How to Accept Online Payments in the Caribbean with Scotiabank (Step-by-Step Guide)

More Caribbean businesses are moving online than ever before. Customers now expect the convenience of shopping and paying digitally — whether it’s ordering products, booking services, or settling invoices. While customer expectations are present, one of the biggest challenges for regional businesses has been accessing this service and getting paid securely online. Historically, to achieve this, a business would have to incur high setup costs, complicated technical integration, and lengthy approval times. This assumes they were aware of the service’s existence to begin with, as not much information was readily available.

That’s where Scotiabank’s payment gateway (Ecom+), paired with our WooCommerce plugin, comes in. It’s a simple, affordable way to start accepting online payments across the Caribbean — without the headaches of high costs or complex integrations.

Why Online Payments Matter for Caribbean Businesses

We’re seeing online shopping behaviour in the Caribbean consistently shift from a position of apprehensiveness to openness. Just a few years ago, Caribbean shoppers would only trust large companies like Amazon to do their online shopping; however, more and more, we see that customers are willing to trust local online merchants and enjoy the convenience that online shopping offers.

In addition to convenience, another important reason that customers are willing to shop online is that banks are issuing debit cards that can be used for online shopping. In the past, only those who qualified for a credit card could shop online, but now almost anyone with a bank account has access to online shopping.

These two factors provide an opportunity for businesses that offer online shopping to drive more sales and make shopping extremely convenient for their customers.

Online shopping matters for businesses because:

• Customers expect it – More people in the Caribbean are shopping online, and businesses that don’t offer card payments risk losing sales.
• Convenience drives loyalty – A smooth online shopping experience means customers are more likely to return.
• Leveling the playing field – Online payments allow small and medium-sized businesses to compete with larger international retailers.
• Faster cash flow – With direct-to-bank digital payments, funds go directly into your bank account — no waiting on third-party platform’s payout thresholds or delayed settlement of funds.

How to Get Started

Step 1: Apply for a Scotiabank Merchant Account

To accept online payments, you first need a Scotiabank merchant account (branded by Scotiabank as their Ecom+ Service). This account enables your business to process card transactions securely.

To register for this account, you’ll need to submit some information to Scotiabank based on the type of business you own. See below:

Are you a Sole Trader? Here’s what you’ll need:

• Registration Certificate
• 2 pieces of valid ID
• Proof of Address in your name or the name of the business(utility bill, bank statement, correspondence from an established institution)
• Cash Flow Projections for 3 years (Download a free cash flow projection template here)

Is your business registered as a Limited Liability Company? Here’s what you’ll need:

• Certificate of Incorporation
• Notice of Directors/ Secretary/ Address
• Annual return
• Articles of Incorporation / Company By Laws
• 3 years of Financial Statements (where applicable) or Cash Flow Projections for 3 years (Download a free cash flow projection template here)
• 2 pieces of valid ID for each Director/ Signatory
• Proof of Address for each Director/ Signatory (utility bill, bank statement, correspondence from an established institution)

📌 Note: Scotiabank offers this service in the following Caribbean countries – Guyana, Trinidad & Tobago, Barbados, Jamaica, The Bahamas, Cayman Islands and Turks & Caicos.

Once you’ve successfully registered for Scotia’s Ecom+ service, you will be provided with a StoreID and a Shared Secret that you can use to begin testing payments on your website.

Step 2: Install our WooCommerce Plugin

WooCommerce is the most popular eCommerce platform in the world — and it runs on WordPress, which powers over 40% of websites. Many Caribbean businesses already use it for their websites, which makes it a perfect fit.

Our Scotiabank Payment Gateway for WooCommerce plugin was built specifically for the Caribbean market and meets the needs of small, medium and large organizations looking to accept payments online.

Some of the advantages of our plugin include:

• Seamless integration – No coding required.
• Local currency support – Accept payments in JMD, TTD, BBD, GYD, KYD, and BSD.
• Embedded checkout – Customers never feel like they’re leaving your site.
• Affordable pricing – One of the lowest-cost payment solutions available regionally.

Setup is simple:

1. Download and install the free version of the plugin.
2. Activate it in your WordPress dashboard.
3. Enable the plugin and enter the Sandbox StoreID and Shared Secret provided by Scotiabank.
4. Start testing.

Read our full getting started guide here for more comprehensive instructions to start testing transactions, and how to test even if you haven’t received your sandbox credentials from Scotiabank.

Step 3: Go Live and Start Accepting Payments

Once you’ve completed your test transactions, you then need to ensure that your website has a couple of things in place for it to be approved by Scotiabank:

1. An valid SSL Certificate
2. An intuitive purchase flow
3. A refund policy
4. Transaction information added your order emails

The video below shows how to prepare a document that would prove to the bank that you have all these things in place.

Note: Scotiabank may also ask you to join an online call so that their team can see your purchase flow in action and confirm that all your transactions work as expected.

Once approved, the bank will provide your production Store ID and Shared Secret. At this point, you need to ensure that you have the professional version of our plugin. It allows you to switch from sandbox mode to production mode and enter your production Store ID and Shared Secret into the relevant fields. You also need to ensure that your website’s currency is configured to match the currency on your Scotiabank account. Once those settings are in place, you’re ready to start accepting live credit card transactions.

Common Questions (FAQ)

How long does approval take?
Approval timelines vary by island, but once your documents are submitted, Scotiabank will guide you through the process.

Can I accept payments from international cards?
Yes — as long as the card is 3DS2-enabled, you can accept payments from international customers.

What if I already use WooCommerce/WordPress?
Perfect — you just install our plugin and connect it to your merchant account.

What if I don’t have a website yet?
No problem. You can start with a basic WooCommerce store or even a simple website that sells a handful of products or services. We can help point you in the right direction.

Ready to move forward?

Accepting online payments doesn’t have to be complicated — and with Scotiabank’s payment gateway plus our plugin, it’s never been easier for Caribbean businesses.

👉 Try the Demo Store Here
👉 Download our plugin and start testing

Accept payments sealessly through Scotiabank using our Scotiabank Payment Gateway For WooCommerce plugin