What is the most common way to pay online in the Western Balkans?

Cards and cash on delivery. In Serbia, online card and e-money purchases reached 110.6 million in 2025, up 34.3%, but COD is still widely chosen for trust reasons. Merchants usually offer Visa, Mastercard, DinaCard in Serbia, Apple Pay and COD side by side.

How people pay in the Western Balkans in 2026

Serbia already runs one of Europe's busiest domestic instant systems, IPS NBS, with QR payments in stores and online. Cards keep growing fast, but cash on delivery is still a reflex for many online shoppers.

Payment by cash in the Western Balkans

Belgrade e-commerce agency Cubes describes COD as the dominant online payment method in Serbia in 2025, chosen mainly for trust. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the 2025 national survey of the local eCommerce Association found that 46.4% of online shoppers paid on delivery, against 43.1% by card. The National Bank of Serbia counted 34.2 million online purchases in the second quarter of 2026, but its figures leave out parcels paid on delivery, so real online spending is larger. For merchants, COD means higher return and refusal rates and slower cash collection through couriers.

More detail in our #PayWorldTour guide Payment methods in the Western Balkans.