. Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands
  62. Swaziland
  63. São Tomé and Príncipe
  64. Tonga
  65. Turks and Caicos Islands
  66. Tuvalu
  67. Vanuatu
  68. Wallis and Futuna Islands

And here are the 20 countries that Google Checkout supports that PayPal does not (difference):

  1. Bangladesh
  2. Belarus
  3. British Indian Ocean Territory
  4. Cameroon
  5. Côte d'Ivoire
  6. Equatorial Guinea
  7. Georgia
  8. Ghana
  9. Haiti
  10. Lebanon
  11. Macedonia
  12. Moldova
  13. Monaco
  14. Nigeria
  15. Pakistan
  16. Paraguay
  17. Puerto Rico
  18. Serbia and Montenegro
  19. Uzbekistan
  20. Zimbabwe

I hope you find this useful. Download the python script (paypal-google.py.zip, 4KB).

Creative Commons LicenseThe PayPal vs. Google Checkout: countries supported article by Aral Balkan, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 2.0 UK: England License.

Add Your Comment

Spam Protection by WP-SpamFree

PayPal vs. Google Checkout: countries supported

33 Comments »

  1. You just saved me a ton of time and answered 3 or 4 questions I had in one post. Awesome!

    vanderwal

  2. Cool! How good it would be if Google Checkout could accept PayPal as well :(.

    Rashid

  3. i love this very much at least i’m doubly sure i can start making some cool cash as a merchant. very helpful

    Amaechi

  4. Nice one! You have just saved a lots of new internet marketers the way out. Lots of thanks to that!

    Biodun

  5. First of all thank you for a such wonderfull topic, well i have to say it is difficult for me to say if i agree with you or not. I will read it for a second time and let you know what i think

    Douala

  6. For small businesses that sell one of a kind items with concerns of chargebacks, do you have any insights to share that would suggest which may be better at protecting the sellers?

    Rachel

  7. @Rachel: I´d certainly prefer paypal, but it surely depends on where your main costumers come from. If you can narrow your clients down geographically the answer should be easy. Otherwise you just have to use both services or searching for another method. Anyway nice comparison.

    Billigflug

  8. Thanks… very good information.

    jack

  9. why google checkout doesn’t support china?really big pity!

    stone basins store

  10. I would like to point out that Paypal is not availble for businesses based in Andorra. I can confirm this as I currently operate a business in Andorra, however have to do it via a UK Paypal account as Paypal do not have a service in Andorra, I have discussed this in detail with Paylpal!!

    Snowman

  11. Google Checkout is now capable of supporting many of those countries. You should update your list!

    John

  12. Google check out doesn’t let you open an account if you are not from USA or UK

    Jenny

  13. Can someone please direct me to a list of supported countries for Google Checkout? I can’t find a list anywhere!

    Jonny

  14. Google Checkout is much better because it supports my country. So PayPal sucks!

    nemanja

  15. Thanks. You list is very handy since I’m considering each of the 2 to use. Any chance you can do a comparison of the systems them selves? Which is easier to use for the processor and buyer?

    Chris

    Chris De La Rosa

  16. I am trying to set up google checkout for my website. I am in Puerto Rico and I am unable to do so. I see that you say Google does support Puerto Rico. What am I doing wrong?

    Thanks,

    Tim

    Tim

  17. I’m in Sri Lnaka, Paypal and google Google Checkout not support to sri lankan user’s

    D.D.T.S

  18. Sorry,

    I want to correct misconceptions.The 68 countries you listed are not supported by PayPal.People living in these countries cannot send money,withdraw nor receive money from anyone.Therefore, PayPal is useless in these countries.

    PayPal claims to support 190 countries but its a lie which they use for marketing purposes.PayPal only supports 45 countries: In these countries people can send money,receive money and withdraw to their local bank accounts.The only 45 countries supported by PayPal are.

    . Australia
    • Austria
    • Belgium
    • Canada
    • China
    • France
    • Germany
    • Hong Kong
    • Italy
    • Japan
    • Mexico
    • Netherlands
    • Poland
    • Singapore
    • Spain
    • Switzerland
    • United Kingdom
    • United States
    • Argentina
    • Brazil
    • Czech Republic
    • Denmark
    • Finland
    • French Guiana
    • Greece
    • Guadeloupe
    • Hungary
    • India
    • Indonesia
    • Ireland
    • Israel
    • Luxembourg
    • Malaysia
    • Martinique
    • New Zealand
    • Norway
    • Philippines
    • Portugal
    • Reunion
    • Slovakia
    • South Korea
    • Sweden
    • Taiwan
    • Thailand
    • Turkey

    If you want an internationally supported payment on your website,you must install 2Checkout.2Checkout accepts many payments such as credit cards,PayPal,check etc,so customers with PayPal will also buy from your website.Its only $50 to join 2Checkout.Other alternatives are Plimus or Moneybookers.Plimus is free to install and also accepts payments from PayPal and credit cards.Moneybookers supports more countries than any service – over 200 countries.

    Derrick

  19. Nice and valuable info here
    For the previous comment, I dont think 2co is a good option
    They are such a paranoic people (no offenses), if the look any tiny problem in the first orders they just close your account.

    Jon

  20. Hi Derrick, thank you for the info. If this is true, then it sounds like false advertising on PayPal’s side. I wonder if anyone from PayPal would like to weigh in on this issue?

    Aral

  21. I find it interesting that Puerto Rico is listed as a country. That is laughable since it is a US Territory and is a part of the USA. Someone slept through that part in Geography Class!

    Jean

  22. Hello, Very good article. I will continue to pursue this article, as it is written is very interesting. Since we are interpreted very much on good information. Best regards :-)

    Umzug München

  23. It’s wrong because google checkout is not offering till now in PK I have checked after connecting google checkout steps.

    If it’s true than would you please let me know how ?

    Raza Al

  24. when paypal is coming to Pakistan!

    umair

  25. Paypal only provides partial support for Cayman Islands and several of these.

    April

  26. Dont understand :-)

    Bild Geschenk

  27. Wow, an excellent comparison. it is what i was looking for.

    Punjabi

  28. Had been longing for this discrepancy of keeping us out of the global trade to go…..

    I do not know… how much long it will take….

    In Bangladesh (with 150 million population), I specifically know, the government had contacted paypal but they did not respond positively….

    If anyone from paypal should be contacted for the purpose.. please pass me the contact..so that we all can eliminate this barrier.

    Thanks

    Nahid Ahmad

  29. How surprising that I want to sell online but Both dont support in Pakistan…I guess I’m in a wrong country..:)

    Ali R. Khan

  30. Google lists Puerto Rico as a choice in their merchant sign-up page, but it does not actually accept Puerto Rico when you try to submit the form. Instead it gives a validation error that PR is not a valid State code.

    Ed Schultheiss

  31. I’m from hungary and tried paypal.
    So officially paypal supports hungary but I could’nt buy anything, they ripped money from my account, and I’m getting lots of spam ever since. My advice: DO NOT USE PAYPAL, use something else.

    fromHungary

  32. paypal sucks
    no need paypal in bangladesh
    google checkout rocks

    minhaz

  33. Hi, if anyone needs help to transfer money to paypal account or need to use a paypal account, i can be of assistance. email me at fan.focus(at)gmail(dot)com. I hope the blog owner will allow me to help those having trouble and who needs paypal.

    fan