How do people in Croatia pay online?
Six in ten Croatians shop online. Eurostat puts the share of people who bought something online in the previous 12 months at 61.72% in 2025, below the EU average of 73.56%. Those who do pay online spend a lot that way: in the ECB’s 2024 survey of consumer payments (SPACE), online payments made 28% of Croatian consumers’ day-to-day payments by number and 47% by value, against 21% and 36% in the euro area.
Cards lead. In the same survey, cards made 50.8% of Croatian consumers’ online payments by number. E-payment solutions, which the ECB defines as payment wallets, PayPal and other mobile apps, made 19.1%. Credit transfers made 7.4% and instant payments 3.4%.
Card use keeps growing. The Croatian National Bank counted 922.3 million card payments worth EUR 46.9 billion in 2025, up 8.1% in number on 2024, as reported by the news agency HINA. About 9% of card transactions by number were made on the internet, and the internet share is rising.
Croatian credit and debit cards can also be used to buy in instalments, an option the Ministry of Finance said in July 2026 would stay in place. Apple Pay and Google Pay are both available in Croatia, according to Apple’s and Google’s own country lists.
What rules shape online payments in Croatia?
VAT is 25%, with reduced rates of 13% and 5%. Since 1 January 2026 Croatia requires e-invoices with real-time reporting (fiscalisation) between businesses, and fiscalisation now also covers all B2C invoices, including those paid by bank transfer. From 1 January 2027 the obligation to issue e-invoices widens to more taxpayers. A seller established in another EU country whose cross-border sales to consumers pass EUR 10,000 a year charges Croatian VAT and can declare it through the One Stop Shop.
Instalments have new rules. Croatia’s new consumer credit act brings the EU’s second Consumer Credit Directive into national law. The Ministry of Finance said in July 2026 that buying in instalments with a bank’s credit or debit card stays as it is, because it uses a credit limit the bank has already approved. A merchant that finances instalments itself acts as a creditor and must assess creditworthiness from 1 June 2027.
Shoppers have 14 days to withdraw. Under EU consumer rules, the period for goods runs from the day of delivery. Since 19 June 2026 online shops must also offer an electronic withdrawal function under Directive (EU) 2023/2673.
Card payments need strong customer authentication and cannot carry a surcharge. Your Europe explains that online payments above EUR 30 need at least two authentication elements and that sellers may not charge extra for paying by credit or debit card. Croatia uses the euro, so the EU Instant Payments Regulation applies: banks must receive instant transfers since 9 January 2025 and send them, with verification of the payee, since 9 October 2025.
Personal data falls under the GDPR, supervised in Croatia by the Personal Data Protection Agency (AZOP).
How would Omno route payments in Croatia?
A merchant would connect once and set routing rules per method, amount and customer group. In Croatia:
- Card pay-ins would follow rules by BIN, currency and amount, with cascading: if a provider is unavailable or rejects the request, the payment moves to the next provider in the rule until one accepts.
- Instalment payments could be routed to a provider that offers card instalments with Croatian issuers, with rules that show them only above a set basket value.
- PayPal, Apple Pay and Google Pay would be shown in the hosted checkout through providers that support them.
- Bank transfers would go to a provider that supports them, with the final status confirmed by webhook before an order ships.
The routing-decision log would show which provider handled each payment and why.
What should merchants plan for?
Plan for cards first, with Apple Pay and Google Pay next to the card form. Cards carry about half of online payments.
Plan for instalments. If you finance instalments yourself rather than through a card issuer, prepare for creditworthiness checks from 1 June 2027.
Plan for fiscalisation. A Croatian entity must fiscalise its B2C invoices, including those paid by bank transfer, and handle B2B e-invoices since 2026.
Plan for VAT at 25%. Check whether your EU sales pass the EUR 10,000 threshold and register for the One Stop Shop if they do.