For a long time, businesses on our islands didn’t have a straightforward path to launching a Shopify store. People had to look for workarounds, setting things up through another country, trying to get a bank account somewhere else just to get a Shopify account up and running. And even then, accepting payments was its own mountain. International payments like Visa/Mastercard were never plug-and-play ready. When they found a payment solution, it was never compatible with Shopify.
Many articles have been written about how unfair opportunities are within our islands and how we are stuck in the digital “stone age”. After a long journey of hard work, today we’re proud to say: that era is ending.
Sentoo has officially become a Shopify payment partner, which means businesses in Aruba, Curaçao, Bonaire, Saba, Statia, and Sint Maarten can now create Shopify stores, accept payments from international and local customers, and receive their funds directly into their local bank accounts.
This is a real step forward for our e-commerce. Customers get to choose how to pay: with their own banking app through Sentoo Pay by Bank or iDEAL, or with their credit card (Visa/Mastercard) information.
First: what this actually means
If you run an online store (or want to start one), you need two things:
- A place to show your products and take orders
- A reliable way to get paid online
Shopify is the platform many businesses use for #1: it’s where you can build an online store, manage products and stock, and handle orders from one dashboard.
Sentoo on Shopify is about #2: it helps you add different payment methods so consumers can purchase your products with methods they’re already familiar with.
The available payment methods:
1) Sentoo (Pay by Bank)
Consumers with accounts at one of these banks can complete a Sentoo payment on your Shopify store.
- Aruba Bank for Aruba
- APC Bank for Curaçao and Sint Maarten
- Banco di Caribe for Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, Saba, Statia, and Sint Maarten.
- CMB for Aruba
- MCB for Bonaire, Curaçao, Saba, and Statia.
- WIB for Sint Maarten
- Orco Bank for Bonaire, Curaçao, Saba, and Statia
2) Card Payments
Debit and credit card payments that you could accept are:
- Visa
- Mastercard
Please note that adding card payments is subject to availability and approval. Reach out to us and our team will guide you throughout the process.
3) iDEAL (Soon will be called Wero)
iDEAL offers the majority of banks in the Netherlands. This specific payment method is only available for: Bonaire, Curaçao, Saba, Statia, and Sint Maarten, and it is subject to approval.
What your customers see at checkout
Here’s the flow (and yes, customers can choose what works for them):
Option A: Sentoo Pay by Bank
- Your customer checks out like normal
- They choose Sentoo (Pay by Bank)
- They select their bank
- They approve the payment inside their banking app (or banking environment)
- Done
Option B: Card payments (Visa/Mastercard)
- Your customer checks out like normal
- They choose Visa/Mastercard
- They enter their card details and confirm
- Done
Option C: iDEAL (Soon will be called Wero)
- Your customer checks out like normal
- They choose iDEAL
- They select their bank
- They approve the payment inside their banking app
- Done
The Benefits for Businesses
This is the part that changes daily operations.
1. Your Shopify order flow stays clean
Once the payment is successful, Shopify continues with the normal process:
paid order → fulfillment → delivery
No extra steps. No manual workaround payments.
2. No more proof-of-payment guessing games
Instead of a screenshot, you get a real payment confirmation inside Shopify, allowing you to move forward with the sale confidently.
3. Better customer experience
Customers don’t have to copy account numbers, type references, and message you with a screenshot to confirm their payment. It becomes “click → approve → paid”.
4. No workarounds needed
Companies won’t have to stress and try to find a solution for their online store. Ideas and accepting payment stop being a separate project.
What does it cost?
With the Sentoo Pay by Bank solution, you have two options:
- Sentoo Pay by Bank fee: 1% per successful transaction, capped at $1.50.
- Plus, the Shopify fee: 1% uncapped per successful transaction
- Or, instead of #2, you can opt to pay 0.5% with a USD 25 monthly subscription.
Example: you sold a cart valued at $150. You’ll pay $3 for that successful transaction or $2.25 (plus the $25 monthly subscription).
Here is the breakdown:
- #1 Sentoo Pay by Bank fee: $150 × 0.01 = $1.50
- #2 Shopify integration fee: $150 × 0.01 = $1.50
- The total would be $1.50 + $1.50 = $3
Or, if you opt for the 0.5% ($150 x 0.005 = $0.75) with a monthly subscription, then you end up paying:
- $1.50 + $0.75 = $ 2.25 for that successful transaction.
Card Payments
To get started with card payments, you need to get an e-merchant account at one of our acquiring banks. Our team will be happy to assist you during this process.
Our acquiring banks are:
- MCB Group (CMB, MCB, and WIB)
- Banco di Caribe
The calculation of the price per successful transaction varies per acquiring bank but to give you a scope of how it works here is an example with average pricing:
- Bank processing fee: 5% + $0.60
- Plus, Sentoo’s Card Payment’s fee: 0.75% + $0.48
- Plus, Shopify integration fee (for using this payment setup): 1% or 0.5% with a $25 monthly subscription.
Example: you sold a cart valued at $150. You’ll pay $11.21 or $10.46 for that successful transaction. Here’s the breakdown:
- #1 Bank processing fee: $150 × 0.05 = $7.50 + $0.60 = $8.10
- #2 Sentoo’s Card Payment Fee: $150 × 0.0075 = $1.13 +$0.48 = $1.61
- #3 Shopify fee: $150 × 0.01 = $1.50
- Total= $8.10 + $1.61 + $1.50 = $11.21
Or, if you opt for the 0.5% ($150 x 0.005 =$0.75) with a monthly subscription, then you end up paying:
- $8.10 + $1.61 + $0.75 = $10.46 for that successful transaction.
iDEAL
To receive iDEAL payments, you first need to go through a set-up process which is subject to approval and can take anywhere between 1-3 weeks.
The calculation of the price per successful transaction is:
- Sentoo’s iDEAL fee: 1.4% + € 0.75 (converted by your processor/bank rate)
- Shopify integration fee: 1% or 0.5% and a monthly subscription.
Example: we’ll continue with the same cart valued at $150. You’ll pay $4.48 or $3.73 for that successful transaction. Here’s the breakdown:
- #1 Sentoo’s iDEAL fee: $150 × 0.014 = $2.10 + $0.88 (€ 0.75) = $2.98
- #2 Shopify fee: $150 x 0.01 = $1.50
- Total is $2.98 + $1.50 = $4.48 for that successful transaction.
Or, if you opt for the 0.5% ($150 x 0.005 = $0.75) with a monthly subscription, then you end up paying:
- $2.98 + $0.75 = $3.73 for that successful transaction.
Setup: how fast can you go live?
It all depends on the payment methods you want in your Shopify checkout:
- Sentoo Pay by Bank (accepting payments directly from local banks) takes approximately 4 business days.
- Card Payments depends on the acquiring bank’s approval to get started.
- iDEAL could take up to 3 weeks to get started.
Next steps
What we need to get you started:
- A recent Chamber of Commerce excerpt, no older than 3 months.
- A business bank account at one of our banking partners.
- ID copies of all signatories.
- An unaltered bank statement of your business account, no older than 3 months.
Additional documents are required for iDEAL. But first, start by completing this form: Merchant onboarding.
Our team will reach out to you to schedule a call and talk about your business needs.
Are you ready?
For years, Caribbean e-commerce has had the same issue: limitations in our payment options. This is one of those changes that looks small on a website, but feels huge in real business life.
