A US customer reaches your checkout with a Visa card. Another wants to use Apple Pay. A business client asks whether it can pay your invoice through ACH.
For an Indian business selling into the US, the goal is to build the smallest payment stack that covers how customers actually prefer to pay.
For an Indian business selling into the US, the goal is to build the smallest payment stack that covers how customers actually prefer to pay.
TL;DR
- In the Federal Reserve's 2025 Diary of Consumer Payment Choice, credit cards accounted for 35% of US consumer payments in 2024, followed by debit cards at 30%.
- The Fed's 23% mobile figure refers to payments made using a mobile phone, not specifically to digital-wallet market share.
- For online US consumers, start with major cards and mobile wallets; for invoice-led B2B collections, local ACH can be more appropriate.
- Indian businesses should choose US payment methods by checkout context, transaction value and business model, not simply by popularity rankings.
Start with how the US customer is paying you
| Payment situation | Method to prioritise |
|---|---|
| Ecommerce checkout | Credit/debit cards |
| Mobile checkout | Cards + Apple Pay/Google Pay |
| Subscription | Cards with recurring-payment support |
| B2B invoice | ACH/local USD collection |
| Higher-ticket consumer purchase | Cards; consider BNPL if relevant |
1. Cards are the foundation of US online checkout
The Federal Reserve's 2025 Diary found that credit cards represented 35% of US consumer payments by number in 2024, while debit cards represented 30%.
Relevant networks include:
- Visa
- Mastercard
- American Express
- Discover, where supported by your provider
International cards also need effective authentication, fraud screening and routing.
2. Add wallets where they shorten checkout
The same Federal Reserve study found that US consumers made an average of 11 payments per month using a mobile phone in 2024. Adults aged 18–24 used a mobile phone for 45% of their payments.
That does not mean 23% of payments were specifically made with Apple Pay, Google Pay or another wallet.
Wallets such as Apple Pay and Google Pay can reduce the amount of information a customer needs to type by using stored, tokenised credentials and device authentication.
3. Use ACH for the right kind of US payment
ACH accounted for 13% of payments in the Fed's 2024 data.
It is a US bank-transfer rail commonly used for:
- invoices
- recurring bank payments
- supplier payments
- payroll
- other account-to-account transfers
A local USD collection account can make this possible without the Indian business opening and maintaining its own US bank account.
PayGlocal's Multi-Currency Account, for example, provides local USD receiving details that US clients can use for domestic collection, with funds subsequently settled to the merchant's Indian bank account in INR.
4. Treat BNPL as a business-model choice, not a default
Buy Now Pay Later services can be relevant where customers want to split higher-value consumer purchases into instalments.
Consider it when:
- average order values are relatively high
- customers request instalment options
- the provider supports your merchant category and cross-border setup
- the conversion benefit justifies the commercial cost
What about cash and cheques?
Cash still accounted for 14% of consumer payments in the Fed's 2024 survey and remains particularly relevant for smaller in-person purchases.
For an Indian business selling remotely, however, cash and cheques are usually less actionable than online methods.
What should an Indian ecommerce business offer first?
1. Major international cards
Cover the core payment behaviour first.
2. Apple Pay and Google Pay
Useful for reducing card-entry friction, particularly on compatible mobile devices.
3. Relevant alternate payment methods
Add them where customer behaviour and your provider's market coverage justify them.
For US business invoices, add local USD/ACH collection as a separate route rather than forcing buyers through card checkout.
What should SaaS and subscription businesses prioritise?
For recurring digital services, focus on:
- international card acceptance
- recurring mandate/standing-instruction support
- secure stored credentials/tokenisation
- retry logic
- payment-method update flows
- clear subscription status reporting
How should you choose a US payment stack?
Where does payment happen?
Website, mobile app, invoice or recurring subscription?
Who is paying?
Consumer or business?
How much are they paying?
Payment economics change with ticket size.
Do they need instant checkout or invoice settlement?
Cards/wallets and ACH serve different payment moments.
Can your provider process US-issued payments effectively from India?
Check international-card performance, fraud controls, routing, settlement and RBI cross-border authorisation.
Where PayGlocal fits
Its current cross-border stack includes:
- Visa, Mastercard and American Express
- Apple Pay and Google Pay
- alternate payment methods
- recurring payments on international cards
- local USD collection through Multi-Currency Accounts
- INR settlement and automated FIRA
PayGlocal currently supports international payment collection from 180+ countries, while its international payment gateway advertises payment success rates of up to 96%.
For invoice-led US collections, its Multi-Currency Account also supports local USD payment rails, including ACH.
