Payments and e-commerce in Iceland

Discover how Icelanders like to shop and pay online

Around 80% of Icelanders shop online for at least some of their purchases [1]. The top-selling categories are fashion, electronics and home furnishings [2].  Icelanders love to shop cross-border, with favourite online-shopping destinations including the UK, US and China [3]. Iceland follows EU e-commerce regulations, making cross-border trade easier for EU-based merchants [4].

Just under 100% of all Icelanders have a bank account and Internet access, greatly simplifying any e-commerce strategy. The European Payments Council describes the country as “cashless Iceland” [5]. This makes support for digital payments crucial to any e-commerce strategy. This is particularly true, as Iceland’s central bank is pushing for the creation of more domestic digital payment methods [6].

  1. https://ecommerce-europe.eu/research-figure/iceland/
  2. https://ecommercedb.com/en/markets/is/all
  3. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1023213/countries-of-most-recent-online-purchase-in-iceland
  4. https://www.tradeclub.stanbicbank.com/portal/en/market-potential/iceland/ecommerce
  5. https://www.europeanpaymentscouncil.eu/news-insights/insight/country-profile-cashless-iceland
  6. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-08-25/national-security-has-iceland-pushing-for-domestic-payment-tool

Iceland

General Information

  • Population 0.3 m
  • Population 15 + 0.3 m
  • Online Population 0.3 m
  • Area 103,000 km2
  • Currency ISK
  • GDP 25.2 bn $US
  • GDP per Capita 74,200 $US
Banked population
  • Iceland 98%
  • Western & Central Europe 96%
  • World 67%
Credit card penetration
  • Iceland 88%
  • Western & Central Europe 47%
  • World 19%
Internet penetration
  • Iceland 99%
  • Western & Central Europe 92%
  • World 62%
Smartphone penetration
  • Iceland 92%
  • Western & Central Europe 81%
  • World 70%

The information on our Insights pages has been compiled by us in cooperation with Datamatics and Wright & Brown. The data shown is partially owned by us and partially owned by GlobalData. © 2021 by PPRO Financial Ltd. No data and information can be used for any further publication without the explicit approval of PPRO.

Iceland

Local Payment Methods

BitPay Type Cryptocurrency Wallet Regions Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe & the CIS, Middle East & Africa + 3 Hyperwallet Type Bank transfer, Prepaid voucher, Gift card Regions Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe & the CIS, Middle East & Africa + 3 Market relevance High PayPal Type Wallet Regions Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe & the CIS, Middle East & Africa + 3 Market relevance High Paysafecard Type Prepaid voucher Regions Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe & the CIS, Middle East & Africa + 3 Paysera Type Wallet Regions Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe & the CIS, Middle East & Africa + 3 Market relevance High SEPA Direct Debit Type Bank transfer Regions Eastern Europe & the CIS, Western & Central Europe Market relevance High Skrill Type Wallet Regions Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe & the CIS, Middle East & Africa + 3 Market relevance High Allied Wallet Type Wallet Regions Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe & the CIS, Middle East & Africa + 3 Market relevance High UnionPay SecurePay Type Local payment card Regions Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe & the CIS, Middle East & Africa + 3 Market relevance High Apple Pay Type Wallet Regions Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe & the CIS, Middle East & Africa + 3 Market relevance High Mobiamo Type Carrier billing Regions Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe & the CIS, Middle East & Africa + 3 Market relevance High Razer Gold Type Wallet Regions Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe & the CIS, Middle East & Africa + 3 Market relevance High SEPA Credit Transfer Type Bank transfer Regions Eastern Europe & the CIS, Western & Central Europe Market relevance High SWIFT Type Bank transfer Regions Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe & the CIS, Middle East & Africa + 3 Market relevance High Secure Remote Commerce (SRC) Type Wallet Regions Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe & the CIS, Middle East & Africa + 3 Market relevance Medium SEPA Instant Credit Transfers (SCT Inst) Type Bank transfer Regions Eastern Europe & the CIS, Western & Central Europe Market relevance Medium Boloro Type Wallet Regions Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe & the CIS, Middle East & Africa + 3 G2A Pay Type Wallet Regions Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe & the CIS, Middle East & Africa + 3 Market relevance Medium NETELLER Type Wallet Regions Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe & the CIS, Middle East & Africa + 3 Splitit Type Instalments Regions Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe & the CIS, Middle East & Africa + 3

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