E-commerce in Georgia: BOG, TBC iPay Setup

An online store in Georgia lives or dies on one thing: can a customer pay by card without leaving the page or giving up at checkout. That means integrating Bank of Georgia or TBC iPay, the two payment gateways most Georgian shoppers expect. The store build is straightforward; the payment plumbing and the merchant paperwork are where projects stall. A ₾4000 store with a clean checkout sells. A ₾4000 store where the card fails at the last step refunds itself in lost orders.

Here is what goes into a Georgian e-commerce build: how the bank integrations work, what the bank needs from you as a merchant, the checkout choices that cut abandonment, and a concrete checklist of what to prepare before a developer can start. When you want the store scoped and quoted, our website development service prices it fixed-price after a short brief, NDA on request.

Why local gateways, not any foreign processor

A Georgian shopper reaching checkout wants to pay with their Georgian bank card through a flow they recognise. Bank of Georgia and TBC are the two banks most customers hold, and their gateways (BOG's e-commerce acquiring and TBC iPay) settle payments in lari directly to a local merchant account. A foreign-only processor adds currency conversion, unfamiliar screens, and friction that pushes a buyer to abandon. Local gateways remove that friction, which is exactly the conversion logic that decides whether your traffic turns into orders, the same logic we apply to pages in landing pages that convert.

How the BOG and TBC iPay integration works

From the customer side it is invisible: they click pay, enter card details on a secure screen, confirm with 3D Secure, and land back on your thank-you page. From the build side, the developer connects your store to the bank's payment API, handles the redirect or embedded payment screen, processes the success and failure callbacks, and confirms the order only after the bank reports a real payment. That callback handling is the part amateur builds get wrong: an order must be marked paid by the bank's confirmation, never by the customer reaching the return page.

The gateway, not your site, holds the card data and runs the 3D Secure check, which keeps the heavy compliance burden off your server. Your store's job is to send the right amount, read the bank's response correctly, and update stock and order status from a verified payment. Done right, the customer never doubts the payment went through, and you never ship an order that was never paid for.

What the bank needs from you as a merchant

The integration cannot go live until you hold a merchant agreement with the bank. This is a business arrangement between you and Bank of Georgia or TBC, separate from the website build, and it is the step owners most often forget to start early. The bank reviews your business, your site, and your legal pages before enabling live card acquiring. Apply for the merchant account in parallel with the build, because waiting until the site is finished to start the bank process adds weeks.

A registered business. The merchant account is issued to a legal entity, not a person selling informally.
A working site for review. The bank checks that your store, terms, and contact details are real and complete.
Legal pages. Terms of service, privacy policy, delivery and returns terms. The bank expects these present before approval.
Bank account for settlement. The lari account where the gateway deposits your sales after processing.

Fees: what to expect as a category

Card acquiring carries a fee, and it is a normal cost of selling online, not a hidden penalty. Each bank sets its own rate as a small percentage of every transaction, deducted before the money settles to you. Treat it as a line in your margin from day one: if your prices do not absorb the processing fee, every card sale quietly shaves your profit. The exact percentage is set by the bank in your merchant agreement, so confirm it there rather than assuming, and price your products with that cut already built in.

Checkout UX that reduces abandonment

Most lost online sales happen at the cart and checkout, not at the product page. A buyer ready to pay walks away because the flow is long, confusing, or forces an account. Cutting abandonment is mostly about removing steps and surprises.

Guest checkout. Forcing account creation before payment is a top abandonment cause. Let people buy first, register later.
Few steps. Cart, details, pay. Every extra page is a chance to lose the buyer.
No surprise costs. Show delivery cost before the final step, not as a shock at payment.
Visible trust signals. The bank's secure-payment badge and a clear returns line reassure a hesitant buyer.
Fast load. A checkout that lags loses the sale at the worst possible moment, which is why speed is part of the build in slow site equals lost sales.

An AI chatbot at the cart can also rescue a hesitating buyer by answering a delivery or sizing question in the moment instead of letting them leave to "check later", a pattern covered in the AI chatbot complete guide.

The ₾4000 build scope and the 3-4 week timeline

The e-commerce tier sits at ₾4000 and up because it delivers a category of function the brochure site does not have: a product catalog, a cart, a checkout, and a live payment integration with BOG or TBC iPay. Built on Next.js and React, the store loads fast and is straightforward to extend later. Three to four weeks is the realistic timeline, and a real part of that depends on you: the store cannot launch until your product data, photos, and merchant account are ready. Where this tier sits against the standard ₾2000 site and the ₾5000 platform tier is mapped in what a business website costs in Georgia.

The pre-build checklist for merchants

The fastest e-commerce launches are the ones where the owner arrived prepared. Have these ready before the build starts and you save weeks:

Product data. Names, descriptions, prices, variants, and stock counts for every item.
Photos. Clean product images on a consistent background. Blurry or mismatched photos cost sales.
Legal pages. Terms of service, privacy policy, delivery and returns policy, drafted and ready.
Merchant account. Application with Bank of Georgia or TBC iPay started early, in parallel with the build.
Delivery and returns policy. Clear rules on shipping cost, timing, and how returns work.

An online store is the visible front end of a wider system: stock, payments, delivery, and the marketing that drives traffic to it. Pairing the store with the rest of your operations is the theme of the AI for Georgian business industry guide.

FAQ

Do I need a merchant account with the bank to accept cards?

Yes. Live card acquiring with Bank of Georgia or TBC iPay requires a merchant agreement issued to a registered business. The bank reviews your site, legal pages, and business before enabling payments. Start that application in parallel with the website build, because waiting until the site is done to begin the bank process adds weeks to your launch.

How long does it take to build an online store in Georgia?

Three to four weeks is realistic for a ₾4000 e-commerce build with a catalog, cart, checkout, and BOG or TBC iPay integration. Part of that timeline depends on you having product data, photos, and the merchant account ready. The store cannot launch without those, so preparing them early is the single biggest way to keep the project on schedule.

What are the fees for card payments through BOG or TBC iPay?

Each bank charges a fee as a small percentage of every transaction, deducted before the money settles to your account. It is a normal cost of selling online. The exact rate is set in your merchant agreement, so confirm it with the bank rather than assuming, and build it into your product prices so card sales do not quietly erode your margin.