How to Integrate a Custom Payment Gateway into WooCommerce

Learn How to Integrate a Custom Payment Gateway into WooCommerce (Step-by-Step Guide)

WooCommerce is a powerful and flexible eCommerce platform, and one of its most useful features is its ability to integrate with virtually any payment gateway—even custom ones. If you’re working with a custom payment provider that exposes an API, this guide will show you exactly how to connect it to your WooCommerce store securely and effectively.


Why Integrate a Custom Payment Gateway?

There are several reasons you might want to integrate a custom payment gateway:

  • Your business operates in a region where mainstream gateways are unavailable.
  • You want to offer localized payment options (e.g., wallets, bank transfers).
  • You’re working with a niche provider that offers better rates or features.

Prerequisites

Before diving in, make sure you have:

  • WordPress and WooCommerce installed.
  • Access to your custom payment gateway’s API documentation.
  • API credentials (key/secret or token).
  • Familiarity with PHP and WordPress plugin development.

Step 1: Create a Custom WooCommerce Gateway Plugin

You’ll start by building a simple plugin that WooCommerce can recognize.

Plugin Folder Structure

Create a new folder in /wp-content/plugins/ called custom-gateway, and inside it, a file named custom-gateway.php.

Boilerplate Code

Activate the plugin in the WordPress admin, and you’ll see the new payment option appear in WooCommerce settings.


Step 2: Handle Payment Notifications (Webhooks)

If your gateway provides webhooks for payment confirmation, use this approach:

Don’t forget to flush rewrite rules by visiting Settings > Permalinks once.


Integration Flow Diagram


Security Best Practices

  • Use HTTPS for all API and webhook communication.
  • Never expose secret keys on the frontend.
  • Log and handle all failures gracefully.
  • Verify webhook signatures if available.

Final Thoughts

Integrating a custom payment gateway into WooCommerce isn’t just possible—it’s surprisingly straightforward once you understand the moving parts. With a bit of PHP knowledge and API documentation in hand, you can offer customers more flexibility and control over how they pay.

If you’d like help building this out for a specific API or want to expand features like tokenization or refunds, let me know!

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