# Payneteasy — Full Content
> Payneteasy is a global payment technology company providing white-label payment gateway, payment orchestration, and fintech infrastructure for PSPs, banks, and enterprise merchants. Trusted since 2005, the platform processes up to 10 million transactions per day with 1000+ payment integrations and PCI DSS Level 1 compliance.
Source: markdown twins of every indexable page on payneteasy.com, generated from the rendered pages on each build.
---
## Leading Payment Platform Provider
Source: https://payneteasy.com
_White-label Payment Gateway and Payment Orchestration Platform for PSPs, banks and merchants. PCI DSS Level 1, 1000+ integrations, 10M tx/day._
The best white-label payment gateway for PSPs and an advanced Orchestration Platform for large merchants to enable seamless payment processing
### The one-stop solution caters to all your needs: from integration to reconciliation
Our PCI DSS Level 1 Gateway brings together everything you need to manage payments, payouts and expand your business
Advanced Routing and Cascading
Cutting-Edge Risk Management
Superior Reporting and Reconciliation
Real-Time Support
[99.95% Verified Uptime 4 years on Pingdom](https://status.payneteasy.eu/)
Fast Integration Services
### An expert approach to payments and finance
Payneteasy is proud to be a trusted partner of top-tier PSPs, high-traffic systems, and the largest merchants and financial institutions across the world.
In collaboration with these prominent industry players, we tackle projects of remarkable scale and complexity and explore new horizons of payment solutions.
over 20 years of servicing payment businesses worldwide
more than
[1000](https://payneteasy.com/integrations)
integrations worldwide
up to 10M transactions per day can be processed with Payneteasy
any currency and payment method is supported by design
### The Key Pillar for Global Commerce
Meet the ever-changing client demand for emerging and innovative payment methods in consumer, merchant, and corporate transactions worldwide
### Overcome Today's Challenges of Payments
Rapidly respond to shifting trends, new regulatory mandates, and emerging competition across all lines of business and payment types with a state-of-the-art payment platform
[Discover technology](https://payneteasy.com/payment_technologies)
Flexible Technology
Cover all the demands of today's global payment landscape with our easy-to-use, responsive, and flexible technology
Secure Payment Environment
Enhance your brand by creating a safe payment environment for your customers and partners with our powerful and secure software solutions
Customization
Compete in the global market while benefiting from the convenience of software integrated with hundreds of successful banks, PSPs, and financial institutions worldwide and tailored to your specific business needs
Ultimate Solution
No matter what you are looking for in a payment platform and how high you’re aiming, we have the ultimate solution for you
Products
### Boost your business with our all-in-one payment products ecosystem
#### [Payneteasy Payment Gateway](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/gateway)
 PSP
Our white-label payment gateway provides a scalable technical infrastructure that we continually maintain and enhance for you, allowing you to get online quickly and easily. Enjoy the advantages of a sophisticated ready-made payment gateway and a team of payment industry experts at your disposal
#### [Payment Orchestration Platform](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/orchestration-payment-platform)
 Merchants
The only integration you need to consolidate all your payment providers into a unified management system. Control your payments, increase your acceptance rate, and reduce your operational costs via a single interface.
#### [Leads Protection System](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/leads_protection_system)
Merchants
LPS is a powerful solution based on the best PCI DSS practices. It is a technological solution for GDPR compliance that will protect your most valuable data and leads from hackers, thieves, malware, and even from trusted employees
Services
### Our services are built to meet any specific business needs
#### [Payneteasy Payment Channels](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/channels)
Start using any PSP from our catalog in 1-2 weeks: the integration is already built, so the only variable is how fast the provider signs off. No more waiting on your cashier's development queue. 1000+ integrations already available
#### [3DS Adapter](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/3ds_adapter)
Our solution enables you to process payments in compliance with all the current regulations while achieving a high approval rate due to the advanced authentication step’s invisibility for your clients
#### [Tailor-Made Projects](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/individual_solutions)
Implement payment and card processing projects of any complexity using Payneteasy’s supreme technologies
### Unleash your possibilities with powerful preprocessing management
Expand the possibilities of your business and achieve global recognition with the most innovative approach to working with payments, setting up the processing flow, managing traffic, and analyzing data
#### Multichannel API
Such a flexibility layer in the processing flow enables the system to accept any payment data from the client and integrate it into a unified traffic management system. Payneteasy offers multichannel APIs for processing all payment types.
#### Custom API Configuration When Adding a New Business
Payneteasy provides the opportunity to configure a custom API to PSPs and merchants whose needs do not fit the mold. The new API is created with all client requirements and payment flow specifics in mind.
#### Full White-Label Solution And Platform Branding
- Company logo and brand colors
- Printed forms and documentation
- Site pages and web & mobile app payment forms
- Custom API configuration
### Masterfully Handling Heavy-Load Payment Processes
Payneteasy offers a reliable, convenient, and secure payment platform for organizations that handle high-load transactions like PSPs, banks, and large retail projects
#### Designed for high transactional volumes
Our processing solution, built on an independent proprietary platform, can handle up to 10 million transactions per day.
#### A horizontally and vertically scalable infrastructure
Capable of handling large volumes of payment transactions and is being constantly maintained and improved for your convenience
#### Stable operations 24/7
Payneteasy processing centers are based at multiple locations and connected by a fault-proof channel
#### Open-source developments based on Java and MySQL
Make it possible to organize the solution’s convenient and straightforward implementation by technical specialists, significantly reducing the time and labor costs for launching, configuring, and refining the platform
### Explore the Payneteasy Platform
Dive deeper into the products, integrations and resources that make Payneteasy a trusted payment technology partner for PSPs, banks and large merchants.
#### [Payment Orchestration Platform](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/orchestration-payment-platform)
One integration to consolidate every PSP — improve authorization rates, route smarter, cut operational costs.
Discover orchestration →
#### [White-Label Payment Gateway](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/gateway)
Launch a fully branded PSP gateway on a PCI DSS Level 1 platform with 99.95% verified uptime.
Explore the gateway →
#### [3DS Adapter for SCA Compliance](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/3ds_adapter)
Stay compliant with PSD2 and 3-D Secure while keeping authorization rates high through invisible authentication.
See the 3DS adapter →
#### [1000+ Payment Method Integrations](https://payneteasy.com/integrations)
Cards, APMs, wallets and bank rails — connect to a single API and reach customers in any market.
Browse integrations →
#### [Customer Case Studies](https://payneteasy.com/cases)
See how PSPs, banks and high-volume merchants scale on Payneteasy infrastructure.
Read the case studies →
#### [Payments Glossary](https://payneteasy.com/glossary)
Plain-language reference for orchestration, gateway, 3-D Secure, chargebacks, tokenization and more.
Open the glossary →
### Get optimal setup for your industry to ensure better payment experience for your customers
[PSPs](https://payneteasy.com/branches/provider)
[Banks](https://payneteasy.com/branches/banks)
[Merchants](https://payneteasy.com/branches/retail)
[Fintech](https://payneteasy.com/branches/fintech)
[Marketplaces](https://payneteasy.com/branches/marketplaces)
---
## Payneteasy: Reliable Payment Technology, Trusted Since 2005
Source: https://payneteasy.com/about
_Learn about Payneteasy, a leading payment platform provider since 2005, serving banks, PSPs & more globally. Contact us today!_
Payneteasy has built a reputation for its ability to develop bespoke solutions for even the most complex of projects. Serving everything from PSPs, large online businesses, and well-known financial institutions, Payneteasy has a truly global reach.
Over 20 years of servicing payment businesses worldwide
More than 1000 integrations as a certified payment platform
Up to 10M transactions per day can be processed with Payneteasy
### Our vision
Here at Payneteasy, we set out on our journey, our intention was to create more than just a payment gateway. We sought to empower our partners through the latest technology, allowing them to reach their potential and maximise their profit.
At Payneteasy, our mission is to empower business with cutting-edge payment technology, enabling them to unlock their full potential and surpass expected outcomes.
We value rapid integration, flexibility, innovation, and an individual approach, ensuring top-notch service and 24/7 personalized support. Our goal is to be a reliable partner for our clients, fostering their growth and success.
##### Boaz Gam
CEO of Payneteasy
### Our Story – 20 Years of Innovation in Payments
For over 20 years, we’ve been building and refining our payment platform to help businesses worldwide handle payments easily and efficiently. What began as a simple, practical tool has grown into a robust technology trusted by companies across industries. We are here to make seamless and secure transactions the norm, not the exception.
##### Building the Foundation
In the early 2000s, online shopping was just starting to catch on. E-commerce was new, and many websites were still figuring out how to accept payments.
Back then, the setup was basic. Websites were onboarded through an aggregator, which allowed multiple businesses to access payment processing without the need for individual merchant accounts. It wasn’t perfect, but it worked, and it gave merchants a way to start doing business online.
##### 2005-2010
##### Expanding Global Reach
As online businesses grew, companies started asking for more than just a connection to payment systems. They needed real solutions — something built for them.
Focusing on the technology behind payments led us to work with businesses from all kinds of industries. There were rules and ways of working, and each had its challenges. Solving them pushed us to build a platform that could adapt to whatever came our way.
When banks offered one-size-fits-all products, we at Payneteasy built a system that worked for many different businesses without forcing them to fit the same pattern.
##### 2010-2016
##### Cutting-Edge Payment Solutions
In recent years, we’ve focused on building technology that works for you. Each client’s challenge has helped us create a platform that can support a variety of business models.
As Payneteasy has grown, we’ve expanded into new markets and industries. This has meant always looking for ways to improve and keep up with what’s changing.
##### 2016-Present
Our partners
### Trusted by Leading Industry Payment Providers & Operators
We’re proud to work with innovative companies across the payments ecosystem, helping them build, scale, and optimize their payment infrastructure.
Anakatech, Champay, Dropayment, DNS Pay, AltitudePay, Centiwise, Pylon, Wiserpay, Kynexas, Bill Blend, Sepagon, PayCC, Finera
### Why Choose Payneteasy?
Robust & Scalable Infrastructure
Payneteasy’s platform is built to handle high volumes—up to 10 million transactions a day while maintaining a stable, 24/7 operation. With data centres in many locations, including Amsterdam, the system keeps running even if one connection has issues.
Cutting-Edge Security
Security is a top priority for us. We meet the latest PCI DSS standards through regular audits and have put strong fraud prevention measures in place to protect your business.
Flexible API for Seamless Integration
Our API lets you integrate payments easily with your existing systems. It’s compatible with a wide range of platforms and can be customised to suit your needs. The API is straightforward to use, with clear documentation and support, so you can get up and running quickly.
Optimised Payment Flows for Growth
Payneteasy helps businesses improve transaction efficiency and increase conversion rates. Our routing system directs traffic to the best processors based on factors like country, card type, or transaction amount, ensuring smoother transactions. The system identifies the best acquirer for each situation, cuts costs, and boosts success rates.
We also provide limits and filters to help businesses stay within agreed traffic volumes and maintain smooth operations.
Also, we’re proud to be an authorised partner of Google Pay, a Mastercard SDP Compliant Provider, and a Visa Authorised Service Provider.
GPay Icon, Mastercard Icon, Visa Icon
### Meet Our Leadership Team
Our team is made up of over 150 industry professionals on a mission to deliver the very best in payment technologies.
##### [Boaz Gam](https://payneteasy.com/authors/boaz_gam)
CEO of Payneteasy
Boaz directs Payneteasy’s long-term strategy and keeps the organisation focused on building dependable payment infrastructure. He spends much of his time working with teams across the company to ensure priorities stay clear and execution stays consistent. Over the years, he has guided Payneteasy through platform upgrades and shifts in the industry landscape.
##### [Anna Verhman](https://payneteasy.com/authors/anna_verhman)
Chief Business Development Officer
Anna shapes Payneteasy’s growth by spotting opportunities early and turning them into real commercial traction. She has helped the company grow strategically, secure long-term partnerships with key industry players, and refine the offerings that resonate most with the market. Internally, she’s the link between what clients want and what the company builds.
##### [Daniel Karpilovsky](https://payneteasy.com/authors/daniel_karpilovsky)
Head of Success
Daniel leads the Success team with a practical, customer-first mindset shaped by years of working closely with merchants, payment providers, and partners. He pays attention to how clients use the platform and pushes for improvements that remove day-to-day friction. Under his leadership, onboarding has become more structured and proactive.
### Get in touch to find out how we can help you!
### Our Global Presence
##### Main office
###### Main office
##### 34/2 Cornwall’s Lane, Gibraltar, GX11 1AA
##### Support office
###### Support office
##### 4 Mardanov Brothers St., Entr. 3, Baku, Azerbaijan
---
## Anna Verhman
Source: https://payneteasy.com/authors/anna_verhman
_Anna Verhman is Chief Business Development Officer at Payneteasy, leading partnerships and growth for the white label payment platform._
Anna Verhman is Chief Business Development Officer at Payneteasy. She shapes the company's growth by spotting opportunities early and turning them into real commercial traction. Anna has helped Payneteasy grow strategically, secure long-term partnerships with key industry players, and refine the offerings that resonate most with the market. Internally, she is the link between what clients want and what the company builds.
For Anna, Payneteasy's value is not only in technology, but in making payments simpler for merchants:
Merchants don't come to us for technology alone. The payments world is getting more complex every year: more providers, more methods, more rules.
Our job is to take that weight off their shoulders and make payments simple again. When merchants can focus on growth and trust that everything behind the scenes works flawlessly, that's when we know we've done our job right.
### Recent articles
[](https://payneteasy.com/blog/payment-gateway-support-what-happens-when-it-breaks)
### [What Payment Gateway Support Looks Like](https://payneteasy.com/blog/payment-gateway-support-what-happens-when-it-breaks)
Global
What actually happens when a payment integration breaks: who picks it up, what we measure in week one, and what to ask a PSP before signing.
August 14, 2026 6 min read
[](https://payneteasy.com/blog/payneteasy-vs-stripe-for-ai-agents)
### [Stripe vs Payneteasy: When One Processor Is Enough — and When You Need Orchestration](https://payneteasy.com/blog/payneteasy-vs-stripe-for-ai-agents)
Global
Compare Stripe and Payneteasy for single-provider payments, multi-acquirer routing, decline recovery, resilience, and MCP access for AI agents.
July 17, 2026 9 min read
[Read all articles →](https://payneteasy.com/blog)
---
## Boaz Gam
Source: https://payneteasy.com/authors/boaz_gam
_Boaz Gam is the CEO of Payneteasy and the expert voice behind its blog. Get to know more about his background, projects, and thoughts here!_
Prior to his current position as CEO of the leading payment and compliance platform provider Payneteasy, Boaz’s background included the benchmarks of CEO at Aquitek Systems, and Director of Sales at RAD, an Israeli IT firm. He holds a BA in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from Tel Aviv University.
For Boaz, Payneteasy is built around a clear principle: advanced payment technology should help businesses move faster, scale with confidence, and feel supported at every stage:
At Payneteasy, our mission is to empower business with cutting-edge payment technology, enabling them to unlock their full potential and surpass expected outcomes.
We value rapid integration, flexibility, innovation, and an individual approach, ensuring top-notch service and 24/7 personalized support. Our goal is to be a reliable partner for our clients, fostering their growth and success.
### Recent articles
[](https://payneteasy.com/blog/choosing-a-payment-partner-you-wont-outgrow)
### [The Payment Partner You Won't Outgrow](https://payneteasy.com/blog/choosing-a-payment-partner-you-wont-outgrow)
Global
A plain-English guide for business owners: how the company you pick to handle your payments quietly caps or protects your growth — and the four things that actually matter before you sign.
July 10, 2026 8 min read
[](https://payneteasy.com/blog/from-gateways-to-orchestration-how-payments-became-smarter)
### [From Gateways to Orchestration: How Payments Became Smarter](https://payneteasy.com/blog/from-gateways-to-orchestration-how-payments-became-smarter)
Global
Commerce today moves quickly and rarely stops at national borders. Payments, however, haven’t caught up to that simplicity. Each region comes with its own set of rules, acquirers, and technical standards, which makes maintaining multiple integrations an ongoing and often demanding process.
November 7, 2025 9 min read
[Read all articles →](https://payneteasy.com/blog)
---
## Daniel Karpilovsky
Source: https://payneteasy.com/authors/daniel_karpilovsky
_Daniel Karpilovsky is Head of Success at Payneteasy, guiding banks, PSPs and merchants through onboarding, integration and daily operations._
Daniel Karpilovsky is Head of Success at Payneteasy. He leads the Success team with a practical, customer-first mindset shaped by years of working closely with merchants, payment providers and partners. Daniel pays close attention to how clients use the platform and pushes for the improvements that remove day-to-day friction. Under his leadership, merchant onboarding has become more structured and proactive.
For Daniel, customer success is about building a reliable partnership where merchants feel supported, understood, and confident at every stage of working with Payneteasy:
Our goal is to give merchants confidence at every stage of working with Payneteasy. From integration to daily operations, they should feel that the process is clear, the team is close, and the platform supports their business without adding unnecessary complexity.
### Recent articles
[](https://payneteasy.com/blog/unrecognized-payneteasy-charge)
### [Unrecognized Payneteasy Charge? How Payment Chains Work](https://payneteasy.com/blog/unrecognized-payneteasy-charge)
Global
See an unfamiliar charge and traced it to Payneteasy? Here is how payment chains work, what Payneteasy's role is, and the exact steps to get it resolved.
October 14, 2026 8 min read
[](https://payneteasy.com/blog/per-customer-payment-routing)
### [Per-Customer Payment Routing Starts With Who Is Paying](https://payneteasy.com/blog/per-customer-payment-routing)
Global
A practitioner's guide to per-customer payment routing: which customer signals to route on, how to order rules, where cascading must stop and how to prove uplift.
October 7, 2026 9 min read
[](https://payneteasy.com/blog/anthropic-mastercard-upi-agentic-commerce)
### [Anthropic, Mastercard, UPI: The Rush Into Agentic Commerce](https://payneteasy.com/blog/anthropic-mastercard-upi-agentic-commerce)
Global
AI agent news from Anthropic, Mastercard and UPI — and what it means for payment providers. See how Payneteasy turns its back office into AI-ready workflows.
September 8, 2026 5 min read
[Read all articles →](https://payneteasy.com/blog)
---
## Blog
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog
_Looking for a way to gain a better understanding of the payment industry and stay updated on important news? Check out the Payneteasy blog!_
Payments insights and analysis from [Boaz Gam](https://payneteasy.com/authors/boaz_gam) and the Payneteasy team.
### [Hosted Fields: keep your checkout, keep card data out of your systems](https://payneteasy.com/blog/hosted-fields)
OUR NEWS
Accept cards directly on your own checkout page, while raw card data is collected directly by Payneteasy instead of your systems.
### [Automate your Payneteasy back office: the UI API is now fully documented](https://payneteasy.com/blog/payneteasy-ui-api-back-office-automation)
OUR NEWS
Explore the documented Payneteasy UI API with OpenAPI 3.0.1, 1,500+ operations, scoped access, restricted tokens, and support for AI-driven automation.
### [Payneteasy adds auto-leveling to its Customer Management System](https://payneteasy.com/blog/payneteasy-cms-adds-auto-leveling-for-customer-segments)
OUR NEWS
Auto-leveling in Payneteasy CMS changes customer levels automatically, resets progress on each change, and routes deposits and withdrawals per level.
### [Payneteasy OpenAPI: Generate API Clients in Minutes](https://payneteasy.com/blog/payneteasy-open-api)
OUR NEWS
The Payneteasy OpenAPI is a server-to-server Processing API: 29 POST endpoints for sale, payout, refund, recurring, 3-D Secure and card tokenisation, with an OpenAPI 3.1 contract.
### [Payneteasy MCP: Safe, Read-Only AI Access to Your Data](https://payneteasy.com/blog/model-context-protocol-for-payments)
OUR NEWS
The Model Context Protocol (MCP) gives AI agents a safe, read-only window into your Payneteasy backoffice — transaction statistics, order lookup and the merchants, projects, endpoints, gates and processors behind them — no raw card data, no money moved.
### [Payment Orchestration vs Single PSP: When to Switch in 2026](https://payneteasy.com/blog/payment-orchestration-vs-single-psp-when-to-switch-2026)
FEATURE
When does a single PSP stop scaling? Five triggers, the economics of decline recovery and FX savings, and a 90-day migration playbook for merchants weighing payment orchestration in 2026.
### [A new level of payment security – successful PCI DSS v4.0 certification with the latest standards](https://payneteasy.com/blog/a-new-level-of-payment-security-successful-pci-dss-v40-certification-with-the-latest-standards)
OUR NEWS
Payneteasy, a leading provider of payment technologies, is proud to announce the successful completion of its annual PCI DSS v4.0 certification as a Level 1 Service Provider. This includes full compliance with the new, more rigorous requirements that came into effect in March 2025. In line with these updated standards, we now offer our clients tools that enhance the protection of payment forms and data to an even higher level. Read more in this article.
### [Payneteasy monitoring system: how to stay on top of critical events](https://payneteasy.com/blog/payneteasy-monitoring-system-how-to-stay-on-top-of-critical-events)
OUR NEWS
Keeping your payment system running smoothly means spotting and fixing issues as soon as they happen. That’s why Payneteasy features a monitoring system—a simple tool that helps you keep an eye on important events and act quickly when required.
### [Payneteasy named Visa-Validated Provider for 7th year](https://payneteasy.com/blog/payneteasy-named-visa-validated-provider-for-7th-year)
OUR NEWS
We’re proud to announce that Payneteasy has once again been recognised as a Validated Service Provider in Visa’s Global Registry, which marks our seventh consecutive year on the list. This continued recognition demonstrates our continued effort to keep payments safe and meet the highest industry standards.
### [Meet Payneteasy Dashboard: The Ultimate Order Management & Analytics App](https://payneteasy.com/blog/meet-payneteasy-dashboard-the-ultimate-order-management-and-analytics-app)
OUR NEWS
We are excited to present Payneteasy Dashboard, our new mobile app designed to facilitate effortless business operations monitoring and convenient order management wherever you are.
### [Payneteasy CMS: The Ultimate Payment Scenario Fine-Tuning System](https://payneteasy.com/blog/payneteasy-cms-the-ultimate-payment-scenario-fine-tuning-system)
OUR NEWS
We are excited to introduce Payneteasy CMS, our latest module designed to redefine and further customize payment scenarios for diverse client categories and individual consumers.
### [The New Payneteasy App Is Now Live: What’s It All About?](https://payneteasy.com/blog/the-new-payneteasy-app-is-now-live-whats-it-all-about)
OUR NEWS
Dear valued clients, We are thrilled to announce the launch of the Payneteasy app – an easy-to-use mobile application designed to enable you to stay connected to your account on the go and keep you updated about important system events.
### [Payneteasy Joins the Ranks of Google Pay’s Certified Participating Processors](https://payneteasy.com/blog/payneteasy-joins-the-ranks-of-google-pays-certified-participating-processors)
OUR NEWS
We're extremely proud to announce that Payneteasy has officially become a part of the community of gateways and payment processors supporting the Google Pay API.
#### Recent blog posts
- All tags
- [Our news](https://payneteasy.com/blog/tag/our-news)
- [Global](https://payneteasy.com/blog/tag/global)
[](https://payneteasy.com/blog/payment-gateway-for-forex-brokers)
### [Payment Gateway for Forex Brokers: Routing, Payouts and FX Across Every PSP You Use](https://payneteasy.com/blog/payment-gateway-for-forex-brokers)
Global
Forex brokers search for a payment gateway, but with three or more PSPs they need orchestration: one integration for routing, cascading, payouts and FX.
October 20, 2026 9 min read
[](https://payneteasy.com/blog/pci-compliance-for-payment-platforms)
### [Shrink Your PCI Audit and Keep Your Own Acquirers](https://payneteasy.com/blog/pci-compliance-for-payment-platforms)
Global
Route card data through a certified environment, keep most of your stack out of the heaviest PCI scope, and go live without giving up your acquirers or your risk.
October 19, 2026 10 min read
[](https://payneteasy.com/blog/unrecognized-payneteasy-charge)
### [Unrecognized Payneteasy Charge? How Payment Chains Work](https://payneteasy.com/blog/unrecognized-payneteasy-charge)
Global
See an unfamiliar charge and traced it to Payneteasy? Here is how payment chains work, what Payneteasy's role is, and the exact steps to get it resolved.
October 14, 2026 8 min read
[](https://payneteasy.com/blog/payment-gateway-migration)
### [Payment Gateway Migration: How to Switch Without Flying Blind on Cutover Day](https://payneteasy.com/blog/payment-gateway-migration)
Global
Payment gateway migration means moving transaction routing, fraud screening, and reporting to a new platform without downtime or data loss.
October 12, 2026 6 min read
[](https://payneteasy.com/blog/revolut-uk-fintech-open-banking-payment-orchestration)
### [Revolut Leads UK Fintech. Open Banking Is Rewiring the Rails Underneath.](https://payneteasy.com/blog/revolut-uk-fintech-open-banking-payment-orchestration)
Global
Revolut tops the UK's fintech unicorns at $115B. Here is what Open Banking and account-to-account payments mean for PSPs and merchants, and where payment orchestration fits.
October 7, 2026 9 min read
[](https://payneteasy.com/blog/payop-paypal)
### [Payment Methods and PSP Integrations Through One API](https://payneteasy.com/blog/payop-paypal)
Global
Payneteasy provides access to 1,000+ payment integrations across providers, payment methods and platforms through a common API.
October 7, 2026 9 min read
[](https://payneteasy.com/blog/per-customer-payment-routing)
### [Per-Customer Payment Routing Starts With Who Is Paying](https://payneteasy.com/blog/per-customer-payment-routing)
Global
A practitioner's guide to per-customer payment routing: which customer signals to route on, how to order rules, where cascading must stop and how to prove uplift.
October 7, 2026 9 min read
[](https://payneteasy.com/blog/payment-cascading)
### [Acceptance Rate Without Cascading: Why First-Attempt Approval Is the Number to Fix](https://payneteasy.com/blog/payment-cascading)
Global
Blended acceptance rate hides routing problems. See how to calculate first-attempt approval rate, why cascading can mask a weak first route, and how to raise it.
October 6, 2026 7 min read
[](https://payneteasy.com/blog/chargeback-representment)
### [Chargeback Representment Needs Evidence Speed, Not Just Evidence](https://payneteasy.com/blog/chargeback-representment)
Global
Chargeback representment wins when the right transaction evidence reaches the card network before the dispute deadline — not when the evidence is merely correct.
October 2, 2026 9 min read
[](https://payneteasy.com/blog/agents-that-pay-vs-agents-that-run-payments)
### [Agents That Pay, Agents That Run Payments: What September’s Agentic News Means for PSPs](https://payneteasy.com/blog/agents-that-pay-vs-agents-that-run-payments)
Global
Card networks and banks are building trust for AI agents that pay. For PSPs, the more immediate question is how AI agents will work with payment infrastructure itself.
October 1, 2026 6 min read
[](https://payneteasy.com/blog/ai-payment-gateway)
### [Ask Your AI Payment Gateway a Question. Get an Answer, Not a Report.](https://payneteasy.com/blog/ai-payment-gateway)
Global
An AI payment gateway lets AI agents — ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot — read live payment and orchestration data through a dedicated, read-only interface,
October 1, 2026 5 min read
[](https://payneteasy.com/blog/investigate-payment-declines-with-claude-mcp)
### [How to Investigate Payment Declines with Claude and Payneteasy MCP](https://payneteasy.com/blog/investigate-payment-declines-with-claude-mcp)
Global
A 9-step workflow for investigating payment decline spikes using Claude connected to the Payneteasy MCP server.
September 30, 2026 3 min read
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---
## 1st SEPA Payment Account Access (SPAA) Rulebook: A Detailed Overview
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/1st-sepa-payment-account-access-spaa-rulebook-a-detailed-overview
_The recently published SEPA Payment Account Access (SPAA) scheme rulebook has a lot to unpack. Find out its key points and their potential impact here!_
On 30 November 2022, the European Payments Council (EPC) published the first SEPA Payment Account Access (SPAA) scheme [rulebook](https://www.europeanpaymentscouncil.eu/news-insights/news/publication-first-spaa-scheme-rulebook). This set of guidelines and standards stretches beyond the PSD2 scope to new premium concepts and creates a foundation for businesses to adopt a wider array of open banking-powered payments.
09.01.2023 3 min read
The first version of the regulation takes into account the opinions received during a three-month rulebook public consultation (closed on 12 September 2022) and will go into full effect on 30 November 2023. Find out what the highlights of this document are to prepare your business for the changes it enables in advance.
### EPC’s First SPAA Rulebook in a Nutshell
The newly-released rulebook is a [119-page document](https://www.europeanpaymentscouncil.eu/sites/default/files/kb/file/2022-11/EPC012-22%20v1.0%20SEPA%20Payment%20Account%20Access%20Scheme%20Rulebook.pdf) that covers a variety of topics related to the SPAA scheme, its operational model, management principles, and the rights and obligations of its participants.
The three key points presented in the first version of the SPAA rulebook are:
- The intention to standardize the approach and implementation of data exchange for it to support “premium” opportunities powered by open banking across asset holders (banks) and asset brokers (third-party providers).
- A draft framework to facilitate new payment flows of varying complexity. SPAA supports simple one-off payments and future-dated transactions as well as dynamic recurring payments, which are similar to UK’s Variable Recurring Payments (VRP).
- An opportunity for banks and third-party providers to join the SPAA scheme as participants from 1 September 2023. This gives the organizations sufficient time to prepare their submissions before the day when the scheme goes into effect.
The rulebook also features an outlook on future initiatives - find out everything you need to know about it below.
### What to Expect from the Rulebook’s Updated Version?
All the services listed in the rulebook’s 1.0 version are currently optional. However, in the following months, the SPAA Multi-Stakeholder Group (SPAA MSG) is set to define a “minimum viable product” (MVP). This will be a subset of services selected from the document’s first edition that will be mandatory for the asset holders participating in the SPAA scheme.
The MVP service selection will be based on market demand and on the updates of the default business conditions performed by an independent economic consultant. The MVP list will be available to the public in an updated version of the rulebook that is scheduled for publishing by Q2 2023.
The set of default business conditions mentioned above will also be published within the same timeframe and will contain the default fees that the scheme will permit on the “premium” assets that banks make available to third-party providers in addition to the use of the SPAA API itself.
### What Does the New Rulebook Mean for the Payments Ecosystem?
The SPAA rulebook offers a forward-looking approach to commerce regulations that matches the needs of modern-day businesses and the current payments landscape. Its take on providing a clear framework to support a new frontier of A2A for merchants is promising reduced costs, higher efficiency, and advanced security.
Payment industry experts agree that, should the SPAA be well-supported by payment schemes, the European Union will have all the chances to overtake the UK’s position as the market leader in open banking transactions.
What’s more, SPAA’s initiative in developing default asset fees has the potential to convince banks to become a part of the scheme early on, given commercial opportunities. Yet, it’s important to note that SPAA MSG must assess fee proposals and base costs thoroughly to make sure they match market expectations - only then will the SPAA scheme be able to fulfill its true potential for merchants.
---
## 3 Main Mistakes Businesses Make with Touch-Free Transactions
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/3-main-mistakes-businesses-make-with-touch-free-transactions
_The 3 main mistakes businesses make with contactless and touch-free payments — and how to avoid them for smoother checkout._
The convenience of contactless payments is winning the hearts of more and more consumers worldwide. The global market value of such transactions is projected to nearly quadruple by 2026, reaching $51.07 billion, which makes it clear: this trend is here to stay.
15.08.2022 4 min read
Whether you are new to this concept or are already accepting touch-free payments, it’s critical to understand how to maximize the returns from them. Read on to find out the common mistakes merchants make when implementing such payment solutions, how to avoid these pitfalls, and how to ensure that contactless transactions will be a profitable long-term investment in your business.
### The Increasing Importance of Contactless Payments
While touch-free payments have been around for quite some time, the COVID-19 pandemic has boosted the demand for them significantly. In fact, 1 in 6 consumers has made a contactless purchase for the first time in 2020. However, what’s even more interesting, is that 4 in 5 consumers intend to continue using such payment methods in the future.
The influence of contactless payments is growing worldwide:
- In 2021, over **80%** of US consumers used contactless payments.
- In Canada, the adoption of contactless cards and mobile payments boasts a **41%** increase since the beginning of the pandemic.
- By the end of 2021, **92%** of small businesses with brick-and-mortar locations accepted some form of contactless payments.
- **73%** of merchants nowadays prefer their clients to pay with a contactless method instead of swiping a card or using a chip.
- **57%** of shoppers claim they are more likely to opt for retailers that offer a contactless payment option.
These incredible figures demonstrate how much the payments landscape has changed over the past few years. Hence, it is no surprise that most merchants, regardless of the scale of their business, are currently rushing to adopt touch-free payment solutions to avoid being left behind. But is this transition an easy one?
As practice shows, steps such as upgrading the POS terminal to accept contactless cards, purchasing a mobile point of sale, and optimizing the sales platforms aren’t always enough to make touch-free transactions work effectively for a business’s benefit. Let’s take a look at the common pitfalls merchants encounter when introducing contactless payment methods.
### Common Business Oversights with Touch-Free Payments
While every merchant’s journey with contactless payments is unique, there are three main oversights that seem to be ubiquitous across businesses:
**1\. Failing to Educate the Staff Members**
Even the most advanced technological solution is no good if your employees don’t know how to use it. Although this might seem too obvious to mention, the speed with which the payments industry is changing often leaves merchants with no time to conduct proper onboarding for their staff when new software and hardware are introduced into the company’s operations.
As a result, the employees are often not able to resolve even the simplest technical issues and can’t offer guidance to first-time contactless payment users. This, in turn, leads to slow service, ruined consumer experience, and lower revenues.
Providing thorough employee briefings and technical support during the first months is essential to resolve this issue. Your staff members should know the fundamentals of touch-free payments, such as:
- How the payment terminals work
- Where to place the card or device
- How close the contactless card or NFC-enabled device should be to the POS during the transaction
- What the CVM limit for contactless card purchases is before the clients are prompted for a PIN verification
- How QR code payments work
**2\. Not Making the Acceptance of Contactless Payments Evident**
As mentioned before, a large number of modern-day consumers prefer shopping at places that offer contactless payments. What became popularized as a social distancing measure has now become a matter of convenience.
Thus, merchants that fail to promote the fact that they accept contactless payments often miss out on a share of their potential customers. For instance, many clients will avoid entering a store without a “Tap to Pay” sign, as they would expect long queues at the checkout counter.
Adding stickers to your entrance door and an NFC sign to your POS goes a long way, informing the consumers that you accept their preferred payment methods.
**3\. Choosing the Wrong Payment Service Provider**
The PSP you choose to collaborate with plays a critical role in how smooth and successful your implementation of contactless transactions will be. Thus, if your current service provider cannot help you facilitate touch-free transactions, it’s best to switch to the one that can offer a unified solution.
Here are some characteristics to look for in a PSP that will assist you in introducing contactless payments:
- A proven track record
- Sufficient time in the market
- Full 24/7 technical support
- A focus on speed, convenience, and security
- Software with simple integration
- Transparent contact options
- Fair pricing
Being a leading payment platform provider since 2005, Payneteasy combines all these qualities and beyond. [Contact us](https://payneteasy.com/contacts) for a solution tailored to your business needs!
**All Set to Go Contactless!**
Opting for contactless payment solutions is an investment that will definitely pay off for your business if implemented correctly.
Knowing the main mistakes made by merchants and ways of dealing with them, you are sure to make the most out of this technology and maximize the returns from it.
---
## 3 Ways to Offer Your Clients Express Checkouts
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/3-ways-to-offer-your-clients-express-checkouts
_There are 3 different types of express checkout you can offer your clients. Find out which one will work best for your business in this guide!_
Every online merchant is familiar with losing a sales opportunity when the consumer was already about to pay for their order. While there are multiple reasons why this could happen, a long or complicated checkout process is one of the major decisive factors, accounting for 26% of shopping cart abandonment cases[1](https://payneteasy.com/blog/3-ways-to-offer-your-clients-express-checkouts#note1).
27.09.2022 4 min read
Fortunately, there are ways to address this frustrating issue. Express checkout enables shoppers to make a payment in a matter of clicks instead of struggling to fill up lengthy forms. Read on to find out more about the different types of one-click transactions and learn how to implement them to boost your store’s performance!
### Different Types of Express Checkout
While this is typically not noticeable for the consumers, there are key differences between the ways in which their payment data is stored to facilitate express checkout.
Below, we list the three parties that can store customer information for one-click payments and explain the pros and cons of each of them:
**1\. The Business**
As a merchant, you can choose to keep your customers’ details in your database so that the next time they shop at your store, their data will be filled in automatically.
There are two types of consumer information you can save to facilitate express checkout:
- **Shipping details.** You can keep this information on the business’ platform as long as you comply with the active privacy legislation.
- **Payment data.** Such sensitive data gets stored with the help of tokenization that replaces it with non-sensitive equivalents - tokens. Any PCI DSS-compliant party can keep such encrypted information, be it a business or a Payment Service Provider (PSP).
The advantages of this express checkout type are:
- Simple implementation
- Extremely fast checkout in a few simple steps
- Easy integration with loyalty programs linked to the clients’ accounts or email addresses
On the other hand, the downsides of this approach are:
- Availability only to returning clients who have previously filled in all their payment details when placing their first order at your website
- The limited use of saved data - it is only stored on one specific site
All in all, this is a great option for merchants who have a lot of returning customers. If you operate in a niche where the consumers tend to make one-time purchases, it is worth considering other options for storing data.
**2\. The Payment Method**
Another party that can store the consumers’ sensitive details is the payment method. This approach to data storage ensures faster order placement across sites, as long as the user selects the same payment option enabled with the express checkout feature. Some providers of such services include:
- PayPal
- Apple Pay
- Google Pay
- Amazon Pay
- iDEAL
- Click to Pay
All the customer has to do to initiate an express transaction is to click a payment method's logo on the checkout page and log in to their account. After that, the last step would be to confirm the payment with biometrics, a password, or another authentication option, if requested.
The pros of this type of express checkout are:
- Suitability for both new and returning clients
- Application across various sites and businesses
- Boosts consumer trust due to the familiarity with the payment method
- Synchronization with your PSP’s reporting and authentication features, if implemented through it
The cons you may encounter when using this approach include:
- More challenging integration
- Typically, a maximum of two express payment methods at checkout
- The possibility of a lower Average Transaction Value (ATV)
- The likelihood of each express payment method providing addresses in different formats
Thus, while the implementation of express payment methods only requires adding a dedicated button to your preferred pages, it’s best to limit these options to no more than two to avoid confusion. Due to this, the competition between them is fierce, and it might take time for you to select the ones that your business will benefit from the most.
**3\. Third-Party Solution**
Finally, businesses can outsource services from companies that focus on boosting the checkout process speed.
The clients will be able to pay within just a few seconds after logging in to their account with the third-party service provider. What’s more, there are also examples when an express checkout solution enables its customers to purchase the products of partner businesses directly through its site.
The benefits of this one-click checkout type are:
- Availability for first-time and returning clients
- Improved conversions among audiences with high solution adoption rates
- Usable on a variety of websites
The downsides of third-party express payment solutions are:
- Tricky implementation and maintenance
- Higher expenses due to extra fees
- Limited integration of novel payment methods
- The need to adjust to the third party’s PSP when it comes to reconciliation and backend integration
Keep in mind that the payment features provided by a third-party checkout service can be more limited than the ones offered when integrating with a regular PSP, so it’s critical to pick the company you will collaborate with wisely.
### How to Make the Most Out of Express Checkout
Every merchant’s goal is to make the clients’ shopping experience as smooth as possible, and express checkout is of great help in achieving it.
Regardless of the type of one-click payment integration you choose, make sure you follow these tips for the best results:
- Ensure the checkout page is mobile-friendly
- Avoid overcrowding the screen with too many payment features and buttons
- Stay up-to-date and compliant with all the current payment regulations
- Continuously update the payment solutions you’re using for proper performance
With these principles in mind, you are sure to minimize card abandonment instances and boost conversions!
_1 - Kinsta - How to Decrease Shopping Cart Abandonment on Your Ecommerce Site_
---
## 3DS2 – a new level of security. What’s new and how to transit?
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/3ds2-a-new-level-of-security-whats-new-and-how-to-transit
_In this article, you'll learn the difference between 3DS and 3DS2, whether implementing this technology is right for your business, and how to do it properly._
We are considering how to switch to new 3‑D Secure 2.0 protocol without spending a lot of resources on it. And most importantly, how not to lose in conversion and not to harm patency of payments during transition period.
31.08.2021 5 min read
### What is 3DS2 and what are differences from classic 3DS?
By the end of 2021, all EU banks will apply new security rules for Internet payments within Eurozone (otherwise they become a subject to heavy fines).
**Consequences of innovations:**
- An online business that does not switch to 3DS2 protocol will face a serious loss of conversion
- Soon, all online payments on cards that have not passed 3DS2 authentication will be rejected by issuers without consideration.
- Mastercard plans to decommission former 3DS1 security protocol in October 2022. VISA will be ready in October 2021.
The technical essence of innovations is to change some program codes and automatic parameters of notifications and requests to money transfer server and further, for verification and approval to an issuer.
The new protocol forms two money transfer paths: frictionless flow and challenge flow. In the first case, a system verifies a user's familiar device and approves money transfer without confirming it with an SMS password. In the second case, a banking system doubts authentication of payer, and requires you to provide a password or biometric information. It redirects a user to issuing bank's ACS page to enter a one-time SMS password.
### How will these changes affect business?
For online businesses and consumers, introduction of the new 3DS2 protocol based on SHA strong authentication standard means a guarantee of security, seamless and high conversion of payments. To confirm each operation, a set of parameters about cardholder and his device, "digital fingerprint" of a payer, is automatically sent to card issuers. If verification program "recognizes" the cardholder, then usual procedure for confirming money transfer with a one-time SMS password is not required. Most transactions will be successfully completed in one stage.
It is also important that 3DS2 authentication (like 3DS1) places responsibility for a possible illegal money transfer on an issuer and removes it from online business. Even more significant for business is support of 3DS2 payments in mobile applications.
Not every card-not-present payment goes through 3-D Secure at all. Transactions processed without cardholder authentication are often called [2DS](https://payneteasy.com/glossary/what-is-2ds) payments — they convert better but leave fraud liability with the merchant.
Source: https://3dsecure2.com/
### How do I switch to new protocol? And how can we help
To independently switch to a new configuration, an online business will need a team of IT specialists and several working weeks (depending on existing money transfer scheme on site).
**But there is a better way:**
- individual money transfer providers have taught their money transfer platform to make payments with 3-d secure 2.0 support independently.
- no site improvements are required from business side, and money transfer scheme for online seller and user remains same as for 3DS1.
So, inside Payneteasy, this service is called Proxy 3DS, and in documentation it is listed as basic authentication scheme. This is a kind of "adapter" between core of our platform (Core) and Access Control Server (Access Control Server or ACS).
Proxy 3DS is a free service. It already works for existing Payneteasy clients and is enabled by default if integration with site goes through API (host2host). When connecting via money transfer page, all money transfer processing, including 3DS authentication, as before, goes on side of money transfer provider.
If cardholder's issuing bank supports EMV 3DS 2.x protocol, money transfer platform generates an alert in usual 3-D Secure 1 format in response to request, but address of our Proxy 3DS service will be specified as URL instead of ACS.
**When redirecting a user to Proxy 3DS, two scenarios are possible**
- frictionless flow-displaying a window hidden for user (iframe) and exchanging data with ACS in background. In other words, Frictionless Flow allows issuers to approve a transaction without requiring manual data entry from cardholder.
- challenge flow-redirects user to issuing bank's ACS page to enter confirmation information (for example, a one-time password).
Either one of these scenarios or two scenarios can be executed sequentially. Choice is up to an issuer.
Proxy 3DS works according to basic authentication scheme. service supports 3-D Secure 2 protocol based on previous version without modifications, but requires additional user redirects.
The extended scheme is optimized for features of EMV 3DS 2.x protocol and eliminates intermediate redirects. However, it assumes that trading site already knows how to work with frictionless and challenge flow schemes.
To make transition to advanced version of service as easy as possible, our team implemented backward compatibility between authentication schemes. system administrator of site is required to independently change only one parameter in one of requests. For more information, see our documentation.
Source: https://usa.visa.com/visa-everywhere/security/future-of-digital-payment-security.html
The transition of money transfer systems and banks around world to new 3DS2 protocol is a matter of very near future. But in conditions when not all issuing banks, even in EU, have made this transition, any online business may face an unexpected decrease in conversion or frequent refusals for transactions of any issuer. Proxy 3DS is optimal tool for transition period in European online money transfer security system.
Payneteasy clients that integrate money transfer gateway via API work with 3-D Secure 2 via Proxy 3DS. This saves them from numerous improvements to support new version of protocol. To find out how to simplify transition to new protocol, contact our experts!
[Payneteasy 3DS Adapter Strike a balance between utmost security and frictionless checkout with Payneteasy 3DS Adapter.](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/3ds_adapter)
---
## 5 Criteria for Choosing a Payment System for Business
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/5-criteria-for-choosing-a-payment-system-for-business
_Learn how to choose a payment gateway: what affects transaction efficiency and security, and the five key factors to weigh before you commit._
A payment service provider is the connection between your business and your customers’ payments. They take care of the technical side and make it possible for you to accept payments in the way that works best for your customers.
12.01.2025 11 min read
With more commerce moving to online payments, choosing the right payment solution for your business is becoming a bigger decision. Some providers focus on keeping costs low, others prioritise security, and some offer tools to help your business grow. Your business just needs to find the right fit.
Here are the factors to consider when selecting a payment app, so take the time to choose a strong partner for your business.
### Transaction Security
Transaction security involves all the different practices and tools designed to protect sensitive information during and after transactions. With the rapid growth of online shopping, it has become a top priority for businesses operating today.
Here’s what matters most when it comes to security:
#### Encryption
Encryption is there to keep customer information secure as it moves through your system. You can think of it as sealing sensitive data in a tamper-proof package. Look for gateway systems that use robust encryption protocols like SSL or TLS. These technologies make sure customer data stays private and inaccessible to anyone trying to intercept it.
#### Authentication
Passwords alone no longer cut it in today’s cybersecurity landscape. A secure payment system will offer two-factor or multifactor authentication options for the customer. This might mean sending a one-time code to a user’s phone, requiring biometric verification, or combining several methods.
#### PCI DSS Compliance
The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) exists to make sure businesses handle payment information securely. Your business should choose a payment system that complies with these standards so that you’re automatically meeting critical customer security requirements.
#### Tokenisation
Tokenisation replaces sensitive data, like credit card numbers, with unique tokens. These are meaningless if stolen, which reduces the risk of costly data breaches. Tokenisation simplifies compliance with security standards like PCI DSS for your commerce ecosystem.
#### Fraud Detection
Look for gateway systems that come with built-in fraud detection tools capable of identifying suspicious activity. For example, technologies like machine learning and risk scoring analyse transactions in real-time to flag and block any unusual customer behaviour. This helps prevent losses before they happen.
#### Regular Updates and Patches
Even the most advanced payment system isn’t set-it-and-forget-it. Cybersecurity threats evolve constantly, and regular updates are your first line of defence. Providers that prioritise ongoing updates and patches close those vulnerabilities and address emerging risks.
### Support for Various Payment Methods
Today’s consumers expect flexibility when it comes to how they pay, so you should offer a range of options that improve their experience and increase your chances of retaining them.
The most common payment methods include credit and debit cards, bank transfers, online wallets, and mobile payments. Credit and debit cards are particularly common in payment gateways because they’re widely used, easy to process, and allow customers to pay quickly. Bank transfers, while not as immediate, are still used, especially for larger transactions where customers prefer a more secure and direct method of payment.
Digital wallets are close behind as customers look for more convenient and secure ways to pay online. These wallets store payment information securely and offer one-click transactions, which are especially appealing for mobile shoppers. Mobile payments, including options like Venmo or QR code scanning, are increasingly popular for in-person transactions as another layer of flexibility for customers.
If you support a variety of payment methods, your business and commerce ecosystem actually connects with more people. Some customers prefer certain payment options for reasons like convenience, security, or familiarity. If your business gives them choices, you make shopping easier for everyone and contribute to greater satisfaction and loyalty.
However, each payment method comes with its own set of benefits and considerations, including fees and processing times. Credit card payments are processed quickly, but they come with higher transaction fees. Bank transfers, while charging lower fees, take longer to clear. Online wallets offer fast processing but could involve specific service fees or charges for certain types of transactions.
### Commissions and Fees
Next, you should understand the fees involved in the payment gateway for your business.
#### Setup Fees
This one-time cost happens when you first sign up with a payment provider. It covers the setup and integration of their system with your business.
#### Transaction Fees
Each time a payment is processed, the provider charges a fee. These could be a flat fee per transaction, a percentage of the sale, or both. It’s how the provider covers the cost of handling the payments.
#### Monthly Fees
Some providers charge a fixed monthly fee, no matter how many transactions your business makes. If you’re processing a lot of payments, this could be worth it because it offers a predictable financial expense each month.
#### Chargeback or Refund Fees
If a customer disputes a payment and gets their money back, you’ll likely face a chargeback fee. This covers the administrative work involved in handling the potential dispute. Some providers charge a fee if you need to issue a refund.
#### PCI Compliance Fees
As we’ve said, payment gateways must follow strict security guidelines to protect credit card information. Some charge a fee to stay compliant with these standards, which is vital for keeping your business secure.
#### Termination Fees
If you decide to cancel your contract early, some payment gateways will charge a termination fee. This covers the cost of ending the agreement before the set term.
#### Additional Fees
There may be extra charges for things like global payments, currency conversion, and premium services like fraud protection. Make sure to check for any fees that may apply to your specific commerce needs.
Overall, some providers charge lower transaction fees but have higher monthly costs, which could be a good fit for businesses with high transaction volumes. Others charge no monthly fee but have higher transaction charges, which may suit smaller businesses. Keep in mind, though, that not all providers will have the same fees — or just the ones listed. It varies quite a bit.
### Integration with the Platform
You want a product that doesn’t require you to overhaul your operations or create extra steps. No matter what you’re integrating with — your website, mobile app, or other commerce tools — the payment system should work well with your current setup.
A smooth integration also makes payments easier for your customers. The payment solution should work quickly and effectively with your other systems, like inventory management or accounting software, so you can avoid delays or errors for the customer. Everything should just click into place.
To make the integration experience simpler, many payment gateways offer [APIs or plugins](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/payment-integration). APIs connect the payment system directly to your business systems. As for plugins, they make it easier to set things up without a lot of technical knowledge. Another important factor is the quality of the provider’s documentation, which guides you through the setup process.
### Customer Service Quality
Problems can pop up at any time, and your business wants to have the right help on hand.
#### Support That’s Always There
Business doesn’t stop at 5 PM, and neither should your access to help. Look for a provider that offers round-the-clock support so that you don’t have to worry about disruptions. If it’s a late-night issue or a busy holiday season, you should be able to get help whenever you need it through the method that works best for you — chat, email, or phone.
#### Expert Support for Complex Issues
Gateway systems can be complicated, with various regulations, software, and security concerns to navigate. That’s why it’s so important to have support teams that understand how your commerce ecosystem works. A good provider will answer basic questions, but they should also offer solutions, troubleshoot problems, and help with compliance.
#### Personalised Support
When you have a dedicated account manager who gets your business, it makes all the difference. These reps aren’t there for general issues; instead, they get to know your specific needs and goals. Because of that, they give advice that’s more relevant to your business and suggest solutions that actually work for you. This kind of personal touch helps create a stronger, more trusting relationship with the customer and gets you the support you need.
### How to Choose a Payment Gateway for Your Website and Online Store
A [payment gateway](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/gateway) is important because it’s a part of your website’s experience. Think about how it integrates into your checkout process. Does it feel like a natural part of your site, or does it stick out like a sore thumb for the customer? A gateway that matches your brand’s style and makes the checkout easy and consistent goes a long way in building customer trust.
It’s easy to choose a service provider that works well for your current needs, but will it still work considering the growth of your company? Look for a payment gateway that can adapt to your future plans and incoming payments, whatever they are, such as adding new payment methods, customising the checkout experience, or handling more transactions as your business expands.
The easier and more trustworthy your payments feel, the better. A payment gateway that customers recognise or one that offers a simple guest checkout makes the process feel more secure and straightforward. Plus, it encourages them to complete their purchases.
#### How to Connect Payment Gateways to a Website
1\. Pick the right payment gateway
We won’t go over the same details again since you’re already familiar with the criteria.
2\. Set up your merchant account
Some payment gateways handle both payment processing and merchant accounts, so you don’t need to set up a separate one. In other cases, you’ll need to create a merchant account with your gateway provider to manage payments.
3\. Get your API keys
Once your account is set up, you’ll need API keys — these are codes that link your website to the payment gateway. They help securely connect your website and the gateway, so be sure to keep them secure.
4\. Integrate the gateway
Next, you’ll integrate the payment gateway with your website. If you’re using platforms like Shopify or WooCommerce, there are easy plugins to make this part simple. If you’re working with a custom site, you may need to add some code to connect it. Many gateways offer tools to make the integration process smoother.
5\. Test everything
Before you go live, test the payment gateway. Most providers have a “sandbox” or testing environment where you can simulate real transactions to see if everything is working correctly.
6\. Go live
Once testing is complete and everything checks out, you’re ready to launch. Customers will now be able to make payments through your website. Throughout this process, don’t forget to prioritise security, especially for the customer.
### What to Choose: A Payment Gateway or a Payment Aggregator
It might be a bit late for definitions, but there are some important distinctions worth noting. A payment gateway is a service that securely processes transactions between the customer’s and merchant’s banks. It encrypts payment details and authorises the transaction. However, to use a payment gateway, you need to set up your own merchant account with a bank, which gives your business more control but also requires more setup and compliance with security standards.
Payment gateways can be hosted, self-hosted, or API-based, and each offers different levels of control and customisation. Hosted gateways redirect customers to a separate payment page, and self-hosted gateways keep the process on your site. API-based gateways allow for full integration and control over the payment experience.
Now, a payment aggregator simplifies payment processing by allowing businesses to accept payments without setting up a separate merchant account. The aggregator uses its own account and processes payments from multiple sources (credit cards, online wallets, bank transfers).
There are full-service aggregators, niche aggregators, and mobile aggregators, and each caters to different payment methods or industries.
| | | |
| --- | --- | --- |
| | Payment aggregator | Payment gateway |
| Merchant relationship | Uses the aggregator’s bank relationships | Requires a direct relationship with a bank |
| Integration | Single integration for multiple payment methods | Separate integrations for each method |
| Risk management | Aggregator handles fraud and chargebacks | Gateway handles secure data transmission |
| Settlement | Aggregator manages settlement to the merchant | Merchant’s bank handles settlement |
| Setup complexity | Easier to set up, less technical complexity | More setup is required for customer security and compliance |
| Customisability | Limited options for customisation | More flexibility to customise customer checkout and payment flows |
When to choose a payment gateway:
- Established businesses with high transaction volumes and the need for control over payments.
- Customisation needs for features like custom checkout or specific fraud prevention.
When to choose a payment aggregator:
- Startups and SMEs that need an easy, quick setup.
- Low transaction volume businesses or those looking for lower setup complexity.
### Payment Platform as a Service (PaaS): Build on an Existing Foundation
Alongside gateways and aggregators, more businesses are turning to a payment platform as a service model. Instead of building payment processing infrastructure from scratch, a company plugs into a ready-made payments technology layer and builds its own product on top of it. That is the core idea behind payment as a service: the heavy lifting — payment rails, risk management, and regulatory compliance — is handled by the platform, while the business focuses on its own customer experience and business models.
PaaS providers typically package payment processing, fraud tools, and reporting into a single service model that connects through an API to your existing systems, rather than forcing you to replace them. That is a meaningful shift from legacy systems and traditional payment systems, where every new payment method, currency, or corridor meant a separate integration. For businesses expanding into cross border payments or supporting instant payments and real time payments, working with paas platforms can shorten the path from idea to live payment processing infrastructure.
This approach also suits financial institutions and fintechs that want to offer payment services without becoming a payment processor themselves. By outsourcing payment processing to specialised service providers, a bank or fintech can extend its payment operations and reach into global payments while keeping its own pricing model and brand in front of the customer. Payneteasy’s [white label payment gateway](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/gateway) and [orchestration platform](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/orchestration-payment-platform) both follow this build-on-our-platform logic: instead of managing multiple payment providers and risk management workflows separately, a business connects once and lets the platform handle the underlying payment rails.
### Takeaway
Choosing the right payment gateway is essential for your business. It goes beyond just accepting online payments because it affects your cash flow, customer experience, and overall success. When you’re looking at possible gateways, consider things like security and fraud protection, the variety of payment methods available, and the pricing. Make sure the gateway works smoothly with your systems and that you’ll have support when you need it. This choice can shape your business’s future, so take the time to find the best online payment gateway for your current and future circumstances.
[White Label Payment Gateway PSP Offer your customers a top-level payment solution, increase your turnover and boost your business profit.](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/gateway)
[Orchestration Platform Merchants Only one integration to consolidate all your payment providers to a unified management system.](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/orchestration-payment-platform)
---
## 5 Major Payment Challenges of PSPs and Financial Institutions
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/5-major-payment-challenges-of-psps-and-financial-institutions
_The main payment challenges banks and PSPs face locally and internationally — from compliance to routing and reconciliation — and how to deal with them._
Organizations providing financial services exist in an ever-evolving and highly competitive environment. Aside from that, they also face a wide array of challenges created by factors like the changing consumer demand, national and global regulations, tech innovation, and beyond.
09.06.2022 4 min read
In this overview, we’ll take a closer look at the five main challenges currently faced by banks, payment service providers, and financial institutions and uncover effective ways of overcoming them.
### What Are the Main Difficulties Banks and PSPs Face?
Below is the list of the biggest difficulties organizations in the financial sector deal with on a regular basis:
#### 1\. Rapid FinTech Innovation
While the fact that FinTech is developing fast and an increasing number of users is becoming digital-savvy is a great thing, it’s also one of the biggest challenges for financial service providers.
This is due to the fact that the majority of consumers shift their payment preferences to online methods and expect state-of-the-art and faultless experiences. However, many financial institutions don’t have the resources to update their software and hardware timely, which results in a poor user experience and loss of profits.
**Our advice:** Focus on integrating a [high-end payment solution](https://payneteasy.com/) to match the customers’ expectations and needs.
#### 2\. Advancement of Cyber Fraud
Financial technology is advancing at an unprecedented speed, and so does the intricacy of fraudulent activity. With data breaches becoming more and more common, it’s safe to say that cyber fraud is one of the biggest challenges banks and PSPs are dealing with nowadays. This is especially true, taking into account that virtual threats jeopardize not only the people’s funds but also their sensitive payment information.
**Our advice:**
Stay up-to-date with the latest news in the cyber security sphere and implement the latest protection measures, such as:
- Two-factor authentication
- Behavior analysis
- Data encryption
- Biometric authentication
- Real-time alerts
You can also opt for a payment solution with an integrated [fraud and risk management package](https://payneteasy.com/payment_technologies/risk_management_and_dispute_management_system).
#### 3\. Governmental Regulations
The financial sector is one of the most strictly regulated ones out there, so the banks, financial institutions, and PSPs have to comply with a lot of governmental rules. This can be a challenge for organizations, as the regulations get updated continuously, and it can be overwhelming to keep track of all the latest versions. Besides, compliance with the guidelines can be time-consuming and require a lot of resources.
**Our advice:**
Ensure that the software you are using is compliant with the regulations and policies in force. Remember that timely action is key to avoiding unwanted fees and penalties. Outsourcing legal consultants can be helpful, especially if you are a new player in the financial market.
You can also tackle this issue by partnering with a payment platform compliant with all active industry standards and offering services to your clients via a [white label payment gateway.](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/gateway).
#### 4\. Cross-Border Transactions
Dealing with local regulations can be tough, so imagine the challenges encountered by PSPs and banks processing cross-border transactions. This is mainly due to such factors as:
- Number of intermediaries involved
- Amount of fees charged for the services by the parties involved
- Currency conversion rates
Thus, cross-border money transfers often turn out to be slow and costly.
**Our advice:** Collaborate with a reliable [payment gateway](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/gateway) that features smart routing and dynamic currency conversion for the sake of boosting transaction efficiency.
#### 5\. Service Customization
Trying to accommodate the needs of every single user with one financial solution will lead to general dissatisfaction since the services that are essential for one person can be unnecessary for the other.
Hence, a modern payment experience is unimaginable without the possibility of service personalization. For instance, it’s extremely important for banks to provide their clients with the information they require, exactly when they need it, and through the channels they prefer, in order to meet their individual expectations.
This is often challenging to execute, as it requires a clear understanding of your audience, its expectations, preferences, and behavior.
**Our advice:** Get a clear understanding of the modern trends and consumer behavior and implement those insights into the payment services you offer. This should be done with a data-driven approach and reliance on a thorough market analysis.
### Payneteasy: Single Solution for All Payment Service-Related Struggles
Knowing the main difficulties that banks, financial institutions, and PSPs face makes it possible to be prepared and overcome them efficiently. Are you ready to embark on the rocky journey of tackling the challenges mentioned above on your own? Keep in mind that it will be time-consuming and require a lot of resources.
Luckily, there’s another way to deal with this - to partner with Payneteasy, the leading payment platform provider. We offer [tailor-made solutions](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/individual_solutions) that match all the legal requirements, customer preferences, security standards, and global guidelines to deliver the best possible experience to both you and your audience.
, and let us do all the hard work while you focus on expanding your business in the financial sector!
---
## A Closer Look at the Growth of Real-Time Payments in Brazil & India
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/a-closer-look-at-the-growth-of-real-time-payments-in-brazil-and-india
_The benefits of real-time payments in India and Brazil, the factors driving their rapid adoption, and what merchants can learn from both markets._
Accessing financial services presents similar challenges for individuals across India and Brazil. This is particularly true for situations when those lacking bank accounts are attempting to make domestic or international transfers.
21.03.2023 4 min read
Fortunately, real-time payments effectively help citizens of both countries to address these challenges, which results in their rapidly increasing adoption. Read ahead to gain a better understanding of these dynamics and learn more about their future prospects!
### What Is the Current Situation in India and Brazil Like?
At first glance, it might seem counterintuitive to compare such inherently different payment landscapes, such as India and Brazil. However, it turns out that they have a lot in common.
About 34% of Brazilians lack access to bank accounts, making it challenging for them to conduct online payments. Similarly, in India, about [130 million](https://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/globalfindex) people do not have bank accounts, which forces them to rely solely on cash.
Such issues particularly disenfranchise local Indian women, who may lack formal identification and access to technology. This is also true for Brazil where the biggest part of the underbanked population is female.
Notably, one reason for the low adoption of traditional financial services in India is the distance from banking services. Even among those who have accounts, over 540 million people have not made any digital payments, while 670 million have made merchant purchases only in cash.
**Recent Progress with Real-Time Payments**
Despite the complex situation with banking services, India has already made significant strides in the real-time payment space with the launch of the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) in 2016.
UPI has transformed the way payments are made in India, enabling instant and seamless peer-to-peer (P2P) transfers, bill payments, and merchant transactions. The adoption of UPI has been rapid, with over [8 billion](https://bfsi.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/fintech/upi-transactions-witnesses-2-6-rise-clocking-record-high-of-8-bln-transactions-in-jan23/97573915#:~:text=According%20to%20latest%20data%20by,lakh%20crore%2C%20in%20January%202023.) transactions with a value of about Rs 13 lakh crore (approximately $169 billion) processed in January 2023 alone.
As for Brazil, the country’s Central Bank launched the Instant Payment System (PIX) in November 2019, which enables instant and 24/7 payments between individuals and businesses. PIX has been well-received locally, with more than [1.3 billion](https://www.bcb.gov.br/en/financialstability/pix_en) transactions processed in its first year of operation.
Over [60%](https://www.bnamericas.com/en/news/in-two-years-pix-consolidates-itself-as-the-most-used-means-of-payment-and-transactions-continue-to-rise-in-the-country) of Brazilians now regularly use PIX for more than 6 billion transfers worth over $680 billion.
### Why Are India & Brazil Actively Adopting Real-Time Payments?
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to limited face-to-face contact worldwide, prompting a surge in the use of digital payments. In India alone, around 80 million people made their first digital merchant payment during this period.
As alternatives to traditional payment services offered by banks and credit card providers continue to grow, digital wallets are becoming increasingly popular for those seeking fast, seamless, and low-cost transactions.
This shift is crucial, particularly for customers in countries with limited banking access like Brazil and India, as the eCommerce market is projected to be worth approximately [$7.4 trillion](https://www.globenewswire.com/en/news-release/2022/03/28/2411173/0/en/B2C-E-Commerce-Market-Size-to-Surpass-US-7-5-Trillion-by-2030.html) by 2030, with more than $1 billion being transacted across borders.
### Benefits of RTPs for Indian and Brazilian Payment Ecosystems
The rise in the adoption of real-time payments in India and Brazil is extremely advantageous for both countries for a number of reasons. Here are some of the key benefits that this tendency yields:
- **Modernization of payment systems.** India and Brazil's existing payment systems are mostly outdated and inefficient, which can lead to delays, errors, and security vulnerabilities. Real-time payments can help to modernize these systems and provide a more streamlined and secure way to conduct transactions.
- **Promotion of financial inclusion.** RTPs can help to drive financial inclusion by providing access to financial services to those who are unbanked or underbanked and making it easier and more affordable for Indian and Brazilian individuals and businesses to participate in the digital economy.
- **Reduction of cash reliance.** Cash is still widely used in India and Brazil, which can make transactions cumbersome and increase the risk of fraud and theft. RTPs can help to reduce these issues and provide a better way to conduct transactions.
- **Boost for economic growth.** By providing a more efficient and transparent way to conduct transactions, RTPs can help to drive economic growth in India and Brazil. This can be particularly beneficial for small and medium-sized enterprises.
- **Improved cash flow for businesses.** Real-time payments can help to enhance cash flow for businesses by providing faster and more efficient payment processing, which will lead to improved efficiency and reduced administrative costs.
- **Global competitiveness.** Real-time payments are becoming increasingly common around the world, and India and Brazil must adopt them to remain competitive in the global marketplace.
With these benefits in mind, it’s safe to say that the future of real-time payments in Brazil and India looks promising.
### Will the Growth of RTPs in India and Brazil Continue?
As you now know, real-time payments are experiencing increased traction in India and Brazil, and there is every reason to believe that this trend will continue in the coming years.
These dynamics will be driven by factors such as increasing digitization, the growing popularity of mobile payments, and the convenience and speed offered by RTPs. The regulatory environment and the demand for smooth cross-border transfers will also play a crucial role in shaping the growth trajectory of RTPs in these countries.
[White Label Payment Gateway PSP Offer your customers a top-level payment solution, increase your turnover and boost your business profit.](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/gateway)
[Payneteasy Channels Start using any PSP from our catalog in 1-2 weeks: the integration is already built, so the only variable is how fast the provider signs off. No more waiting on your cashier's development queue.](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/channels)
---
## A Closer Look at the Pan-European FPAD Initiative Against Instant Payment Fraud
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/a-closer-look-at-the-pan-european-fpad-initiative-against-instant-payment-fraud
_The Fraud Pattern and Anomaly Detection (FPAD) tool will boost fraud protection for European instant payments. Its benefits and its potential._
The modern age is marked by payment technology evolution that is happening at an unmatched pace. However, while A2A transfers and instant payments are flourishing, so does the fraudulent activity. This is due to the fact that while the speed of such payment systems makes them convenient for the users, it also often means that the transactions are challenging to detect and reverse.
08.11.2023 4 min read
Jurisdictions across the globe are actively working on addressing this pressing issue. For instance, European banks are currently joining forces with EBA CLEARING to develop a new tool to combat fraud. It is called Fraud Pattern and Anomaly Detection (FPAD) functionality and its first modules are set to be rolled out already in November 2023. Read on to find out more about this promising solution!
### FPAD Project in a Nutshell: Goals, Timeline & Participants
FPAD is a functionality that is currently being actively developed by EBA CLEARING, a pan-European payment infrastructure provider, known for operating the STEP2 and RT1 systems within the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA). While RT1 handles real-time euro payments, STEP2 mainly deals with SEPA Credit Transfers and Direct Debits.
The new functionality in the making is EBA CLEARING’s step to ensure that both of these systems have what it takes to resist advancing fraud mechanisms. The development of the FPAD tool began earlier this year, following the release of a blueprint and consultations with RT1 and STEP2 users in Q4 2022.
This summer, EBA CLEARING engaged in data model training as part of the ongoing analytical pilot phase for FPAD with nine banks from six European countries. The key objective of this phase is to collaboratively develop models for identifying fraud patterns in partnership with users and to find a way to efficiently categorize anomalies based on their feedback.
Based on the findings, the payment infrastructure provider released the FPAD specifications in September 2023. At the same time, it also introduced a developer portal with a sandbox, aimed at assisting users in developing and testing FPAD’s application programming interfaces (APIs).
### What is the Functionality of the FPAD Tool?
According to the recently published specifications, FPAD will encompass a wide range of real-time tools for preventing and detecting fraud. However, the features will be rolled out in phases.
One of the key features planned to go into effect next month is an IBAN/name match check, aka the “confirmation of payee” functionality. It will enable users to detect payment data discrepancies before completing the transaction, thus aligning with the fraud prevention requirements outlined in the European Commission’s [Instant Payments Regulation proposal](https://finance.ec.europa.eu/publications/legislative-proposal-instant-payments_en).
Another useful functionality going live in November is the post-transaction investigation option. With its help, users can adopt a proactive approach to addressing issues that may arise after a payment has taken place.
### The Key Benefits of the FPAD Tool
Even though the FPAD project is still only in its primary stages of development, industry experts agree that its future is very promising.
According to Jaco Struik, the global head of fraud services at ING, the bank’s participation in the FPAD design and analytical pilot phases has been extremely rewarding. He believes that this solution will offer valuable insights that can only be derived from a network perspective.
Raphael Barisaac, the global head of payments and cash management at UniCredit, also mentioned FPAD’s significant investment in the future of security and fraud prevention measures for instant payments. He particularly emphasized the efficacy of the systemic approach in elevating fraud-fighting capabilities within the SEPA region.
It is also clear that the FPAD solution has the potential to bring massive benefits to European financial institutions, PSPs, businesses, and consumers, including:
- Comprehensive fraud detection
- Improved regulatory compliance
- Data-driven payment insights
- Collaborative system improvements
- Adaptability in responding to emerging cybersecurity threats
What’s more, this pioneering initiative is expected to establish a benchmark and a best-practice model for other payment solutions around the globe.
### The Future of the FPAD Project: What What to Expect?
As of now, EBA CLEARING has not yet published any information regarding the release of the FPAD tool’s additional functionalities. However, it is safe to assume that the results of the primary launch will be closely monitored and user feedback will be carefully analyzed to gain actionable insights for the next steps.
Overall, the FPAD initiative’s ambitious payment security goals, smart user-focused approach, and impressive network of reputable industry players are creating a solid foundation for an enhanced and resilient European fraud prevention and detection framework.
[White Label Payment Gateway PSP Offer your customers a top-level payment solution, increase your turnover and boost your business profit.](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/gateway)
[Orchestration Platform Merchants Only one integration to consolidate all your payment providers to a unified management system.](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/orchestration-payment-platform)
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---
## A Closer Look at the Potential of the Request-to-Pay Scheme
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/a-closer-look-at-the-potential-of-the-request-to-pay-scheme
_The Request-to-Pay scheme is rolling out worldwide — find out what potential it offers the payments landscape._
Request-to-Pay is an emerging messaging framework that is becoming increasingly popular as a value-added service for real-time payments. As the name suggests, this solution enables payees to request payments digitally from consumers, which the latter can choose to either accept or reject.
30.09.2022 4 min read
Even though this innovative service is not available in all countries across Europe yet, it has already raised discussions among industry experts. Many of them agree that Request-to-Pay is a game-changer for European payments. Read ahead to find out what makes this solution so significant and how it is likely to influence the market.
### The Implementation of Request-to-Pay Across the Globe
The Request-to-Pay scheme’s implementation models vary depending on the country. Here are some examples:
- **Australia** is a leading market for Request-to-Pay services, with **60%** of the continent’s population and over 60,000 businesses using BPAY, a mobile banking-based solution for billers and payers[1](https://payneteasy.com/blog/a-closer-look-at-the-potential-of-the-request-to-pay-scheme#note1).
- **India’s** Unified Payment Interface (UPI) is one of the most successful Request-to-Pay solutions to date, with over **100 million** monthly active users[2](https://payneteasy.com/blog/a-closer-look-at-the-potential-of-the-request-to-pay-scheme#note2).
- The **USA’s** Clearing House is a single integration point for local banks that connects them to a real-time payments service. It also features a solution called “RTP® Bill Pay”, which is a Request-to-Pay ecosystem that became available to millions of US bank customers at the beginning of 2022.
- In the **United Kingdom**, the Pay.UK standard that regulates the Request-to-Pay framework was launched in May 2020 after a design process involving stakeholders from biller and payer communities. Under its guidance, the RtP scheme is expected to save the UK economy between **£2 and £3 billion**[3](https://payneteasy.com/blog/a-closer-look-at-the-potential-of-the-request-to-pay-scheme#note3).
- In **Europe**, Request-to-Pay is tied to the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) payment rails and is governed by the standard released by the European Payments Council in June 2021. At the moment, Request-to-Pay services in Europe are only available in Euros, although there are plans to expand the scope to non-Euro markets.
As you can see, Request-to-Pay is a fairly new initiative that still has a lot of space for improvement and expansion. However, already today, it is clear that this service will be revolutionary for the global payments landscape in the long run.
### How Is Request-to-Pay Influencing Transactions in Europe?
The SEPA Request-to-Pay (SRTP) is undoubtedly an important milestone in the European payments market. This is especially true for the B2B context, where this solution can contribute to the development of electronic payments.
That’s why some French corporate treasurers in the energy field already refer to Request-to-Pay as one of the key assets for the reduction of payment delays. The SRTP scheme is also likely to play a critical role in Germany, where enterprises and financial institutions aim to digitize invoicing and payments in the B2B context.
Aside from that, there are other use cases of Request-to-Pay in Europe, namely:
- **The creation of an alternative to SEPA Direct Debit (SDD).** Combining RtP services with instant payments will help to promote digital transactions in countries where traditional payments are prevalent. One example of such a market is Portugal, where around **40%** of consumers pay for electricity with SDD.
- **Upgrading payments for public services.** Request-to-Pay, combined with instant transactions or standard SEPA Credit Transfers, could play a part in modernizing traditional payments to public administration, such as covering taxes, fees related to healthcare, and various penalties.
- **The optimization of recurring payments and Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) transactions.** The Request-to-Pay service is expected to simplify different types of electronic payments and become an optimal solution for younger generations of users who value digital tools and mobility.
Knowing the variety of benefits and spheres of implementation linked to the Request-to-Pay scheme, it is only natural to wonder if this service will eventually take the place of some traditional payment methods. Find out the answer below!
### Will Request-to-Pay Replace Traditional Payment Methods?
As history shows, payment habits and preferences are not easy to change. One good example is the fact that even though the European market is rich in initiatives that could have replaced payment checks, this payment method is still being actively used for both B2B and [B2C transactions](https://payneteasy.com/glossary/what-are-b2c-payments) in many countries.
Thus, even though Request-to-Pay has all the qualities it takes to replace some payment options, it is neither a simple nor a fast process. However, what it can do in the foreseeable future, is optimize the way payments are made worldwide.
With a multitude of countries noticing the potential this innovative solution holds, we are sure to see the Request-to-Pay scheme featured in even more projects on both national and international scales in the upcoming years.
_1 - Pay.uk - Around the world in Request to Pays 2 - Answerpay - Request for Payment Adoption Around the World 3 - Pay.uk - Request to Pay_
---
## A Comparison Guide to the Fintech Landscapes of Belgium, Spain & Japan
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/a-comparison-guide-to-the-fintech-landscapes-of-belgium-spain-and-japan
_Discover the key similarities and critical differences between the fintech industries of Belgium, Spain, and Japan with the help of this detailed guide!_
We live in a time when the fintech sphere is evolving at an unprecedented pace, powered by technological progress and growing interoperability between businesses, financial institutions, and digital platforms. In this ever-changing environment, countries like Belgium, Spain, and Japan have emerged as key players, each with its own distinctive fintech landscape and approach to innovation.
20.06.2023 8 min read
The goal of this comprehensive guide is to examine the unique characteristics, market trends, and notable players in each of these countries to better understand their payment ecosystems, shed light on the factors that have contributed to their success, and determine their future prospects. Read ahead not to miss out on all the valuable insights!
### An Overview of Japan’s Modern Fintech Landscape
Similar to many other countries worldwide, Japan has seen a significant digital transformation in the financial sphere, driven by the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet, while this shift has resulted in significant progress in the adoption of digital IDs and cashless solutions, Japan still has a long way to go due to its initial low level of digitalization.
The financial industry in Japan is primarily led by mega-banks, such as Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, and Mizuho Financial Group, which have a strong presence and wield considerable influence in the sector. Due to this, Japan’s fintech sector is a highly regulated and conservative environment, which offers some unique challenges and opportunities.
As a result, the government in Japan has taken a cautious approach to regulating the financial industry, drawing lessons from past experiences. Instead of imposing strict top-down instructions on the banks, the authorities have adopted a more hands-off tactic.
While this strategy is aimed at encouraging market competition, fostering innovation, and allowing FIs to operate with a certain level of autonomy, it also means that initiatives like open banking are not mandatory for banks, which often impends their implementation and progress.
At the subsector level, the Japanese government is increasingly focusing on digital assets and Web3 domains. Additionally, there are ongoing discussions regarding the improvement of the cross-border payment infrastructure in response to such regional initiatives as the UPI-PayNow integration.
Overall, despite various geopolitical challenges, the fintech industry in Japan is demonstrating a strong focus on cooperation and interconnectivity by steadily strengthening its regional and international connections.
### The Current Agenda of Spanish Fintech Explained
The fintech sector, both in Spain and worldwide, is actively embracing the AI and ML trend in an effort to automate and personalize operations. These technologies rely on big data analytics and blockchain as fundamental components, which help ensure the solutions’ scalability and effectiveness in the modern payment space.
The main challenge for the Spanish fintech sector lies in adopting and seamlessly integrating these technologies. This can be achieved through internal development projects or strategic collaborations with external partners who offer more agile, optimized, and cost-effective access to AI and ML developments.
As a result, the significance of open innovation departments within fintech corporations is growing. Although not directly generating profits, they facilitate the integration of technologies into the main business units, enabling the realization of short- to medium-term benefits. This tendency is closely followed by a rising interest in collaboration with startups with expertise in financial processes.
It is also worth noting that Spain’s focus on AI and advanced data management extends not only to payment solutions but also to the banking sector. Moreover, there is a notable advent in the establishment of prominent companies specializing in biometrics and cybersecurity, both of which have a significant influence on the fintech industry.
### A Peek at the Current State of Belgium’s Fintech Ecosystem
Similar to Japan, Belgium has experienced a substantial surge in financial digitalization accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly within the payment sector.
Nowadays, Belgium boasts a thriving fintech ecosystem with nearly 180 locally based fintech companies. Due to the fact that Brussels is considered the capital of the EU, the nature of these fintechs is deeply rooted in the country’s DNA, as demonstrated by prominent names like Euroclear and SWIFT.
In fact, payment, infrastructure, and regtech-related initiatives comprise over [60%](https://www.forbes.com/sites/joewalleneurope/2018/09/30/four-reasons-belgium-punches-above-its-weight-when-it-comes-to-fintech/) of the local market. Additionally, Belgians’ tendency for saving translates into a significant presence of financing and investment solutions, accounting for approximately 25% of the ecosystem. Besides, there are notable actors operating in smaller categories like insurtech, blockchain, and neobanks.
Another significant development in Belium’s fintech sector is the widespread adoption of digital government and healthcare services, facilitated by the popular StrongAuthentication mobile application called ItsMe®. The app is now utilized by over [80%](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/itsmedigitalid_itsme-turns-5-80-of-belgians-already-use-activity-6938059793911701504-YGVL/?trk=public_profile_like_view&originalSubdomain=be) of the adult population in the country, enabling access to tax and municipal services, medical files, and payment transactions.
All in all, one of the most thrilling aspects of this ongoing transformation in Belgium is the proliferation of finance across various sectors and the resulting changes in the service environment. The shared economy, sustainability efforts, regulatory and technological advancements, and a consumer-centric approach all shape a landscape filled with great opportunities.
### What Does the Fintech Future of Spain, Japan, and Belgium Look Like?
Now that you know the key trends and developments in Belgium, Spain, and Japan, let’s take a look at how each of the countries is expected to continue its endeavors in the fintech sphere.
**Belgium**
While Belgium’s fintech landscape is relatively small compared to some other European countries, it has been showing impressive growth over the past years. The country has a strong financial services industry and a supportive regulatory framework, both of which will be beneficial to further fintech development.
One event that is expected to be pivotal in the local fintech sphere in the foreseeable future is the ban of combustion engines from entering Brussels city, expected to be in full effect by [2035](https://www.politico.eu/article/brussels-and-berlin-strike-car-engine-combustion-zero-emissions-ban-deal/). This decision is forecast to result in the emergence of shared charging stations and convenient payment solutions integrated into the city’s infrastructure in unconventional ways.
With that said, Belgium’s fintech sector is still in its early stages, and the pace of its further evolution highly depends on factors like regulatory developments, access to funding, and market demand.
**Japan**
Japan has traditionally been known for its conservative financial sector, but in recent years, there has been a growing interest in fintech.
For instance, the government has taken steps to promote financial innovation, including the establishment of regulatory sandboxes, the introduction of new legislation to facilitate open banking and digital payments, and the launch of a pilot Digital Yen project in 2023.
Besides, fintech startups in Japan have been focusing on a wide range of areas, from mobile payments and robo-advisory services to blockchain and regtech.
These factors are undoubtedly going to be some of the key driving forces in the future evolution of Japanese fintech. Besides, given the country’s large population and technologically advanced society, it has the potential to become one of the largest financial innovation hubs in the future.
However, cultural factors and the influence of traditional FIs may still present challenges to the widespread adoption of innovative solutions in this sector.
**Spain**
Spain has been experiencing significant growth in its fintech sector, and it is safe to say that this trend is likely to continue in the future. The country has a supportive regulatory environment and a well-developed financial infrastructure, which creates favorable conditions for cooperation and innovation among relevant stakeholders.
One initiative that is forecast to have a critical impact on the Spanish fintech sector, fostering its growth, innovation, and overall digital transformation, is the Digital Spain 2025 project. This national strategy, driven by the Spanish government, aims to accelerate the country’s digitalization across various sectors, including finance.
One key aspect of this initiative is the promotion of digital skills and talent development with the goal of cultivating a skilled workforce capable of driving innovation within the fintech sector. This focus on human capital development will provide a solid foundation for the growth and sustainability of Spanish fintech companies for years to come.
As a result, Spain’s fintech ecosystem is likely to see further expansion and diversification, driven by investment, active collaboration between traditional financial institutions and startups, and the introduction of new technologies.
### What Unites These 3 Fintech Ecosystems?
It might seem that the fintech landscapes of Belgium, Japan, and Spain exhibit plenty of differences and have diametrically opposed development trajectories. While their strategies reflect the unique characteristics and priorities of each country, they also share a lot of similarities, such as:
- **Regulatory efforts.** All three countries in question have established robust regulatory frameworks to govern fintech activities, recognizing the importance of fostering innovation in the sector while ensuring consumer protection and maintaining the integrity of the financial system.
- **Fintech hubs.** Each of the three countries has cities that serve as centers for innovation, collaboration, and networking. For instance, in Belgium, Brussels is the biggest fintech hub. In Japan, Tokyo and Osaka gain the most traction in this sphere, while Barcelona and Madrid are prominent fintech hubs in Spain.
- **Digital payments.** Fintech has played a significant role in promoting digital payment solutions in all three countries. As a result, mobile payment platforms, contactless transactions, and digital wallets have gained widespread popularity, providing convenient and secure alternatives to traditional payment methods.
- **Open banking initiatives.** Belgium, Japan, and Spain have embraced open banking solutions to varying degrees, enabling the development of innovative financial products and services.
- **Peer-to-peer lending.** P2P lending platforms have emerged as popular alternatives to traditional banking services in all three countries in recent years. They connect borrowers directly with lenders, providing easier access to financing for individuals and small businesses.
- **Digital currencies.** The adoption and exploration of blockchain technology and digital currencies have been increasing in the fintech landscapes of Belgium, Japan, and Spain over the past few years.
- **Collaboration.** Banks and other financial institutions in Belgium, Japan, and Spain are becoming increasingly active in partnering with fintech startups to enhance their services and remain competitive.
As you can see, while each of the three countries covered in this overview has its own fintech agenda, all of them share a striving toward innovation, digitalization, and collaboration in their ecosystems.
By sticking to these priorities, Belgium, Japan, and Spain alike are contributing to building resilient and future-ready ecosystems that will help them harness the potential of emerging technologies and stay at the forefront in the financial services sphere.
[White Label Payment Gateway PSP Offer your customers a top-level payment solution, increase your turnover and boost your business profit.](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/gateway)
[Orchestration Platform Merchants Only one integration to consolidate all your payment providers to a unified management system.](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/orchestration-payment-platform)
---
## A Comprehensive Guide to the EU’s Latest PSD3, PSR & FIDA Proposals
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/a-comprehensive-guide-to-the-eus-latest-psd3-psr-and-fida-proposals
_Check out this informative guide to learn everything you need to know about the EU Commission’s 2023 legislative proposals on PSD3, PSR, and FIDA!_
On June 28, 2023, the European Commission released a series of [new legislative proposals](https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/qanda_23_3544) for some of the most fundamental regulations related to payments and financial services, including the revised Payment Services Directive (PSD3), the Payment Services Regulation (PSR), and the Financial Data Access (FIDA) framework.
14.07.2023 6 min read
These proposals are designed to promote the digital transformation of the industry while prioritizing consumer needs. In this overview, we will guide you through the highlights of these potential updates and explain how such measures could influence the European payments landscape.
### PSD3, PSR, and FIDA in a Nutshell
Since the EU Commission’s new proposals refer to three different regulatory pieces, it is crucial to understand the difference between PSD3, PSR, and FIDA before delving into the contents of the potential changes. Here’s what these regulations are all about in simple terms:
- **PSD3** is an upcoming legislative framework that will govern electronic payments and the banking ecosystem in Europe and is expected to go into full effect approximately in 2026. It is the successor to PSD2, which has been in effect in the EU and the EEA since 2019.
- **PSR** sets out rules and requirements for payment services within the EU and aims to create a harmonized legal framework for all relevant stakeholders.
- **FIDA** is a regulatory framework and an essential part of the open banking initiative that tackles access to financial data within the European Union. Its goal is to enable secure and controlled access to financial information held by banks and other FIs for authorized TPPs.
All of these regulations work together to address specific aspects of the European payment ecosystem and financial data access, ensuring their effective implementation and compliance.
### Why Are These Payment Service Rules Being Revised?
The European Commission conducted a thorough evaluation of the currently effective version of the Payment Services Directive in 2022. This process involved input from the European Banking Authority (EBA), public consultations with both general and targeted stakeholders, as well as an independent consultant’s report, and focused on such aspects as:
- Charges
- Scope
- Thresholds
- Access to payment systems
This review has revealed mixed results in terms of PSD2 meeting its objectives.
On the positive side, the introduction of Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) under PSD2 has significantly contributed to fraud prevention, yielding positive results in reducing fraudulent activities.
Besides, PSD2 has proven effective in enhancing the efficiency, transparency, and selection of payment options available to consumers, thanks to the emergence of new payment instruments since its implementation.
However, the evaluation also highlighted certain challenges, including:
- An uneven playing field for PSPs
- Limited access to critical payment finalization systems for non-bank PSPs
- Open banking adoption inconsistencies, with obstacles from account information and payment initiation service providers remaining
- National-level dominance of debit card systems hampering the expansion of cross-border payment services
Thus, based on the evaluation’s findings, the Commission determined that amendments are essential for advancing PSD2’s objectives and promoting a more integrated and competitive European payments landscape.
Similarly, the PSR and FIDA require amendments to ensure that they remain relevant and up-to-date in addressing the evolving needs and challenges of Europe’s rapidly evolving financial sector.
### Which Changes Are Suggested for PSD2 & PSR?
By putting the new legislative proposals forward, the European Commission is fulfilling an important commitment to address existing issues in the local retail payments sector and face up to its emerging challenges, which was outlined in the 2020 Retail Payments Strategy.
The main changes to the existing PSD2 and PSR regulations suggested by the proposals include:
- **Consolidating e-money institutions and payment institutions into a single entity category,** which can offer both payment and e-money services. Existing authorizations granted to PIs and EMIs will remain valid for an additional 24 months, with new applications expected to be submitted to national competent authorities within 18 months of PSD3’s entry into force.
- **Introducing new measures to combat fraud** by allowing PSPs to exchange fraud-related information, strengthening customer authentication rules, granting extended refund rights to fraud victims, and implementing a mandatory system for verifying the alignment of payees’ IBANs with their account names in credit transfers.
- **Enhancing consumer rights** by means of improving transparency on account statements, providing clearer information on ATM charges, and promptly addressing situations where funds are temporarily blocked.
- **Boosting open banking initiatives** by granting non-bank PSPs access to all EU payment systems with appropriate safeguards, securing their rights to a bank account, and eliminating certain obstacles to data access.
- **Allowing retailers to offer cash services without requiring a purchase,** provided that the operation cap is €50 per withdrawal and any possible fees charged are disclosed.
- **Narrowing down the commercial agent exemption** to make it more challenging for entities like marketplaces to avoid the licensing requirement under PSD3.
Additionally, the EU Commission aims to enhance the enforcement and harmonization of the updated payment regulations across member states by implementing the majority of rules through the Payment Services Regulation (PSR).
### How Can FIDA Be Updated According to the Commission’s Proposal?
The proposal for the Financial Data Access framework aims to determine clear rights and responsibilities for managing customer data-sharing beyond payment accounts. The key measures suggested by the proposal include:
- **Offering consumers the option to securely share their data** with such entities as FIs or fintechs using secure machine-readable formats. This would allow customers to access a wide range of innovative and advanced financial products and services.
- **Requiring FIs to share customer data with data users.** For this data-sharing process, financial institutions will need to establish the necessary technological infrastructure and gain client permissions.
- **Providing customers with complete control over their data,** allowing them to decide who can access their data and for what purpose it can be done.
- **Standardizing customer data and technical interfaces** for the sake of enhancing financial data-sharing schemes.
- **Establishing straightforward and transparent frameworks clarifying liability in case of data breaches** and developing mechanisms that enable swift dispute resolution.
- **Encouraging data holders to develop top-notch interfaces for data users** by offering reasonable compensation from the latter, based on the general B2B data-sharing principles listed in the [Data Act](https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_22_1113) proposal. Notably, smaller firms will only pay compensation at cost so that the conditions remain fair for all stakeholders involved.
All in all, the Commission’s suggestions regarding FIDA, alongside the PSD3 and PSR proposals described earlier, have the potential to truly transform the European payment landscape, should they be implemented.
### What Happens to These Regulations Next?
The release of the PSD3, PSR, and FIDA proposals marks the first phase of their journey toward being implemented.
Now, they will have to undergo a rigorous review process by both the European Parliament and European Council. Once it’s complete, the final versions of the documents will be published. Although the timelines haven’t been announced yet, this could be expected to happen somewhere around Q3-Q4 2024.
As for the implementation deadline, member states are typically granted a 24-month implementation period, which would mean that PSD3 and the PSR could come into full effect in 2026.
With this in mind, it is essential that PSPs carefully review the contents of the proposals and adjust their operations accordingly to make sure they are ready for the upcoming changes well in advance.
---
## A Deep Dive into the Evolution of Payment Cards
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/a-deep-dive-into-the-evolution-of-payment-cards
_How did debit and credit cards grow to become some of the most widely accepted payment tools worldwide? Read this comprehensive guide to find out!_
The financial landscape is evolving rapidly, with novel digital payment methods emerging continuously and cash use declining fast. Yet, even among these major shifts, debit and credit cards managed to keep their position at center stage. In fact, in 2022, global card networks facilitated a staggering [624 billion](https://www.globenewswire.com/en/news-release/2023/05/24/2675643/0/en/Payment-Card-Volume-Topped-40-Trillion-Worldwide-in-2022.html) transactions, representing a 7.5% increase from 2021.
10.09.2024 4 min read
Cards also remain the preferred in-store option for the majority of consumers worldwide, accounting for more than half of global offline purchases. But how did they evolve to become such a widespread and resilient payment method? In this guide, we explore how bank cards became the backbone of modern financial transactions and tap into their future potential. Read on for all the details!
### Where Did It All Start?
Did you know that the concept of using a card for transactions can be traced back to the 19th century? This idea was first introduced in 1887 by an American author Edward Bellamy in his utopian novel “Looking Backward”. While this literary piece was completely fictional, it planted the seeds for a future financial revolution.
However, the practical implementation of bank cards began a lot later. In 1950, Diners Club issued the first charge card, which allowed members to dine at participating restaurants and settle their bills once a month. This solution catered mainly to traveling businessmen and is considered the starting point of modern card-based transactions.
### How Did Payment Cards Gain Worldwide Popularity?
In 1958, the Bank of America launched the first true credit card, the BankAmericard, in California. It enabled consumers to borrow money up to a certain limit and pay it back with interest, introducing the concept of revolving credit. This solution gained success quickly and paved the way for other banks to issue cards of their own, which eventually led to the widespread adoption of credit cards.
As a result, two major networks were established to manage the growing number of bank-issued credit cards. In 1976, BankAmericard became Visa, and, in the same year, the Interbank Card Association rebranded itself as MasterCard. These networks established a standardized system for transaction processing and ensured the global interoperability and acceptance of bank cards.
At the same time, the popularity of debit cards was also growing, as they offered a different value proposition. The first debit card in the US was introduced by First National Bank of Seattle in 1978, and already by the late 1980s, they were widely accepted worldwide due to their convenience and security compared to cash.
### From Paper to Digital: How Card Materials Evolved
Bank cards initially emerged as simple paper or cardboard documents. These early cards were primarily used for identification and to manually record transactions. Yet, they were easily damaged and impractical for long-term use.
In response to these limitations, in the 1930s, cards started to be made from aluminum, zinc, and celluloid. These were often issued by department stores and oil companies and featured embossed customer information, closely resembling modern cards.
However, since the 1950s and to this day, the majority of bank cards are being produced from primarily polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Such plastic cards quickly became the standard for credit and debit transactions due to their durability and versatility.
In [1969](https://www.ibm.com/history/magnetic-stripe), it became a standard for plastic cards to have a magnetic stripe, which contained encoded data and enabled electronic authorization. Besides, in the 1980s, most cards also started to be produced with holograms, the goal of which was to prevent counterfeiting.
In the 1990s, another big evolutionary leap for cards occurred with the integration of microchips. Contact and contactless (RFID/NFC) chips allowed for both physical insertion into readers and wireless communication, drastically improving the way transactions were done.
The latest phase in the evolution of bank cards is their shift to digital and virtual formats. Bank cards nowadays are often stored in mobile wallets on smartphones and wearable devices, allowing for contactless payments via NFC technology. But is there still space for advancements in the card payment scene?
### The Future of Cards: Will This Payment Tool Continue to Thrive?
As technology continues to advance, bank cards are evolving to incorporate features like biometric verification, blockchain technology, and artificial intelligence. These innovations aim to enhance security, prevent fraud, and offer personalized financial services to consumers.
Besides, open banking initiatives are actively promoting the sharing of financial data between FIs and third-party providers and are expected to revolutionize the payment landscape yet again. These efforts could potentially lead to more integrated and user-friendly payment solutions, further solidifying the role of bank cards in the digital economy.
Thus, it is clear to see that the evolution of cards is still ongoing, which is a promising sign for this payment method. After all, the cards’ ability to adapt to tech trends and consumer needs has ensured their continued relevance over the years.
Moving forward, many industry experts agree that cards are set to integrate with emerging payment technologies even more seamlessly and will manage to maintain their central role in the global financial ecosystem.
[White Label Payment Gateway PSP Offer your customers a top-level payment solution, increase your turnover and boost your business profit.](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/gateway)
[Orchestration Platform Merchants Only one integration to consolidate all your payment providers to a unified management system.](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/orchestration-payment-platform)
---
## A Merchant’s Guide to Tap to Pay: from Fundamentals to Future Insights
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/a-merchants-guide-to-tap-to-pay-from-fundamentals-to-future-insights
_Contactless Tap to Pay transactions are rapidly gaining worldwide popularity. Find out what the technology behind them is and what their future looks like!_
In 2021, over two-thirds of merchants were already accepting contactless payments, and their number continues to grow fast due to the increasing demand. The technology behind this trending transaction type is called “Tap to Pay”.
29.07.2022 4 min read
If you process in-store purchases but still don’t offer your customers a contactless payment option, this guide is for you. Read ahead to learn what Tap to Pay is, how it works, and find out the reasons why you can’t remain competitive for long without implementing this technology!
### What Is Tap to Pay and How Does It Work?
As the name implies, Tap to Pay enables users to make purchases by tapping or waving their contactless card, smartphone, or wearable device over a reader. Any payment terminal that supports it features a contactless payment symbol - four curved lines that stand for a radio signal.
This is due to the fact that Tap to Pay uses a short-range wireless technology called **Near Field Communication (NFC)**, which is a type of radio-frequency identification (RFID). NFC uses a high frequency of 13.56 MHz to enable close-range transactions between two devices.
When a contactless-enabled card or an electronic device is within five centimeters of an NFC-enabled payment terminal, they exchange encrypted information to conduct a transaction.
There are two types of interactions between NFC-enabled devices:
- **Passive.** Such NFC payments require only one device to supply power for the transaction to happen. This is the case with active POS terminals that continuously emit radio waves while waiting for passive devices like bank cards to enter their field.
- **Active.** These NFC transactions require two devices that supply power. One example of this is when a customer uses Google Pay on their smartphone at an NFC-enabled POS terminal. In this case, both devices actively send and receive information via an electromagnetic field.
No matter if it’s an active or passive transaction, Tap to Pay eliminates the need to touch the payment terminal or hand the card to the cashier. This was considered a big plus during the pandemic, but the list of the advantages that come together with contactless payments goes on.
### Key Benefits of Tap to Pay
The contactless payment industry is forecasted to reach $19.3 billion by 2026. Growth at such an exceptional pace is powered by the many advantages the Tap to Pay technology boasts, such as:
- **Security.** Tap to Pay is among the most secure payment methods, as it uses tokenization, encryption, and two-factor verification with a PIN or Face ID.
- **Speed.** Instead of searching for cash or taking the time to insert the payment card and dial the PIN, a consumer can simply hover their smartphone or contactless card over a POS terminal.
- **Convenience.** Even if a person forgets a wallet, they can use the Tap to Pay feature on their smartphone or wearable device to make a purchase.
What’s more, Tap to Pay helps merchants to cater to a younger audience that rarely uses cash and credit cards. Thus, it’s safe to assume that this payment option will keep spreading worldwide.
### Tap to Pay’s Path to Global Recognition
The Tap to Pay technology emerged in the 1990s and has been gradually gaining popularity ever since. By 2019, many merchants have been implementing it in their operations, but the coronavirus outbreak has caused a surge in the use of this contactless technology.
In a global study conducted by Mastercard in 2020, **79%** of respondents chose Tap to Pay transactions as their **preferred payment method for everyday purchases**. During those days, the pandemic was in full swing, and the majority of consumers motivated their choice with **safety and cleanliness** reasons.
In post-COVID times, contactless transactions have become the new normal. The wide public came to appreciate their **convenience and speed of money transfer** and started expecting brick-and-mortar stores to offer Tap to Pay, among other standard payment methods. Visa’s 2022 Back to Business study showed that **41%** of consumers **would not shop at places that fail to offer this payment option**.
However, the growth of Tap to Pay’s influence doesn’t stop there - the technology is expected to gain even more recognition in the future.
### The Future of Tap to Pay Transactions
Even though Tap to Pay has been around for quite a while, it still continues to evolve and widen its scope of application.
For instance, in February 2022, Apple announced its plans to introduce Tap to Pay on iPhone. This new capability is expected to empower millions of merchants to use their iPhones to seamlessly and securely accept contactless bank cards, Apple Pay, and other digital wallets.
This functionality will first become available across the US and will be suitable for all types of merchants - from small businesses to large retailers. With no additional hardware needed, Tap to Pay on iPhone will offer businesses a fairly inexpensive tool to process transactions and increase their sales.
All in all, contactless transactions powered by the Tap to Pay technology have revolutionized the world of payments. As more and more people choose this payment option over the traditional ones, we are sure to see it keep up the upward trend for years to come.
---
## A new level of payment security – successful PCI DSS v4.0 certification with the latest standards
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/a-new-level-of-payment-security-successful-pci-dss-v40-certification-with-the-latest-standards
_Payneteasy is again PCI DSS v4.0 certified to the latest 2025 standards — see how new tools safeguard payment forms, scripts and data._
Payneteasy, a leading provider of payment technologies, is proud to announce the successful completion of its annual PCI DSS v4.0 certification as a Level 1 Service Provider. This includes full compliance with the new, more rigorous requirements that came into effect in March 2025. In line with these updated standards, we now offer our clients tools that enhance the protection of payment forms and data to an even higher level. Read more in this article.
30.07.2025 2 min read
For a merchant or platform choosing a payment partner, [PCI DSS Level 1 certification](https://payneteasy.com/glossary/what-is-the-pci-dss) is more than a compliance checkbox — it is what lets you launch faster: you integrate under Payneteasy’s own certified scope instead of building and re-certifying a PCI environment yourself, which also smooths acquirer approval reviews. Payneteasy has held this Level 1 status since 2006 — over 20 years on the market — and pairs it with [1000+ pre-built integrations](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/payment-integration) and 99.95% uptime, so PSPs and platforms can even process under their own brand while Payneteasy carries the certification and infrastructure behind the scenes.
### Key aspects of the new PCI DSS requirements implemented by Payneteasy:
#### Payment forms scripts protection (PCI DSS Requirement 6.4.3):
- **Authorisation and inventory of scripts:** All scripts used in the payment form must now be authorised and registered within the Payneteasy system. Strict procedures have been introduced to account for each script, defining its purpose and granting permission for use. These are then continuously tracked by our dedicated monitoring team.
- **Script integrity check:** Customers can safeguard imported and embedded scripts from tampering by using appropriate HTML attributes and Content-Security-Policy headers. To support this, Payneteasy has developed the “HTML Analyzer” module, which reviews saved form content to make sure key attributes are not missing. This protection mechanism is essential, as it helps prevent the payment form from being compromised through third-party sources (such as CDNs, analytics scripts, or traffic tracking systems) from which scripts may be imported.
#### Payment form content and header integrity monitoring (PCI DSS Requirement 11.6.1):
- **Protection against unauthorized modification of payment form content:** Payneteasy has implemented controls to prevent unauthorized changes to the payment form. If any such modification is detected, the monitoring team investigates it and, if necessary, notifies the affected clients.
- **Protection against unauthorised modification of HTTP headers:** Additional measures have been implemented to safeguard HTTP headers transmitted with the payment form within the Payneteasy payment infrastructure. These headers are essential for managing browser behaviour, such as controlling where scripts can be loaded from, where they can send data, and which third-party resources (like frames) are permitted. Any attempts at header spoofing are also actively monitored by the security team.
#### Innovative tools in action:
To meet the new PCI DSS requirements, Payneteasy has enhanced its internal processes and integrated new tools that are available to all clients, including:
- **Form Analyzer:** An automated tool that scans payment forms to detect potential vulnerabilities or non-compliance with the latest standards, such as missing integrity attributes or incorrect directives.
- **Flexible Content Security Policy (CSP) configuration:** The Payneteasy system permits fine-tuning of CSP directives through headers. These directives specify to browsers which domains are allowed to load scripts, where connections can be made, and which frames are permitted for embedding, or where the form itself can be embedded. This creates a strong barrier against unauthorised activity, including misuse of the [payment form](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/smart-checkout) on third-party websites.
Successful certification under the updated PCI DSS standard highlights Payneteasy’s position as a trusted leader in [secure and reliable payment solutions](https://payneteasy.com/blog/pci-dss-certificate-why-your-business-needs-it-right-now) for businesses worldwide.
### PCI DSS certification — FAQ
#### What does Payneteasy’s PCI DSS certification mean for merchants?
Payneteasy is certified as a PCI DSS Level 1 Service Provider — the highest tier of the standard. [Merchants and platforms](https://payneteasy.com/glossary/payment-service-provider-psp) integrating with Payneteasy inherit that certified environment instead of building and maintaining their own, which cuts launch time and audit overhead.
#### How long has Payneteasy held PCI DSS Level 1 certification?
Payneteasy has operated in the payments market since 2006 — over 20 years — maintaining PCI DSS Level 1 certification throughout, including the current PCI DSS v4.0 requirements.
#### Does PCI DSS Level 1 certification help launch payment flows faster?
Yes. Combined with 1000+ pre-built integrations and 99.95% uptime, Payneteasy’s PCI DSS Level 1 certification lets merchants and platforms go live faster and pass [acquirer approval reviews](https://payneteasy.com/glossary/what-is-an-acquirer) with less back-and-forth.
#### Can I process payments under my own brand while staying PCI DSS compliant?
Yes — platforms and PSPs can [process under their own brand](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/gateway) while Payneteasy’s PCI DSS Level 1 certification and infrastructure handle the compliance and security requirements behind the scenes.
#### Where can I verify Payneteasy’s current PCI DSS compliance?
Payneteasy publishes its current PCI DSS compliance status and certificate on its [PCI DSS Level 1 compliance page](https://payneteasy.com/legal/pcidss).
---
## A2A Payments Overview: Market Position & Latest Advancements
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/a2a-payments-overview-market-position-and-latest-advancements
_Account-to-account (A2A) payments are gaining traction worldwide. Explore the market position of this payment trend, its advances and its future._
**Account-to-account (A2A)** transactions are swiftly overtaking cash and bank cards and are predicted to comprise **20%** of global eCommerce payments by **2023**[1](https://payneteasy.com/blog/a2a-payments-overview-market-position-and-latest-advancements#note1). Seizing the A2A momentum requires an understanding of the latest developments related to this payment method and its perspectives in the international market.
14.09.2022 4 min read
Get some insights into the current A2A transfers’ market position and find out the forecasts regarding their future evolution in this overview!
### What Is Fueling the Growth of A2A Payments?
When it comes to A2A transfers, the funds move directly from one account to another, typically from the payer’s bank to a merchant or service provider’s bank.
Even though such payments have been around for years, for a long time they didn’t offer advantages that would outweigh those provided by card network schemes, so businesses opted for the latter instead.
However, in recent years, [Open Banking played a critical role in promoting A2A payments](https://payneteasy.com/blog/revolut-uk-fintech-open-banking-payment-orchestration) by enabling regulated third-party financial service providers to enter the market that was previously dominated by legacy banks.
Thanks to these changes, A2A transactions are becoming mainstream and offer more benefits than ever before, including:
- Absence of intermediaries
- Better client reach
- Improved conversion rates
- Lower transaction costs
- Instant settlements
- Advanced security
- Frictionless payments
The combination of these factors makes [account-to-account transactions](https://payneteasy.com/glossary/what-are-a2a-payments) equally convenient for both the merchants and consumers, creating a promising future for this payment method.
### Modern-Day Global Presence of A2A Payments
One example of the fast growth pace A2A payments have achieved in the past few years is the iDEAL scheme in the **Netherlands**:
- The company recorded its first **1 billion** transactions in **mid-2016**, 12 years after it was launched.
- Only two years after that, at the end of **2018**, iDEAL achieved its **second-billion milestone**.
- In **2022**, the scheme hit **5 billion** transactions and is expected to continue gaining momentum[2](https://payneteasy.com/blog/a2a-payments-overview-market-position-and-latest-advancements#note2).
A similar tendency exists in the **UK**, where more than **50%** of all B2B transactions are made through instant transfers, with consumer-to-business and consumer-to-government transactions beginning to follow in their footsteps[3](https://payneteasy.com/blog/a2a-payments-overview-market-position-and-latest-advancements#note2). What’s more, **1 in 4** credit cards in the UK can now be paid off with the help of A2A transfers.
In June **2022**, the [P27 Nordic Payments](https://payneteasy.com/blog/p27-explained-current-state-perspectives-and-impact-on-businesses) initiative announced its plans to become the new national clearinghouse in **Denmark** for traditional and smart payments catering to both businesses and consumers. It will also potentially enable bill settlement and RTPs with other Nordic countries like Sweden, Finland, and Norway.
Globally, **60 markets** feature functioning real-time payment infrastructures, with multiple countries, including Peru, New Zealand, Indonesia, and Canada planning to launch theirs in **2022**.
### Latest Developments in the A2A Payments Field
The spread of the trend for A2A payments gives life to a variety of national and international projects across the globe. Here are some of the most recent examples:
**Europe**
**In Europe**, the **EPI (European Payments Initiative)** has raised a lot of discussion in the context of A2A and instant payments over the course of the past year. This coalition consists of 31 banks and two third-party acquirers based in seven EU countries, namely:
- Belgium
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Poland
- Spain
- The Netherlands
EPI’s operations currently deal with 65% of all European payment transactions. Its main goal is to develop a unified payment solution that will become the new standard for EU consumers and merchants for all types of financial transactions, with its scope covering both euro and non-euro markets. The framework of this grand initiative is based on A2A payments.
**USA**
**In the US**, the Federal Reserve is already onboarding the first users to test the **FedNow** instant payment service, planning its launch in **2023**.
**Australia**
At the end of 2021, **Australian Payments Plus** was formed through the merging of NPP Australia, Eftpos, and BPAY Group. This collaboration is set to provide improved investment management across the three payment schemes and promote a sustainable and innovative approach in the Australian payments landscape.
### Investments into the Future of A2A Payments
Many industry experts agree that A2A transactions are turning into a megatrend that has the power to potentially make the world go cardless.
While a lot of networks and issuers are still reluctant to encourage consumers to adopt this payment method as it would mean the loss of bank card revenues, it can’t stop the rapid spread of A2A transfers. After all, such payments are catalyzed by Open Banking and widely accepted by FIs, merchants, and consumers.
Plenty of other card networks, on the other hand, have embraced the inevitable change and invested in A2A payments, aiming to diversify their product portfolio. Some examples of such strategic activity are:
- **Mastercard** purchasing the controlling shares of **Vocalink** and **Nets**
- **American Express** launching **Pay By Bank Transfer**
As for banks, the majority of them are trying to achieve better control of the payment rails, with EPI being one instance of such an initiative.
All in all, the investments into A2A transactions are sure to keep incoming, and the global market share of such payments will continue increasing. So, if you still don’t implement them in your operations, now is the perfect time to get started.
_1 - FIS - 2020 Global Payments Report 2, 3 - Forbes - Account-to-Account Payments_
---
## About International Payment Systems
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/about-international-payment-systems
_What are the electronic international payment systems, what are their differences and features, and which one to choose._
Every individual and business entity these days has dealt with at least one international payment system (IPS). Yet, even though it is something used daily by millions of people, not many can explain what exactly this term entails.
14.09.2021 7 min read
This guide contains practical information on international payment systems that will help you understand how they work and which one is best for your personal use.
### Electronic Payment System - What Is It?
Before delving into the subject of international payment systems, it’s important to talk about a more general term that encompasses them.
Electronic payment systems, or e-payment systems, enable people worldwide to [pay for goods and services digitally](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/gateway). Common methods of e-payments include:
- Internet banking
- E-wallets
- Gift cards
- Credit and debit cards
Speaking of the latter, bank cards are the most popular e-payment method in the world. By the end of 2018, there were over 22 billion credit, debit, and prepaid cards in circulation worldwide, and the number keeps growing every year[1](https://payneteasy.com/blog/about-international-payment-systems#note1).
That’s where international payment systems come in. This term refers to any payment card schemes that power debit and credit card transactions - more on this below.
Source: https://salfordcab.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/credit-card.jpg
### What Are International Payment Systems and How Do They Work?
International payment systems are global networks that provide plastic card holders, trade and service enterprises, and financial and government institutions in different countries with access to fast, secure, and reliable electronic financial transactions.
These networks develop general rules and determine a specific sequence of technical procedures for conducting transactions to ensure that the exchange of data and funds between the merchants and consumers is successful.
The main revenue stream of international payment systems comes from the contributions of banks participating in the network and is proportionate to the volume of card transactions processed.
In general, international payment systems perform the following functions:
- Releasing licenses for issuing cards with the card scheme’s logo;
- Protecting patents and rights;
- Developing standards and protocols for financial operations;
- Ensuring the proper functioning of national and international automation and calculation systems;
- Monitoring financial information and commission payments transfers of system participants;
- Research and analysis activities;
- Development of new payment products and solutions;
- Marketing, advertising, and promotion of the products.
Among the external operational functions performed by international payment systems for their members is authorization, that is, obtaining a transaction permit from the [issuing bank](https://payneteasy.com/glossary/what-is-an-issuer) if the purchase amount exceeds the one-time limit or if the merchant has doubts about the identity of the client and the legality of their card use.
Another weighty function of an IPS is the organization of [final settlement](https://payneteasy.com/glossary/settlement) and repayment of debts for card transactions.
### Main Payment Systems and Features of Online Payment System
The status of an international payment system is obtained if the network provides an opportunity for individuals and organizations to conduct transactions on the territories of most countries across the globe.
To do this, the international payment system must include operators from different countries. Their role is usually performed by the heading government banks. Some of the most famous international payment systems are:
- Visa
- Mastercard
- American Express
- UnionPay International (UPI)
- JCB
While the main task of any IPS is to ensure settlement operations between merchants and buyers who pay with bank cards, they also have an obligation to issue cash to cardholders in traditional forms at financial institutions and ATMs.
Three of the leading international payment systems are VISA, Mastercard, and UPI. The first two are US-based multinational corporations, while the third network originates from China. In 2019, UnionPay accounted for 45% of global card spending, mostly thanks to its domestic market in China, followed by Visa with 27% and Mastercard with 18% of the global share[2](https://payneteasy.com/blog/about-international-payment-systems#note2).
Let’s take a look at the key IPS players in more detail:
**Visa**
Visa is one of the biggest international payment systems. Here are some important things to know about it:
- It is the largest card network in the world outside mainland China. According to Visa’s fiscal 2020 annual report, its total volume reached $11.3 trillion, including $8.7 trillion in payments volume, and the network processed 140.8 billion transactions[3](https://payneteasy.com/blog/about-international-payment-systems#note3).
- Today, Visa is one of the leading developers of cashless payment technologies. It works with about 15,000 financial institutions. The system's partners provide fast and secure payments in 200 countries around the world.
- All the transactions of this IPS are carried out using the innovative Visa Net network that authorizes purchases and is capable of processing tens of thousands of payments per second.
- Visa’s main currency of operations is the US dollar.
- This card scheme is one of the authors of the international EMV standard, alongside Mastercard and other European partners. These guidelines define the current procedure for conducting card transactions.
- Visa offers its users a huge selection of payment products and services, including all traditional types of cards and a convenient money transfer service.
**Mastercard**
Mastercard is an international corporation with its head office in the USA. Here’s some information you need to know about it:
- There are approximately 22,000 financial structures and tech companies partnering with this card scheme across 210 countries.
- By the end of 2020, there were over 2.3 billion Mastercard-branded cards in circulation worldwide[4](https://payneteasy.com/blog/about-international-payment-systems#note4).
- Since 1968, Mastercard has been closely cooperating with the Eurocard group of European banks. This explains the choice of the Euro as the main one in the company's strategy.
- The corporation offers its customers a huge selection of debit, credit, and prepaid cards.
- This card scheme was one of the first companies to introduce contactless mobile payments for POS terminals.
- It is most beneficial to use Mastercard cards in Europe and Africa.
**American Express**
This US company, founded in 1850 in New York, is one of the first international payment systems out there. Here are some facts about this card scheme:
- Currently, the American Express payment system offers customers a wide range of settlement, credit, and prepaid products, including microprocessor cards.
- American Express cards are most in-demand in the US and Canada.
- The company is mainly targeting wealthy people who are fond of traveling.
- These cards are classified into several categories, among which Centurion is the most elite due to an extensive list of unique services.
- Plastic cards of this system are accepted in more than 160 countries and territories internationally.
**UnionPay International (UPI)**
UPI is a subsidiary of China UnionPay, the main purpose of which is to support the growth of the card scheme’s global operations. Some important details about it are:
- UPI enables consumers to use UnionPay cards to pay for goods and services and withdraw cash in 180 countries and regions[5](https://payneteasy.com/blog/about-international-payment-systems#note5)
- More than 150 million UnionPay cards have been issued in 67 countries and regions outside mainland China.
- Including its domestic market, UnionPay is the world’s largest card scheme by the number of cards issued.
- Union Pay conducts the majority of internal payments with processing operators in dollars.
**JCB**
The Japanese payment system JCB, formerly known as Japan Credit Bureau, was founded in 1961 and ranks among the top five major international payment systems. Some characteristics of JCB are:
- The company offers debit, credit, and prepaid cards in 23 countries.
- The total number of contracts signed with retail outlets exceeds 30 million.
- There are more than 141 million JCB cardholders [6](https://payneteasy.com/blog/about-international-payment-systems#note6).
- JCB cardholders can enjoy various privileges, such as discounts in online stores and cafes and bonuses for traveling to Europe, Japan, and some other Asian regions.
### Which Payment System to Choose
All in all, the largest payment systems that control the biggest shares of the international market are Visa, Mastercard, and UPI. Their main advantages are a huge reception infrastructure, the ability to [make cross-border payments](https://payneteasy.com/glossary/international-payment-processing), and an excellent brand reputation.
The operational principles of these payment systems are very similar, so account holders would not face major differences when it comes to aspects like data exchange, [authentication procedures](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/3ds_adapter), risk management, encryption techniques, regulatory standards, and so on.
The choice between the systems fully depends on subjective consumer preferences, their lifestyle and spending habits, and the offers that local financial institutions have.
With Which Payment Systems Should Merchants Partner?
When it comes to merchants, it’s highly recommendable to cooperate with as many international payment systems as possible to be able to cater to the vast majority of potential customers.
With [Payment Orchestration](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/orchestration-payment-platform), you will be able to unify multiple payment service providers under one smart and convenient cashier system. It will enable you to effectively accept e-commerce, m-commerce, and alternative payment methods. Connect any wallets and payment systems and [process transactions in various currencies](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/fx_rate) seamlessly in a PCI DSS-certified environment.
[Reach out to us today](https://payneteasy.com/contacts) to transform the way you accept and process payments!
_1 - Nilson Report - Number of credit, debit and prepaid cards in circulation worldwide 2 - Payments, Cards, and Mobile - UnionPay accounts for 45% of global cards spending 3 - Visa – Fiscal Year 2020 Annual Report (10-K) 4 - Mastercard – 4Q20 Earnings Presentation 5 - UnionPay International - UnionPay Acceptance Network Expands to 180 Countries and Regions (March 2021) 6 - JCB - JCB expands partnership with Nets Group to grow JCB Contactless acceptance in the Nordics_
---
## A Merchant’s Guide to Acquiring and Issuing Banks
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/acquiring-bank-and-issuing-bank-what-are-they-and-why-are-they-needed
_What is the role of an acquiring bank and an issuing bank in the process of conducting payments? Find out everything a merchant should know about it here!_
A card issuing bank and an acquiring bank are some of the required parties to conduct a payment transaction. It is important for merchants to understand what responsibilities each of the parties has, how they are involved in payment processing, and what the difference between these two notions is. Let’s get started!
22.07.2021 7 min read
### The Essence of Issuing Banks
**The issuing bank** or entity is a financial institution that **issues and services debit and credit cards.** Issuing banks are members of international payment networks and **act as guarantors of the fulfillment of financial obligations** that arise in the process of using a credit card.
The card provided by the issuing bank, whether it runs on Visa, Mastercard, Discover or American Express, remains the issuer’s property for its entire validity period, while the cardholder uses it. The issuer’s name is shown on the card.
### An Overview of the Essence of Acquiring Banks
**The acquiring bank**, also known as the merchant acquirer, **is the financial institution that signs businesses up to accept card payments** — in store, online and in apps — and is responsible for them to the card networks. Acquirers are not always banks: licensed payment institutions can acquire too, either as card network members themselves or through a sponsor bank.
When a customer pays with a card issued by another bank, **the acquirer sends the transaction through the card network**, such as Visa or Mastercard, to the issuer for approval. After clearing, the issuer transfers the funds, minus interchange, to the acquirer through the card network’s settlement process. The acquirer then pays the merchant, minus the merchant service charge, which covers interchange, card network fees and the acquirer’s own margin.
As a bank customer willing to set up a merchant account, **note that some financial institutions offer dual solutions, performing the roles of both an issuer and an acquirer.**
The acquirer can transfer the technical side of the credit card transactions to specialized organizations, called processing centers.
### Acquirer VS Issuer: How Are Those Banks Different?
To better understand the different roles of the two institutions in question, let’s consider the main functions that the acquirer and the issuer perform.
| The Issuing Bank | The Acquiring Bank |
| --- | --- |
| Issuing the card and opening the cardholder’s account. | Customer card authorization by sending a transaction request to the issuing bank. |
| Customer card authorization by providing a response to the acquirer’s request. | The transfer of money to the settlement account of an outlet. |
| Transfer of funds based on invoices issued in the acquiring system. | Refunding the outlets where goods or services were paid for via a credit card transaction. |
| Provision of an account statement. | Accepting, sorting, and sending electronic and paper documents. |
| Financial security. Introducing additional requirements that improve the level of the networks’ privacy and security throughout the payment process (code prompts, limits for card transactions). | Stop-list distribution. |
### Issuer and Acquirer in a Chargeback Process
The issuing and acquiring banks play an active role in disputes and the chargeback process that may follow. Chargebacks are instances of money reimbursement to consumers in the event of a fraudulent or unwanted transaction. In a nutshell, the procedure of disputes and chargebacks goes like this:
1. The cardholder disputes the transaction with their issuing bank.
2. The issuer reviews the claim. If it qualifies under card scheme rules, the issuer raises a chargeback through the card network and may provisionally credit the cardholder.
3. The card network passes the chargeback to the merchant acquirer, which debits the disputed amount from the merchant.
4. The merchant can accept the chargeback or contest it with evidence through the acquirer (representment).
5. If the issuer and acquirer still disagree, the case can escalate to pre-arbitration and arbitration, where the card network makes the final decision.
This is only a brief overview of the dispute and chargeback process demonstrating the key roles issuers, acquirers, and card networks play in the interaction with consumers and other parties involved.
For a deeper look, read our [guide to chargebacks and how to avoid them](https://payneteasy.com/blog/what-is-chargeback-and-how-to-avoid-it).
### Why Do Merchants Need Acquiring Banks?
The merchant acquirer is an institution that provides clients with the authorization to conduct non-cash payment transactions at the sales points or online using POS and mPOS terminals. So, the main advantages that companies get from the cooperation with the merchant acquirer include:
- A merchant account to accept cashless payments
- Getting a [well-functioning payment platform](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/orchestration-payment-platform) for making secure transactions with debit and credit cards like Visa and Mastercard
- 24/7 availability
- Transaction process automation for smart distribution of resources
- Ease of making accounting reports
- Smooth reimbursement of payments
- Fraud prevention for the security of funds and account data
### Acquiring Services and Payment Processing: What a Bank Acquirer Actually Does
A **bank acquirer** — also called an acquiring bank or merchant acquirer — is the financial institution that lets a merchant accept card payments. It holds the merchant account, sends card transactions through the card network to the issuer for authorization, settles approved funds to the merchant, and answers to the card scheme for the merchant’s chargebacks. Many acquirers also screen transactions for fraud.
#### Merchant Accounts, Payment Gateway, and Card Network: What's Included
When businesses choose how to accept card payments, they usually look at three models — two ways to get acquiring, and one layer that works on top of it:
- **Traditional bank acquirer** — opens a merchant account for the business, holds its own card scheme membership and settles card payments directly.
- **Payment facilitator** — onboards the business as a sub-merchant under its own merchant account, which makes onboarding fast but gives the business less control over pricing, risk rules and payout terms.
- **Technology platform (e.g. Payneteasy)** — does not acquire itself, but connects the business to several acquirers and payment providers through one payment gateway, adding fraud prevention and smart routing on top of [acquiring services](https://payneteasy.com/glossary/what-is-acquiring).
To be clear: Payneteasy is a technology platform, not an acquirer or an issuing bank, and it does not hold or move merchant funds. We connect merchants to multiple acquirers and payment providers through a single payment gateway, so you can add or switch acquirers without depending on one provider. [See how our payment gateway works](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/gateway) or [talk to our team](https://payneteasy.com/contacts) about the right acquiring setup for your business.
### Tips on Picking the Right Merchant Acquirer
To choose a suitable bank, one needs to compare all the conditions offered by acquirers. Here are some essential features to pay attention to while selecting an acquiring bank for your business’s debit and credit card payment processing:
**Fees and Commission**
It is crucial that you are aware of the commission fees charged per every debit and credit card transaction alongside other costs. After all, each bank has its own tariffs and interest rates, and while the payment commission may be higher, the equipment could be offered free of charge or at a minimum price. For others, on the contrary, a low transaction rate is complemented by the high cost of the terminal. Besides, check whether there are any hidden service expenses, monthly subscription costs, or account fees.
It is crucial for any merchant not to forget about opening a current account. Its maintenance also requires costs. And here, it is critical to study all the proposed conditions.
Ask each acquirer for its full fee schedule and contract terms in writing — the pricing model (blended or interchange++), account and chargeback fees, rolling reserve, settlement times and termination terms — and compare them side by side.
After you learn all the information you wanted to know about the current account’s terms and applicable policies, you can rest assured that you will not encounter any unexpected expenses the moment you start receiving payments.
**POS Terminal for Card Transactions**
Not all banks give authorization to work with POS terminals and smart cash registers obtained from third parties. Thus, it is essential to compare the expenses related to renting, purchasing, setting up, and maintaining these devices.
**Transaction Coverage**
Is your target customer group local, or are you aiming for an international outreach? If you are willing to conduct business with a global card transaction scale, make sure that the bank you choose offers worldwide coverage and won’t run into an unexpected issue when authorizing cross-border payments.
**Customer Service and Technical Support**
Check whether the bank's staff will deliver and set up the equipment. Besides, it is essential to know the support team’s working hours and whether or not their services are included in the pricing.
**Available Features**
Is the bank you have in mind versatile enough in terms of functionality? Does it have features like payment routing, credit card transaction processing, fraud detection, and purchases with delayed confirmation? Checking such details is extra important.
**Customization**
Selecting a merchant acquirer that can offer your business a tailored solution is a brilliant idea. In the long run, collaborating with banks that offer both direct acquiring and various additional payment methods will save you money, time, and human resources.
Once you have shortlisted an acquirer, there is one more thing to consider: the payment gateway that connects your checkout to it.
### What Are the Dangers of Choosing the Wrong Acquirer?
Choosing the wrong acquiring bank can have significant consequences for businesses, namely:
- **Lower revenues.** Should your bank’s pricing structure be unfavorable or have hidden costs, your profit margins will be reduced. In turn, this can eat into your revenue and potentially make your products less competitive in the market.
- **Little to no client satisfaction.** If transactions fail and payments are declined often, it can negatively impact your customers’ experience with your business and, consequently, your revenues.
- **Lost commercial opportunities.** Some banks may not support certain payment methods or may have limitations on international transactions. This can result in losing multiple commercial opportunities and revenue loss.
- **Delayed payments.** A bank with slow settlement processes can lead to delays in receiving money from transactions. This could affect your cash flow and hinder your ability to manage your business’s finances.
- **The risk of data breaches.** Inadequate protection measures and non-compliance with industry standards can expose your business and clients to higher risks of data breaches and dishonest activity. This is likely to result in monetary losses, legal liabilities, and the loss of client trust.
- **Reputational damage.** Consumers often associate their payment experience with your brand. Thus, choosing a bank with a poor reputation can affect your entire company’s image and revenue negatively.
- **Compliance and regulatory risks.** Banks are subject to various requirements, including rules related to monetary transactions and sensitive data. A bank that doesn’t adhere to these regulations can result in your company facing legal problems and penalties.
- **Limited support for growth opportunities.** The wrong bank may not be able to support your growing operations or scale up to meet your expansion needs. This can lead to operational bottlenecks and hinder your growth plans.
What’s more, if you realize that you’ve chosen the wrong bank, switching to a new one can be challenging, as it can involve data migration, complex technical integration, and potential downtime. Thus, at the end of the day, it is crucial to take your time when researching banking alternatives.
### Helping Cards, Merchants, Customers, and Banks Work Together
As you probably know, a payment gateway is an intermediary that networks between a merchant and a customer. It passes encrypted credit card information to multiple parties, including the acquiring and issuing banks. That is why it is an essential link in the payment process and should also be selected wisely.
Payneteasy offers a customizable, PCI DSS-compliant payment gateway solution that offers a full range of processing services. You can count on a smooth shopping experience for every client and a reliable processing layer, with:
- Fast integration
- Catering to any payment interaction
- Effective fraud prevention process
- 99.95% verified uptime
- Full technical support
- Solutions tailored to customer resources and needs
- [Multiple merchant acquirer banks support](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/payment-integration)
[Contact us](https://payneteasy.com/contacts) now and we will get back to you with a personalized quote within one workday! Besides, when you connect with us, you can receive expert help in resolving your doubts about our solutions and offers.
#### Related Terms
Related glossary terms: [what is acquiring](https://payneteasy.com/glossary/what-is-acquiring), [what is a merchant](https://payneteasy.com/glossary/what-is-a-merchant), [merchant account](https://payneteasy.com/glossary/merchant-account), [merchant identification number (MID)](https://payneteasy.com/glossary/what-is-a-merchant-identification-number-mid).
[Payment Integration Acquiring services Connect the acquirers, PSPs and payment methods your portfolio needs through a single Processing API.](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/payment-integration)
[White Label Payment Gateway PSP Offer your customers a top-level payment solution, increase your turnover and boost your business profit.](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/gateway)
[Orchestration Platform Merchants Only one integration to consolidate all your payment providers to a unified management system.](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/orchestration-payment-platform)
### Acquirer Bank and Issuer Bank: Frequently Asked Questions
#### What is the difference between an acquirer bank and issuer bank?
An acquirer bank (acquiring bank) works for the merchant: it holds the merchant account, sends card transactions through the card network for authorization, and settles the funds to the merchant. An issuing bank works for the cardholder: it issues the debit or credit card, approves or declines each transaction against the available balance or credit limit and its own risk checks, and handles the cardholder’s disputes.
#### Can one bank be both a bank acquirer and an issuing bank?
Yes. Many large banks both issue cards and acquire for merchants. When the bank’s own cardholder pays a merchant that the same bank acquires, it is an “on-us” transaction, and the bank can authorize and settle it internally without sending it through the card network.
#### What should I look for in an acquiring banking partner?
Look for an acquirer that supports your markets and card networks, settles funds on clear terms, offers transparent pricing and reporting, and handles chargebacks and fraud well — not just the lowest rate.
---
## Advanced Data Security: Tokenization Explained
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/advanced-data-security-tokenization-explained
_Credit card tokenization swaps card numbers for random tokens, so a breach exposes no usable data. See how it works, its limits, benefits and PCI DSS._
Online payments have become an integral part of everyday life. However, as e-commerce develops, so does cybercrime. To prevent fraud and protect user data, online payment services are implementing various security protocols.
04.10.2021 7 min read
The fastest way to cut card-data risk is to keep raw card numbers out of your systems. Credit card tokenization does that when your payment provider swaps card details for a token before they reach your servers: a breach then exposes tokens, not card numbers. This guide covers what credit card tokenization is, how it works, its limits and its benefits, so you can choose the right setup for your business.
Tokenization is currently among the most advanced technologies for [safeguarding sensitive information](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/leads_protection_system) in online purchases. If you as a business owner are striving to offer your customers the highest data security level, this guide is for you. Keep reading to learn about [card tokenization](https://payneteasy.com/glossary/tokenization-in-payments) and its principle of operation.
### What Is Credit Card Tokenization?
Tokenization is a technology that replaces a customer's primary account number (PAN) with a token, which is essentially a randomly generated, unique placeholder. Such tokens are used to access, maintain, and retrieve the consumers’ credit card information and provide both your business and its clients with an improved fraud-management algorithm.
But what truly makes this security process stand out among other data protection methods is that a token has no true meaning or value. With the majority of anti-fraud systems, a security breach could lead to severe consequences due to criminals getting hold of all the essential data. Tokens, on the other hand, provide fraudsters with zero valuable information. Besides, there is no algorithm that allows third parties to change a token back to the data’s initial form. Let’s take a look at how exactly a credit card is tokenized.
**Tokenization Vs.Encryption**
Tokenization and encryption protect data effectively if implemented correctly and demonstrate the best results when combined. However, while both these methods perform essentially the same function, they feature some key differences.
One of the key distinctions between encryption and tokenization is that the latter requires significantly less computing resources. Faster processing of tokens is possible because certain data, either partially or fully, remains visible for analysis while all the confidential information is hidden.
Besides, tokenization is far more flexible than encryption. This is partly due to the fact that it is a non-mathematical approach that replaces sensitive data with non-sensitive substitutes without changing the data’s type or length. This way, the tokenized data stays secure while being processable for legacy systems.
### How Does Credit Card Tokenization Work?
To answer the question “how does tokenization work?” it’s best to start with an example. If the client's card number was **5678 1234 4321 8765**, after tokenization it would appear as a code similar to this one: **E54TY7HR18X**. Thus, there is no connection between the token and data, so no matter how many times the client sends the same card information again, they will receive a different token every time.
**Tokens are typically generated in real-time, and the procedure has no negative effect on the transactions’ speed. The standard payment tokenization process looks like this:**
1. During checkout, a consumer enters their credit card data into the secure payment form and initiates the purchase.
2. The system forwards the token representing the card details to the merchant acquiring bank.
3. The acquirer then forwards the token to the credit card network for authorization.
4. After the authorization is complete, the user’s data is stored in the bank’s secured virtual vaults, and the token is matched to the consumer’s account number.
5. Then, the bank verifies the sufficiency of funds and either accepts or declines the payment.
As you can see, credit card tokenization provides top-notch data security, but it is not the only advantage it has. Read ahead to find out how your business can benefit from this technology.
### Tokenization in Alternative Payment Methods
An alternative payment system requires several organizations to cooperate for providing end users with **Near Field Communication (NFC)** or other payment service-based technologies. A Trusted Service Manager (TSM) is often required to resolve the compatibility issue among the mobile operators and service providers. **Tokenization can play an intermediary role for such entities**.
As mentioned above, tokenization replaces the real card number with a placeholder with certain usage restrictions. If the tokenized data can be used without limits, or even in a broad sense, as in Apple Pay, the token takes on the same value as the original credit card number.
In such cases, the token can be protected by a second dynamic token that is unique for each transaction and is also associated with a specific payment card. One example of dynamic transaction-specific tokens is cryptograms used in the EMV specification.
### System Operation, Restrictions, and Tokenization Development
Despite being a convenient data security method, tokenization faces certain restrictions and limitations:
- **Complex synchronization.** Ensuring consistency across datacenters is demanding in terms of synchronization of the token databases. Unfortunately, significant compromises between availability, consistency, and performance are unavoidable in accordance with the CAP theorem. This contributes to a limited scale and complicates real-time transaction processing.
- **Higher risk of cyberattacks.** Keeping all sensitive data in one place makes token databases an attractive target for attacks. It also introduces legal risks of confidential data aggregation, especially in the EU.
- **Independent security level assessment.** According to PCI DSS, merchants using tokenization should conduct a thorough risk analysis to identify the unique characteristics of their specific implementation.
- **Ongoing maintenance.** First-generation tokenization systems use a database to match real data with the substituting tokens and vice versa. To avoid data loss, this requires storage, management, and continuous backups.
As tokenization becomes more widespread, new approaches to its use emerge to address the current operational risks and complications.
### Benefits of Tokenization for Your Business
Credit card tokenization goes far beyond being just a data security technology, as it assists merchants in creating smooth payment experiences and increasing customer satisfaction. Here are some of the benefits that tokenization brings to businesses:
- **Lower risk of data theft.** Thanks to tokenization, even if a data breach occurs, the users’ sensitive data won’t be there for fraudsters to steal.
- **Increased consumer trust.** 59% of consumers claim that data breach lowers their trust towards an affected company. Advanced security measures, such as card tokenization, enable clients to feel more comfortable in trusting a merchant with their sensitive data.
- **Less hassle in PCI DSS compliance.** Card tokenization relates to the PCI DSS requirement of protecting cardholder data at rest. This technology lets the merchant avoid processing sensitive information directly and delegate it to payment technology companies.
Data tokenization solves one of the most important problems faced by businesses today - sensitive data protection. Evolving regulations and the severe reputational and financial risks associated with data breaches are setting the bar high for organizations to keep the information they process secure. Therefore, adopting credit card tokenization and finding the right payment service provider is crucial for any company that aims to move with the times.
### Credit Card Tokenization, PCI DSS Compliance and Credit Card Fraud
Credit card fraud often starts with stolen card data, and data breaches are one of the main ways it gets out. With tokenization, the payment flow carries a token instead of the card’s primary account number, so a breached merchant database holds tokens rather than card numbers. A token is useless outside the merchant and payment setup it was issued for, which makes stolen data far less valuable.
On the PCI DSS side, tokenization shrinks what you have to protect. If card data is captured by your payment provider’s hosted form or fields and never touches your servers, most PCI DSS requirements for storing and transmitting card data fall on the provider, and you can often validate compliance with a shorter self-assessment questionnaire. It does not remove your obligations altogether: you still have to secure the page that hosts the payment form and confirm your remaining scope every year.
### Choosing a Payment Partner for Credit Card Tokenization
Look for a provider that takes card data off your hands and keeps working as you grow. Payneteasy is PCI DSS Level 1 certified. With [Hosted Fields](https://payneteasy.com/payment_technologies/hosted-fields), card details go from the customer’s browser straight to Payneteasy, and your server pays with a single-use token. For repeat payments, a card reference created from an approved transaction lets you charge the card again without storing it, and card tokens can be migrated from a previous provider. The platform has 99.95% verified uptime and more than 1,000 integrations, and its Processing API is described in OpenAPI 3.1.
Want to go deeper first? Read our guide on [how to choose a payment tokenization service provider](https://payneteasy.com/blog/how-to-choose-a-payment-tokenization-service-provider), or the glossary entries on [payment tokenization](https://payneteasy.com/glossary/tokenization-in-payments) and [network tokens](https://payneteasy.com/glossary/network-tokens). When you are ready to talk specifics, explore our [white-label payment gateway](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/gateway) and [payment orchestration platform](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/orchestration-payment-platform), then to discuss your setup.
### Convenient Payment Solutions from Payneteasy
Payneteasy is a leading payment platform provider established in 2005. We offer tailored solutions to fit the needs of PSPs, banks, financial institutions, nonprofits, and more. Therefore, we know what an important role first-class data security plays and how to help our clients achieve it.
Our [Payneteasy Payment Gateway](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/gateway) is a white-label platform that will allow you to accept payments securely and without delays. It comes with advantages that every business owner will appreciate, such as:
- Seamless integration
- Flexibility to suit any payment interaction
- Swift technical support
- Branded checkout page
- Ultra-strong fraud prevention algorithms
- User-friendly back office
- Effective traffic routing system
We are also happy to offer custom solutions to satisfy every client’s request to the fullest. Are you ready to level up your business’s payment and data security? Then go ahead and fill up the , and we will get back to you in no time!
The card schemes are pushing this further: read about [Mastercard Europe aiming for 100% ecommerce tokenization by 2030](https://payneteasy.com/blog/mastercard-europe-aiming-for-100-ecommerce-tokenization-by-2030).
[White Label Payment Gateway PSP Offer your customers a top-level payment solution, increase your turnover and boost your business profit.](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/gateway)
[Orchestration Platform Merchants Only one integration to consolidate all your payment providers to a unified management system.](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/orchestration-payment-platform)
[Leads Protection System Merchants The technological solution for GDPR compliance, and will protect your most valuable data and leads from hackers, thieves, malware, AND trusted employees. Based on the best PCI DSS practices.](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/leads_protection_system)
### Credit Card Tokenization FAQ
#### What is credit card tokenization?
Credit card tokenization replaces a customer's primary account number (PAN) with a randomly generated, unique token that has no true meaning or value. There is no algorithm that lets third parties turn a token back into the original card data, so a breach exposes no usable card details.
#### How does credit card tokenization work?
Tokens are typically generated in real time without slowing transactions. At checkout the customer enters card data into a secure payment form, the token representing the card details goes to the merchant acquiring bank and then to the card network for authorization, and the real data stays in the bank's secured vault, matched to the token.
#### What is the difference between tokenization and encryption?
Both protect sensitive data and work best together. Tokenization needs significantly less computing resources, is non-mathematical, and replaces sensitive data with substitutes of the same type and length, so the tokenized data stays processable for legacy systems.
#### Does credit card tokenization help with PCI DSS compliance?
Tokenization relates to the PCI DSS requirement of protecting cardholder data at rest. It lets a merchant avoid processing sensitive card data directly and delegate it to payment technology companies. PCI DSS still expects merchants using tokenization to run a risk analysis of their own implementation.
#### How fast can I add a payment provider with Payneteasy?
In the typical case, any PSP can be added within 5-7 business days when the documentation is ready upfront. The platform comes with 1000+ pre-built integrations and a machine-readable Processing API (OpenAPI 3.1), and its 99.95% uptime has been independently verified on Pingdom for 4 years.
---
## Agents That Pay, Agents That Run Payments: What September’s Agentic News Means for PSPs
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/agents-that-pay-vs-agents-that-run-payments
_Card networks and banks are building trust for AI agents that pay. For PSPs, the more immediate question is how AI agents will work with payment infrastructure itself._
In the second half of September 2026, agentic payments went from a conference topic to a run of live pilots, first transactions and industry frameworks. Most of the headlines were about one thing: AI agents buying on behalf of consumers.
01.10.2026 6 min read
For PSPs, acquiring banks and large merchants, that is only half of the story. The other half is quieter and arrives sooner: AI agents working _inside_ payment operations. They read transaction data, investigate declines, prepare reports and, within limits a person sets, make changes.
Here is what happened, and what it means for teams that run payment infrastructure.
### Agents That Pay: Networks and Banks Build the Trust Layer
The consumer side moved quickly over two weeks:
- **Mastercard expanded Agent Pay** with trust and intelligence services (30 September). The first one is a probability score that shows how likely it is that an AI agent started a transaction. It is now rolling out for testing in the U.S. The goal is to give issuers enough context to approve legitimate agent-led purchases. Mastercard cites a projection that one in 10 consumers will routinely use agents to make purchases by 2030.
- **Mastercard and Danske Bank completed Denmark's first AI agent payment** (21 September). Mastercard also started an agentic commerce pilot for travel with **Trip.com** (17 September).
- **Six banks published shared principles for trusted agentic commerce** (22 September). The six are ING, NatWest, Bank of America, Capital One, Commonwealth Bank of Australia and ASB. The principles cover transparency, safety, privacy and data, choice and interoperability. The banks present them as a starting point for industry discussion, not a finished standard.
- **GoCardless processed its first UK agentic account-to-account payment** (22 September). **Shopify extended WebMCP support to checkout** for AI agents (29 September).
All of these deal with one problem. When an agent pays, the issuer and the merchant need to know that an agent is involved, what the consumer asked it to do, and whether the activity is legitimate. Mastercard's own example shows why this matters. An agent books a flight, a hotel and a transfer in a few minutes, across several merchants. Without context, that pattern looks like fraud.
### Agents That Run Payments: The Operational Side
At the same time, payment companies started giving AI agents access to their own platforms:
- **Mesta launched an MCP server** for its payment network (30 September). Agents can find payment functions, get quotes, check payment status and submit payment instructions. Those instructions stay pending until a named person releases them. Later phases will add spending limits, approval rules and Know Your Agent checks.
- Several payment infrastructure providers **made their API documentation readable by AI coding assistants** through the Model Context Protocol (MCP). Developers can now ask questions about endpoints in their coding tools and get answers from the live specification.
- **AI co-pilots for payment operations** appeared in routing and fraud. They work the same way: the agent analyses data and recommends an action, and a specialist accepts, rejects or adjusts it.
These examples show different levels of delegation: agents can analyse data, recommend changes or submit payment instructions. Controls may require approval for each action or allow execution within limits authorised in advance.
### What This Means for a PSP
#### 1\. Agent-initiated traffic will show up in your acceptance rate
Issuers will soon have signals that show whether an agent started a transaction. Their authorization decisions will change, and those changes will reach your merchants as approvals and declines. A burst of purchases from one cardholder across several merchants may be approved by one issuer and declined by another.
Early visibility helps a PSP investigate whether declines relate to issuer decisions, authentication, fraud screening or a processing connection. Routing changes may help with connection-specific problems, but changing acquirers does not override an issuer’s decision. Any retry must follow applicable decline-response guidance and scheme rules. Visibility into decline patterns and [flexible routing](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/orchestration-payment-platform) were important before agents. They become more important as new types of traffic appear.
#### 2\. Your team will expect to use AI agents with your gateway
Payments teams already use AI assistants for reporting, investigation and integration work. The next step is obvious: point an agent at the payment platform itself. Nobody wants to export a CSV and paste it into a chat.
That raises a practical question for every PSP: **what can an agent safely read, what can it change, and who decides?** The examples point to structured access and defined permissions. A PSP must decide which actions require individual approval and which may run within pre-approved limits. A restricted token limits callable methods; it does not by itself create a human approval workflow.
#### 3\. Trust is built in layers, and each layer has an owner
Card networks and issuers own trust at the transaction level: is this agent legitimate, and is this purchase what the consumer intended? PSPs own trust at the infrastructure level: who and what can access payment data and operations, and with which permissions. Both layers are needed, and the second one is fully in the PSP's hands today.
### How Payneteasy Approaches It: Two Paths for AI Agents
Payneteasy gives clients two separate ways to work with AI agents. Each one fits a different job.
**Payneteasy MCP: the insight layer.** The [MCP server](https://payneteasy.com/payment_technologies/ai-payment-operations) connects AI assistants to live payment data on Payneteasy. Payment teams ask in plain language and get answers and reports quickly. No dashboards, no API knowledge needed.
- **Support teams** check batch transactions and investigate logs.
- **Analysts** query transaction statistics and compare performance across merchants, processors and reporting periods.
- **Executives** get the analytics they need in their preferred format.
Payneteasy MCP helps teams investigate decline patterns, review routing outcomes and prepare reports from available operational data. It cannot authorise, capture, refund, move money or change platform settings, and it does not expose raw PAN or CVV. Clients control access through scoped, time-limited, revocable tokens and decide which AI assistants may receive the permitted data.
**Payneteasy UI API: the action layer.** For teams that build their own agents, the UI API is the full read-and-write interface behind the Payneteasy dashboard. That covers routing changes, adjustments, endpoint creation, reports and merchant onboarding. It is documented in OpenAPI 3.0.1, with more than 130 services and more than 1,500 operations.
Control stays with the client. An agent works with a **restricted token** limited to specific methods when it is issued. The token never has more rights than the user who issued it. A 40-minute morning report export becomes a scheduled task. Reconciliation and batch adjustments run through an agent your team defines and limits.
| | Payneteasy MCP | Payneteasy UI API |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Role | Insight layer | Action layer |
| Best for | Support, analysts, executives asking in plain language | Teams building their own agents |
| What agents do | Read live payment data, get answers and reports | Read and write: routing changes, adjustments, endpoint creation, reports, merchant onboarding |
| Control model | Scoped, time-limited, revocable token; no payment actions or configuration changes | Restricted token, limited to specific methods, never above the issuing user's rights |
Both paths sit on the same [infrastructure](https://payneteasy.com/payment_platform): up to 10 million transactions per day with 99.95% verified uptime.
### What to Watch Next
- **Issuer-side agent signals.** How quickly Mastercard's probability score and similar tools go beyond U.S. testing, and how issuers use them in authorization decisions.
- **Industry principles turning into rules.** Whether the six banks' framework turns into shared standards for agent identity, liability and dispute handling.
- **Mandates and spending limits for agents.** Mesta plans a mandate layer for Q4 2026. Expect more providers to define how agents get permissions, and how those permissions are limited and audited.
Agentic commerce will take time to reach scale. Agentic payment operations are already here. PSPs that decide now what their agents can see and do will be ready for both.
**Want to see how Payneteasy MCP and the UI API fit your payment operations?**
### Sources
- Mastercard, “Mastercard advances agentic commerce with new trust and intelligence services”, 30 Sep 2026 — mastercard.com
- The Paypers, “Six global banks publish principles for trusted agentic commerce”, 22 Sep 2026
- The Paypers, “Mastercard and Danske Bank complete Denmark's first AI agent payment”, 21 Sep 2026
- The Paypers, “Mastercard, Trip.com pilot agentic commerce for travel”, 17 Sep 2026
- The Paypers, “GoCardless processes first UK agentic A2A payment”, 22 Sep 2026
- The Paypers, “Shopify extends WebMCP support to checkout for AI agents”, 29 Sep 2026
- The Paypers, “Mesta launches agentic payments infrastructure”, 30 Sep 2026
- The Paypers, “FinteqHub launches AI Advisor for payment routing”, 30 Sep 2026
- The Paypers, “Feedzai launches Farol agent to speed up fraud investigations”, 28 Sep 2026
---
## AI-Based Risk & Fraud Prevention: A Glance at Visa’s New Solutions
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/ai-based-risk-and-fraud-prevention-a-glance-at-visas-new-solutions
_How Visa, one of the largest payment giants, is leveraging AI in its risk and fraud prevention solutions, and what that means for merchants and PSPs._
The modern market is full of novel digital solutions that optimize daily processes for businesses and consumers alike. However, while fintech tools actively evolve, so do fraudulent practices. In response to these unwanted shifts, payment service providers are hopping on the AI trend and introducing new techniques to safeguard sensitive data and promote transaction security.
15.04.2024 4 min read
A prominent example of an organization utilizing this strategy is Visa, one of the world’s leading payment technology companies, which has recently added three AI-based services aimed at risk and fraud prevention. Keep reading to find out what value they bring to businesses!
### What Is Visa’s Take on Payment Innovation?
As you probably know, Visa operates one of the world’s largest retail electronic payments networks. It connects consumers, businesses, financial institutions, and governments across more than [200](https://corporate.visa.com/en/about-visa.html) countries and jurisdictions.
Given Visa’s wide reach and influence, it is not surprising that it approaches security and fraud prevention as fundamental aspects of its product and service offering. Last year alone, the payment industry giant helped block [$40 billion](https://investor.visa.com/news/news-details/2024/Visas-Growing-Services-Business-Infused-with-New-AI-Powered-Products/default.aspx) in fraudulent activity, demonstrating a nearly double increase from 2022.
Besides, Visa has also dedicated over [$10 billion](https://www.sttinfo.fi/tiedote/70128999/visas-growing-services-business-infused-with-new-ai-powered-products?publisherId=58763726) worth of investments in technology and innovation over the past 5 years, with Artificial Intelligence-based solutions being among the top areas of focus. Read on to learn more about its latest AI-driven tools!
### Visa’s New AI-Driven Solutions Explained
As part of its effort to be at the forefront of payment security innovation, on [March 27, 2024](https://investor.visa.com/news/news-details/2024/Visas-Growing-Services-Business-Infused-with-New-AI-Powered-Products/default.aspx), Visa announced the release of three AI-powered business services, namely:
- **Visa Deep Authorisation (VDA).** Once launched, this solution will utilize a deep learning recurrent neural network (RNN) model and vast amounts of contextual data to enhance the management of Card-Not-Present (CNP) payments.
- **The expansion of Visa Advanced Authorization (VAA) and the Visa Risk Manager (VRM).** This update will enable issuers to consolidate all their fraud prevention efforts into a unified solution, streamlining their operations and reducing associated costs.
- **Real-Time, Account-to-Account Payment Protection.** This service, powered by advanced deep learning AI detection models, will display transaction risk scores in real time, which is expected to significantly decrease fraud cases linked to P2P digital wallets, A2A transfers, and instant money transfer systems facilitated by central banks.
All these innovative solutions are set to go live in the first half of 2024. However, the availability of services will vary from one market to another.
### Part of the Bigger Picture: What Is the Visa Protect Suite?
The newly introduced AI-based services listed above are part of the Visa Protect Suite, which currently consists of almost 200 products spanning five categories:
- **Acceptance.** Visa is committed to enhancing payment acceptance by providing merchants with tools tailored to boost authorization rates and reduce friction at checkout.
- **Advisory.** The payment industry giant also offers consultancy services that focus on sharing strategic insights, industry best practices, and actionable tips to help companies safeguard their operations.
- **Issuing.** As one of the key players in the issuance of payment cards, Visa aims to provide FIs with advanced capabilities to protect cardholder data and prevent unauthorized transactions.
- **Open banking.** By providing secure APIs and interoperable platforms, Visa enables banks, fintechs, and third-party PSPs to create innovative payment solutions while adhering to stringent security standards and regulatory requirements.
- **Risk and identity.** Visa’s risk and identity tools utilize a wide range of forward-looking technologies, from biometrics and behavioral analytics to multi-factor authentication and real-time transaction monitoring.
By leveraging the numerous possibilities offered by the Visa Protect Suite, businesses can effectively enhance their resilience against emerging threats, streamline their operations, and deliver superior payment experiences to customers worldwide.
### Will Visa Roll Out More AI-Powered Payment Solutions?
As of now, Visa has not uncovered any additional plans to release other AI-driven payment solutions. However, it is safe to assume that the industry leader will be working on more developments based on this technology.
After all, there is still a lot of untapped potential in the Artificial Intelligence field, so it is only natural that large fintech organizations will keep exploring it to unlock new possibilities for enhancing their services and security measures. This includes aspects like fraud detection, authentication, predictive analytics, user experience, and beyond.
Therefore, in the coming years, as AI continues to mature and evolve, we can expect Visa and other forward-looking companies to pioneer innovations that may reshape the way we transact and ensure a safer and more seamless payment experience for all.
[White Label Payment Gateway PSP Offer your customers a top-level payment solution, increase your turnover and boost your business profit.](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/gateway)
[Orchestration Platform Merchants Only one integration to consolidate all your payment providers to a unified management system.](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/orchestration-payment-platform)
---
## AI-Based Solutions Driving Payment Optimization in 2022
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/ai-based-solutions-driving-payment-optimization-in-2022
_The payment industry is ever-evolving and requires tech solutions that can keep up with its pace. Find out how AI-powered solutions drive FinTech progress!_
Nowadays, merchants and financial institutions alike face the need to address bigger audiences, process larger payment volumes, and scale efficiently. Thus, software that tackles FinTech-related challenges is in high demand.
29.06.2022 4 min read
Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) solutions are among the most progressive and fast-developing ones in the field, leading on FinTech trends lists for multiple years in a row. Read on to learn how AI-based tech innovation is shaping the modern payment industry and catering to the needs of modern organizations and businesses.
### Why Are AI-Driven Solutions Leading in the Market?
The boom of online payments accelerated by the global pandemic as well as the ever-growing competition for customer engagement and loyalty drive companies to seek advanced payment solutions. According to the latest Global FinTech Adoption Index report, 25% of small & medium businesses worldwide readily accept tech innovation in the banking, financing, and financial management spheres.
While most industry players primarily focus on advanced cybersecurity and document digitization solutions, they are also interested in boosting payment processing speed and improving user experience.
That’s where AI steps in. This revolutionary technology is predicted to transform the business landscape over the next decade. Already now, AI-based solutions perform tasks that previously required human intelligence and are defining how businesses promote their products and services, interact with clients, process payments, and detect potential fraud.
### State-of-the-Art AI Software for Payment Optimization
The adoption of AI software solutions for payment optimization is flourishing now more than ever. Here are some of its common use cases:
**1\. Virtual Agents**
AI-powered digital assistants that make the organizations’ automated communication “come alive” are gaining popularity among financial institutions.
DBS Bank is one example of the implementation of such technology. This Singapore-based bank uses KAI, a digital experience platform developed by Kasisto, trained to emulate expert employees.
KAI virtual agents host human-like conversations, matching and even exceeding live agent performance, being available round the clock across all channels. This tech solution is at work in some of the world’s biggest financial institutions, optimized to field millions of phrases with speed and accuracy.
Such software helps companies boost consumer experience, promote products and services, and reduce operational expenses.
**2\. Fraud Detection**
Fraudulent mechanisms are continuously advancing, so companies require progressive detection methods to battle them effectively. AI tools have proven themselves to be extremely effective in this role.
In 2021, financial institutions reportedly spent $217 billion on AI apps focused on risk assessment and fraud prevention. What’s more, 64% of financial institutions stated their beliefs in the fact that AI can get ahead of fraud.
Visa is a great example of using AI solutions to tackle the cyber fraud issue. In fact, the payment industry giant has been implementing artificial intelligence for fraud detection and payment authorization since 1993.
All this time, the Visa Advanced Authorization (VAA) software has been analyzing user behavior and determining patterns in it. This allows it to accurately select suspicious activity from non-fraudulent transactions, flag it, and report the problem to the issuing bank.
**3\. Chatbots**
Some chatbots are rule-based and can only deal with predefined, simple requests. However, AI-powered chatbots are much more advanced and can conduct conversations with the customers, respond to complex queries, and carry out tasks like canceling a standing order or providing information on a transaction a client doesn’t recognize.
PayPal, for instance, uses smart AI chatbots to respond to customer queries and prevent their customer service centers from overloading. In addition, the payment industry giant also uses ML and AI to detect and prevent fraud.
### The Versatile Payment Innovation Solution
As you can see, AI isn't limited to just one single type of software - it’s a versatile technology with unlimited potential to automate workflows and quickly analyze large volumes of data. Its implementation in the payment industry is still fairly recent, and we are sure to see impressive advancements in the near future.
Already now, AI is rapidly evolving in the following FinTech-related directions:
- Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti Money Laundering (AML)
- Payment speed and efficiency optimization
- Payment orchestration and [smart traffic routing](https://payneteasy.com/)
- Online shopping experience customization
- Biometric authentication
The list goes on!
Whether you are a PSP, financial institution representative, or business owner, it’s crucial to stay tuned for updates in the AI sphere or simply collaborate with a payment platform provider who will do it for you.
At Payneteasy, we know that timely innovation is key to staying ahead of the competition, so we actively implement the latest tech into our solutions. Check out our [advanced and comprehensive solutions](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/individual_solutions) that can be customized to fit your specific needs and requests!
---
## Ask Your AI Payment Gateway a Question. Get an Answer, Not a Report.
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/ai-payment-gateway
_An AI payment gateway lets AI agents — ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot — read live payment and orchestration data through a dedicated, read-only interface,_
01.10.2026 5 min read
Your operations team already knows what questions matter: approval rates across your [routing and cascading](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/orchestration-payment-platform), chargeback and fraud ratios by merchant, decline trends by card type. Your analytics dashboard answers the questions you set up in advance; Payneteasy's AI query access answers the ones you think of right now — ask in plain language, get a direct answer. As Payneteasy CEO Boaz Gam describes it: you ask the assistant what your sales were yesterday compared to last week and last month, and get the answer straight from gateway data, through the platform's [MCP integration](https://payneteasy.com/blog/multi-processor-payment-mcp).
### What Changes for a PSP Operations Team
The before-and-after is concrete. Before: a head of payments wants to know which gates in their chain lost the most approvals for FI and SE cards last Tuesday. The dashboard does not have a pre-built report for that combination — building one takes navigating to the right view, selecting the right dimensions, and waiting for data to populate. After: they ask the AI assistant directly — "which gate in my chain had the lowest approval rate for FI and SE cards last Tuesday?" — and get the answer in under a minute.
The same applies across the questions that actually drive operations decisions:
- **Routing performance** — where in [cascading chain](https://payneteasy.com/glossary/cascading-payment-routing) is performance dropping this week vs. last, and which day did the pattern shift?
- **[Chargeback and fraud ratios](https://payneteasy.com/glossary/what-is-a-chargeback)** — across your top merchants — is it a one-off spike or a developing trend?
- **Decline patterns** — where were declines concentrated yesterday — by card type or country?
- **Volume trends** — how does this week compare to the same period last month across the top five merchants?
**The shift is from report-generation to conversation.** The underlying data is the same; what changes is how fast the team can get from question to decision.
The assistant reads and answers; it cannot initiate, change, or reverse a transaction.
### What Your Casino Clients Gain
The value multiplies down the stack. Payneteasy is a payment technology platform — you license the infrastructure and operate it under your own brand, for your own clients. That means the same AI query access available to your operations team can be extended to your iGaming and casino clients as a feature of your gateway.
Each casino operator sees only their own data slice — their transactions, their routing outcomes, their reporting — within the scope of their API token permissions; the available data set varies by account configuration. They can ask the same plain-language questions your team asks: approval rates by card type, decline reasons, volume by day. [Approval rates](https://payneteasy.com/glossary/approval-rate) reflect transactions that reached processing; failed attempts that did not create a transaction record are not included, so figures may differ from merchant-side calculations. **You are not just giving your team better tools — you are giving your clients a way to get answers from their payment data without opening a dashboard.**
This is the difference between selling a feature and licensing a technology. The AI query access is part of the infrastructure you operate; your clients, your brand, your relationship — Payneteasy technology inside.
### The Reliability Underneath
An AI assistant is only as useful as the data it draws from. If the underlying platform is unreliable or the data is stale, plain-language queries return unreliable answers — regardless of how capable the AI model is. **The quality of the answer is bounded by the quality of the data source.**
Payneteasy's platform has operated under independent monitoring since 2022: [99.95% uptime verified on Pingdom](https://status.payneteasy.eu/) across four years of data. The platform processes up to 10 million transactions per day, with 1000+ pre-built integrations across PSPs, wallets, and local rails, and [130+ configurable fraud filters](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/leads_protection_system) running against every transaction before it reaches a report. An AI assistant querying payment data through this platform is working from a source that has been measured independently.
For iGaming and high-scrutiny categories specifically, this matters in both directions: your clients need answers they can act on, and those figures can be verified against the report.
### Getting Live Under Your Own Brand
Payneteasy is a payment technology and orchestration platform — it does not hold merchant funds, take on [settlement risk](https://payneteasy.com/glossary/settlement), or issue merchant accounts. What it provides is the infrastructure layer: a gateway a PSP, ISO, or platform can typically launch within 1 week, [white-label under its own brand](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/gateway), with AI query access included from day one.
Your brand, your clients, your contracts — Payneteasy infrastructure running underneath. The AI query access is part of the same platform that launches in the same 1-week window, not a separate integration or a future roadmap item.
For a buyer evaluating payment infrastructure in 2026, that sequencing matters: the teams that will use the AI capabilities are the same teams that will operate the gateway from day one.
### Frequently Asked Questions
#### What data can my operations team ask the gateway?
Your team can ask about approval rates across your routing and cascading, chargeback and fraud ratios by merchant, volume trends by geography, decline patterns by card type — all in plain language. Approval rates are calculated against transactions that reached processing. The AI reads live data from the payment platform and returns a direct answer, without requiring a report to be built or a dashboard to be navigated.
#### Can I give my casino clients the same AI access to their data?
Yes. Payneteasy is a technology platform, not a PSP — you license the infrastructure and operate it under your own brand. That means your casino and iGaming clients can get the same plain-language query access against their own data slice, as a feature of your gateway. Each client sees only their own transactions and reporting.
#### Does the AI have any write access — can it move money or change settings?
No. The AI connection is observe-only by design. Agents can read payment and orchestration data, but there is no path for initiating, modifying, or reversing a transaction, and no path to change routing rules or platform configuration. Moving money and changing settings still run exclusively through authenticated operator actions — the AI layer has no write path to find or misuse.
#### Is this available now or on the roadmap?
The AI query access is available now on the Payneteasy platform. It is included in the same infrastructure that typically launches within 1 week under your own brand — not a separate add-on or a future release. Teams using the gateway from day one have AI query access from day one.
#### What does it take to get started?
Contact the Payneteasy sales team. A white-label gateway with AI query access included can typically be live under your brand within 1 week, drawing on 1000+ pre-built integrations already in place. Payneteasy is a payment technology provider, not a PSP — you operate the platform, your clients are yours, and the AI access layer is part of what you launch.
---
## Amazon’s Annual Report Overview: 3 Key Drivers of the Company’s Growth in 2022
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/amazons-annual-report-overview-3-key-drivers-of-the-companys-growth-in-2022
_Explore Amazon's core areas of focus in 2022, the three key drivers behind its growth, and how they align with prevailing digital economy trends._
In today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape, few companies have had a more profound impact than Amazon. While it is mainly known as a global eCommerce giant, Amazon’s influence extends far beyond online shopping, reaching into such sectors as cloud computing, video streaming, and smart home devices.
21.06.2023 5 min read
Given the company’s scale, reach, and access to data, its [annual report](https://d18rn0p25nwr6d.cloudfront.net/CIK-0001018724/3dcdb15e-ae9e-4eb7-b76c-48117b8918a1.pdf) is an excellent source of knowledge for all eCommerce industry players, from local merchants to international marketplaces. In this guide, we share some of the key insights from his document and talk about how they can shed light on the main digital economy trends nowadays.
### What Were Amazon’s Main Areas of Focus in 2022?
You might be aware that Amazon’s general strategic direction focuses on dominating the eCommerce industry, driving innovation and technological advancements, expanding into new industries, and prioritizing sustainability and environmental responsibility. But what were its key focus areas last year?
Here are the top three trends in Amazon’s expansion according to its recently published 2022 annual report:
**1\. Maintaining a Thriving Third-Party Seller Ecosystem**
Amazon’s third-party seller ecosystem plays a crucial role in the company’s operations, accounting for a substantial 60% of its unit sales. Yet, while it was Amazon’s initial primary focus to serve individual consumers, their strategic shift about eight years ago led to the launch of Amazon Business.
Throughout the years, Amazon Business has experienced remarkable success, generating an impressive $35 billion in annualized gross sales. This specialized service caters specifically to businesses, offering them a convenient and comprehensive solution for their purchasing needs.
The service boasts a customer base of over six million active users, including 96 of the world’s Fortune 100 companies. These clients benefit from a variety of features, such as a wide selection of business supplies, real-time analytics, and the convenience of one-stop shopping.
Furthermore, Amazon has expanded its services for merchants, introducing Buy with Prime alongside existing offerings like Amazon Pay and Fulfillment by Amazon. Buy with Prime enhances the merchant experience by providing a range of services, including:
- Storage
- Selection
- Packing
- Delivery
- Payments
- Returns
This comprehensive suite of services simplifies the selling process for merchants and contributes to more streamlined and efficient operations.
The impact of Buy with Prime on third-party shopping sites has been significant, as Amazon reports an average 25% increase in conversion rates in 2022. This means that more customers are making purchases on these sites, which has led to a boost in revenue for both the merchants and Amazon itself.
In fact, the company’s 2022 annual report reveals that third-party seller revenues experienced substantial growth, increasing from $80.5 billion in 2020 to $117 billion in 2023. These revenues now account for an impressive 22% of Amazon’s consolidated net sales, which totaled nearly $514 billion.
**2\. Competing in the Healthcare & Grocery Spheres**
In 2022, Amazon experienced a notable increase in subscription revenues, reaching $35.2 billion compared to $25.2 billion in 2020. Notably, the healthcare sector has emerged as a prominent vertical for growth in both commerce and subscription services.
An example of this is Amazon Pharmacy’s introduction of RxPass, a program that enables Prime members to access prescription medicines for a flat monthly fee of $5. This move demonstrates the eCommerce giant’s keen interest in capturing a share of the healthcare spending market, where it competes fiercely with Walmart.
In its quest for sales dominance in the healthcare sector, Amazon made a significant acquisition of One Medical, a membership-based primary healthcare provider. With over 200 primary care offices across 28 US metropolitan areas, this organization plays a critical role in strengthening Amazon’s presence in the healthcare sector.
Walmart, on the other hand, has been rapidly expanding its health centers, with plans to open 28 new locations in Q1 2024 and over 75 by the end of next year.
Moreover, Walmart and Amazon are also engaged in fierce competition within the grocery industry, which the latter sees as an $800 billion opportunity in the United States alone. While Amazon acknowledges its current focus is on larger pack sizes due to the costs associated with online delivery, the company aims to expand its grocery business to cater to a wider range of customer needs.
Besides, understanding that most grocery shopping still occurs in physical stores, Amazon recognizes the need to expand its presence in the physical retail space and is in the process of identifying and creating a larger network of brick-and-mortar stores to better serve its customers. Ultimately, Amazon aims to develop a mass grocery format that aligns with its scale and ambitious goals.
Overall, as Amazon continues to diversify and expand its operations, its subscription revenues keep soaring, while the healthcare and grocery sectors remain the key battlegrounds where the company seeks to establish a dominant presence.
**3\. Making Efforts in AI & Connectivity**
In regard to the use of advanced technologies, Amazon highlights its project called Kuiper, which aims to enhance and expand broadband access through satellites. The company emphasizes that this improved connectivity will have a wide range of applications, benefiting people in various scenarios, including online education, access to financial services, and entrepreneurship opportunities.
Furthermore, Amazon acknowledges the growing significance of large language models and artificial intelligence (AI) in its operations. The company anticipates that the continued development and refinement of these technologies will further strengthen its existing machine learning efforts.
All in all, this approach demonstrates Amazon’s commitment to leveraging cutting-edge technologies to enhance its services and overall customer experience.
**What Does Amazon’s Example Tell Us About Digital Economy Trends?**
Amazon’s example reflects several key digital economy trends:
- **Collaboration between small businesses and large corporations.** The steady growth of Amazon’s third-party seller ecosystem highlights the increasing role of small businesses and individual sellers in the eCommerce landscape, as well as the benefits deriving from established platforms offering robust support and resources to enable their success.
- **Expansion into new industries.** Amazon’s expansion into the healthcare and grocery sectors mirrors the trend of companies diversifying their offerings and entering adjacent industries. This tendency is driven by international market opportunities and the increasing consumer demand for convenient and integrated solutions across different areas of their lives.
- **Technological advancements.** Amazon’s focus on satellite connectivity and AI showcases the growing importance of technology in shaping the digital economy. Embracing such solutions and leveraging them strategically enables companies to enhance their services, improve operational efficiency, and deliver better customer experiences.
Overall, Amazon’s example highlights the significance of partnerships, diversification, and technology adoption as some of the main trends in the digital economy. These tendencies are likely to continue shaping the strategies of eCommerce companies and influence the broader landscape of digital commerce not only in 2023 but also in the years to come.
---
## An Investor’s Guide to Fintech: Opportunities & Challenges Explained
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/an-investors-guide-to-fintech-opportunities-and-challenges-explained
_The fintech sector has grown fast and shows potential — but is it a good idea to invest? A guide to the opportunities and risks._
Fintechs are actively revolutionizing the traditional financial services landscape by developing innovative solutions in response to evolving consumer and business needs. One of the most prominent examples of the transformations they are driving is the digital payments sphere, which is rapidly embracing AI & ML, blockchain, and the idea of cashless societies.
14.11.2023 5 min read
Due to such impressive developments, these companies are growing fast and are attracting the attention of investors eager to make the most out of this upward trend. However, investing in payment industry ventures comes not only with promising opportunities but also with significant risks. Keep reading to learn about the main aspects fintech investors need to keep in mind!
### Key Opportunities in the Modern Payment Industry
Here are some of the major factors that make investing in the payment industry a potentially lucrative opportunity:
**1\. Increasing Interest in Digital Payments**
During the COVID-19 outbreak, consumers and businesses had to turn to eCommerce to comply with the social distancing measures. However, the demand for online shopping keeps growing even in post-pandemic times. In fact, the global digital payments market is projected to experience a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of [12.8%](https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/financial-services/our-insights/sustaining-digital-payments-growth-winning-models-in-emerging-markets) between 2020 and 2025.
This ongoing surge in online sales has also boosted the demand for digital payment solutions, which, in turn, creates a substantial opportunity for investors to participate in a market that is primed for substantial expansion in the upcoming years.
**2\. Untapped Emerging Markets Potential**
Emerging markets, such as India, Brazil, Mexico, and China, hold immense potential for investment within the payments sector.
In these countries, a significant portion of the population lacks access to traditional banking services, being either unbanked or underbanked. Fintechs play a critical role in promoting financial inclusion and closing this financial gap by providing digital payment alternatives that eliminate the need for having a conventional bank account.
Besides, many emerging markets also have high smartphone adoption rates, which is further accelerating the adoption of digital payment solutions. For instance, the smartphone penetration rate in India hit [71%](https://www.statista.com/statistics/1229799/india-smartphone-penetration-rate/) in 2023 and is expected to reach 96% already by 2040.
**3\. Regulatory Advancements**
Regulatory authorities across the globe are acknowledging the significance of digital transactions and taking measures to support their implementation and growth. For example, the European Union’s Payment Services Directive 2 (PSD2), which entered into force in 2016, has been successfully fostering innovation and promoting healthy competition within the payment sector for years.
In addition, many countries are also exploring the possibility of Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) adoption and are working on defining legal and regulatory frameworks for such projects. This includes addressing issues related to CBDC issuance, distribution, exchange, and the role of intermediaries.
Such regulatory initiatives create a fertile ground for the advancement of digital payment solutions, which is great news for those looking to invest in this industry.
**4\. Promising Partnerships**
Another positive tendency is the increasing number of collaborations between fintechs, traditional financial institutions, and technology firms. Such partnerships enable innovators to leverage the established infrastructure and customer base of FIs while ensuring higher adoption of cutting-edge payment solutions.
Investors who recognize the potential of these strategic partnerships can stay ahead of the curve and capitalize on emerging trends that can potentially shape the financial industry.
### Main Challenges Linked to the Payment Businesses
As you can see, the payment industry is brimming with potential. However, investors should also be aware of the challenges associated with this rapidly evolving sector before committing their capital. Here are some of the key factors to consider:
**1\. Intense Competition**
The payment industry is highly competitive, with both established players and newer companies vying for market share. Such intense rivalry can make it difficult for investors to make informed decisions regarding capital allocation.
Thus, being able to distinguish unique value propositions and avoid opting for the wrong opportunity requires thorough research and a deep understanding of the market. It is especially crucial to stay up-to-date with industry trends and check in with short and long-term predictions of reputable industry experts.
**2\. Fluctuating Regulations**
While the continuous development of the regulatory landscape in the financial sector can be an advantage, it may also be a cause for concern. After all, the rapid changes and regional discrepancies in legal requirements can make it challenging for fintech businesses to stay compliant. Moreover, companies may face stricter regulations as time passes, which could potentially limit their growth.
Consequently, investors need to stay informed about the regulatory environment in their target regions and factor in the possible obstacles that could derive from any regulatory shifts on their investments.
**3\. Cyberattacks**
Unfortunately, fintech companies are frequently targeted by cybercriminals. For instance, in 2022, [1,829](https://www.statista.com/statistics/1310985/number-of-cyber-incidents-in-financial-industry-worldwide/) financial industry-specific cyber incidents were reported worldwide.
Therefore, any security failure can result in significant consequences for both the business and its shareholders, including:
- Reputational damage
- Loss of clients
- Operational disruptions
- Data breach
- Additional expenses
Thus, it is crucial for investors to thoroughly assess the cybersecurity measures implemented by the businesses they are planning to deal with before allocating their capital.
**4\. Adoption Risks**
Despite the increasing demand for innovative digital payment solutions, new technologies or products may still encounter challenges in achieving widespread acceptance. So, investors must evaluate the market adoption prospects of the fintech ventures they are interested in. Some critical aspects that require assessment are:
- Ease of use
- Security
- Relevance to the target audience’s pain points
- Compatibility with established systems
If all these factors look promising, the payment solution is likely to have a good uptake.
### Final Thoughts: Is the Payment Industry Worth Investing In?
Overall, in the majority of cases, the advantages of investing in the payment industry are highly likely to outweigh the risks associated with it. With careful market analysis, a proactive approach to innovation, and a focus on security and compliance, investors can expect to reap plenty of benefits from placing their stakes on fintechs.
However, it is essential to never underestimate the industry challenges and adopt a well-informed and cautious investment approach. It is also helpful to seek professional advice, especially if you are new to this sector or if you are dealing with substantial investment sums.
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---
## An Overview of Australia's Transition to the ISO 20022 Standard
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/an-overview-of-australias-transition-to-the-iso-20022-standard
_Everything you need to know about Australia's migration to the ISO 20022 standard and its impact on the payments landscape._
The adoption of the ISO 20022 standard for payments and messaging is a monumental shift for financial institutions across the globe. On [March 20, 2023](https://www.swift.com/news-events/news/iso-20022-coexistence-begins-opening-new-possibilities-cross-border-payments), over 11,000 FIs in more than 200 jurisdictions successfully went live with the standard, making it one of the most extensive migrations in history.
14.04.2023 4 min read
In Australia, this transition involved [50](https://auspaynet.com.au/insights/Media-Release/HVCS20022) major national and international institutions integrating critical elements of their payment systems, including the domestic real-time gross settlement (RTGS) system and High-Value Clearing System (HVCS), to the ISO 20022 message format. Read ahead to learn more details about this event and its impact on the country's financial landscape.
### What Is ISO 20022 & Why Is the Shift Toward It Necessary?
In a nutshell, ISO 20022 is a messaging standard for financial transactions that provides a structured and comprehensive format for data exchanged between institutions. It is designed to replace older messaging standards that are less unified and not as efficient.
The adoption of the ISO 20022 messaging standard globally enables interoperability between payment systems and networks by eliminating overheads associated with translation and conversion.
This promotes seamless movement of payments across different networks, increasing their reach and overcoming fragmentation found between systems based on different formats. It also future-proofs payments by facilitating efficient connections with new technologies that may be developed.
Thus, the adoption of the ISO 20022 messaging standard in Australia not only yields plenty of benefits for the local payments landscape but also is completely necessary to ensure the country is keeping in step with the times.
### The Australian ISO 20022 Migration Programme Timeline
The migration to the ISO 20022 standard is a large-scale transformation for the Australian payments landscape which was years in the making and involved multiple key steps, namely:
**1\. Consultation Process**
In [April 2019](https://www.rba.gov.au/publications/consultations/202002-iso-20022-migration-for-the-australian-payments-system/pdf/iso-20022-migration-for-the-australian-payments-system-conclusions-paper.pdf), the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) recognized the importance of migrating the Australian payment system to the ISO 20022 messaging standard. RBA then initiated a consultation process, which recommended that AusPayNet manage the migration program.
AusPayNet is a self-regulatory body for the local payments industry. It is responsible for ensuring that the payment system in Australia is efficient, reliable, and secure.
RBA’s recommendation in AusPayNet’s favor was a significant turning point for the migration program, as it paved the way for collaboration between regulators, financial institutions, and technology teams.
AusPayNet's involvement as the lead body provided a central point of coordination and ensured that the migration was carried out in a standardized and organized manner.
**2\. Building and Testing**
Over the next four years, 50 HVCS participants worked closely with AusPayNet to build and test key aspects of the new messaging standard. This involved extensive coordination between the self-regulatory body and FIs to ensure a seamless transition.
During the testing phase, the FIs worked closely with AusPayNet to ensure that the new messaging standard was functioning correctly and that there were no interoperability issues between different systems.
**3\. Implementation**
Finally, in March 2023, the Australian payments industry successfully migrated critical elements of the domestic real-time gross settlement (RTGS) system and HVCS to the ISO 20022 message format. This marked a significant milestone for the industry and demonstrated the effectiveness of the collaborative efforts.
### Benefits of ISO 20022 for the Australian Payments Landscape
While the adoption of the ISO 20022 messaging standard in the Australian payments landscape was a complicated process, it was worth all the invested effort and resources, as it provides numerous benefits for stakeholders in the ecosystem, namely:
- **Improved efficiency.** ISO 20022 provides more structured and comprehensive data, which\* improves the speed and efficiency of payment processing.
- **Increased automation.** The standard allows for more automation in payment processing, reducing the need for manual intervention and the potential for errors.
- **Enhanced transparency.** The increased data richness and standardized format provide greater visibility into payment transactions, enabling better tracking and reconciliation.
- **Improved international interoperability.** The adoption of the standard aligns Australia with the global payments ecosystem, which helps to facilitate cross-border transactions.
- **Enhanced innovation.** The standard's increased data richness allows for more innovative services and products to be developed, enabling greater competition and customer choice in the payments landscape.
Overall, the adoption of the ISO 20022 messaging standard represents a significant step forward in modernizing Australia’s payment system and making it future-ready.
### What’s Next for Australia’s Payment Ecosystem?
The migration to the new ISO 20022 standard is a critical transformation in the financial services industry. However, it is merely the initial stage of a journey toward a more unified standard.
For instance, Swift users will have to undergo a co-existence period between the old ISO 15022 and ISO 20022, with the expectation that the former standard will be phased out by November 2024 for domestic transactions and by November 2025 for cross-border payments.
One initiative that strives to tackle this situation is the consultation document issued by the Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI) in March 2023. Its goals are to address the challenges of mixed-use payment messaging standards in cross-border transfers, maximize the benefits of ISO 20022’s implementation, and mitigate variability in its global deployment.
With that said, AusPayNet's implementation of ISO 20022 in Australia's domestic RTGS and HVCS involved aligning the message format with the New Payments Platform (NPP) and cross-border payments and reporting (CBPR+) standards. This places Australia in a favorable position to ensure continuous harmonization as CPMI's developments in this area progress.
---
## Anthropic, Mastercard, UPI: The Rush Into Agentic Commerce
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/anthropic-mastercard-upi-agentic-commerce
_AI agent news from Anthropic, Mastercard and UPI — and what it means for payment providers. See how Payneteasy turns its back office into AI-ready workflows._
AI agents are moving from chat windows into commercial workflows — discovering products, building carts, running merchant operations. Anthropic’s commerce blueprint, backed by Mastercard and Visa, is the clearest signal yet. The question payment providers can’t dodge: how much access does an agent get, and who stays in control when it acts?
08.09.2026 5 min read
That question extends beyond consumer checkout. Payment teams also need to decide what an internal agent may investigate, which operations it may perform and how access can be withdrawn. The use cases differ, but both require permissions that the underlying systems can enforce.
### Anthropic Connects Commerce Agents With Mastercard and Visa
On 2 September 2026, Anthropic released a blueprint for businesses building shopping and merchant agents with Claude. Mastercard and Visa are among the partners working with Anthropic to help clients and merchant communities use it.
The shopping agent supports product discovery, customer preferences, cart building and order enquiries. The merchant agent supports sales analysis, inventory monitoring, pricing recommendations and campaign preparation. Payment integration remains with the business, through its existing checkout or an agentic payments provider.
The reference implementation shows how this separation works: its demonstrations hand checkout to the host application, while merchant changes require a person’s approval before they are applied. Businesses remain responsible for their deployment’s authorisation and compliance controls. Claude Commerce Agents reference implementation.
For payment providers, this highlights the need for a defined handover into payment execution. A conversation can establish what a customer wants; connected systems must determine which actions are permitted and how the payment is completed.
### The Supporting Infrastructure Is Developing Alongside the Agents
Separately, Mastercard has admitted 22 companies to the first Agentic Commerce & Services cohort of its Start Path programme. Participants cover agent connectivity, identity, payment credentials, fraud assessment and merchant enablement. This complements the commerce blueprint announcement: businesses need both usable agents and infrastructure that can support their interactions. The Paypers’ report on the Start Path cohort.
The same shift is emerging beyond card networks: The Paypers reports that India’s UPI system may soon let AI agents make small payments under conditions set in advance. It’s a reminder that delegated-authority questions extend to national payment rails, not just card schemes.
Taken together, these developments suggest that agent adoption depends on connecting commercial intent with enforceable permissions. Identifying the account holder is part of that task. Establishing which agent acted, what it was permitted to do and whether its action stayed within that permission adds another layer.
### Transaction Context Must Survive the Handover
For payment providers evaluating these models, evidence of authority should be part of integration design. If a purchase is challenged, operations teams need records that connect the instruction, the permission in force, the checks applied and the transaction outcome.
Those records should come from the systems enforcing and executing the workflow. Relying solely on the agent’s explanation of its own actions would leave an avoidable gap in an investigation.
The same principle applies inside a payment platform. An analyst’s agent needs reliable operational context to investigate a decline. An automation agent needs explicit permission for any resulting change. Payneteasy addresses these needs through MCP access to operational data and a separate UI API path for authorised back-office work.
### How Payneteasy Connects AI Insight With Controlled Operations
#### UI API: A Separate Path for Authorised Operations
Where a workflow requires action, [the Payneteasy UI API](https://payneteasy.com/blog/payneteasy-ui-api-back-office-automation) provides a separate programmatic route to back-office operations. Its OpenAPI specification documents **more than 130 services and more than 1,500 operations**, with availability determined by account permissions.
Restricted tokens narrow access to selected methods within the issuing user’s rights. They can be time-limited and revoked, allowing teams to grant an integration or agent the permissions needed for a particular task.
For example, a team can use MCP to investigate payment performance and a separately authorised UI API integration to pull reports or carry out permitted merchant onboarding tasks. These are illustrative workflows: each requires the relevant tools, permissions and integration setup.
The operational benefit is the ability to introduce AI assistance into specific tasks while deciding separately which changes an agent is authorised to make.
#### MCP: Operational Insight With Scoped Access
Payneteasy MCP helps teams work with payment operations data through compatible AI assistants. Claude, ChatGPT or Codex can serve as the interface where the client supports the required MCP connection and authentication.
Through a configured connection, an assistant can query permitted transaction statistics, inspect individual orders and their processing trails, and read related platform records. [Teams can use plain-language questions to connect performance trends with the operational detail behind them](https://payneteasy.com/blog/ai-payment-gateway), reducing manual navigation between reports and records.
Payment execution stays outside the MCP access boundary by design, so teams can delegate investigation while retaining control over operational changes. Access is scoped and revocable, and the assistant receives no raw PAN or CVV.
#### Explore the Available Tools
Existing clients can review the UI API under **Tools → API documentation** in their Payneteasy back office. To explore the analysis workflow first, [see how Payneteasy MCP connects assistants to payment operations data](https://payneteasy.com/payment_technologies/ai-payment-operations).
### What Payment Providers Should Take From These Developments
The announcements point to three decisions for any agent integration: what data it may access, what actions it may perform and what evidence the system retains.
For a consumer agent, that may mean enforcing a purchasing mandate before a payment proceeds. For an internal payment agent, it means providing useful investigative access and granting operational permissions separately where needed.
Payment providers can apply this approach to workflows available today. Start with a defined task, give the agent the access required to complete it, and make the transition from analysis to action an explicit part of the design.
### Frequently Asked Questions
#### What’s the advantage of AI agents paying through UPI?
No more approving every small purchase — an agent handles recurring payments like groceries within limits set in advance, saving time while keeping spending capped and reversible. It’s a proposed framework, not yet live.
#### Does Anthropic’s commerce agent blueprint process payments itself?
No. Anthropic’s blueprint leaves payment integration to the business, through its existing checkout or an agentic payments provider. The reference demonstrations hand checkout to the host application; they do not charge cards themselves. Claude Commerce Agents reference implementation.
#### What should payment providers check before allowing an AI agent to initiate payments?
Providers should establish whose authority the agent uses, which transactions that authority permits, how limits are enforced and how permission can be withdrawn. The workflow should retain records linking the instruction, permission checks and payment outcome. The exact requirements depend on the payment method and implementation.
#### Can AI analyse payment data without permission to execute payments?
Yes. Data access and execution permissions can be configured separately. Payneteasy MCP lets compatible assistants query permitted operational records while payment execution remains outside its access boundary. Authorised back-office actions use a separate UI API integration with its own permissions. [Payneteasy MCP Agent Access](https://payneteasy.com/payment_technologies/ai-payment-operations).
---
## Anti-Money Laundering: What It Is & Why It Matters
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/anti-money-laundering-what-it-is-and-why-it-matters
_Anti-money laundering is key to curbing financial crime — how AML works and what the latest regulations require._
Money laundering is a financial crime that involves concealing the origins of unlawfully obtained proceeds for them to appear as if they derived from a legitimate source. Worldwide, there are between $800 billion and $2 trillion laundered each year, accounting for 2-5% of the global GDP.
11.07.2022 6 min read
To counter this issue, financial institutions use anti-money laundering (AML) procedures. Find out what AML activity is, how it works, and why it’s so important to conduct it.
### How Money Laundering Works
Before moving on to the concept of AML, it’s crucial to understand how money laundering works.
**ML involves three stages:**
1. **Placement** - this refers to the “how” and “where” the dirty money is placed. It often happens through the following means:
2. - Transactions at cash-based businesses
- Payments for false invoices
- Transferring small sums (below the AML threshold) to bank accounts or credit cards (“smurfing”)
- Moving money into trusts and offshore companies that hide the beneficiaries' identities
- Using foreign bank accounts
3. **Layering** - it’s the process during which criminal funds are separated from their source by means of creating complex layers of transactions.
4. **Integration** - this final step implies the laundered funds’ re-entry into the economy in a seemingly legitimate way - typically through business or personal transactions. This is often done by investing in real estate or luxury assets.
The earlier the stage of a money-laundering operation, the easier it is for AML investigators to trace the funds' origin and ownership.
### What Is Anti-Money Laundering?
Anti-money laundering (AML) refers to a set of laws, regulations, and actions focusing on uncovering efforts to disguise illicit funds as legitimate income.
There are many reasons for organizations to participate in AML activities, such as:
- The moral imperative to counter money laundering and terrorist financing.
- Protection of the brand reputation and shareholder value.
- Compliance with the local and international regulations.
- Avoidance of consent orders as well as civil and criminal penalties.
- Reduction of expenses related to fines, employee and IT costs, and capital reserved for risk exposure.
### AML Regulations History in the European Union
Various jurisdictions have different governing bodies and regulations when it comes to money laundering. In the EU, the main regulatory body for AML procedures is the European Commission.
Here is how the legislation regarding money laundering issues in the EU has evolved throughout the years:
- **1990** - the European Union introduced its first anti-money laundering Directive. It obliged entities to apply customer due diligence requirements when entering into a business relationship. This means identifying and verifying the clients’ identities, monitoring transactions, and reporting suspicious activity.
- **2015** - the EU adopted an updated regulatory framework that took into account the 2012 recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and included:
- - Directive 2015/849 (4th anti-money laundering Directive) on preventing the use of the financial system for money laundering or terrorist financing;
- Regulation 2015/847 on information on the payer accompanying transfers of funds. The latter set of rules made money transfers more transparent, assisting law enforcement authorities in tracking down terrorists and criminals.
- **2018** - the 5th anti-money laundering Directive was published to be implemented by 10 January 2020. This is the currently active AML regulation that features enhanced transparency, improved risk assessment, and boosted cooperation between AML supervisors and the European Central Bank.
- **2021** - the European Commission presented a package of legislative proposals to strengthen the EU’s AML/CFT rules. It harmonizes the regulations across the EU and suggests the creation of a new EU authority to fight money laundering.
As you can see, the rules are being continuously adjusted to match the evolving money laundering methods.
In addition to the main directive, the EU Commission also issues supporting documentation, such as its list of high-risk third countries, impact assessment, and trainer’s and user’s manuals to support the AML/CTF activity.
### Parties Involved in AML Procedures
There is a variety of entities in the financial industry that take part in anti-money laundering, namely:
- **Banks.** Financial institutions - banks, in particular, provide a channel through which laundered money could flow. Dirty money is most visible when it is first introduced into the financial system, so it’s crucial for banks to be involved in anti-money laundering activities.
- **Capital market firms.** Capital markets are internationally connected and largely liquid. It comes as no surprise that the opportunities of large cross-border capital transfers that can be conducted in a matter of seconds are an appealing target for money launderers.
- **Insurance companies.** Money launderers often submit insurance claims to retrieve funds. By overfunding and moving money in and out of policies, they create a stream of seemingly innocent transactions paired with the low cost of early withdrawal penalties.
- **Retail businesses.** Unsuspecting retail stores can be used as payment processors to launder money. This is often the case during transaction laundering, when a legit vendor uses payment credentials to process transactions for an undisclosed merchant selling unknown products and services.
These are just some of the parties that are often targeted by money launderers and thus need to participate in AML activities. However, virtually every type of organization in the financial industry should be cautious about money laundering and take preventive measures - more on this below.
### Preventing Money Laundering - Key AML Procedures
In general, AML procedures involve the following measures:
- **Know your customer (KYC).** Having a strict client acceptance policy and requiring proper customer identification and verification is the first step financial institutions must undertake to ensure transaction legitimacy. KYC guidelines help minimize the risk of money laundering and fraud by determining suspicious elements early on in the client-business relationship.
- **Large currency transaction reporting.** It is mandatory for entities to file regulatory reports for transactions that exceed a certain threshold made by a single customer throughout a business day.
- **Suspicious activity monitoring.** Sometimes institutions spot numerous cash deposits or withdrawals over a period of several days. This can be done for money laundering purposes to avoid a reporting threshold. It’s essential to report such activity to fulfill regulatory requirements.
- **Sanctions compliance.** Regulatory bodies typically require financial institutions to monitor transaction parties and report if sanctioned individuals, companies, institutions, and countries are involved.
### How Can Payneteasy Help?
Even with regular amendments, the AML regulations can at best aim to contain money laundering rather than stop it entirely.
To prevent facilitating financial crimes and avoid fines, it’s crucial to equip your company with a state-of-the-art solution. Payneteasy’s [intelligent payment gateway](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/gateway) is equipped with an advanced fraud and risk management system that has everything you need to detect suspicious activity at an early stage, such as:
- **3-D Secure verification.** This protocol is an extra security layer that provides ultra-reliable transaction validation and helps you process transactions with a significantly lower risk of encountering fraud.
- **130+ customizable fraud filters.** A wide variety of anti-fraud filters enables you to detect and prevent duplicate card number usage, ban untrusted services, and beyond - tailor the settings to match your project’s needs.
- **Customer behavior analysis.** This functionality provides you with detailed insights into how the customers engage with your organization so that you can offer better and more secure services.
Contact our specialists today to get a [custom FinTech solution](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/individual_solutions) in no time!
---
## APAC Retail: A Detailed Overview of Modern Challenges & Opportunities
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/apac-retail-a-detailed-overview-of-modern-challenges-and-opportunities
_Explore the evolving retail landscape of the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region — its key challenges and opportunities._
Over the course of the past decade, the retail sector has been facing plenty of challenges, from supply chain bottlenecks to surging inflation. Besides, as living costs rise, consumers become more cost-conscious, demand more value for money, and seek to be rewarded for their loyalty to brands. This situation is true for many locations across the globe, including the Asia-Pacific (APAC).
17.10.2023 7 min read
This guide is here to provide you with insights into how this vibrant region is coping with such turbulent times and unlocking new opportunities for growth. From Australia and Hong Kong to Singapore and Japan, local retailers sure do have some valuable lessons and trends to uncover to the global retail scene.
### Asia-Pacific Retail Overview: Key Industry Shifts in Numbers
Inflation has had a major impact on the retail landscape. Based on the latest research, 36% of APAC consumers nowadays choose to wait for major sales, such as Singles’ Day, Black Friday, or the winter holidays to shop. This trend is particularly evident in Singapore, where 2 out of 5 shoppers delay their purchases until substantial discounts are available.
At the same time, the demands and preferences of consumers in the Asia-Pacific are also gradually evolving. For instance, in Australia, 59% of stores have reported increased customer expectations due to the rising cost of living. Besides, 57% of modern APAC shoppers are ready to abandon an online or offline purchase if their preferred payment method is not available.
Notably, this figure is in line with the global average of 55%, which highlights the growing importance of smooth customer experience worldwide. What’s more, in Hong Kong, where the government has distributed consumption vouchers through various payment platforms, this figure even reaches a whopping 66%.
Not all businesses are able to adapt to such drastic changes, with nearly half of retailers struggling to retain customers. This challenge is partly due to the fact that around 50% of APAC retailers lack a customer loyalty reward program. For example, in Japan, as many as 83% of retailers do not utilize customer relationship management (CRM) systems to gain better consumer understanding.
On the other hand, retailers who analyze the latest tendencies among shoppers and make efforts to adjust their operations accordingly are likely to see drastic sales improvements and future-proof their business. But which strategies are effective in such turbulent conditions? Keep reading to find out!
### How Are APAC Retailers Responding to Changes?
The rapid shifts experienced by APAC retailers are urging them to revolutionize their approaches. Here are some of the trending tactics local businesses have been adopting:
**Using Customization to Overpower Consumer Doubts**
Investing in a state-of-the-art CRM system is one effective way for retailers to attract new customers and boost loyalty among their existing clientele. Such data-driven solutions enable a more personalized shopping experience for consumers, which is what at least two-thirds of APAC shoppers wish for.
Moreover, consumers are eager to engage with the brands they buy from, especially if they get special offers in return. For instance, most modern-day shoppers are open to downloading a retailer’s app if it provides access to tailored loyalty rewards.
This readiness to interact with companies through various channels opens up plenty of online and offline opportunities for retailers to collect valuable data and enhance the customer experience.
**Unifying Online & Offline Shopping Experiences**
Even though people are going back to offline stores after the pandemic, it does not drive online sales down. As a result, retailers worldwide, and in APAC in particular, are expected to make money from both revenue streams.
Due to this, as mentioned earlier, creating a smooth shopping experience is quickly becoming one of the top priorities for retailers nowadays. While this aspect can entail many elements, one of the key considerations is the synchronized operation of physical and online shopping experiences.
Yet, it is crucial to note that using separate systems for online and in-store shopping is likely to result in customer dissatisfaction and missed data insights. In fact, over 70% of retailers agree that physical stores influence people’s decisions, even if they end up buying online. Thus, it is clear to see that an omnichannel retail approach is essential for stable business growth.
Over half of APAC consumers already prefer stores that let them switch between channels, like checking things out in-store and buying online (showrooming) or vice versa (webrooming).
Besides, people across the region tend to enjoy having self-checkout and smartphone payment options at physical stores, with less than 5% saying they had bad experiences. Besides, these upgrades are beneficial not only for customers but also for retailers in countries with staff shortages, like Singapore. There, 55% of consumers reportedly used self-checkout kiosks in 2022 alone.
**Expanding Business to New Territories**
Another sphere of commerce that is experiencing a resurgence after the COVID-19 pandemic is cross-border trade. As the number of international purchases increases, retailers in the Asia-Pacific region are actively expanding into nearby markets.
More than 50% of businesses report improved performance due to their international expansions, while 1/3 of retailers are looking into online or offline commerce opportunities in foreign countries.
However, for these investments to yield desired profits, it is crucial to ensure a seamless and cost-effective customer journey. In fact, 34% of APAC consumers will only purchase from international retailers that offer reasonable shipping rates.
Additionally, providing commonly accepted international payment methods is essential to cater to the preferences of wider audiences. Surprisingly, less than 33% of APAC retailers currently do so, with Singapore leading in this regard.
While there is still plenty of room for improvement in APAC when it comes to this sphere, one out of every five local consumers has shopped from an overseas retailer in the past six months. Chinese retailers tend to be particularly successful due to their competitive pricing and diverse product offerings.
**Adopting a Holistic Approach to Commerce**
Another great step that retailers in the APAC region and other countries across the globe can take to optimize their operations is to consolidate their processes on a single platform. This may include such online and offline elements as:
- Payments
- Supply chain logistics
- Inventory management
- Loyalty programs
- Promotions
- Inventory tracking
- Data analysis tools
The list goes on! A good software solution will be able to logically display these elements, access real-time data from diverse sources, and provide high-quality insights.
This approach not only optimizes the creation of personalized shopping experiences but also serves as a solution to break down organizational silos, a challenge encountered by approximately one-third of APAC businesses. Notably, in Hong Kong, more than 80% of retailers have either initiated or are contemplating investing in unified commerce to address this challenge.
Those APAC retailers that have already adopted the unified commerce approach, have reported a 9% increase in revenue compared to those who have not embraced it yet. Impressively, some Japanese retailers have reportedly more than doubled their revenue by implementing this strategy. Yet, over 90% of Japanese retailers have yet to make sufficient investments in it, which clearly indicates the existence of adoption barriers.
In contrast, unified commerce is gaining momentum in Singapore and Australia, with twice as many retailers planning to invest in related technologies compared to last year.
### The Future of Retail in APAC: What Does It Look Like?
Think about it: many retailers and shoppers expect physical stores to transition from being the primary shopping locations to just fun places to visit in the near future, with 39% of APAC retail customers wanting in-store shopping to be more exciting. In Malaysia, the percentage is even higher (56%), with clients wanting more in-store tech and integrated online and offline shopping systems.
However, as retailers modernize the shopping experience, it is also crucial not to forget about fraud. 1 out of 5 shoppers in Asia-Pacific had problems with payment fraud in 2022. And, due to this, 2/3 of them will be more cautious with online shopping in the future. Thus, we can expect more and more APAC retailers to implement advanced AI-based solutions to prevent fraud and protect their clients.
Overall, the retail landscape in APAC is a dynamic environment that is rapidly evolving to cater to the changing consumer needs and preferences. As a result, the untapped market potential for local businesses willing to make the necessary data-driven adjustments is immense. However, those who are not flexible enough to adjust their operations risk being left lagging behind.
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---
## Apple Pay’s Open Banking Integration for UK Wallet Users Explained
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/apple-pays-open-banking-integration-for-uk-wallet-users-explained
_Apple Pay has rolled out new open banking features for UK Wallet users — everything you need to know about the update and its potential._
Thanks to Apple Pay’s open banking integration that was soft-launched in [September 2023](https://9to5mac.com/2023/09/27/apple-wallet-app-uk-bank-balances/), users across the UK can now enjoy an innovative feature in the Wallet app. But what exactly is it all about, and how can consumers benefit from it? This guide is here to answer all the burning questions!
23.11.2023 3 min read
### The New Feature in a Nutshell: What Can Users Expect?
The iOS 17.1, released on [October 25](https://www.macrumors.com/2023/10/25/apple-releases-ios-17-1/#:~:text=Apple%20Releases%20iOS%2017.1%20and%20iPadOS%2017.1%20With,operating%20system%20updates%20that%20came%20out%20in%20September.), was the first opportunity for the UK public to test Apple’s new open banking integration. This innovative feature enables users to do the following:
- View up-to-date balances
- Check spending history
- Access additional details for debit and credit cards connected to the Wallet
Even more importantly, the balances will also be displayed inline when a payment is made via Apple Pay. This is designed to promote financial awareness and enable users to assess whether they can responsibly afford the purchase.
### Getting Started With the New Apple Wallet Feature
If you live in the UK and have a local bank account, chances are you are already able to test out this exciting Apple Wallet update.
The list of banks supported by this feature includes the following institutions:
- Barclays
- Barclaycard
- First Direct
- Halifax
- HSBC
- Lloyds
- M&S Bank
- Monzo
- NatWest
- Royal Bank of Scotland
If your bank is on the list and you have the latest version of iOS 17.1 installed on your device, here is how you can enable the new feature:
1. Link your account with the eligible card in your Wallet
2. Once you select an eligible card, you will be directed to the app or website of your financial provider to authenticate your account
3. Follow the specified steps to activate the connection
It’s as simple as that! However, keep in mind that you will be required to provide your consent in accordance with [Open Banking standards](https://payneteasy.com/blog/revolut-uk-fintech-open-banking-payment-orchestration) to finalize the account linkage.
### Why Is This Update Great News?
So what makes the open banking integration big news? In short, it is the fact that this new feature brings Apple Wallet one step closer to taking center stage in consumers’ financial lives.
This project ultimately aims to replace traditional banking apps as the preferred platform for a range of financial tasks, including the monitoring of monthly expenditures. It is also a crucial puzzle piece in Apple’s major effort to expand its presence in the financial services sector, along with initiatives like Apple Savings and Apple Pay Later.
Jennifer Bailey, Apple’s Vice President of Apple Pay and Apple Wallet, emphasized the significance of empowering users to conveniently access their crucial account information through Wallet at the moment of purchase. According to her, this approach enables users to make well-informed financial decisions, fostering a better understanding and management of their spending.
### Will This Initiative Be Expanded to Other Countries?
Apple users around the world often find themselves disappointed by the prevalence of US-exclusive features. However, in a rare turn of events, the case for this initiative was different. The decision to roll out this new feature in the UK was mainly due to the presence of a widely adopted interoperable open banking standard in the country.
While the prospects of extending this feature to other areas seem to be less straightforward, it is expected that a US launch will follow in the foreseeable future. Yet, it is crucial to note that outlining a more specific time frame will only be possible once the local regulators mandate open banking.
---
## Are Bank Cards Soon to Become a Thing of the Past?
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/are-bank-cards-soon-to-become-a-thing-of-the-past
_Are debit and credit cards becoming outdated as digital payments evolve? Find out what is likely to happen to bank cards in the foreseeable future!_
Now that the payments landscape is abundant with innovative digital solutions that require nothing but a smart device at hand to make a purchase, many begin to wonder: are debit and credit cards becoming outdated?
16.01.2024 4 min read
In this overview, we attempt to answer this critical question by analyzing current industry trends, consumer preferences, and forecasts made by analytics and experts. Keep reading to form an opinion on whether bank cards will maintain relevance in the foreseeable future!
### Why Is the Future of Bank Cards Under Question?
Bank cards have become an integral part of people’s everyday lives. It is estimated that by the end of 2023, there will be over [29 billion](https://rcbccredit.com/blogs/credit-card-statistics-global-facts-data-and-figures-16#:~:text=General%20Credit%20Card%20Facts&text=In%202019%2C%20there%20were%20approximately,cards%20is%20being%20used%20globally.) debit, credit, and prepaid cards worldwide. However, lately, the center-stage position of this payment method is being questioned by many - some of the main reasons behind it include:
- **The rapidly growing popularity of digital payments.** The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of alternative payment options in the modern world. As a result, innovative contactless methods like digital wallets, QR codes, and P2P payment apps gained prominence.
- **Cards’ susceptibility to fraud.** Despite advancements in security features, traditional bank cards are still susceptible to fraud and unauthorized transactions. They also face a risk of being lost or stolen.
- **Sustainability concerns.** The environmental impact of producing and disposing of plastic cards is a growing concern. As sustainability becomes a key focus globally, more and more card issuers are facing pressure to optimize their processes. For instance, Mastercard is already working on removing first–use PVC plastics from its cards by 2028.
- **Changing consumer behavior.** Consumer preferences and behavior shift all the time. It is particularly noticeable when it comes to the choices made by younger generations. For instance, most [Gen Zers prefer BNPL services](https://www.paymentsdive.com/news/how-does-gen-z-feel-about-credit-cards-its-complicated/620125/) over conventional credit cards due to their convenience, flexibility, and additional features.
Moreover, tech progress is never stagnant, so new and exciting payment solutions keep emerging all the time. These technologies may offer features like decentralization, enhanced transparency, and lower transaction costs, which may result in them becoming the preferred alternatives to traditional payment options like cash and bank cards.
### Bank Cards’ Key Competitors in the Modern Payments Landscape
As you may have guessed, the speculations regarding the debit and credit cards’ gradual loss of relevance come hand-in-hand with forecasts on which payment methods have the potential to replace them.
Some of the most promising alternatives are as follows:
- **Digital wallets.** E-wallets are secure, convenient, and user-friendly payment options that are widely accepted across the globe. There are over [2.8 billion](https://rcbccredit.com/blogs/credit-card-statistics-global-facts-data-and-figures-16#:~:text=General%20Credit%20Card%20Facts&text=In%202019%2C%20there%20were%20approximately,cards%20is%20being%20used%20globally.) digital wallets in use today, accounting for nearly half of the world’s eCommerce transactions.
- **Biometric payments.** Biometric payments identify users by analyzing their unique physical traits, such as fingerprints, iris scans, or facial features. Thus, this option provides a high level of security without compromising on payment speed and convenience.
- **Voice-enabled purchases.** While there are still plenty of advancements required for voice payments to reach their full potential, they offer a promising alternative to bank cards due to their convenience and hands-free usage.
- **Wearable devices.** There are currently more than [219 million](https://www.demandsage.com/smartwatch-statistics/#:~:text=Smart%20Watch%20Statistics%3A%20Top%20Picks,219.43%20million%20smartwatch%20users%20worldwide.) smartwatch devices worldwide, many of which are NFC-enabled and allow users to make payments easily and securely. With nearly 180 million more smartwatches expected to be delivered to consumers in 2024, it is clear to see why payments via wearable devices are set to gain more popularity.
What’s more, many industry experts agree that Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) are also gaining attention as potential replacements for traditional debit and credit cards.
### Does the Emergence of New Payment Methods Mean the End for Cards?
As you can see, there are plenty of reasons for debit and credit cards to become a thing of the past, as well as a plethora of emerging innovative solutions to take the lead instead. Due to these factors, we are witnessing the relevance of these seemingly outdated payment options becoming a hot topic.
According to Megan Bramlette, Director of North America & EU Payment Acceptance at Amazon, for bank payments to take flight, the customer experience will need to be significantly better than the one currently offered by cards.
While all these notions are true, it is safe to say that bank cards will not be going anywhere in the near future. This is mainly due to the fact that no other modern payment method currently beats their adoption level, connectivity, and acceptance. After all, [76%](https://rcbccredit.com/blogs/credit-card-statistics-global-facts-data-and-figures-16#:~:text=General%20Credit%20Card%20Facts&text=In%202019%2C%20there%20were%20approximately,cards%20is%20being%20used%20globally.) of consumers have at least one credit card. Besides, the global credit card industry is expected to grow to $107.69 billion by 2025.
Therefore, while credit and debit cards are no longer an absolute necessity in offline and online purchases, they remain an integral part of the payments landscape. In the foreseeable future, we are likely to see them evolve and find a way to co-exist as one of the many payment alternatives available in the market.
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---
## Are Unified Payments Interface (UPI) Transactions Taking Over India’s Retail Space?
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/are-unified-payments-interface-upi-transactions-taking-over-indias-retail-space
_Why Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions are growing in India and how they are reshaping local retail._
In recent years, India has witnessed a revolutionary shift in the way financial transactions are conducted, particularly within the retail sector. This is largely attributed to the advent of the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), which is a convenient and secure real-time payment system used by both consumers and businesses.
07.06.2023 6 min read
As UPI’s adoption grows and the number of transactions this platform processes continues to soar, it is only natural to wonder about the scale of its influence on India’s payments landscape. In this article, we delve into the current impact of UPI on the local retail industry and explain how it could evolve in the years to come - read on not to miss out on all the insights!
### What Exactly Is UPI?
Before we talk about the growing influence of UPI, let’s take a moment to review what this platform is all about. In a nutshell, the Unified Payments Interface is a real-time payment solution introduced by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) in [2016](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/fifteen-banks-ready-to-roll-out-upi-by-july-31/articleshow/53467107.cms).
This revolutionary platform simplifies the process of making and processing payments by providing a single interface for various banking services, including online purchases, peer-to-peer transfers, bill payments, and beyond.
UPI is rooted in a mobile-centric approach, allowing users to perform transactions conveniently through their smartphones. It also eliminates the need for traditional payment methods like cash or cheques while making digital transactions seamless and hassle-free. UPI transactions can be initiated using different identifiers, such as mobile numbers, virtual payment addresses (VPAs), or QR codes.
Thus, one of the main advantages of this payment solution is its interoperability, due to which users can transact across different banks using a single UPI-enabled app. This factor has led to UPI’s widespread adoption across various sectors, including retail.
### UPI Adoption in India: Current State & Growth Prospects"
The digital payments market in India has been consistently excelling over the past few years, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 50% in transaction volume. Moreover, it is expected to continue its upward trend, reaching 411 billion transactions in the fiscal year 2026-27, which represents a significant increase from the 103 billion payments recorded in FY 2022-23.
With this in mind, it comes as no surprise that the Unified Payments Interface is also demonstrating a substantial growth trajectory, with a shift from 83.71 billion transactions recorded in 2022-23 to 379 billion transactions by 2026-27. This means that in 3 to 4 years, UPI is estimated to facilitate a staggering [1 billion](https://government.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/digital-payments/upi-to-corner-90-of-retail-digital-payments-in-india-by-2026-27-pwc/100570269?redirect=1) transactions per day.
What’s even more impressive is that UPI is expected to account for 90% of all retail digital transactions in India already by 2027, as opposed to 75% in 2023.
**Will UPI Replace Bank Cards in India?**
While UPI is clearly the frontrunner in India’s retail payments, it’s essential to note the importance of the local bank card sector, which continues to exhibit strong growth. Both debit and credit cards remain popular choices for retail digital transactions in the country. However, experts predict a shift in dominance from debit to credit cards by FY [2024-2025](https://www.businesstoday.in/technology/news/story/upi-transactions-expected-to-account-for-90-of-retail-digital-payments-by-2026-27-report-383167-2023-05-28).
Credit and debit card issuance is projected to rise at a CAGR of 21% and 3% until 2027, respectively. The lower pace on the debit card usage side is mainly due to the fact that their primary use case, cash withdrawals, is effectively replaced by the convenience of UPI.
With that said, even though UPI has gained significant traction, it is unlikely to completely replace bank cards in the near future, as they still hold a significant share of India’s retail payments ecosystem.
Besides, they feature unique advantages and use cases that make them relevant and preferred by different segments of the population. For instance, while UPI is convenient for small-value retail transactions and person-to-person transfers, bank cards offer advantages like reward programs, credit facilities, wider acceptance, and higher transaction limits.
### What Does UPI’s Increasing Ubiquity Mean for India’s Retail Sector?
The increasing usage of UPI in India’s retail transactions has multiple benefits, such as:
- **Convenient and seamless payments.** UPI offers a simple and user-friendly interface, enabling customers to make quick and hassle-free payments using their smartphones. This convenience encourages more people to adopt digital payments, even in remote areas, consequently leading to a surge in retail transactions.
- **A step toward a cashless economy.** As UPI gains wider acceptance, it reduces the dependence on cash transactions and promotes digital transactions. This shift can lead to greater transparency in the retail sector, reduced black market activities, and improved tax compliance among merchants and consumers.
- **Financial inclusion.** UPI allows linking mobile wallets and Jan Dhan accounts, contributing to the promotion of financial inclusion. The system enables individuals without traditional bank accounts to participate in the formal economy and make online purchases.
- **A boost for small businesses.** UPI provides small retailers with a cost-effective and efficient payment solution. It eliminates the need for physical point-of-sale infrastructure and reduces transaction fees compared to traditional payment methods, helping merchants to streamline their operations, reduce cash handling risks, and expand their customer base.
- **Data-driven insights.** With the rise of UPI, a significant amount of transaction data is generated, offering valuable insights for businesses. Retailers can analyze consumer spending patterns, preferences, and purchase behaviors, which allows them to make informed decisions on inventory management, marketing strategies, and customer engagement.
- **Fostering innovation.** The increasing adoption of UPI is driving innovation in the Indian retail sector as businesses are developing solutions to integrate UPI into various platforms, including e-commerce websites, mobile applications, and payment gateways. This enables retailers to provide excellent personalized shopping experiences to their clients.
All in all, the growing adoption of UPI in India is enhancing payment convenience, promoting online shopping accessibility, driving digital transformation, and supporting the overall growth of the retail sector in the country.
### A Glance at UPI’s Future in the Retail Sphere
As you can see, the future of UPI in the retail sphere in India appears promising, with several trends and developments indicating its continued increase in significance, namely:
- **Continuing adoption.** UPI has already witnessed significant adoption since its introduction in 2016. As awareness and familiarity with this system continue to grow, more retailers are likely to adopt it as a preferred payment method.
- **Integration with offline retail.** E-commerce platforms and online marketplaces already widely accept UPI payments. Moving forward, more traditional brick-and-mortar stores, small retailers, and street vendors are likely to adopt it, replacing or complementing cash transactions.
- **Enhanced security.** UPI transactions are already secured through features like two-factor authentication, PIN codes, and encryption. Yet, there is a continuous focus on strengthening security measures around them to further protect users and combat fraud. Future advancements may include biometric authentication and advanced encryption techniques.
- **Integration with loyalty programs and offers.** UPI platforms have the potential to integrate loyalty programs, discounts, and cashback offers to incentivize consumers and encourage repeat purchases.
- **Innovation in payment solutions.** UPI’s success has fueled payment innovation, and this trend is likely to continue. Businesses will continue to develop new FinTech solutions and platforms built around UPI, potentially offering value-added services like instant credit, installment options, and customized payment solutions for specific retail segments.
- **Cross-border transactions.** While UPI is currently mainly focused on domestic transactions within India, there is a possibility of its expansion for cross-border transactions. Efforts to enable UPI-based international payments are already underway, with the integration with Singapore’s PayNow system being one prominent example.
In summary, UPI’s role as a key driver of digital payments in the retail sector is expected to strengthen further, contributing to a more inclusive, efficient, and digitally enabled retail ecosystem in India.
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---
## Asia-Pacific Region: Driving Change in Global Payments
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/asia-pacific-region-driving-change-in-global-payments
_The Asia-Pacific region leads in many spheres, including payments. The latest APAC payment trends and what they mean for merchants expanding there._
The world’s retail eCommerce sales are expected to rise from $4.2 trillion in 2020 to $7.3 trillion by 2025. One of the main contributors to such rapid growth is the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, with its focus on innovation in the payments technology field.
04.08.2022 5 min read
Aside from online sales, there are many other aspects in which APAC shapes the future of the global payments landscape. Find out which industry trends are rooted in this region and what the future of this area looks like, according to experts.
### Understanding the APAC Payments Landscape
There is no official definition of the APAC region and its borders. However, it is generally considered to encompass the geographical area across 13 countries throughout eastern and southern Asia and Oceania.
APAC stretches over a vast territory and is home to over 60% of the world’s population, which makes it an extremely diverse region with highly competitive markets. In fact, the Asia-Pacific area dominated the global payments industry in 2020, with approximately $900 billion in revenue.
In addition, the APAC payments landscape is very flexible and dynamic, which creates a perfect environment for the creation and adoption of industry trends and, as the global pandemic has shown, is resilient enough to recover from crisis situations.
### Key Payment Trends in the Asia-Pacific Region in 2022
APAC has a significant influence on the global payments landscape, so It's important to stay updated on the current state of affairs in this area.
Here are some of the main payment trends in the Asia-Pacific region in 2022:
**1\. Offering Unmatched Payment Processing**
Merchants across the APAC race to optimize their operations and improve consumer experiences. This is due to the fact that consumers nowadays have a plethora of stores and payment methods to choose from.
Such a competitive environment makes it difficult for businesses to determine the customer journey and predict their actions. Thus, merchants focus on delivering the best shopping experience possible to attract potential clients, win their loyalty, and get bigger revenues.
This is done by the following means:
- Focusing on [omnichannel retail](https://payneteasy.com/blog/what-is-omnichannel-retail-and-why-it-works-miracles)
- Ensuring a straightforward checkout process
- Facilitating frictionless transactions
- Offering a wide variety of payment methods
- Minimizing waiting times
- Providing impeccable customer service and support
A flaw, even in one of these aspects, would put a merchant several steps behind the competitors.
**2\. Using Data to Personalize Customer Experiences**
Another way for a business to stand out in a highly competitive market is to make its clients feel like they are special and all their unique preferences are met. Merchants across APAC understand the importance of creating a fully personalized shopping experience for every client by offering the products they need through their favorite channels with payment methods convenient for them.
Such customization is possible thanks to the [power of data](https://payneteasy.com/blog/how-can-merchants-make-the-most-out-of-payments-data-analytics). When a purchase is made, the business collects information on the products the client is interested in, the payment method used, the platform through which the transaction was conducted, and other details of the customer journey. This data is then analyzed and used to create a tailored experience for every consumer.
**3\. Building Long-Term Payments Strategies**
When COVID-19 hit, the APAC region was the one to suffer the first wave of the pandemic. It forced many businesses to speed up digitization to offer eCommerce services and contactless payments. In 2022, some of these merchants found themselves stuck with a fragmented network of payment channels that fails to offer accurate data insights.
At this point, it’s clear that issues like this could be avoided with the help of a thought-out payments strategy that takes into account the potential radical shifts in consumer behavior and makes businesses more agile and resilient.
Thus, a common trend for merchants in APAC countries nowadays is to invest in a long-term payments strategy to be prepared for any market challenges that may arise.
**4\. Rapidly Moving Away from Cash**
APAC is leading the payments revolution as the region with the fastest-growing volume of non-cash transactions. Here are some numbers that prove it:
- The share of cashless transactions in APAC is forecasted to rise by 109% in the period from 2020 to 2025.
- Eight of the top ten countries to embrace mobile payments are located in APAC.
- The contactless and electronic payments market in the Asia-Pacific region is expected to grow at an unmatched CAGR of 22.4% from 2022 to 2027.
- China and India combined account for more than 50% of the world's smartphone users, with eWallets being ubiquitous in these countries.
- Mobile payments help resolve the issue with unbanked individuals in APAC. For instance, India's Payments Banks (PBs) are primarily used for mobile payments and have the potential to serve 190 million unbanked adults.
As you can see, there’s plenty of evidence supporting the theory that many countries in APAC are quickly moving toward a [cashless economy](https://payneteasy.com/blog/when-will-the-world-be-ready-to-go-cash-free).
### What Can Merchants Learn from APAC’s Example?
The Asia-Pacific region’s example demonstrates that staying ahead of the growing global competition requires businesses to adopt a detail-oriented approach that tracks and takes into account every preference of the clients throughout their customer journeys.
Merchants have to put a personalized shopping experience at the heart of their payment strategy and develop an action plan that’s thought-through, long-term, and based on insights derived from the collected data.
Trying to adjust to the changing consumer behavior, add new payment methods, and comply with international regulations is a lot of work. Payneteasy optimizes every part of the process to help you navigate the ever-changing payments landscape with maximum efficiency. [Reach out to our sales team now](https://payneteasy.com/contacts) for more information on our solutions!
---
## Asian Central Banks & India’s UPI Unite for Cross-Border Payments
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/asian-central-banks-and-indias-upi-unite-for-cross-border-payments
_Project Nexus is a collaboration between several Asian countries set to transform the global payments landscape — learn more._
India’s United Payment Interface (UPI) is set to connect with the central banks of four forward-looking Asian countries to create an instant cross-border retail payments platform. This initiative is executed under the guidance of the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) as part of Project Nexus - a set of efforts for enhancing cross-border payments.
06.09.2024 3 min read
This exciting collaboration is big news, as it’s expected to lay the groundwork for an expansive retail network throughout South and Southeast Asia. In this overview, we shed some light on the roles that the different stakeholders play in this venture and explain how it can influence the dynamics of regional financial transactions. Keep reading for all the details!
### The Bigger Picture: What Is Project Nexus?
Project Nexus, launched by BIS in 2022, aims to interconnect the real-time digital payment infrastructures of countries across Asia, including India, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, and the Philippines, with Indonesia initially acting as an observer but likely to hop on the train in the near future.
Yet, nowadays, BIS only acts as a consulting body for the project, while the administration of the Nexus protocol is overseen by the Nexus Scheme Organisation (NSO), the ownership of which is entirely in the hands of the central banks of the member nations, namely:
- Bank Negara Malaysia
- Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas
- Monetary Authority of Singapore
- Bank of Thailand
- Reserve Bank of India
According to Elisa Tavilla, Director of Debit Payments at Javelin Strategy & Research, as this project evolves, it is forecast to revolutionize instant cross-border payments and make the essential steps to drive the global digital economy forward.
What’s more, Agustín Carstens, General Manager at the BIS, states that even with just the first wave of countries on board, the Nexus Project demonstrates significant potential to transform the payments landscape by connecting a market of 1.7 billion people globally and enabling them to make instant payments easier and cheaper than ever before.
### Payment System Synergies Between Asian Countries
It’s crucial to note that a joint project like Nexus does not come as a surprise since the nations involved in it have had ongoing ad-hoc collaborations over the past years.
For instance, a new cross-border payment system streamlining transactions for the citizens of Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia was introduced in [October 2023](https://www.mas.gov.sg/news/media-releases/2023/launch-of-cross-border-real-time-payment-systems-connectivity-between-singapore-and-malaysia). The same year, Singapore and India unveiled a partnership between their real-time payment systems, enabling immediate transfers of funds via mobile phones across both countries.
Besides, Singapore has already forged a link with Thailand and is in the process of developing a similar connection with Malaysia. Therefore, the emergence of a unified payment alliance that unites all the major economies across Asia was as expected as it was necessary.
### India Steps in to Lead the Way: UPI’s Role in the Collaboration
While every stakeholder involved in the Nexus initiative contributes to its goals significantly, many industry experts agree that with India joining the list of participating countries, the project is set to develop at an accelerated pace.
This is mainly due to India’s vast market size and rapidly growing digital payment ecosystem. In fact, India’s UPI processes a higher volume of digital transactions than any other system globally. In 2023 alone, its cumulative transactions exceeded the [100 billion](https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/technology/total-upi-transactions-cross-100-billion-mark-in-2023/articleshow/106492917.cms?from=mdr) threshold, establishing India as the most influential force in digital payments.
### What Can We Expect from Project Nexus?
All in all, Project Nexus is expected to demonstrate the power of collaboration and innovation in the financial sector. By leveraging the strengths of each member country’s digital payment systems, it is creating a seamless and efficient cross-border payment network that could serve as a model for future global financial integration.
With the strategic guidance of the BIS and the operational leadership of the NSO, the project is well-positioned to address the complexities of international payments. As Nexus continues to evolve, it could not only enhance economic ties between Asian countries but also help to facilitate a new era of global digital financial services that are more inclusive, efficient, and accessible to all.
[White Label Payment Gateway PSP Offer your customers a top-level payment solution, increase your turnover and boost your business profit.](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/gateway)
[Orchestration Platform Merchants Only one integration to consolidate all your payment providers to a unified management system.](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/orchestration-payment-platform)
---
## Australian eCommerce: Key Trends and Considerations for Retailers
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/australian-ecommerce-key-trends-and-considerations-for-retailers
_The latest trends and must-know considerations for excelling in the Australian eCommerce landscape in 2023 and beyond._
The Australian eCommerce sector has been actively growing over the past few years, transforming the country’s retail landscape. In fact, the share of online sales in the local market is estimated to reach an impressive year-on-year growth rate of 16.8% in 2023. While this shift is advantageous in many ways, it also comes with some challenges for domestic brands.
11.10.2023 5 min read
In this article, we review the latest Australian eCommerce trends, explain how they are shaping local consumer behavior, and provide some valuable insights into the strategies retailers can employ to thrive in such a rapidly changing environment.
### Which Factors Have Accelerated eCommerce Growth in Australia?
It comes as no surprise that one of the main catalysts of eCommerce growth in Australia is the COVID-19 pandemic. With lockdowns and social distancing measures in place for extended periods, consumers turned to online shopping as a safer alternative.
As a result, nearly [9 million](https://auspost.com.au/content/dam/auspost_corp/media/documents/ecommerce-industry-report-2021.pdf) Australian households, which accounts for over 4 out of 5 families on the continent, made online purchases at some point in 2020. These figures represented a whopping 57% increase in online purchases compared to 2019, with Australian shoppers collectively spending a staggering $50.46 billion online.
Notably, this consumer behavior change has also led to a significant uptick in the popularity of online payment methods. Shoppers began to favor contactless options, such as mobile payment apps and e-wallets.
Australian businesses were quick to respond to this trend by investing in the development of their eCommerce platforms and online payment solutions. In turn, the ease and speed of online transactions, their enhanced security, and the availability of installment payment options have further fueled the growth of the Australian eCommerce market.
### What Are the Local Consumer eCommerce Preferences?
Among the various product categories sold online in Australia, the following categories are the most popular ones:
- Clothing
- Shoes
- Bags and accessories
- Consumer electronics
- Cosmetics and body care
The products that Australians buy online less often, on the other hand, include such items as:
- Toys and goods for babies
- Furniture and household products
- Sports and outdoor equipment
What’s more, many of the prominent players in the online retail landscape are local brands including:
- Woolworths
- Coles
- Officeworks
- JB Hi-Fi
In fact, Woolworths, a major figure in the Australian B2C eCommerce arena, earned $3,874 million in 2021 alone, followed by Coles at $2,211 million. What’s more, the global tech industry giant Apple also holds a significant position in the Australian eCommerce market, reporting a revenue of $1,211 million in 2021.
Collectively, these three companies contributed 30.2% of the total revenue generated by the top 100 online stores in Australia in 2021.
### Top 3 Australian eCommerce Trends
Here are the three main trends that are currently playing a pivotal role in the evolution of the Australian eCommerce landscape:
**1\. Cross-Border Shopping**
In 2021, nearly [20%](https://www.trade.gov/country-commercial-guides/australia-ecommerce) of Australians engaged in international shopping that year, with 40% of these purchases originating from China. At the same time, the share of products bought from the US has decreased to 21%, while UK orders dropped to 14% of overseas purchases. This decline is primarily due to international freight disruptions caused by the pandemic.
However, as Australia is gradually recovering from COVID-19, both small and medium-sized businesses, along with larger corporations, are recognizing the potential for cross-border expansion. As a result, this trend goes hand-in-hand with This trend is closely aligned with the acceleration of eCommerce growth in Australia.
**2\. Innovative Payment Methods**
The array of payment methods accessible to Australians is also actively expanding. Nowadays, Australians can choose from such options as:
- Credit and debit cards
- Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) services
- E-wallets
- Account-to-account (A2A) transfers
- Cash
- Checks
When it comes to selecting the preferred payment methods, local consumers across demographics are mainly looking for convenience and simplicity in online shopping.
Due to this, digital wallets have seen an incredible [surge in popularity](https://www.commbank.com.au/articles/newsroom/2021/05/digital-wallets-contactless-soar.html). In the period between March 2020 to March 2021 alone, the volume of monthly digital wallet transactions surged from 36 million to 68 million, with the total value of these transactions skyrocketing from AUD 1 billion to AUD 2.1 billion.
BNPL is yet another payment method that has gained substantial traction in Australia in recent years, particularly among millennials. According to a 2022 survey, Afterpay, Zip, and Klarna are the leading providers of this payment method in the country.
**3\. Delivery Convenience**
According to Australia Post, the national postal service, with Australians spending more time at home in recent years, there has been a substantial rise in home deliveries - their share grew from [82% in 2019 to 87.7% in 2020](https://auspost.com.au/content/dam/auspost_corp/media/documents/ecommerce-industry-report-2021.pdf).
Besides, local consumers are also exploring alternative delivery options. For instance, collection points and parcel lockers have become especially popular.
### What Should Local Retailers Keep in Mind to Stay Competitive?
According to recent surveys, the three primary areas where retailers could enhance their services linked to online sales are:
- Product availability
- Delivery choice variety
- Eco-friendly packaging
Moreover, it is also crucial for retailers to comply with the refund and return policies developed by the [Australian Competition & Consumer Commission](https://www.accc.gov.au/consumers/problem-with-a-product-or-service-you-bought/repair-replace-refund-cancel).
Yet, aside from catering to local demand, it is also essential for Australian eCommerce businesses to comply with global industry standards. This includes such elements as:
- Ensuring that their online platforms are scalable and optimized for mobile shopping
- Focusing on providing top-notch cybersecurity
- Continuously improving the overall user experience by conducting testing, gathering feedback from customers, and making necessary improvements
- Providing prompt customer support
- Leveraging data analytics and AI-driven technologies to offer customized experiences and personalized recommendations
By keeping these crucial aspects in mind and staying up-to-date with the current eCommerce trends, Australian online retailers can ensure sustainable business growth both locally and internationally.
[Orchestration Platform Merchants Only one integration to consolidate all your payment providers to a unified management system.](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/orchestration-payment-platform)
[Payneteasy 3DS Adapter Strike a balance between utmost security and frictionless checkout with Payneteasy 3DS Adapter.](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/3ds_adapter)
---
## Authorization Vs. Capture: Here’s What Merchants Need to Know
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/authorization-vs-capture-heres-what-merchants-need-to-know
_Payment authorization and capture are two procedures involved in card processing. Read this guide to understand why they are important and how they differ!_
From a consumer’s perspective, card payments are quick and simple transactions that only take seconds to complete. However, there are many processes that take place behind the scenes after a purchase is initiated. Understanding these ins and outs of a payment’s lifecycle is extremely important for merchants to deliver impeccable service and retain customers.
01.12.2022 3 min read
In this guide, we will take a closer look at two card processing steps that are commonly confused: authorization and capture. Read on to find out what these terms mean and which roles they play in the payment procedure.
### Authorization and Capture Explained
The definitions of authorization and capture are best explained in the context of the card payment processing flow.
Card processing can be divided into three major steps:
1. Authorization
2. Settlement
3. Funding
That’s where the first term on which this guide is focusing comes in. Let’s take a look a its definition:
**Transaction Authorization**
In a nutshell, authorization is the process when a card issuer approves a payment transaction after confirming that it meets a number of conditions.
Here’s how it goes:
1. The cardholder places an order and presents a card for payment at the merchant site, app, or POS terminal.
2. The software then sends a request to the processor or acquirer, asking for the transaction to be authorized.
3. The acquirer receives the request and forwards it to the issuer through the card network for approval.
4. The issuing bank checks whether the card is valid and ensures that there are sufficient funds available to cover the purchase.
5. Once the checking is complete, the issuer will return a decision to the acquirer. This could either be an approval with an authorization code that allows the transaction to be finalized, or a decline with an error code.
Now that it’s clear what authorization is, you might be wondering at which point the capture step occurs.
**Payment Capture**
In short, the capturing phase of the card payment process is when the business acquirer requests the authorized funds to be forwarded from the issuing account.
Even though the issuing bank confirms the availability of a sufficient amount of funds or credit to complete a purchase during the authorization step, money doesn’t move anywhere at that point. Instead, it is withdrawn on the capturing stage.
The payment capture timeline can vary, yet it is typically concluded within 5-10 days, as it is the period after which most card authorizations expire.
### Authorization and Capture Examples
While for some transactions, the capture step is finalized already during checkout, for others, it may take days. In the latter case, the process of the payment’s approval is called pre-authorization.
Here are a couple of common examples illustrating situations when there may be an extended gap between authorization and capture:
- **Pre-order.** If an online merchant doesn’t have the goods available to ship when the order is placed but is expected to receive them soon, the transaction will initiate a pre-authorization process. Once the products are ready to ship, a capture request will be issued, and the payment card will be charged.
- **Hotel check-in.** When a client checks in, hotels typically use an authorization-only request to verify the payment card. The authorization amount is usually larger than the final total, as it includes a damage deposit. This sum is kept on hold until the traveler checks out, which means that the pre-authorization and capture may take place several days apart, depending on the length of the stay.
In such cases, it is essential to ensure that the consumer is aware of the pending charge. Explaining how it works to the clients helps to minimize the number of inquiries related to the reserved sum.
### Bottom Line: Why Are the Authorization and Capture Steps Necessary?
Both payment authorization and capture are in place to protect merchants and businesses from financial liability and potential losses by making the transactions more secure.
While these two procedures are often thought to be the same due to the fact that they go hand-in-hand in facilitating card processing, it’s essential to differentiate them, as they play equally critical yet distinct roles.
[White Label Payment Gateway PSP Offer your customers a top-level payment solution, increase your turnover and boost your business profit.](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/gateway)
[Payneteasy 3DS Adapter Strike a balance between utmost security and frictionless checkout with Payneteasy 3DS Adapter.](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/3ds_adapter)
---
## B2B Payments’ Digitization: What to Expect in 2022 & Beyond
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/b2b-payments-digitization-what-to-expect-in-2022-and-beyond
_The digitization of B2B payments is increasingly important — why businesses should embrace this trend and what to expect._
Historically, B2C payments have always been digitized sooner than B2B transactions. Now that the world is recovering from the pandemic, this gap is becoming even more prominent. Due to this, 2022 is marked by a transformation in B2B payments characterized by a strengthening focus on meeting the expectations of suppliers and merchants.
13.05.2022 4 min read
Read on to learn more about the digitization of B2B transactions in the near future and the payment trends associated with it.
### What Is the Current State of B2B Payments?
Despite the fact that we are living in a digital era, there’s still a lot of paperwork involved in B2B transactions. For instance, paper checks still account for over half of the overall B2B transaction value, even though the number of organizations that use them is gradually decreasing.
It’s also common for businesses to send out paper invoices or to print out the emailed ones for them to be annotated and registered into an ERP system. When it comes to the payment experience itself, it is also often manual, inefficient, and lacking security.
### Challenges of Paper Checks
Despite remaining a common B2B payment method, paper checks are associated with a variety of downsides, including:
- **High costs.** Paper checks cannot be considered cost-effective, as it costs approximately $4-$20 to process one. Besides, you should also count in the associated taxes and the payment for the time your employees spend processing such transactions manually.
- **Mail delays.** Commercial mail deliveries typically take around 3.5 days, and delays can’t be avoided completely.
- **Fraud susceptibility.** In 2021, paper checks were the payment method targeted by fraudsters the most.
- **On-premise processing.** Nowadays, processing payments remotely is critical to the efficient functioning and growth of businesses.
As you can see, there are plenty of disadvantages related to the manual processing of B2B payments. But can digitization address them?
### The Benefits of Digitizing B2B Transactions
With a drastic shift toward remote work due to the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses have faced the reality in which their employees need to manage the incoming and outgoing payments outside of the office.
Thus, it’s crucial to digitize some critical B2B payment processes within the organizations, such as:
- Accounts payable
- Accounts receivable
- Expense reimbursement
- Employee-initiated spending
Making the above tasks less manual brings plenty of benefits to businesses, such as:
- Transparency in the movement of funds
- Optimized cash flow
- Lower risk of payment-related fraud
- More control over the transactions
- Reduced errors
- Less time needed to be dedicated to monotonous tasks
Yet another decisive factor in favor of B2B payments’ digitization is that this shift cuts the costs businesses face in the long term.
Reducing the use of paper checks by 10% leads to $1.3 billion in annual savings. If the company manages to decrease the use of traditional checks by 50%, it’s likely to save approximately $58.3 billion every year.
With that said, it’s safe to assume that the shift toward global B2B non-cash payments is inevitable. It’s estimated that there will be around 200 billion of such transactions by 2025, as opposed to 121.5 billion in 2020.
### B2B Payments’ Digitization in 2022 and Beyond
At this point, it’s evident that the transitioning from paper-based B2B payments to their digital counterparts should become one of the top priorities for businesses of all scales.
Some great alternatives include:
- **EFT and ACH.** Electronic Funds Transfers help send money digitally from one bank to another while requiring zero direct participation of the bank staff. Automated Clearing House payments are a type of EFTs available in the US and run by the National Automated Clearing House Association (NACHA).
- **Credit and debit cards.** Even though card transactions can be more expensive compared to ACH payments, their popularity in B2B financial operations is increasing due to almost instant processing times.
- **Virtual cards.** These are temporary cards that can be used online and are tied to a permanent bank account. Virtual cards provide extra security since the details of the main card aren’t being used and thus cannot leak in a potential data breach.
- **Digital wallets.** E-wallets are online applications that enable users to securely store their payment information and are very convenient to use for both individual and business purposes.
Ultimately, increased efficiency, reduced costs, and advanced security will be the main factors driving this trend and bringing some fintech providers ahead of their competition.
Payneteasy is today's leading payment platform provider that combines all of those aspects alongside additional benefits, such as tailored solutions, fast integration, straightforward functioning, and thorough technical support all the way. Reach out to us now to start digitizing your B2B transactions now or if you have any other project in mind!
---
## How to Pick a White-Label Payment Gateway
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/best-white-label-payment-gateway-providers
_Best white-label payment gateway providers compared on integrations, PCI DSS Level 1, smart routing and time-to-launch, with five vendors ranked._
The best white-label payment gateway is the one that matches your criteria, not the one with the loudest brand. Score providers on integration breadth, PCI DSS Level 1, deployment flexibility, smart routing, time-to-launch and fraud control — then compare. On those criteria Payneteasy leads, with credible alternatives depending on your stack.
20.07.2026 9 min read
Everyone claims to be the best, yet you only need the one that fits. This guide ranks the best white-label payment gateway providers the honest way — by the criteria that decide whether you thrive or stall. White-label means you [sell card processing under your own brand](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/gateway), on someone else's rails. A [PSP (payment service provider)](https://payneteasy.com/glossary/payment-service-provider-psp), an ISO (independent sales organization) or a platform can launch fast without building the plumbing. The market is real and growing — Business Research Insights\* puts it at roughly $2.76B in 2025 heading toward $8.19B by 2035 — with 58%+ of PSPs choosing white-label over building (one industry estimate; see our [full market data report](https://payneteasy.com/blog/state-of-white-label-payments-2026) for sourcing and caveats). But “best” means nothing in the abstract. So below are the six criteria that actually decide fit, then a fair provider comparison. We lead with Payneteasy because the verified facts earn it that spot; the rest are included honestly, with every public number tied to its source.
### How to choose a white-label gateway: six criteria
Fix your scorecard before you compare brands. These six dimensions separate a gateway you can build a business on from one you outgrow within a year. Score each provider honestly, then let the numbers pick the winner.
**1\. Integration breadth.** An [acquirer](https://payneteasy.com/glossary/what-is-an-acquirer), the bank that settles your card money, is one of many connections a gateway can pre-build. So count them. How many acquirers, PSPs and payment methods are already wired in? [Every integration you skip building](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/payment-integration) is months saved and a market you can sell on day one.
**2\. [PCI DSS Level 1](https://payneteasy.com/glossary/what-is-the-pci-dss).** This is the top card-security certification, the highest compliance tier there is. Without it, the audit burden falls on you. With it, the provider carries the heavy lifting for you.
**3\. Deployment options.** Cloud is fastest to switch on. Yet regulated or high-volume players often need on-premise, meaning software run on their own servers, for control and data residency. Flexibility here is a hard filter.
**4\. Smart routing and cascading (retrying a failed charge on a backup bank).** Smart routing sends each payment to the best-fit acquirer. [Cascading then retries a declined charge on a second bank](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/orchestration-payment-platform), which lifts approval rates and kills single points of failure.
**5\. Time-to-launch.** Weeks versus quarters changes your whole business case. Ask for a concrete launch window, not a vague “fast”.
**6\. Fraud filters.** Configurable, ideally self-learning risk rules keep chargebacks, the disputed refunds banks claw back, and scheme fines low as you scale.
### Best white-label payment gateway providers compared
Here is the shortlist, scored against those six criteria. A quick note first. Orchestration (a smart layer that routes each payment across many providers) shows up in a few cells below. Payneteasy figures are verified. Competitor figures are their own public claims, cited per source, so confirm the current numbers directly before you commit.
| | | | | | | |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| | Integrations | PCI DSS | Deployment | Routing / cascading | Time‑to‑launch | Fraud filters |
| Payneteasy | 1000+ | Yes | Cloud + on-premise | Smart routing + cascading | 2-4 weeks | 130+ customizable filters, Ethoca & Verifi Integration, dispute management tools |
| IXOPAY | 200+ acquirers, 300+ payment methods, 500+ adapters (per IXOPAY) | Yes | Cloud | Orchestration + routing (per IXOPAY) | Per vendor | Risk engine + 3rd-party tools (Forter, Riskified, Kount) (per IXOPAY) |
| Akurateco | 600+ connectors (per Akurateco) | Yes | Cloud / on-premise | Cascading (per Akurateco) | Per vendor | Whitelists/blacklists + 3-D Secure 2.0 (per Akurateco) |
| Corefy | 600+ integrations (per Corefy) | Yes | Cloud | Routing (per Corefy) | Per vendor | Firewall: custom rules + blocklists (per Corefy) |
| Decta | No specific figure published on Decta's site | Yes | Cloud | Per vendor | Per vendor | Per vendor |
Where a competitor cell reads “per vendor”, the public material did not state a verified figure at time of writing — treat it as a question to ask, not a gap in the product.
**Sources for competitor figures (checked 2026-07-20):** IXOPAY — ixopay.com/products/payment-orchestration/platform, https://www.ixopay.com/partners/partner-ecosystem and https://www.ixopay.com/products/payment-modules/risk-fraud-services; Akurateco — akurateco.com and akurateco.com/payment-fraud-prevention; Corefy — corefy.com/connectors and corefy.com/payment-fraud-prevention; Decta — decta.com/products/white-label-payment-gateway (no specific fraud-filter figure published there). All figures are the vendors' own public claims — confirm current numbers directly with each vendor before you commit.
### Payneteasy — white-label gateway, full criteria coverage
Payneteasy is built specifically for PSPs and platforms that want their own branded gateway without the multi-year build. It covers every criterion above:
- **[1000+ pre-built integrations](https://payneteasy.com/integrations)** across 150+ countries
- **PCI DSS Level 1** certification
- **[Visa Global Registry](https://payneteasy.com/legal/visa) member**
- **[Mastercard SDP](https://payneteasy.com/legal/mastercard) Compliant Registered Service Provider**
- **Google Pay’s authorized partner**
- **Cloud and on-premise deployment**
- **[Smart routing with cascading](https://payneteasy.com/payment_technologies/routing_and_balancing_system)**
- **[130+ anti-fraud filters](https://payneteasy.com/payment_technologies/risk_management_and_dispute_management_system)**
- **White-label launch window of 2-4 weeks**
With 20+ years in production (founded 2005), up to 10M transactions/day and [99.95% uptime](https://status.payneteasy.eu/) measured by Pingdom over four years, it is a credible default for serious volume. Public docs and a sandbox are available at doc.payneteasy.com.
### The alternatives — where each one fits
Same lens on each alternative — where it is based and since when, how many integrations it advertises, what its core product is, and who it usually serves (all per each vendor's own site and case studies):
**IXOPAY** — Vienna, Austria; founded 2014. Advertises 200+ acquirers, 300+ payment methods and 500+ pre-built adapters. Core product: payment orchestration and tokenization platform. Typically serves enterprise merchants, fintechs and white-label clients such as PSPs and ISOs, per IXOPAY.
**Akurateco** — a multi-office company (Ukraine, Portugal, Estonia, the Netherlands; sources differ on a single headquarters); founded 2019 (team with 15+ years in payments). Advertises 600+ integrations. Core product: white-label payment gateway and orchestration platform. Typically serves PSPs, enterprise merchants and financial institutions, per Akurateco.
**Corefy** — London, UK; founded 2018. Advertises 600+ ready-made integrations. Core product: payment orchestration platform with a white-label gateway option. Typically serves PSPs, banks and high-risk verticals such as iGaming and forex, per Corefy.
**Decta** — Riga, Latvia; founding year not published on its own site (third-party sources cite 2015). No specific integrations figure published; the site cites 2,000+ PSPs, banks and merchants served. Core product: acquiring, issuing and white-label gateway bundled as one stack. Typically serves PSPs, banks and merchants wanting one vendor for acquiring and gateway, per Decta.
Each is a reasonable choice; the right one is whichever scores highest on YOUR weighting of the six criteria.
### Verdict: match the criteria, then talk to the shortlist
There is no single “best” white-label gateway — only the best fit for your integrations, compliance posture, deployment needs, routing strategy, launch timeline and [risk tolerance](https://payneteasy.com/blog/high-risk-payment-processing). On verified figures, Payneteasy covers all six criteria with the strongest single profile for high-volume, multi-region PSPs, and launches in weeks. If your priority is [a specific orchestration feature](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/individual_solutions) or bundled acquiring, weigh the alternatives accordingly. Either way, build the scorecard first.
\* Source: Business Research Insights, “White-Label Payment Gateway Market” report (businessresearchinsights.com/market-reports/white-label-payment-gateway-market-112971), accessed 2026-07-16.
[White Label Payment GatewayPSP Offer your customers a top-level payment solution, increase your turnover and boost your business profit.](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/gateway)
### Frequently Asked Questions
#### What is a white-label payment gateway?
A payment gateway that another firm brands and sells as its own. The provider supplies the processing infrastructure, compliance and integrations; the reseller (PSP, ISO or platform) puts its brand on the front and owns the merchant relationship.
#### What is the best white-label payment gateway provider?
It depends on your criteria. Scored on integration breadth, PCI DSS Level 1, deployment options, smart routing, time-to-launch and fraud filters, Payneteasy leads on verified figures (1000+ integrations, PCI DSS L1, 2-4 week launch, 130+ fraud filters). IXOPAY, Akurateco, Corefy and Decta are credible alternatives depending on your stack.
#### How long does it take to launch a white-label gateway?
With a ready provider it is weeks, not years — Payneteasy quotes a 2-4 week white-label launch window. Building a gateway from scratch (card handling, routing, fraud, integrations) is a multi-year effort, which is why 58%+ of PSPs choose white-label per industry estimates.
#### Do white-label gateways support smart routing and cascading?
The strong ones do. Smart routing sends each transaction to the best-fit acquirer; cascading retries declines on a backup acquirer. Together they lift approval rates and remove the single point of failure of one acquirer. Confirm both are included before you sign.
#### Is PCI DSS Level 1 necessary?
If you handle card data at scale, yes. Level 1 is the highest compliance tier. Choosing a provider that already holds it (as Payneteasy does) keeps the heavy certification burden off your own estate while you focus on selling.
---
## Beyond Fraud: How AI Is Transforming the Payments Industry
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/beyond-fraud-how-ai-is-transforming-the-payments-industry
_Check out this overview to explore the various ways in which AI is transforming the payments industry from fraud prevention to predictive analytics!_
The payments industry has undergone significant changes over the past years driven by the advent of technology and the increasing demand for faster and more convenient experiences. One of the innovative solutions that have played a crucial role in this transformation is Artificial Intelligence (AI).
16.03.2023 3 min read
Although initially AI was primarily used for fraud detection, its use cases have now expanded beyond this sphere and are set to revolutionize the entire payments ecosystem. In this article, we will explore the various ways in which AI is driving change in the payments industry and talk about the future of these developments.
### Top 5 AI Use Cases Related to the Payments Sphere
As you probably know, AI helps prevent payment fraud by analyzing data in real time to detect suspicious activity and adapting to new tactics used by fraudsters. There has also been a lot of buzz around AI-powered biometric authentication, such as facial recognition or fingerprint scanning, which is a secure and convenient way to verify a customer's identity.
While these implementations of AI technology are impressive, there are many more opportunities to explore. Below, you’ll find some of the most outstanding payment-related AI developments:
**1\. Customer Service**
AI-powered chatbots are redefining the customer service experience in the payments industry. These virtual assistants help clients with their payment-related queries 24/7, reducing wait times and improving consumer satisfaction. What’s more, they use machine learning algorithms to gain knowledge from customer interactions, becoming smarter and more efficient over time.
While as of now such chatbots may not be able to handle complex queries, such as disputes or account-related issues, they have enormous potential. Thus, we are sure to see them perform more sophisticated interactions as their technology evolves.
**2\. Predictive Analytics**
Predictive analytics is another groundbreaking AI use case in the payments industry. By analyzing historical data, AI-based programs can make predictions about future consumer behavior, such as purchasing patterns, payment method preferences, and even their likelihood of defaulting on bills.
Such software enables businesses to anticipate customer needs and preferences and tailor their offerings accordingly, ultimately leading to better client experiences and higher revenue.
**3\. Connected Cars**
AI technology has proven to be extremely useful when it comes to connected cars, enabling one to make seamless and secure payments directly from the vehicle. For example, drivers can pay for fuel, parking, tolls, and other services without the need for cash or credit cards.
Besides, AI can also enable personalized offers and discounts based on the driver's location, preferences, and past transaction history.
**4\. Voice Assistance**
With the rise of smart speakers and mobile phones, AI voice assistants are becoming a convenient and seamless way to make payments without the need for manual input. This is achieved through the use of natural language processing (NLP) to interpret spoken commands and execute transactions.
Such solutions offer unmatched convenience for consumers, enabling them to authorize transactions without having to navigate through multiple screens - instead they can use simple voice commands. They can also be used for such activities as checking account balances, transferring funds to other users, and setting up recurring payments.
**5\. Smart Contracts**
Smart contracts are digital programs that execute the terms of a contract automatically. They currently work based on specific rules and inputs, yet many believe that AI is their next logical evolutionary step, which is yet to be tapped into. Thus, while smart contracts do not currently use AI to a significant extent, some initiatives are actively developing such solutions.
With AI, smart contracts can be made more intelligent and responsive, adapting to changing conditions and ensuring that they are executed only when the necessary conditions are met.
### Summing Up: The Future of AI-Powered Payment Services
Although AI has already been implemented in many payment services, its potential in this industry is just beginning to be explored. As technology continues to advance, businesses can look forward to more AI-driven solutions emerging and improving the efficiency, security, and usability of payments.
What’s more, should the current pace of AI evolution in payments keep up, we can expect to see even more rapid advancements to occur in the near future.
---
## Biometric Payment Cards: Will They Become a Worldwide Trend?
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/biometric-payment-cards-will-they-become-a-worldwide-trend
_Biometric cards are actively gaining traction worldwide, even after the pandemic. Find out expert opinions on the future of this payment method here!_
Fingerprint-based cards were first introduced decades ago but failed to gain traction because they seemed overcomplicated at the time. However, following the pandemic, they are having a grand comeback in a number of markets.
26.07.2022 4 min read
While banks across Europe, Asia, and Latin America are actively reintroducing biometric payment cards and promoting them as a better alternative to their chip-and-PIN counterparts, experts argue whether they will take hold worldwide. Read on to find out what makes fingerprint biometric cards stand out from other payment methods and what the challenges related to their adoption are.
### Why Are Biometric Cards Having Their Moment Now?
The newest versions of biometric cards use fingerprints instead of PINs to authenticate users and feature contactless technology. This enables consumers to avoid touching payment terminals or dealing with cash, which was extremely useful during the COVID-19 outbreak.
However, the uprising trend for this payment method doesn’t seem to be going anywhere even in the post-pandemic period due to the fact that biometric cards have plenty of advantages, including:
- **High level of security.** The cardholder’s fingerprint reference data captured by the biometric sensor never leaves the card - it is securely stored in its chip. Besides, biometric payment authentication eliminates the need for a PIN and prevents fraudsters from seeing your sensitive data during in-store checkout.
- **Easy integration.** Biometric cards are compatible with payment terminals used for traditional contactless- or chip-based cards, so they are fairly easy to integrate.
- **Low maintenance.** The biometric sensor is powered by the payment terminal, so there is no extra care or recharging needed for such cards.
- **Convenience.** According to Jack Forestell, head of global merchant solutions at Visa Inc., the world is rapidly moving toward a future free of passwords as users come to realize how biometric technologies can make their lives easier.
A recent survey conducted by Visa found that consumers are as willing to use fingerprint recognition for in-store purchases as they are for online payments. What’s more, of all the biometric payment authentication techniques for in-store usage, fingerprint recognition ranked the highest, with 50% of respondents voting for it.
### The Challenges of Biometric Cards Adoption
Despite all the benefits of fingerprint-based biometric cards, some analysts are skeptical regarding their worldwide adoption. Here are some reasons why:
- **Relatively high cost.** One obstacle to the mass adoption of such cards could be the fact that they cost issuers about $1.50 more per piece. However, as the demand and production volumes grow, manufacturing costs are sure to decrease.
- **Early adopters’ apprehension.** Although there is certainly a growing interest in biometric cards, many consumers don’t trust this payment method just yet. It will take time to break the existing misconceptions about it.
- **No added security for online payments.** The use case for biometric cards in countries like the US might not be strong because the widely used EMV chips already prevent most counterfeit card fraud. When it comes to online payment fraud, biometrics in the physical card would not add any extra security layer.
- **Growth of mobile payments.** Mobile payments are steadily taking over the world and are expected to become even more prominent. With Apple announcing that it will enable iPhones to accept contactless payments, we can expect more app-based payments at the POS terminals, which makes experts doubt if the development of payment cards will be much-needed in the future.
As you can see, there are as many reasons for biometric payment cards to prosper as there are obstacles to it. So what does the future of this payment look like?
### The Future of Biometric Payment Cards
There have been popular opinions that payment cards were doomed even 20 years ago, yet research and surveys keep demonstrating that even though mobile payments are on the rise, cards are still preferred by the majority of consumers.
With the pandemic giving biometric cards a fresh start and taking into account the progress in this tech field, it is highly likely that this payment method will find its niche. After all, biometric cards remove friction from in-store transactions, and both banks and consumers love it.
While biometric cards may not replace their traditional counterparts completely, they can become a great upgrade option for consumers and can offer a good return on investment for banks.
---
## Biometric Payments: Tackling Consumer Trust & Certification Challenges
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/biometric-payments-tackling-consumer-trust-and-certification-challenges
_Biometric technology in payments is growing, but faces challenges to long-term success — and how they need to be addressed._
Biometric authentication lets users verify their identity when making payments in a secure, fast, and convenient way, which has led to the growing adoption of this technology. As a result, over 65% of consumers claim to be familiar with it. Yet, according to recent surveys, 69% of users are concerned about data breaches when using biometrics while 62% fear their privacy could be violated.
23.01.2023 4 min read
Thus, to ensure the successful implementation of biometric technology in the future, it’s essential to convince consumers that it is trustworthy. Read on to find out what challenges there are on the way to this goal and get to know how testing and certification can help to achieve it!
### Is Consumers’ Attitude Toward Biometric Payments Shifting?
In the past few years, the payment industry has seen the introduction of a variety of biometric-enabled solutions, including:
- Biometric payment cards with fingerprint authentication
- Palm vein scanners at brick-and-mortar stores
- Face recognition payment systems
The list goes on, with new solutions emerging fairly often. But how are the shoppers responding to these innovations?
In 2022, already [97%](https://www.statista.com/statistics/938779/worldwide-biometric-technology-transactions/) of mobile devices worldwide were capable of utilizing biometric authentication. Therefore, the majority of users are already well-versed in using their fingerprint or the facial recognition function to authenticate themselves. This familiarity largely contributes to the consumers’ willingness to use biometrics when making purchases.
The global market for facial recognition alone is forecast to hit [$13.8 billion by 2028](https://www.biometricupdate.com/202106/testing-standards-and-biometrics-certification-needed-to-combat-fragmentation-fime-argues), growing at a 15.7% compound annual rate, with other biometric niches being on similar tracks. However, the majority of consumers are expressing concerns regarding the regulatory measures, privacy, and data security related to this technology.
Certification has the potential to resolve these doubts - learn more details about it below.
### The Importance of Certification in the Payments Industry
Before diving deeper into the topic of certification in the biometrics niche, it’s crucial to understand its importance for the payments industry as a whole.
The payment ecosystem unites a great number of stakeholders, such as:
- Payment service providers
- Merchants
- Vendors
- Financial institutions
- Banks
- Fintechs
- Payment networks
Due to the continuous evolution of the payments industry and the wide variety of parties involved in it, the certification process is not a tick-box exercise, but rather a continuous practice that ensures the entities’ compliance with the latest regulations. In other words, it’s the much-needed layer of trust that allows ecosystem participants on all levels to cooperate fairly and securely.
What’s more, relevant certifications provide organizations and merchants with a competitive advantage, invoke end user trust, and accelerate sales.
### Challenges in Certification & Testing of Biometric Solutions
As you can see, certification plays a significant role in the payments ecosystem, and the biometric authentication niche is no exception to the rule. Together with constant testing of innovative technology, this practice paves the way for the wider acceptance of biometrics-based payment solutions by helping balance two critical factors - convenience and security.
However, the biggest challenge for stakeholders is the fact that the biometrics ecosystem is highly fragmented. Different entities tend to require distinct certifications to validate the reliability of biometric solutions.
Besides, international and domestic requirements for both software and hardware vary drastically, so developing a product that complies with multiple standards requires deep expertise, a lengthy and expensive testing process, and intricate strategizing.
The fact that the rapidly developing biometric technology has to operate within a fragmented ecosystem holds back its evolution and lowers the potential adoption rates. Thus, while the market’s rise is expected to continue, it could be severely restrained if this major issue is not addressed.
The key actions that the stakeholders must undertake to prevent the sector’s stagnation are:
- Shifting the focus on interoperability and adaptability
- Developing standardized certification processes
- Establishing uniform benchmarking practices to enable tech developers to compare key performance metrics
This plan of action will help to create a more standardized biometrics ecosystem and allow innovative solutions to reach the market quicker and more cost-effectively.
### Summing Up: What’s Next for Biometric Payments?
Biometrics are gradually becoming a fixture of consumers’ everyday lives. However, the impressive success that this technology has seen in mobile authentication has not yet translated to other sectors to the fullest of its potential.
While innovative projects continue pushing the boundaries of biometrics use cases, there are still challenges that need to be addressed in the payments sphere, with service providers facing the need to give customers assurance that their solutions are secure with standardized testing and certification procedures.
Luckily, there are legislative efforts worldwide that bring us closer to a more uniform regulatory framework for payment biometrics. For instance, in 2022, a number of states across the US introduced biometric guidelines based on the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA), which is sure to create a more consistent regulatory environment nationwide.
2023 is promising to bring even more progress in the field of biometric regulation in the US, and many jurisdictions across the globe are expected to follow suit.
[White Label Payment Gateway PSP Offer your customers a top-level payment solution, increase your turnover and boost your business profit.](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/gateway)
[Payneteasy 3DS Adapter Strike a balance between utmost security and frictionless checkout with Payneteasy 3DS Adapter.](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/3ds_adapter)
---
## BNPL in the B2B Sector: Evolution & Key Opportunities Explained
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/bnpl-in-the-b2b-sector-evolution-and-key-opportunities-explained
_Everything you need to know about the potential the B2B sector offers for the future expansion of BNPL services._
Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) services are currently experiencing their golden age, with the global total payment volume reaching a staggering $309.2 billion. What’s more, the interest toward them is forecast to continue growing, as the number of BNPL users worldwide is set to double, hitting 900 million by 2027, and the industry’s overall size is anticipated to sum up to $3.7 trillion by 2030.
22.11.2023 4 min read
Yet, despite these promising figures, BNPL providers are also encountering challenges, including stock market declines, tightening regulations, and profitability struggles. These factors raise concerns, with the main question being: “Is this business model viable in the long term?”. The answer to it could lie in the potential offered by B2B transactions. Keep reading to learn more!
### How Has COVID-19 Influenced BNPL Services?
The global pandemic has reshaped how consumers handle their money in many ways, from the reduced use of cash to the increased interest in BNPL services. However, it also underscored the importance of flexible payment options for the B2B sphere, causing disruptions in the supply chain, delaying payment processing, and placing a financial strain on numerous businesses.
In other words, the possibility of splitting payments gave companies a chance to stay afloat while navigating the unprecedented impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. This was especially true for SMBs in spheres like travel, hospitality, retail, and entertainment. What’s more, it was also crucial for companies that needed to buy stock and materials in such niches as manufacturing and healthcare.
Moreover, B2B BNPL has proven to be advantageous for both buyers and sellers. While the purchasing side enjoyed extended and flexible credit terms, merchants offering “Pay Later” products benefitted from receiving full upfront payments.
These BNPL benefits for the B2B sector accelerated its adoption during the pandemic years, and this upward trend doesn’t seem to be going anywhere in the foreseeable future.
### Top 3 Driving Forces of B2B BNPL Growth in Post-Pandemic Times
While BNPL in the B2B sphere has achieved unprecedented heights during the COVID-19 outbreak, it still offers plenty of untapped potential. Here are some of the key factors currently driving new developments in this sector and increasing B2B BNPL adoption:
**1\. Active Digital Transformation**
Following the pandemic years, the B2B sector is continuing a rapid digital transformation. In fact, [96%](https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/growth-marketing-and-sales/our-insights/survey-european-b2b-decision-maker-response-to-covid-19-crisis) of European B2B buyers claim to prefer an end-to-end, digital self-serve model for their purchases. Besides, 73% of B2B buyers are millennials who favor online transactions.
These figures showcase the fact that since B2B buyers and sellers have experienced the security, simplicity, and convenience offered by online transactions, they are highly unlikely to revert to traditional methods. This tendency is also supported by both traditional financial institutions and emerging fintechs rolling out diverse digital payment solutions.
This is particularly noticeable in the BNPL niche, where such innovative features as personalized financial dashboards, seamless ERP system integrations, and collaborative payment plans arise.
**2\. Intensifying Competition**
As the demand for online B2B trade grows, so does the competition in this sphere. Thus, sellers are seeking strategies that will help them stand out. One effective way of achieving it is the provision of innovative payment options, such as BNPL.
In fact, merchants who implement BNPL solutions tend to experience a nearly 40% surge in conversions and a 24% increase in purchase frequency from business customers, which makes it a tactical move with high ROI potential.
**3\. Increasing Focus on Customer-Centricity**
Just like modern consumers, companies nowadays are no longer willing to tolerate complex purchasing experiences via questionable ordering platforms. To meet these evolved expectations, sellers need to prioritize personalization, convenience, and responsiveness in their offerings.
B2B BNPL services cater to these needs well, as they enable seamless and user-friendly payments. After all, to make a purchase via BNPL, a business needs to follow the same simple process as they would with any other state-of-the-art payment method.
What’s more, the data generated through B2B BNPL transactions can be utilized for analytics, helping sellers better understand their customers, anticipate their needs, and optimize their products and services accordingly.
### Bottom Line: Why Is the Future of BNPL in B2B?
While the B2B and B2C segments feature distinct purchasing behaviors and market dynamics, both of them present plenty of opportunities for BNPL. Yet, many agree that the future trajectory of BNPL development leans toward B2B trade.
This is mainly due to the fact it’s a largely untapped territory for such services, especially in contrast with a highly saturated and homogeneous consumer market. It is clearly illustrated by the fact that despite B2B credit terms being a necessity, only [1 in 5](https://thepaypers.com/payments/reports/payment-methods-report-2023) of the B2B marketplaces that incorporate payment options offer a modern BNPL alternative.
Besides, the B2B sector also deals with higher transactional values than the B2C one, is more than three times larger, and is growing at twice the speed. This makes it more resilient to economic fluctuations and offers more scalability potential. With these factors in mind, it is clear to see why the B2B market is a promising arena for payment innovation in general and BNPL in particular.
[Orchestration Platform Merchants Only one integration to consolidate all your payment providers to a unified management system.](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/orchestration-payment-platform)
---
## Boosting Revenues & Consumer Trust in the Financial Services Sector
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/boosting-revenues-and-consumer-trust-in-the-financial-services-sector
_Find out how banks and fintech companies can adjust their strategies to enhance revenues and boost consumer trust in times of economic turbulence!_
While countries across the globe are experiencing the effects of a severe economic downturn, financial service providers are facing unprecedented challenges as they try to stay afloat among shifting consumer needs, increased market volatility, evolving fraud, and major budget restrictions.
24.08.2023 5 min read
Yet, Albert Einstein once said, “In the midst of every crisis, lies great opportunity”, and financial industry players are indeed finding ways to adapt and innovate even during such turbulent times. In this guide, we uncover the practices that help banks and fintechs win consumer trust and unlock new revenue streams despite economic uncertainty - read on not to miss out on valuable insights!
### How Is Economic Uncertainty Affecting Banks and Fintechs?
The global economy faced a series of challenges over the past years, including the COVID-19 pandemic, political conflicts, food and energy crises, escalating inflation, accumulating debt, and severe climate concerns.
As a result of these events, the [world output growth rate](https://desapublications.un.org/publications/world-economic-situation-and-prospects-2023) is expected to drop from approximately 3% in 2022 to 1.9% in 2023, which is among the lowest indexes seen in recent decades. During such times of economic turbulence, the resilience of organizations across a variety of sectors is put to the test, with those operating in the financial services sphere being no exception.
Modern banks and fintechs face a variety of complications, including:
- Budget shortages
- Declining consumer and business confidence
- Market volatility
- Currency fluctuations
- Emerging cybersecurity threats
- Shifting regulatory environment
- Lack of investment and funding
These circumstances force them to make adjustments to their operations to stay afloat - keep reading to find out which practices are currently on the rise.
### Key Strategy Adjustments Among Financial Services Industry Players
Many FIs and fintechs are taking steps to optimize revenue generation in the new market conditions. Here are the three common practices:
**Tapping into New Customer Segments**
While focusing on existing clients is important, many businesses in the financial services industry have also been attempting to reach out to new customer groups.
One group of consumers that is currently being actively targeted by financial service providers is the underbanked population - in other words, people with limited access to traditional banking. These individuals often lack credit history records, which makes it challenging for FIs to perform standard Know Your Customer (KYC) and identity verification processes.
To address this issue, companies develop low-friction yet secure solutions that enable new customers with various backgrounds to verify their identities swiftly.
What’s more, a growing number of fintech companies and FIs are striving to appeal to younger consumers as they gain financial independence. Winning the attention of this target group often entails coming up with innovative products and employing trending marketing solutions.
**Introducing Progressive Fraud Prevention Measures**
Despite the ongoing global challenges, the digital economy is still experiencing rapid growth, facilitated by the continuous advancement of technology that breaks down borders and barriers. While this expansion brings about a multitude of benefits, it also comes hand-in-hand with heightened uncertainty and a rise of sophisticated fraud.
One such form of advanced fraud is account takeover, which impacts both consumers and businesses. Moreover, the ecosystem is also facing an increasing threat from synthetic ID fraud, which is a type of dishonest activity that entails fraudsters utilizing a combination of valid and generated information to open new accounts or apply for lines of credit.
These fraud types pose significant risks to establishing a secure and seamless digital economy. In the US alone, identity thieves steal over [$5.8 billion](https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2022/02/new-data-shows-ftc-received-28-million-fraud-reports-consumers-2021-0) annually, with a quarter of victims suffering financial losses. This number is projected to keep increasing as fraudsters adapt their tactics and consumers spend more time online.
This situation calls for strategic action from all financial industry players. To effectively manage these risks, banks and fintechs have to take the following steps:
- Invest in innovative security solutions
- Continuously monitor and analyze data
- Comply with the current regulations
- Collaborate and share information on emerging threats
- Enhance customer education
As recent practice has shown, financial service providers that engage in these activities have significantly higher chances of effectively safeguarding their customers and the overall financial ecosystem.
**Continuously Optimizing the User Experience**
More and more consumers nowadays are not willing to sacrifice convenience for the sake of security and expect a seamless blend of speed, efficiency, and reliability.
According to the [latest studies](https://thepaypers.com/fraud-and-fincrime/interviews/trust-in-the-digital-age-turning-consumer-trust-into-revenue), approving bad actors resulted in $6.7 billion in losses for businesses in 2021. Yet, on the other hand, false declines are estimated to have led to a staggering $643 billion in losses for merchants. What’s more, excessive friction can cause frustration, leading to an average form abandonment rate of nearly 68%.
Thus, FIs and fintech companies that manage to strike the right balance between fraud prevention and user experience will reap significant benefits across the board. To achieve this equilibrium, it is essential to embrace intelligent friction by adopting such practices as risk-based authentication, biometric identification, and so on.
This approach ensures that the customer experience is both smooth and secure, enabling companies in the financial sphere to thrive in the digital era.
### The Fundamental Role of Consumer Trust
While all the measures described above are sure to be helpful when it comes to unlocking new revenue streams for financial service providers, neither of them would reach their full potential without one critical ingredient - consumer trust.
After all, no matter how advanced or effective a business’s security measures are, without a sufficient degree of trust, customers may be hesitant to engage in financial transactions or adopt new services. What’s more, nearly [50%](https://getmindful.com/blog/customer-experience-stats/) of consumers are likely to take their business elsewhere after a single negative online experience.
But how can FIs and fintechs achieve consumer trust to ultimately boost their revenues? The key here is to adopt a multi-layer approach and implement the following measures:
- Establish transparent communication with customers
- Develop user-friendly interfaces
- Prioritize the protection of customer data
- Adhere to all relevant financial regulations and industry standards
- Provide top-notch customer support
- Harness the power of social proof and testimonials
Overall, it is essential to establish a flexible and comprehensive long-term strategy that focuses on building lasting relationships with clients as well as the continuous improvement of the services.
---
## Brexit’s Ripple Effect: What It Means for European Payment Gateways
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/brexits-ripple-effect-what-it-means-for-european-payment-gateways
_See how Brexit has influenced European payment gateways, with increased fees and new regulations affecting cross-border payments and the FinTech industry._
On 31 January 2020, the UK made history by pulling out of the European Union. Commonly known as Brexit, a portmanteau of ‘British exit’, this withdrawal was a controversial one, with the Leave faction only winning by a margin of 3.78%. Indeed, so split was the UK in the wake of the Brexit referendum that today, nearly five years later, it is still an area of contention for many throughout the country.
12.11.2024 4 min read
Regardless of whether one agrees with the UK’s decision to leave, one thing is for certain: this change has left a lasting impression. Indeed, the ripple effect of Brexit can be felt across all social and cultural spheres, extending far beyond the shores of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to Europe and the rest of the world.
The FinTech industry is one area that has been impacted by this seismic political shift. In this article, we consider how Brexit has changed the British and European FinTech industries before moving on to discuss its influence on European payment gateways more specifically.
### The Impact of Brexit on the Fintech Industry
Brexit has been the cause of a great deal of uncertainty in the FinTech industry, both in the UK and in Europe. Prior to the UK's exit from the EU, the nation had solidified its status as a significant player in the European FinTech sphere. With London at its helm, the UK had emerged as a powerhouse in the world of financial technology, earning a reputation as one of the foremost hubs for cutting-edge innovation and technological advancements in finance.
The country’s separation from the EU threatened this status. Licensing issues, increased costs, fewer market opportunities, and confusion around new data handling procedures were just a few of the challenges FinTech companies had to contend with during this time. What’s more, some of the UK’s most talented experts in the field had emigrated from EU countries themselves, meaning that a significant part of the workforce could potentially be less eager to relocate there.
Thanks to Brexit, FinTech companies operating within the European Union have experienced positive shifts in their market dynamics. This is because the disruption it caused provided countries like Germany, Lithuania, Malta, and the Netherlands with a golden opportunity to overtake London as Europe’s leading FinTech hub. In the grand scheme of things, it became apparent that these countries were unable to match the UK FinTech industry's superior level of preparedness and proficiency in managing unforeseen challenges. Despite this setback, they did not miss the chance to thrive and exhibit their strengths.
### The Implications of Brexit for European Payment Gateways
One of the numerous areas that have felt the effects of Brexit in the FinTech world is the European payment gateway industry. While domestic payment systems remained relatively unaffected by this continent-wide upheaval, cross-border payment gateways — those enabling transactions between different countries — have been forced to make some changes.
For one thing, financial service providers trading between the EU and the UK have had to learn to navigate a complex set of entirely new regulatory requirements. Cross-border payments, in general, have to comply with a long list of laws and guidelines, no matter where the money is from or where it is going. This both delays processing times and racks up further costs for the consumer; the addition of even more rules — as necessary as they may be — only adds further challenges to an already complex process.
Increased fees are another unfortunate side effect of Brexit experienced by European payment gateway operators. This is because companies within the European Economic Area (EEA) incur an additional charge of 1.29% for payments made from the UK and vice versa. To account for this, these firms also charge their customers an additional fee when making payments between the UK and EU countries, demonstrating that the ripple effects of Brexit can be felt not only by FinTech businesses but by individual consumers, as well.
### Conclusion
The financial technology industry is just one of many areas that felt the effects of Brexit. All things considered, however, its impact wasn’t catastrophic; in fact, now, more than four years post-Brexit, the UK’s FinTech industry is as strong as it ever was. Currently, the nation is home to over 3,000 FinTech companies, while London remains firmly established as the top global hub for financial technology. The European FinTech market remained largely unharmed, as well, and has continued to grow and flourish in the years since.
With that being said, one can still notice the lingering effects of Brexit in the FinTech industry — namely, in the realm of European payment gateways. Consider, for example, the introduction of new regulatory demands and increased transaction fees placed on cross-border transactions. Even before these changes were implemented, the global payment industry faced challenges regarding operational efficiency and affordability. Added compilations such as those mentioned above may not be devastating to service providers, but they can still increase payment processing times and costs for consumers and thus contribute to a wider issue of inefficiency in cross-border transaction services.
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---
## Building a robust PSP business
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/building-a-robust-psp-business
_The main differences between payment service providers — features, fees, security — and how to choose the right PSP for your business._
It's no secret that the payment industry has come a long way. From 1997, when Authorize.net started it all by collecting transactions by fax and email, the developments have been extraordinary. Today, we are looking at a rapidly evolving industry, from instant payments, thousands of payment methods, global infrastructure, open API, remote KYC, to purchases for cryptocurrency. Keeping up with the technological developments has proven to be quite challenging for even the most modern payment service provider (PSP). However, compromising on technological advancements is not an option for those who want to stay at the forefront of the business.
04.05.2018 5 min read
It’s needless to say that nowadays payment providers should offer much more than just a platform for transaction processing. They should be able to offer merchants with every payment method and type that present profit opportunities. Their business processes should be automated, with fast and clear analytics, and technology should be dynamic and innovative.
The choices are endless with [payment gateways](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/gateway). However, for a PSP business, the perfect recipe can be questionable. Payneteasy has brought together a number of thoughts, based on case studies, client and partner surveys and communications, and the firm’s own research on what separates leading PSPs from the crowd.
### 1\. Fast integrations
The ability to integrate fast with financial institutions, banks, new payment methods, products, etc. is one of the most important factors in being a great PSP. Merchant demands are constantly on the rise, and the PSPs that can deliver the fastest are the ones that will win the race. Upon request for certain integrations that can boost their profits, if it takes months to deliver, or the PSP hesitates because it's not worth the financial investment that the project requires, the company will most likely lose the client to a more prepared PSP.
### 2\. Be customizable
"Our merchants have such an array of needs and requests, and if we weren't able to customize our solution for them, we wouldn't be where we are today," says one of Payneteasy’s leading clients. Those clients that bring profits know their worth, so if a PSP doesn’t value them enough to customize projects that further their growth, they will go to another PSP that does and has probably already propositioned them. Each PSP can grow from their clients’ needs because upon creating for them, that PSP will have just added another product to its portfolio. Requests repeat themselves, and expanding an offerings only increases the PSP’s value.
For example, Payneteasy’s client, a large PSP, was launching a new product for micro financial institutions (MFIs), and the goal was to provide an efficient solution in terms of cost and productivity. Payneteasy approached it by dividing classic P2P transfer transactions into 2 parts – CFT and AFT- account to card and card to account. For the loan payouts, CFT was used, so MFIs could easily make their payouts to client cards. For the loan repayment, irrevocable AFT operations were used which could be configured as a recurring payment according to the needed scenario. The solution including a scoring function, that provides cardholder information regarding reliability and history that activates upon start of processing.
### 3\. Utilize transaction optimization tools
Firms need to make every transaction count. A legitimate transaction should never fail and PSPs can use tools to increase traffic volume and acceptance rates.
The first way to go about this is with easy, customizable, smart payment forms. Most modern PSPs have all the global payment methods from Visa, MC, to APM and local payment methods. It is inarguable that providing all possible methods definitely increases the number of payments. However, one of Payneteasy’s clients discovered that too many options sometimes lead to confusion and abandonment of their merchant's website. In conclusion, the company discovered that too many choices aren't good either and the best approach is to be smart and informed, and to give only the relevant choices. Together with Payneteasy, the firm designed a payment form that should not accumulate all possible payment methods on one page, but only to display relevant ones according to customers' IP address or other criterion. This simplifies the process, and provably increases payments.
The second way is to customize payment routing and balancing systems. Directing traffic the right way is imperative to optimizing payments. For this to take place, PSPs need a flexible routing system that could be based on any transaction API parameter, that could also include any additional parameters obtained after undergoing third party systems (such as a loyalty system that defines whether it's a returning customer, etc.).
The combination of routing and balancing systems that consider different transaction criterion before directing to the acquirer or chain of acquirers will significantly boost acceptance rates and henceforth profitability.
### 4\. Be innovative
Innovation is key in an industry whose regulatory initiatives are constantly evolving, fraud is prevalent, customization is necessary, and insight and analytics are crucial. Anyone operating in this sphere wants to be the trend-setter, not the follower, in order to be positioned as a leader.
When building a payment solution, it’s important to keep in mind that the faster you’ll be able to provide partners with the new high-demanded technologies the more success you get. Although being innovative could be quite challenging for payment providers as it costs a lot and takes up huge resources, there is always a way to achieve this. The option is there to partner with a [platform provider](https://payneteasy.com/payment_platform) that enables the PSP to be the best and to implement innovations fast and without necessity to develop it by yourself.
---
## Buy Now, Pay Later 2022 Trends Recap and Future Forecast
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/buy-now-pay-later-2022-trends-recap-and-future-forecast
_2022 was an eventful year for Buy Now, Pay Later service providers. Find out which trends were truly game-changing for the BNPL market here!_
Buy now, pay later (BNPL) services have experienced a massive surge in popularity at the beginning of the pandemic and their prominence has kept growing ever since. The year 2022 was no exception, as consumers continued opting for payment methods that promote flexibility and merchants became even more open to collaborating with BNPL companies.
23.01.2023 4 min read
As a result, the total value of BNPL demonstrated a 25.5% year-over-year increase in 2022 in the US alone. In this overview, you will find a summary of the key tendencies that contributed to this success as well as predictions regarding the foreseeable future of the BNPL services.
### 5 Trends That Were Shaping the BNPL Industry in 2022
The BNPL niche has seen a lot of changes over the past year. Here is a compilation of the most notable ones:
**1\. Advancement of Regulations**
As of August 2022, there have been more than [150](https://web.archive.org/web/20260316144743/https://thepaymentsassociation.org/article/an-overview-of-buy-now-pay-later-regulation-in-the-uk-eu-usa-australia-singapore/) BNPL providers worldwide offering their services to an estimated [360 million](https://explodingtopics.com/blog/bnpl-stats) users. Despite these massive numbers, the vast majority of countries didn’t have appropriate legislation in place to regulate this industry until recently, while some are still working on establishing it.
2022 was marked by significant progress in the field of Buy Now, Pay Later regulations. Here are some of the most critical advancements:
- The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) in the US released an [80-page report](https://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/cfpb_buy-now-pay-later-market-trends-consumer-impacts_report_2022-09.pdf) that covered the topics, such as data harvesting, debt accumulation, and the lack of consumer protection, and announced its plans to establish regulations to address these matters.
- In June 2022, the UK authorities published the [official response](https://www.gov.uk/government/news/regulation-of-buy-now-pay-later-set-to-protect-millions-of-people) to the BNPL regulation consultation and outlined their plans for making adjustments in the near future.
- A number of other countries, including Australia and New Zealand, are also moving closer to implementing state-of-the-art BNPL legislation, as they publish documents focused on developing the sector’s future regulatory framework.
All these events are setting a solid foundation for fairer and more secure BNPL services globally.
**2\. Expanding Scope of Operations**
As new BNPL companies keep emerging, the competition increases. Due to this, many service providers in the niche choose to expand their operations and enter such industries as:
- Healthcare
- Grocery shopping
- Housing
- Insurance
- Travel
The high level of competition in the market has also prompted BNPL firms to launch non-BNPL products. One example of such an initiative is Klarna’s price comparison tool which went live in October 2022.
**3\. Apple’s BNPL Program**
Apple is a tech giant with a loyal customer base and global reach. This makes their announcement of launching an in-house BNPL service called Apple Pay Later big news. This project is promising to be particularly popular among younger clients who are already using Apple Pay on a regular basis.
Although the service didn’t go live in autumn 2022 as initially planned, BNPL industry players are already preparing for its postponed launch in spring 2023.
**4\. Acceptance by Payment Industry Giants and Banks**
It took a fair amount of time for big payment industry players and banks to come to terms with the BNPL concept. In 2022, we could finally see industry heavyweights like Paypal, Mastercard, and Visa roll out their solutions for installment payments.
In addition, financial institutions like Ant Bank in Asia and NatWest and Santander in Europe have also hopped on the BNPL trend. Moving forward, we are sure to see even more examples of big payment companies and FIs following suit.
**5\. Declining Valuations**
In 2022, even established BNPL firms like Affirm and Klarna saw a significant valuation fall triggered by increased market volatility. Such times of economic instability affect companies within the Buy Now, Pay Later sector majorly due to their reliance on raising capital and the intensifying competition.
### Summing Up: What Does the Future of BNPL Services Look Like?
By 2027, the number of BNPL users worldwide is expected to surpass 900 million people, a 157% increase compared to 2022. This figure demonstrates that industry experts strongly believe in the sector’s ability to continue evolving and being in demand despite all the challenges.
While the year 2022 brought a lot of positive changes to the BNPL industry, it has also emphasized the need for changes when it comes to regulations, the scope of operations, and strategizing. Addressing these issues is expected to be on top of the 2023 agenda for companies working in this field.
[Orchestration Platform Merchants Only one integration to consolidate all your payment providers to a unified management system.](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/orchestration-payment-platform)
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---
## Buy Now, Pay Later: Benefits, Drawbacks, and Integration Tips
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/buy-now-pay-later-benefits-drawbacks-and-integration-tips
_Buy Now Pay Later: benefits, drawbacks, and integration tips for merchants. See how Payneteasy supports BNPL payment flows._
Buy Now, Pay Later is a relatively new payment method that has taken the eCommerce industry by storm. Keep reading to find out why it has become so popular, what advantages and challenges it has, and how merchants can maximize its potential benefits.
28.03.2022 5 min read
### What Is BNPL?
Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) is a financing option that enables consumers to complete purchases without paying for them in full at checkout. Also known as "point of sale installment loans," such arrangements are typically short-term and interest-free.
BNPL is a payment option, the popularity of which is continuously increasing, particularly when it comes to online shopping. It's proven to be useful not only for the consumers but also for merchants who now can offer installment products and services to clients who can't or don't wish to use credit cards.
**BNPL Vs. Credit Cards**
Even though both BNPL and credit cards allow delayed payments, they have some critical distinctions.
When the consumer uses a credit card to make a purchase, they need to make a minimum monthly payment. Chances are that the interest accrues on the amount remaining to be paid, with the only exception for cards with a 0% introductory APR.
BNPL, on the other hand, usually comes without interest or additional fees. Besides, such arrangements have a fixed repayment schedule, typically over a several months timeline. It offers straightforward and transparent pricing models and makes it easy for shoppers to pay for products in installments.
### How Buy Now, Pay Later Works
While Buy Now, Pay Later schemes vary depending on the service provider, they typically operate as follows:
1. The consumer initiates a purchase at a retailer that has a BNPL payment option.
2. After receiving the approval that takes seconds, the shopper submits a down payment, as stated in the BNPL terms and conditions.
3. In the following weeks or months, the client pays off the remaining sum in a series of interest-free installments.
BNPL installments are typically withdrawn automatically from the consumer's preferred payment method.
### The Advantages of BNPL for Online Merchants
The benefits offered by BNPL arrangements for the consumers are plenty:
- The convenience of paying for online purchases over an extended period
- Usually zero-interest installments
- Lower credit score requirements compared to credit cards
- Straightforward conditions and fast approval
Thus, it's no wonder that the popularity of this payment method is rapidly growing. But is it as beneficial for merchants as it is for their customers? Below, you will find an overview of BNPL's main pros and cons for online sellers.
There are plenty of benefits merchants implementing BNPL experience, namely:
- **Increased conversion rate.** Such financing enables shoppers to purchase items even during a tight financial situation, which decreases cart abandonment and, consequently, increases the conversion rate.
- **Wider audience.** Breaking the payment into separate installments enables businesses to become more relevant to audiences with lower incomes.
- **Boosted demand for high-value items.** Online stores that sell high-value items like jewelry or electronic devices become more accessible with BNPL and become more in-demand.
- **Higher average order value (AOV).** BNPL is known to increase the AOV by up to 45%, which means higher revenues for online retailers.
- **Improved customer experience.** Customer satisfaction resulting from BNPL payments leads to a higher retention rate, consumer loyalty, and increased sales.
### Current BNPL Challenges Merchants Face
BNPL is still a relatively new payment option. Thus, despite its incredible success, many advantages, and few cons, it still has room for improvement.
Here are the current challenges merchants implementing Buy Now, Pay Later encounter:
- **Higher merchant fees.** Sometimes, BNPL can be expensive for online retailers, with fees reaching 3-7% on top of the usual credit card processing fees. If the profit margins are tight, it's a significant factor for merchants to consider.
- **Accreditation issues.** While some consumers still aren't familiar with BNPL and are reluctant to try it, others have formed preferences for specific providers. Thus, merchants are facing the need to boost the credibility of those payment methods to ensure the BNPL integration pays off for them.
- **Integration challenges.** Introducing multiple BNPL providers to an online store requires each of them to be integrated into a merchant's checkout. This takes a lot of time, finances, and human resources to execute while having the potential to clutter the website and lead to increased card abandonment.
- **Consumer debt encouragement.** As beneficial as this payment option is for the consumers, there's a different side to it. BNPL encourages shoppers to get more products than they can afford at a given time, which can put them in a difficult financial situation and even affect their credit scores.
- **High credit ratings required.** Even though getting approved for BNPL is usually easier than getting a credit card, many providers of this delayed payment method still expect the consumers to have the highest credit ratings. Offering only one BNPL option that focuses on Prime Lending prevents the sellers from availing of a big share of business opportunities and increases the cart abandonment rate.
That being said, the Buy Now, Pay Later system is evolving at a fast pace, and these challenges are already being addressed by various providers. Besides, even with the existing challenges, BNPL is a highly beneficial addition to the payment method variety of online stores.
### Tips on Making the Most Out of BNPL
BNPL can get tricky for merchants to integrate successfully. However, there are ways of maximizing the benefits of this payment option. Here are some practical tips on how to do it:
- **Use a unified BNPL integration.** Joining prime, near-prime, and sub-prime service providers under one integration ensures boosted consumer approval rates, accelerates sales, and improves customer satisfaction. This also promotes ease of access and reduced costs for the merchants.
- **Keep it simple.** Simplicity is key when implementing a BNPL solution. Facilitating a straightforward and fast purchasing process by placing a single BNPL button in the online store helps avoid confusion and cart abandonment.
With the mentioned criteria in place, merchants are sure to see the biggest gains from the BNPL payment options' integration.
---
## Can Lenders Benefit from Analyzing Alternative Credit Data?
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/can-lenders-benefit-from-analyzing-alternative-credit-data
_More and more modern lenders begin to use alternative credit data when assessing applicants’ creditworthiness. Check out this overview to find out why!_
Until just a few years ago, lenders would only take “traditional” credit data into account when assessing people’s solvency and making loan decisions. However, this approach is far from perfect, as it doesn’t take a large share of the population into account. As a result, millions of individuals overlooked by the old scoring system remain virtually invisible to finance companies.
15.12.2022 4 min read
In addition, with such major events as the COVID-19 pandemic causing financial disbalance across social groups, credit scores are failing to grasp the bigger picture, and, hence, are becoming less reliable. Fortunately, there’s a modern way of addressing these concerns by using alternative credit data. Keep reading to find out what it is and how it can be used to better assess potential borrowers!
### Traditional Vs. Alternative Credit Data - Key Distinctions
Traditional credit data is collected by credit bureaus that create reports about individuals and businesses. Then, lending institutions review these reports to get an idea of the consumers’ ability to pay back loans. Such data typically includes the following details:
- Credit card history
- Loan repayment history
- Mortgage history
- Credit inquiries
- Bankruptcy files
Alternative credit data, on the other hand, cannot be found in the databases of the national credit reporting agencies (NCRAs) yet has the capability to enhance consumer lending decisions. Some examples of such information are:
- Rent and utility payments
- Money management markers - how long a person's bank account has been active, the frequency of deposits and withdrawals, the amount of savings, etc.
- Property and asset records
- Reports on alternative lending payments (payday loans, installment loans, auto title loans, and so on)
- Demand deposit account (DDA) information, such as recurring payroll payments and average balance
Such insights enable private persons to stand a chance when applying for credit and to break out of the vicious cycle when they can’t get loans because of a lack of credit history, and vice versa. But how sharp is the need for alternative credit data use in the finance sector?
### The Importance of Alternative Credit Data
In the US, 24% of adults are underbanked and 10% are completely unbanked, which sums up to roughly one-third of the country’s citizens finding themselves cut off from traditional banks and loan companies. In developing countries, these figures tend to be even more alarming.
The concept of alternative credit data plays into promoting financial inclusion by humanizing potential borrowers. This means that the use of the insights it provides enables lenders to see loan applicants as people in their real-life context rather than as mere numbers reflecting credit scores.
This is extremely important in modern circumstances, as the world is experiencing a series of major events that often result in unexpected situations. For instance, an individual could earn a poor credit score due to a medical emergency or another type of one-time debt. In the long run, such a flaw in the credit history may not reflect the person’s true risk for the lender.
Thus, while the implementation of alternative credit data in the assessment of people’s creditworthiness doesn’t require a lot of resources from the lenders’ side, it has the power to create a significant impact on a global scale. What’s more, this initiative offers advantages not only for consumers but also for financial institutions - find out more about it below.
### Alternative Credit Data Use Benefits for FIs
Lenders can implement alternative credit data across the loan lifecycle. Here are a few examples demonstrating how an FI’s strategy can benefit from additional financial insights:
- **Improved marketing.** Analyzing additional applicant data enables FIs to better understand and segment their audiences and deliver more targeted content along the consumer journey.
- **More informed decision-making.** More data means a better understanding of overall credit risk and enhanced loss forecasting for FIs.
- **Lower chances of fraud.** When requesting alternative credit data, FIs get an excellent opportunity to identify potential red flags in applicants.
- **Better customer experiences.** Additional financial details enable lenders to provide service to their clients in a more personalized way.
- **Higher revenues.** Alternative credit data enables lenders to widen the pool of potential clients and increase the number of profitable loans in their portfolios.
As you can see, there is plenty of potential that alternative credit data offers not only to consumers but also to lenders, which makes the interest in it grow more and more.
### What Is the Future of Credit Scoring?
The use of additional financial insights in solvency assessment is transforming the concept of the credit score as we know it today. While alternative credit data is not widely adopted just yet, newly emerging scoring models tend to factor it in. For instance, FICO® '08 takes utilities and telecom bill payments into account, while FICO® '09 also pays attention to rental tradelines.
These baby steps help to set up a strong foundation for a future with inclusive, fair, and accessible money lending services, financial inclusion, and sustainable economic growth.
---
## Can Optimized B2B Payments Aid Suppliers in Times of Economic Crisis?
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/can-optimized-b2b-payments-aid-suppliers-in-times-of-economic-crisis
_Find out how optimizing B2B payments can aid suppliers in times of economic distress by reducing costs, improving cash flow, and streamlining transactions!_
As the global economy continues to face uncertainty and instability, businesses are grappling with mounting financial challenges, including rising costs of operations and declining profit margins. In the B2B sector, suppliers are the ones that especially feel the pinch as they struggle to keep up with their day-to-day expenses while navigating the rapidly evolving market landscape.
22.03.2023 4 min read
From rising energy bills to escalating inflation, suppliers are experiencing a range of economic difficulties that threaten their sustainability and long-term growth prospects. This article explores how B2B payment transformation can help them optimize financial management, streamline transactions, and reduce plenty of costs.
### Coping with Rising Costs: Top Strategy for B2B Merchants
In the past, suppliers have often resorted to raising prices to maintain their profit margins. However, in the current economic climate, where buyers are also struggling, such an approach may be perceived as unfair and out of touch.
Instead, B2B merchants need to explore other ways of maintaining their profit margins without overburdening their clients. One way to do this is by identifying areas of internal inefficiency and implementing improvements.
For many B2B players, payments are a key challenging area, with paper invoicing and Bacs transactions that take 3 working days to clear being particularly prone to human error and wasted time.
Modernizing these payment processes can help to reduce costs and improve cash flow without compromising the quality of the services delivered.
### Tips on Addressing B2B Payment Inefficiencies Effectively
Many suppliers are still utilizing outdated payment processes that have been in place for several years or even decades. One such practice is collecting payments using the mail order/telephone order (MOTO) channel.
This method is not secure and poses challenges for businesses in terms of PCI-DSS compliance and data protection. Besides, if a payment is late, the supplier will have to incur additional costs when chasing creditors, which is not sustainable, especially in the current economic climate.
To reduce the likelihood of late payments, suppliers should make it as easy as possible for buyers to complete transactions. This is why many B2B merchants are adopting new payment methods that are more efficient and secure.
For instance, accepting commercial cards is critical for suppliers, as they are becoming increasingly popular among B2B buyers. What’s more, commercial cards offer benefits to both parties, allowing buyers to extend their days payable outstanding (DPO) while minimizing the supplier's days sales outstanding (DSO) and reducing the cost of cash collection.
Additionally, optimizing B2B payments through payment links also improves efficiency. It converts risky over-the-phone transactions into secure online transfers by simply forwarding links to buyers via email, text, or e-invoice. The link takes the buyer to a secure hosted payment page where they can complete the transaction using their card or Click-to-Pay.
Another useful practice suppliers must consider adopting is straight-through processing (STP). It is a buyer-initiated process that automatically pushes a payment and remittance to the supplier using a commercial card at the point of order or post-invoice. STP eliminates manual processing for both parties and reduces the burden of PCI-DSS compliance.
It is also essential for B2B merchants to take advantage of real-time reporting data provided by digital payment platforms to be able to make forecasts regarding their resources, gain a clear overview of their cash flow, and ensure informed business decision-making.
The key insight here is to stop viewing B2B payments digitization as a vague future opportunity but rather embrace it as a current need and start implementing it without delay.
### How Can Suppliers Make the Most Out of B2B Payments?
While cash has been overtaken by digital payment methods in the B2C payments landscape, the B2B sphere is still playing catch-up. Recent research confirms that the adoption of new payment methods in this area has been slow so far, and the management of account payable and [receivable processes](https://payneteasy.com/glossary/what-is-accounts-receivable) has created an overly complex ecosystem.
Yet, big changes are underway, with 35% of revenue from embedded payments forecasted to derive from the B2B segment by 2027. This improvement is sure to be heavily influenced by such solutions as Click-to-Pay and STP, as they simplify the buying and supplying process by enabling effortless instant purchases.
All in all, suppliers need to implement smoother payment processes to build and maintain reliable buyer-supplier relationships. With that in mind, they should be prepared to accept the fastest and most convenient payment methods to keep pace with the industry.
---
## Canada’s Real-Time Rail Launch Is Delayed: What’s Stalling the Project?
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/canadas-real-time-rail-launch-is-delayed-whats-stalling-the-project
_Canada's Real-Time Rail is facing its 3rd delay — the reasons behind it and what to expect from the project's timeline._
Payments Canada, an organization responsible for Canada’s payment clearing and settlement infrastructure, has recently announced yet another delay in the launch of the Real-Time Rail (RTR) system. As the project’s revised launch date awaits confirmation, it is only natural to wonder what is pushing back its release.
14.07.2023 5 min read
This overview will shed light on the setbacks that are stalling the real-time payment initiative’s deadline already for the second time in its history and reveal its potential development trajectory in the near future. Read on for all the details!
### What Is the Real-Time Rail?
In a nutshell, the Real-Time Rail is a payments system that is set to revolutionize the country’s economy by facilitating instant, data-rich transactions. Once launched, this cutting-edge platform using the ISO 20022 messaging standard is expected to provide Canadians with unparalleled payment convenience, security, and transparency 24/7/365.
The project is conducted by Payments Canada in collaboration with multiple vendors. For instance, Vocalink, a subsidiary of Mastercard, is responsible for developing RTR’s clearing and settlement infrastructure, while Interac, a local debit network, serves as the exchange solution provider. Moreover, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has been engaged as the system’s integration lead.
According to Payments Canada, the launch of the RTR initiative will be extremely beneficial for all user groups, including:
- **Consumers.** Having access to convenient and flexible real-time payment services translates to a wider range of options for sending and receiving money for consumers and significantly shorter waiting times.
- **Businesses.** With the help of secure real-time payments enabled by RTR, Canadian businesses are sure to experience enhanced financial liquidity and operational efficiency.
- **Financial Institutions.** By embracing the modernized Real-Time Rail, FIs will gain real-time liquidity management capabilities, enabling faster payment settlement and the provision of state-of-the-art services to their clients.
- **Payment Service Providers.** Once launched, the RTR will foster competition among PSPs, resulting in a wider array of service choices for Canadian businesses and consumers.
- **Developers.** Real-Time Rail participants will have the opportunity to connect and create novel ways of conducting payments, facilitating seamless transactions for Canadians while competing on national and international levels.
- **Government.** By leveraging RTR’s data-rich transactions, the Canadian government will be able to effectively streamline financial, corporate, and reconciliation processes.
As you can see, the potential impact of the Real-Time Rail project on the Canadian payment ecosystem is going to be massive, which is why its creators must make sure that it is completely secure and error-free before its grand launch.
### Why Does RTR’s Timeline Keep Changing?
Initially, the Canadian Real-Time Rail was scheduled to go live in mid-2022, yet the deadline was eventually postponed to June 2023, as stated in the project’s Q2 update published in [July 2022](https://www.openbankingexpo.com/news/payments-canada-delays-launch-of-real-time-rail-payment-system/).
Later on, in the Q3 Roadmap Delivery update released on October 11 last year, Tracey Black, president and CEO of Payments Canada, revealed that RTR’s go-live date had to be pushed back once more to allow for extra validation and testing of the various components of the system and to ensure its seamless end-to-end integration.
Black’s statement also mentioned that the launch of [Lynx](https://www.bankofcanada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Overview-Lynx-Canadas-High-Value-Payment-System.pdf), Canada’s high-value clearing system that had been up and running for one year by the time of the publication, would have been impossible without the industry’s participation, and the same was true for RTR. This referred to the fact that Payments Canada was working with multiple stakeholders on updating the project’s timeline.
On June 13, 2023, Payments Canada published a new statement, which marks the RTR project’s third major delay. According to the official news post, the latest hold-up is not related to the exchange technology components and requires further research. To get to the bottom of it, Payments Canada will undertake a three-month investigation into the key risks identified in the RTR’s delivery process.
Payments Canada recognizes the impact of the RTR’s launch delays on the payments landscape. However, the company also stresses the importance of the final product’s alignment with established public policy objectives, as it strives to provide a secure, stable, and effective payment platform that will enable Canada to remain competitive on the global stage.
### A Glance at RTR’s Development Perspectives
Although Payments Canada has not shared the specific details on the issues causing the latest hold-up of the Real-Time Rail’s launch yet, many industry experts agree that it did not come as a surprise, given the project’s complexity and intricate technological requirements.
The public perception of the timeline delays for the Real-Time Rail project seems to be split into several distinct camps. Some interpret them as a sign of the local payment ecosystem’s lack of preparedness for significant changes, arguing that if the ecosystem was ready for innovation, the project would have progressed more smoothly and met its original deadlines.
Another perspective on the project’s slow progress stresses the fact that the initiative is limited by the pace of its slowest participant, acknowledging that implementing a complex project like the RTR involves collaboration among multiple stakeholders, including FIs, PSPs, government entities, and technology vendors.
Others explain the timeline delays with the dynamic nature of the global payments landscape, with new technological advancements, risks, and compliance requirements arising at a rapid pace. These factors can introduce new challenges that need to be addressed during the development and implementation of the RTR system.
Overall, it is hardly possible to point out a single cause stalling the Canadian Real-Time Rail’s launch at this point. Due to this, it would also be unfeasible to rule out the chances of further delays. Yet, while the project’s timely implementation is important, ensuring its integrity, security, and stability remains paramount, making all existing and potential deadline shifts justified.
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---
## Casino Payment Methods & Processing for Operators: Malta Mix, Fees & Payout SLAs
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/casino-payment-methods-complete-guide
_Casino payment processing and methods for operators: rails, PSP models, fees, KYC, payout SLAs, and how one control layer manages many providers._
In its 2022 Annual Report, the Malta Gaming Authority reported that bank transfers accounted for 47.1% of deposits at MGA-licensed online gaming operators, followed by credit/debit cards at 29.7% and e-wallets and online accounts at 12.4%. These historical figures illustrate one market’s payment mix. For casino operators and the PSPs serving them, the methods supported can affect deposit conversion, processing costs and payout performance. This guide covers payment methods, provider models, fees, verification requirements and the payout service levels agreed with providers and communicated to players.
Updated 30.09.2026 19 min read
Casino payment services extend beyond payment methods. They also include the technology used to connect payment providers, manage transaction routing and monitor payment operations while casino operators retain their acquiring relationships and risk responsibilities.
Casino payment processing for online operators differs from standard e-commerce: licensing jurisdiction dictates which rails you can offer, payout speed is a competitive differentiator, and every PSP relationship has to survive regulator scrutiny. This guide to casino payment solutions walks through the rails, PSP and acquiring selection, KYC vendors, and payout mechanics that shape a compliant casino payment stack — the full set of casino payment solutions an operator wires behind the cashier.
### Casino Payment Mix in Regulated Markets
For an operator, casino payment methods are the options available in the cashier. Casino payment processing covers the provider connections, authentication, routing, transaction handling and reconciliation behind those options. A payment method’s suitability depends on its acceptance, cost, payout support and operational requirements.
The right mix depends on the operator’s licensing jurisdiction, target markets and player preferences. The [MGA’s 2022 Annual Report](https://www.mga.org.mt/app/uploads/Annual-Report-2022.pdf) provides a historical reference for MGA-licensed online gaming activity. These figures should not be treated as current casino-specific benchmarks. Operators should use their own transaction data to decide which methods to prioritise.
#### How the Payment Mix Affects Operator Economics
A declined deposit, an authentication loop or an unclear error message can interrupt conversion. Track where players abandon the deposit flow and distinguish technical failures, authentication failures, issuer declines and operator risk decisions. Each requires a different response.
On the payout side, measure the time from withdrawal request to funds reaching the player. A payment method capable of rapid delivery may still produce a slow withdrawal if internal review, provider processing or receiving-bank support creates a delay.
#### MGA, UKGC and FCA: Regulatory Framing for Payment Handling
Operator payment obligations sit at the intersection of gambling regulation, payment regulation and provider rules. The responsibilities differ:
- Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) — Operators must meet applicable player-funds, player-protection and reporting requirements, apply customer due diligence at the applicable thresholds and obtain source-of-funds evidence where required by the customer’s risk profile and applicable AML rules. These controls must follow Malta’s legislation and FIAU guidance. Consult the MGA [licensee hub](https://www.mga.org.mt/licensee-hub/) for licence obligations.
- UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) — Remote casino operators offering gambling to consumers in Great Britain require the appropriate UKGC licence. They must comply with applicable identity-verification, AML, customer-interaction and withdrawal requirements. Check the [UKGC public register](https://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/public-register/businesses).
- Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) — Check that each provider has the authorisation, registration or other lawful basis required for the payment services it supplies in the relevant market. EEA authorisation alone does not provide passporting rights into the UK. The operator’s own AML obligations remain separate from those of its payment providers.
- Credit-card ban in Great Britain — Operators must [prevent credit-card payments](https://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/news/article/gambling-on-credit-cards-to-be-banned-from-april-2020) both directly and through money service businesses. Card-type identification can support direct-payment controls, but operators must also establish that wallet and other intermediary providers prevent credit-card-funded gambling payments.
For a closer look at British-market payment operations, see our [iGaming payment operations guide](https://payneteasy.com/blog/igaming-payment-operations-uk-guide).
### Casino Payment Methods: Deposit and Payout Options
Compare each method using deposit acceptance, effective cost, payout capability, delivery time and fraud or dispute exposure. Confirm deposit and withdrawal support separately: accepting a method for deposits does not automatically mean the same provider supports payouts.
#### Debit Cards: Visa and Mastercard
Debit cards are a common casino deposit method. UKGC licensees offering gambling to consumers in Great Britain must not accept credit-card payments. Gambling transactions are commonly classified under MCC 7995, which can affect underwriting, issuer acceptance policies and acquiring costs.
Interchange depends on the card product, transaction geography and applicable regulation. MCC 7995 does not itself determine the interchange rate. Operators should confirm that their acquiring partner supports their gambling activity and target markets.
- Operator pros: Familiar payment experience; deposits can be credited promptly after successful processing; EMV 3DS supports authentication and SCA handling where required.
- Operator cons: Acquiring costs, fraud and dispute exposure; issuer restrictions can affect acceptance. Monitor applicable Visa and Mastercard programme metrics with the acquirer.
#### E-Wallets
E-wallets such as Skrill, Neteller, PayPal, ecoPayz and MuchBetter may support casino deposits or payouts where the provider accepts the operator’s gambling activity and target markets. Availability, fees, limits and delivery times depend on the provider and integration.
Wallet-side verification does not replace the operator’s own KYC, AML or ongoing-monitoring obligations. Reliance on third-party checks is subject to specific legal conditions.
- Operator pros: Potentially fast payouts; an alternative for players who prefer wallet payments; provider-specific support for cross-border transactions.
- Operator cons: Deposit, payout and FX charges may apply. Dispute handling and liability depend on provider terms, and availability varies by market.
#### Bank Transfers: SEPA, Faster Payments and Pay-by-Bank
Bank-transfer options include standard transfers and instant-payment services such as SEPA Instant and Faster Payments. Open Banking payment initiation is a way to initiate a bank payment, rather than a separate settlement rail.
Compare bank coverage, payment limits, deposit confirmation, payout support and pricing for each provider. Bank-side verification does not replace the operator’s own KYC and AML controls.
- Operator pros: Instant-payment options where supported; pricing that may be competitive for the operator’s payment mix; no card-scheme chargeback process for credit transfers.
- Operator cons: Coverage, limits and delivery times vary. Fraud, returns and disputes still require controls, and refund automation depends on provider capabilities.
#### Cryptocurrencies and Stablecoins
Cryptoasset acceptance depends on the jurisdiction, licence conditions and proposed payment model. UKGC guidance addresses direct acceptance and acceptance through third parties, including AML, source-of-funds and customer-funds risks. Operators should confirm the requirements before implementation.
Dollar-pegged stablecoins can reduce exposure to cryptocurrency price volatility, but introduce peg, issuer and conversion risks. An operator accounting in another currency can still face FX exposure.
- Operator pros: No card-scheme chargeback process for on-chain transfers; potential support for markets or players using cryptoassets.
- Operator cons: Network fees, provider pricing and conversion costs vary. Payout timing depends on the network, asset, provider controls and receiving-wallet compatibility. Applicable Travel Rule and AML requirements depend on the jurisdiction and the regulated entities involved.
#### Mobile Payment Solutions
Apple Pay and Google Pay can provide a tokenised card-payment experience. In card-based implementations, the underlying card network, acquiring arrangements and relevant scheme rules still matter.
The main cashier benefit is reduced checkout friction: biometric authentication removes manual card entry, which can support conversion on mobile. Underlying card-network fees, gambling-related acceptance policies and dispute-monitoring programme metrics still apply, and payout support should be confirmed directly with the provider.
- Operator pros: Reduced checkout friction compared with manual card entry; biometric authentication can support strong customer authentication where required.
- Operator cons: Underlying card-network fees and gambling-acceptance policies still apply; payout support varies by wallet provider and should be confirmed separately.
#### Prepaid Cards and Vouchers
Prepaid cards and vouchers let players fund a casino account without entering bank details at checkout. They are mainly deposit instruments: many prepaid products cannot receive withdrawals, so operators usually pair them with a separate payout route such as an e-wallet or a bank transfer. Depositing with one method and withdrawing to another is a common money-laundering pattern, so verify that the payout account belongs to the player before the first withdrawal.
Treat prepaid funding as a method-level rule in the cashier. Check load limits, availability by market, the provider’s gambling-acceptance policy and whether the instrument can be matched to the verified player. Prepaid cards that are not in the player’s name make ownership checks and source-of-funds reviews harder.
In Great Britain, the Gambling Commission has confirmed that prepaid cards are outside the scope of the credit-card ban, although it noted that it may intervene if prepaid products become an easy route to gambling with credit.
In the EU, anonymous prepaid instruments can be used for remote payments only up to €50 per transaction; above that, the issuer has to apply customer due diligence.
- Operator pros: Players who prefer not to share bank details can still fund an account; fixed-value vouchers can support spending control.
- Operator cons: Usually deposit-only, so a separate payout route is required; limits and market availability vary, and ownership checks can be harder.
### Deposit and Payout Flow: What Operators Configure
A "deposit" from the operator side is a five-stage flow, and every stage has a decision the operator (or their payment gateway) has to make. The same goes for payouts, which typically fail or succeed on the internal controls layer, not the rail itself.
#### Deposit Flow Steps (Operator-Side)
Behind the cashier screen, each deposit runs through a consistent sequence:
1. Player selects rail in the cashier — the gateway routes to the acquirer or PSP configured for that BIN / country / amount band.
2. Fraud pre-authorisation — device fingerprint, velocity checks, PEP/sanctions screen, and per-player deposit limits enforce here, before the money moves.
3. SCA / 3DS2 — PSD2 requires strong customer authentication on most in-scope transactions; the gateway triggers the [appropriate 3DS2 flow](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/3ds_adapter) (frictionless, challenge, or exemption).
4. Authorisation call to the issuer / rail; on approval, the ledger is credited and the player sees the balance.
5. Settlement and reconciliation — funds are paid to the operator according to the acquiring agreement, including settlement schedules, reserves and any holds. Reconcile payment transactions and settlement reports with the gaming ledger.
Operator-side deposit acceptance controls that materially move the numbers:
- Multi-acquirer routing — [alternative acquiring routes](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/orchestration-payment-platform) may improve acceptance for eligible transactions. Measure the effect using the operator’s own data, and ensure that cascading respects scheme retry rules and does not bypass issuer or regulatory restrictions.
- BIN-level routing rules — sending each card to the acquirer with the best historical auth rate for that issuer.
- Automatic retry on soft declines — with respect for scheme rules on retry limits.
- Currency-of-origin routing — matching the player's local currency to a local acquirer reduces cross-border decline rates.
- Chargeback dispute automation — Verifi CDRN and Ethoca Alerts intercept disputes before they hit the scheme's monitoring programme.
#### Casino Payout Processing: Payout Flow and Time-to-Money SLAs
Casino payout processing starts when the player submits a withdrawal request. In practice, casino payout processing is where operator reputation is made or lost: the operator has to run KYC and bonus-clearance checks, apply any responsible-gambling holds, and then submit the payout instruction to the chosen rail. Most operators lose more player LTV to the internal review queue than to the rail itself — competitive operators now target keeping "pending" holds under 24 hours, with instant-review flags for verified players.
Once released, rail [settlement](https://payneteasy.com/glossary/settlement) times shape the player-visible payout SLA:
- E-wallets (Skrill, Neteller, ecoPayz): typically instant to a few hours end-to-end.
- Debit cards (Visa Direct [OCT](https://payneteasy.com/glossary/what-is-an-original-credit-transaction-oct), Mastercard Send): 30 minutes to 24 hours where push-to-card is enabled; 1–5 business days on legacy refund rail.
- Bank transfers: SEPA Instant and Faster Payments settle in seconds; SEPA Credit Transfer T+1; SWIFT wires 3–7 business days.
- Cryptocurrency: minutes for on-chain confirmation (network-dependent); stablecoin rails give the most predictable UX.
- Mobile push-to-wallet: minutes to hours.
The internal review step — not the rail — is what makes operators competitive or slow on published "average payout time" metrics.
#### KYC, AML and Source-of-Funds Verification
Operators should configure verification around the rules applicable to their licence and customers. A [KYC provider](https://payneteasy.com/glossary/what-is-kyc) can support checks, but the operator retains responsibility for meeting its obligations. Verification methods may include:
- Identity verification: Reliable electronic checks or identity documents, with additional measures such as selfie or liveness checks where appropriate.
- Address verification: Electronic evidence or documents where required.
- Payment-account verification: Evidence that the deposit or payout account belongs to the player, using methods appropriate to the provider and payment flow.
Verification timing must follow the applicable rules rather than a universal first-withdrawal policy.
For Malta’s remote gaming sector, FIAU guidance links the €2,000 deposit threshold to customer due diligence. It allows calculation using cumulative deposits since the relationship began or a rolling 180-day period. Source-of-funds evidence depends on risk and enhanced-due-diligence requirements; crossing €2,000 does not automatically require documentary source-of-funds evidence from every player.
#### Deposit Limits and the Fee Stack
Distinguish player-set responsible-gambling limits, operator risk controls and provider transaction limits. Configure their interaction so that routing or a change of payment method does not bypass an applicable restriction.
Withdrawal controls must also respect the player’s rights under the applicable rules. A deposit limit or bonus condition should not automatically become a restriction on withdrawing the player’s own funds.
Compare the full contracted cost of deposits and payouts, including transaction fees on deposits and withdrawal fees on payouts. Card-payment costs may include interchange, scheme fees, acquiring or PSP charges, authentication fees and currency conversion. For wallets and pay-by-bank providers, check fixed and percentage fees, payout charges and FX costs.
Calculate effective costs using the operator’s actual payment mix. Include declined-attempt charges, refunds, disputes and operational work where relevant, alongside the headline processing rate.
### Poker Payment Processing: Payouts, Acquiring and Player-Fund Reconciliation
Poker payment processing introduces several operational considerations that operators should account for when configuring acquiring and payout infrastructure.
First, poker can generate payout patterns that differ from slot-led casino traffic. Tournament winnings, cash-game session closes and other player withdrawals make payout capability an important part of PSP selection. Operators expecting frequent withdrawals should evaluate fast-payout options during integration rather than treating them as a post-launch addition. Depending on the market and provider, these may include Visa Direct OCT, Mastercard Send, SEPA Instant, Faster Payments and other eligible push-to-card or account payout services.
Second, poker deposits remain subject to the fraud, dispute and underwriting risks associated with card-not-present gambling transactions. Gambling transactions are commonly classified under MCC 7995, while the exact acquiring setup depends on the operator's licence, jurisdictions, transaction profile and the acquirer's risk policy. Some acquirers may require separate underwriting or a dedicated MID for particular gambling products or traffic segments, so poker activity should be explicitly disclosed and approved during onboarding rather than assumed to fall under an existing casino MID.
Finally, poker creates an important reconciliation distinction between player funds and operator revenue. Rake generated from games represents operator revenue, while funds held on behalf of players remain player liabilities and may be subject to segregation and reporting requirements under regimes such as those of the MGA and UKGC. The operator's gaming, wallet and payment ledgers therefore need to reconcile cleanly so that deposits, withdrawals, player balances and recognised gaming revenue remain separately identifiable for finance and compliance purposes.
### Choosing Casino Payment Services and Processing Providers: Operator Checklist
There is no universally best casino payment provider. The right setup depends on the operator’s licence, player geography, payment mix and internal engineering capacity.
#### Provider Evaluation Criteria
Use the following checklist when comparing casino payment processing providers:
- Regulatory permissions and market coverage — Confirm that the provider can supply the required services in each target market and supports the operator’s licensed gambling activity.
- Gambling acceptance policy — Obtain confirmation of gambling acceptance before scoping integration work. Check restrictions on countries, products and transaction types.
- All-in fee model — Compare effective costs against the actual payment mix, including deposits, payouts, FX and additional charges.
- Reserves and settlement terms — Compare rolling reserves, payout prefunding, settlement schedules and release conditions. These can affect working capital as much as the processing fee.
- Approval-rate evidence — Request comparable performance data for the target markets. Establish whether figures measure first attempts or final outcomes after retries.
- Payout capability — Confirm supported receiving accounts, currencies, limits, delivery estimates and failed-payout handling.
- Fraud and dispute tooling — Assess authentication support, risk rules, alert services, investigation tools and dispute workflows.
- Redundancy and routing — Confirm that alternative routes are live, tested and eligible for the relevant payment flows. Check failover and retry controls.
- Reporting and reconciliation — Assess transaction states, provider references, settlement reports, exports and the evidence needed for regulatory reporting.
- Onboarding responsibilities — Separate technical integration from provider underwriting, approval of gambling activity and activation of deposit and payout flows.
#### Comparing Casino Payment Processing Models
Casino payment processing can be organised through a primary PSP or acquiring connection, separate integrations managed in-house, or a payment orchestration layer.
These approaches can overlap: a PSP may use multiple acquirers, and an operator can combine direct connections with orchestration. Compare the control, maintenance workload and provider coverage available in each setup.
| | | | |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Processing Model | How It Works | Routing and Resilience | Key Consideration |
| Single PSP or direct acquiring connection | One primary provider connection; the PSP may use multiple underlying acquirers | Depends on provider infrastructure and available routes | Coverage, payout support and contingency arrangements |
| In-house multi-provider integration | The operator manages separate integrations | Routing and failover are built and maintained internally | Engineering workload, reconciliation and maintenance |
| Payment orchestration platform | A common integration layer across connected providers | Centralised routing and eligible cascading across available connections | Supported payment flows, acquiring relationships and total platform cost |
Compare casino payment systems on provider coverage, deposit and payout capabilities, reserves, settlement terms and the engineering work required to maintain integrations.
Payneteasy’s [payment orchestration platform](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/orchestration-payment-platform) provides a common technology layer for managing connected payment providers. Operators retain their own acquiring relationships and risk responsibilities.
For connecting a PSP to an existing cashier, [Payneteasy Channels](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/channels) states a timeframe of 1–2 weeks, longer if there is a lot of back-and-forth with the provider. Provider onboarding and approval of the gambling activity are separate dependencies.
#### What a Payment Control Layer Does for a Casino Payment Stack
A payment control layer sits between the cashier and the operator’s acquirers and payment providers. Instead of building and maintaining a separate integration for each one, the technology team connects once and manages routing, retries and reporting from a single place. The operator keeps its own acquiring relationships and risk; the layer is the technology that makes several of them manageable at the same time.
- Coverage — 1000+ [integrations](https://payneteasy.com/integrations) with payment providers and methods, so new routes are configured rather than rebuilt.
- Routing — rules-based routing and cascading across connected providers, applied only to attempts that are eligible for a retry ([smart payment strategy](https://payneteasy.com/payment_technologies/routing_and_balancing_system)).
- Reliability — 99.95% platform uptime, tracked by Pingdom since 2022 ([Trust & Verification](https://payneteasy.com/trust_verification)).
- Engineering — a machine-readable OpenAPI 3.1 specification for the Processing API, published in the [developer documentation](https://doc.payneteasy.com/).
- Track record — more than 20 years in payment technology, since 2005.
Provider onboarding and approval of the gambling activity stay with each provider; the control layer manages the connections, not the underwriting.
#### Fraud, Chargebacks and Bonus Abuse
Card-not-present fraud, chargeback disputes and bonus abuse require separate controls and reporting. A single combined loss figure can hide whether the problem comes from payment fraud, customer disputes or promotion rules.
Monitor Visa VAMP and Mastercard's applicable chargeback-programme metrics using current acquirer guidance. Merchant and acquirer thresholds differ, and identification can depend on regional rules, event counts and other programme criteria.
Operational controls can include device and account checks, velocity rules, payment-account verification and review of unusual deposit-and-withdrawal patterns. Any payout restriction must be justified under the applicable legal and contractual requirements.
#### Payment-Method Rules for Bonus Programmes
If a promotion excludes particular payment methods, disclose the restriction clearly and apply it consistently when determining eligibility. Configure the promotion engine to distinguish deposit balances from bonus balances.
Assess suspected abuse using account and transaction evidence. Do not assume that a particular wallet or payment method makes a player abusive, or that a bonus condition permits withholding the player's own funds.
### Operational Issues Casino Payment Teams Face
Investigate payment issues by processing stage and transaction outcome. The same player-facing error can have different causes across providers.
#### Payout Queue Backlogs
Separate internal review, provider processing and delivery time. Complete checks at the appropriate stage and use automated approval only where the operator's legal and risk requirements allow it.
Confirm payout eligibility and receiving-account support before promising instant delivery. Record why a withdrawal is pending and which team or provider needs to act.
#### Deposit Approval-Rate Drops
Investigate changes by country, issuer, provider and decline reason. Check authentication outcomes, technical failures and changes in risk policies before changing routing.
Use alternative processing routes only for eligible attempts. Cascading must not bypass issuer or regulatory restrictions.
#### Cross-Border and FX Costs
Local acquiring and local-currency processing can reduce some cross-border and FX friction. The effect depends on the issuing market, acquiring location, settlement currency and provider pricing.
Compare deposit and payout costs separately. Processing in the player's currency does not necessarily remove currency conversion elsewhere in the payment chain.
#### KYC Drop-Off During Onboarding
Investigate drop-off by verification stage, device, document type and customer segment. Causes can include unclear instructions, upload failures, unsupported documents or unsuccessful checks.
Improve the flow without delaying information that must be verified before deposits or gambling. Explain additional evidence requests clearly and avoid asking players to resubmit information already available.
#### Payment Restrictions by Jurisdiction
Payment-method availability depends on jurisdiction, licence conditions and provider acceptance policies. Reflect these requirements in both cashier availability and processing controls.
For casino gambling in Great Britain, credit-card payments are prohibited, including through money service businesses. Cryptoasset models require specific regulatory and AML assessment. Provider support should be confirmed before a method is offered to players.
### MGA and UKGC Compliance Requirements for Payment Handling
Configure compliance controls for the relevant licence and customer market. MGA and UKGC requirements should not be treated as interchangeable.
#### Age and Identity Verification
For remote casino operators in Great Britain, age verification is required before deposits, access to free-to-play gambling games or gambling. Customer identity must be verified before gambling.
Malta's player-protection and AML framework has different requirements.
#### Payment-Blocking, Self-Exclusion and Reverse-Withdrawal Rules
[GAMSTOP](https://www.gamstop.co.uk/) integration is mandatory for UKGC operators — the API must be checked at registration and login, and any self-excluded player must be blocked at the account layer, not just the login screen. UK-issued cards can be flagged as gambling-blocked by the issuing bank; the operator receives the decline and must handle it as a hard decline in the cashier UX. On the operator side, MGA and UKGC both require self-exclusion tools (cool-off, session limits, deposit limits) exposed in the player account, and UKGC additionally bans reverse-withdrawals — once a player initiates a payout, the operator cannot let them cancel it back into playable balance.
#### Operator Licence Conditions on Payments
Standard payments-related licence conditions across MGA/UKGC and comparable regulators include:
- Age and identity verification — for remote casino operators in Great Britain, age must be verified before deposits, access to free-to-play gambling games or gambling; customer identity must be verified before gambling. MGA-licensed operators must follow Malta’s applicable player-protection and AML requirements, including mandatory verification triggers and risk-based checks.
- Segregated player funds — player balances held separately from operating funds in a dedicated account, with reconciliation reports on demand.
- Documented AML programme with transaction monitoring, thresholds, and STR/SAR filing procedures.
- Responsible-gambling tooling — limits, self-exclusion, activity statements — available in the account and enforced at the payments layer.
- Documented complaints procedure, ADR body appointment, and public T&Cs including bonus mechanics and payout terms.
Operationally these translate into KYC/AML tooling, a segregated bank account structure with the acquirer, and configurable player-side controls in the account area. The audit trail matters as much as the controls themselves — regulators expect operators to show not just that the control exists, but that it fires on the right transactions and produces evidence.
[Orchestration Platform Merchants Only one integration to consolidate all your payment providers to a unified management system.](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/orchestration-payment-platform)
[Payneteasy Channels Start using any PSP from our catalog in 1-2 weeks: the integration is already built, so the only variable is how fast the provider signs off. No more waiting on your cashier's development queue.](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/channels)
### FAQ for Casino Operators and PSPs
#### What Determines Casino Payout Speed?
Instant bank-payment services, supported e-wallets and eligible push-to-card services can provide fast delivery. End-to-end timing also depends on operator review, provider processing and the receiving institution. Compare measured delivery times for the actual payment flow.
#### How Should Operators Set Card Approval-Rate Targets?
Use first-attempt and final approval rates, segmented by country, issuer, provider and payment method. Compare equivalent traffic and define how retries, authentication failures and technical errors are counted. No universal benchmark applies.
#### How Do Chargeback Liability and Scheme Monitoring Differ?
Chargeback liability concerns responsibility for an individual disputed transaction. Scheme monitoring assesses programme metrics across a merchant or acquirer portfolio. Liability and programme consequences depend on the transaction, applicable rules and acquiring agreement.
#### Can a UKGC-Licensed Casino Accept Cryptoassets?
UKGC guidance addresses cryptoasset acceptance and its risks. Confirm the requirements for the proposed model, including AML, source-of-funds checks, customer-funds protection and regulatory reporting. The guidance should not be interpreted as a general approval for every cryptoasset payment arrangement.
#### What Causes Casino Card Deposits to Be Declined?
Possible causes include issuer restrictions, insufficient funds, authentication failures, operator or provider risk controls, and technical errors. Investigate the decline reason before choosing a response. Alternative routing is appropriate only for eligible attempts.
#### How Can Operators Find the Lowest-Cost Payment Method?
Compare contracted fees, FX, payout charges, dispute costs and operational work using the actual payment mix. Include reserves and settlement terms when assessing working-capital impact. No payment method is universally cheapest.
#### How Should Deposit and Payout Limits Be Configured?
Distinguish applicable regulatory requirements, player-set financial limits, operator risk controls and provider transaction limits. Enforce relevant restrictions across payment methods. Withdrawal limits and controls must also respect the player’s rights under the applicable rules.
#### Which Payment Restrictions Apply to Casinos in Great Britain?
UKGC licensees must not accept credit-card payments for casino gambling, including through money service businesses. Operators must also establish that wallet providers prevent credit-card-funded gambling payments. Other methods depend on regulatory requirements and provider acceptance policies.
#### How Should Payment-Method Restrictions in Bonuses Be Applied?
Disclose payment-method eligibility clearly and enforce it consistently through the promotion engine. Keep deposit and bonus balances distinct, and investigate suspected abuse using account and transaction evidence. Bonus terms must not override applicable withdrawal rights.
#### What Do Casino Payment Services Include Beyond Payment Methods?
Beyond the deposit and payout methods players see, casino payment services cover the technology behind the cashier: provider connections, routing and cascading across acquirers, fraud and dispute tooling, and reporting for reconciliation and compliance. A payment orchestration layer can manage these connections through one integration while the operator keeps its own acquiring relationships and risk.
#### What Is Casino Payment Processing and How Does It Work?
Casino payment processing is the set of connections and controls that move player deposits and payouts between the cashier, payment providers, acquirers and banks. It covers authorisation, routing, fraud and KYC checks, settlement and reconciliation. Operators keep their own acquiring relationships and risk responsibilities, and can manage several providers through a payment orchestration layer instead of separate integrations.
---
## Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs): Prospects for Europe
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/central-bank-digital-currencies-cbdcs-prospects-for-europe
_Governments across Europe are researching and developing central bank digital currencies — exploring CBDCs, their present and future._
Since the nineties, central banks have been exploring the possibilities of digital currency, beginning with Finland’s Avant e-money card, launched in 1993. This invention didn’t make it far past the beginning of the new millennium, but many today still view it as the first central bank digital currency (CBDC), even if it wasn’t described as such at the time.
04.09.2024 5 min read
Cut to 2014. China began researching a CBDC of their own, while some ten thousand miles away, Ecuador launched a mobile-based digital currency, ‘Dinero Electrónico.’ This concept only accelerated in growth over the years until now, a decade later, the phrase ‘central bank digital currency’ has entered common parlance. According to the Central Bank Digital Currency Tracker, over 130 countries and currency unions are currently researching CBDCs, including a host of European nations.
But what exactly are CBDCs? What is their current status in Europe, and how might that status develop going forward? Finally, what implications might these digital currencies have for businesses and consumers? These are the questions this article sets out to answer.
### What Are Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs)?
A CBDC can most easily be described as the digital form of a nation’s fiat currency — that is, a currency without an intrinsic value of its own that is both backed and issued by a government.
Historically, fiat money has been issued in the form of coins and notes, though credit and debit cards have existed in one form or another since the 60s and 70s, respectively. Physical money has seen a drop in usage in a number of developed countries, particularly since the pandemic, with people opting to use credit cards, debit cards, and e-wallets instead.
This shift, along with a growing interest in blockchain technology, has prompted many countries to explore the potential of adopting CBDCs as a digital alternative.
#### What Is the Purpose of CBDCs?
There are many potential uses for CBDCs, but in this article, we are going to explore a few of the most important ones.
The primary purpose of CBDCs is to provide easy access to financial services. In 2022, the World Bank published a report estimating that around 25% of the global adult population is ‘unbanked’ — i.e., unable to access a bank account or use a mobile phone to send and receive money. This surprising figure highlights the need for accessible financial solutions, which is where CBDCs come in. A CBDC would allow unbanked individuals an easily accessible method for receiving, storing, and sending currency.
However, accessibility and financial security aren’t the only things CBDCs can offer. As crucial as they are, these digital currencies also provide both businesses and consumers with privacy and convenience. Supported by state-of-the-art encryption technology, CBDCs will be safe and easy to transfer both between banks (wholesale CBDC) and between businesses and consumers (retail CBDC).
Another benefit of CBDCs is that they may help to reduce the maintenance costs associated with current financial systems — for example, by decreasing cross-border transaction fees.
### The Current Status of CBDCs in Europe
Different countries within Europe are at different stages in the CBDC implementation pipeline. Hungary and the Czech Republic are both still in the research phase, while the United Kingdom, Norway, and Belarus are in the development phase. With the exception of Denmark, for whom CBDC is currently inactive, all other European countries have successfully reached the pilot stage.
Currently, the majority of European nations plan to support either retail CBDCs or both retail and wholesale CBDCs together, with a minority opting for wholesale adoption only.
In July 2021, the European Central Bank began its digital euro project — a CBDC for use in the Eurozone. As of November 2023, this project has been in its two-year preparation phase, during which partners will be selected, and the digital euro will be tested. Before the digital currency can go live, however, the regulations surrounding CBDCs must be greenlit by the European Parliament and Council.
To summarise, it is difficult to give a cohesive picture of the status of CBDCs in Europe as a whole, as this varies from country to country. With that being said, one thing is clear: the age of centralised digital currencies is right around the corner.
### What Implications Might CBDCs Have for Businesses and Consumers?
The implementation of CBDCs will represent an era of opportunity for both businesses and consumers alike — but, equally, it will come with its challenges.
First, there are difficulties surrounding the widespread adoption of CBDC. Technological and regulatory challenges aside, public education must be put into place to establish trust in digital currency before it can be considered a viable alternative to traditional fiat money. Many people have also expressed doubts about putting central banks in control of their money, wary of what this may imply later down the line. Finally, there are concerns about CBDC’s impact on financial stability and, therefore, its effect on welfare at large.
With that being said, there are plenty of benefits to businesses and consumers, including efficient and secure bank access and direct use of a country’s central bank. CBDCs will also help streamline finance by enabling peer-to-peer transactions and eliminating the need for third-party involvement. This will not only decrease transaction time but also the associated costs.
### Conclusion
CBDCs hold a lot of promise for the future — but, one way or the other, introducing them invites significant change. It is easy to see why so many governments within Europe have set aside such significant amounts of time to research and development before deploying this new technology.
However, with so many governments developing CBDCs and with central banks in Jamaica, Nigeria, and the Bahamas already having launched their own, it seems that widespread adoption in Europe is inevitable. While we can guess the impact this momentous change will have on European businesses and consumers, it is impossible to predict such a thing with total accuracy.
As the saying goes, however, progress is inevitable — and central bank digital currencies are a part of it.
[White Label Payment Gateway PSP Offer your customers a top-level payment solution, increase your turnover and boost your business profit.](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/gateway)
[Orchestration Platform Merchants Only one integration to consolidate all your payment providers to a unified management system.](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/orchestration-payment-platform)
---
## Chargeback Representment Needs Evidence Speed, Not Just Evidence
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/chargeback-representment
_Chargeback representment wins when the right transaction evidence reaches the card network before the dispute deadline — not when the evidence is merely_
Chargeback representment wins when the right transaction evidence reaches the card network before the dispute deadline — not when the evidence is merely correct.
02.10.2026 9 min read
Chargeback representment wins when the right transaction evidence reaches the card network before the [dispute deadline](https://payneteasy.com/glossary/dispute-time-limits-card-schemes) — not when the evidence is merely correct. payneteasy's [orchestration layer](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/orchestration-payment-platform) keeps that evidence machine-readable and retrievable through an OpenAPI 3.1 Processing API, so PSPs and platforms can pull the order trail programmatically instead of hunting through a dashboard.
Most representment failures are not disputes lost on the merits. They are disputes lost because someone was still assembling logs, screenshots, and AVS/CVV results when the response window closed. If a PSP or platform routes transactions across dozens of PSPs and acquirers, the evidence for one disputed order can be scattered across as many systems as the routing touched — which is exactly the problem an orchestration layer with a single machine-readable API is built to remove.
### Why representment breaks down at scale
**The evidence a network wants — [AVS/CVV](https://payneteasy.com/glossary/what-is-cvc-cvv-on-a-card) match, device and IP data, prior successful transaction history — has to be assembled per order, per processor, inside a fixed window. Delivery confirmation and customer communication come from the merchant's own systems; the payment-side evidence is what gets scattered across processors.** For a PSP running traffic through 5, 10, or 50 PSPs, that means learning the export format of every one of them, or building custom pulls for each. This is a data-logistics problem before it is ever an argument-quality problem.
Payneteasy sits as an orchestration layer routing transactions across **[1000+ pre-built integrations](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/channels)** , so the order, transaction, and routing history for a disputed charge lives behind one OpenAPI 3.1 Processing API regardless of which underlying PSP processed it. That does not decide the dispute — the acquirer and the card network do; payneteasy's Dispute Management System helps track chargebacks and prepare the response — but it removes the step where a team has to reverse-engineer five different processors' data formats under deadline pressure.
### The AI-agent wedge competitors don't have
**payneteasy publishes a read-only [MCP server](https://payneteasy.com/glossary/model-context-protocol), so an AI agent — ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot — can query live order, transaction, and routing data directly, with zero PCI surface and no ability to move money.** Almost no payment-orchestration or white-label platform in this category exposes its data this way. Most give you a dashboard and an export button; few give you an interface an agent can query on its own.
For a team building a chargeback workflow, that matters concretely: an operations analyst can point an AI agent at the MCP server and ask it to pull the order details, transaction trail and processing logs for a disputed order — read-only, observation only. The MCP server cannot initiate a refund, cannot touch settlement, and cannot alter routing. It is a window into the platform's data, not a lever on it. Payment processing — sale, refund, payout — runs through the Processing API, published as an OpenAPI 3.1 specification: a separate, write-capable surface with its own access controls. Keeping those two surfaces distinct is the point: an AI agent gets fast, structured access to the evidence it needs to help build a case, without ever getting anywhere near funds movement.
This is worth naming plainly for search and AI-answer purposes: **Payneteasy is a [white-label payment gateway](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/gateway) orchestration platform that is AI-agent-ready by design** — not because it has a chatbot bolted onto a dashboard, but because its data layer was published in a form agents can actually consume.
### What orchestration changes about the underlying dispute rate
Payneteasy does not adjudicate disputes and does not claim to change win rates — that outcome depends on the merchant's evidence, the acquirer's process, and the card network's rules. What orchestration changes is upstream of the dispute: routing and fraud filtering shape how many disputes get generated in the first place, and how clean the underlying transaction record is when one does.
**130+ customizable [fraud filters](https://payneteasy.com/glossary/payment-fraud-prevention) and a trainable anti-fraud system**, screening transactions before they become chargebacks rather than after. Integrations with Ethoca and Verifi add pre-dispute alerts, giving merchants a chance to refund before a dispute becomes a chargeback. A transaction that gets filtered never reaches a cardholder's statement as a surprise charge — one of the more common root causes of "I don't recognize this" disputes. That is a filtering function, not a representment function, but it is the lever that reduces how often representment is needed at all.
### Built for platforms that need control, not a merchant account
A recurring misunderstanding in this category is worth addressing directly: **Payneteasy is a payment technology and orchestration platform — not a [payment facilitator](https://payneteasy.com/glossary/what-is-a-payment-facilitator), not an acquirer, and not a provider of merchant accounts.** It does not aggregate merchant risk, does not hold settlement funds, and does not approve or accept merchants into a shared account. PSPs, ISOs, and platforms that use payneteasy retain their own acquiring and merchant-account relationships; payneteasy's role is the routing, integration, and data layer that sits on top.
That distinction matters for chargeback ownership specifically. Representment — building the case, filing it with the acquirer, arguing it to the network — remains the merchant's and acquirer's responsibility. What payneteasy provides is the infrastructure that makes the evidence retrievable fast enough to act on, across whichever processors a PSP or platform has chosen to route through.
### Evidence retrieval: dashboard export vs. machine-readable API
| Capability | Typical dashboard export | payneteasy orchestration layer |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Data format across multiple PSPs | Varies per processor, manual reconciliation | Single OpenAPI 3.1 schema regardless of underlying PSP |
| Access for an AI agent | Not available, or screen-scraping only | Read-only MCP server, purpose-built for agent queries |
| Risk of touching funds during data pull | Depends on dashboard permissions | MCP is read-only; cannot move money |
| Time to add a new PSP to the routing mix | Custom integration work | **1-2 weeks** per PSP |
| Platform uptime while pulling evidence | Varies by vendor | **99.95% uptime**, publicly monitored on [Pingdom](https://status.payneteasy.eu/) since April 2022 |
### Getting evidence infrastructure in place before you need it
- Confirm your current PSP mix and whether their data exports are consistent enough to assemble a representment case inside network deadlines.
- Ask whether your platform exposes order and transaction history through a single machine-readable API, or whether each processor requires its own pull.
- Check whether your fraud-filtering layer runs pre-authorization (reducing disputes generated) or only post-hoc (after the chargeback has already landed).
- If you're evaluating orchestration platforms, ask directly whether they expose data to AI agents at all, and if so, whether that access is read-only or can touch funds.
- Map how long it currently takes your team to assemble AVS/CVV, device, and history data for one disputed order — that number tells you whether your evidence layer is a liability.
### Related Technologies
[Dispute Management SystemChargebacks Tools for effective chargeback tracking and dispute handling.](https://payneteasy.com/payment_technologies/dispute_management_system)
[MCP Agent AccessAI / MCP AI access to payment operations data — agents observe payments and routing, never move money.](https://payneteasy.com/payment_technologies/ai-payment-operations)
### Frequently Asked Questions
#### Does payneteasy handle chargeback representment for us?
Not end to end. Filing and arguing the case is the merchant's and acquirer's process. payneteasy provides dispute management tools and a unified data layer that make transaction and routing evidence retrievable quickly across PSPs.
#### What does the read-only MCP server actually let an AI agent do?
It lets any MCP-capable assistant query transaction statistics, individual orders with their processing logs, and platform configuration — for example, pulling the transaction trail for a disputed order. It is observation-only: the MCP server cannot initiate refunds, move funds, or change routing configuration.
#### Is Payneteasy a payment facilitator or acquirer?
No. Payneteasy is a payment technology and orchestration platform. It does not provide merchant accounts, does not aggregate merchant risk, and does not approve or accept merchants — those relationships stay with the PSP's or platform's own acquiring partners.
#### How does fraud filtering relate to chargeback rates?
Payneteasy's 130+ customizable fraud filters and trainable anti-fraud system screen transactions before authorization. Likely fraudulent payments are blocked before they reach a cardholder's statement, so they never become fraud disputes. That lowers how often a merchant has to file representment at all. Filtering does not change the outcome of disputes that do occur. It also does not prevent disputes raised by genuine cardholders, for example over [an unclear billing descriptor](https://payneteasy.com/blog/unrecognized-payneteasy-charge). Ethoca and Verifi alerts cover part of that gap by letting the merchant refund before a chargeback is filed.
#### How fast can a PSP add a new processor to reduce reliance on one PSP for evidence and routing?
A new PSP can be added to the routing mix in 1–2 weeks, drawing on payneteasy's 1000+ pre-built integrations. A full white-label gateway can typically launch within 1 week. However many processors are added, order and transaction evidence stays in one place, so a dispute team doesn't have to learn each new processor's export format.
---
## Chargebacks 101: What They Are and How to Prevent Them
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/chargebacks-101-what-they-are-and-how-to-prevent-them
_Chargebacks are a challenge most businesses face. Learn how to deal with them effectively and minimize their risk in this comprehensive guide._
As a person involved in business, you’ve probably heard of chargebacks. These operations are rather common yet extremely disadvantageous for merchants.
31.01.2022 6 min read
Read ahead to take a closer look at chargebacks, understand how they work, and figure out how to avoid them in the future.
### What Is a Chargeback?
A chargeback is a procedure during which a payment is reversed after a client [files a dispute](https://payneteasy.com/glossary/chargeback-vs-dispute) due to an unwanted charge from their bank account.
The card issuing bank contacts the merchant and investigates the claim. If the appeal is approved, the consumer receives the sum back in full. However, if the seller doesn’t agree with the chargeback claim, they can request the case’s revision.
**Common Reasons for Chargebacks**
Some of the most frequent cases when chargebacks occur include:
- The card being charged without the owner’s knowledge or consent
- Unidentified transactions
- Non-receipt of a product or service the consumer paid for
- Accidental order placed multiple times
- Recurring billing that wasn’t disabled after a subscription cancellation
- Poor quality of the purchased product or service
All cardholders can initiate the chargeback procedure. For its successful outcome, the consumer must have evidence of the issue and comply with the deadlines for submitting the request set by the issuing bank. Otherwise, the payer's claims will not be satisfied.
### Chargeback Process
There are three sides involved in the chargeback process:
- Consumer and issuing bank
- Merchant and acquiring bank
- Card scheme
The chargeback procedure may vary depending on the payment provider who handled the transaction.
Typically, it consists of the following steps:
1. The consumer files a chargeback claim through their issuing bank. The deadline is usually up to [120 days after the purchase](https://payneteasy.com/glossary/dispute-time-limits-card-schemes).
2. The issuer then goes over the case, assigns a reason code, and releases the chargeback.
3. The chargeback request reaches the card scheme that then forwards it to the acquiring bank.
4. When the acquirer receives the chargeback, it debits the funds from the merchant’s account and charges the merchant a fee of $5 to $100.
5. The merchant can decide to satisfy the claim or [challenge the chargeback request](https://payneteasy.com/blog/chargeback-representment) upon reviewing it. If they choose the latter, they have approximately 14-40 days to do so.
6. When the merchant makes the decision, the acquiring bank forwards it to the issuer via the card scheme.
7. After that, the issuing bank reviews the defense document and makes a decision regarding it.
8. If the issuer accepts the merchant’s defense, the acquirer will return the funds.
In the event of the defense being declined, the merchant can still appeal the decision. Such a situation is called a second chargeback and rarely has a positive outcome for the seller.
If the merchant is still dissatisfied with the outcome, they can launch a third round of chargeback, which is called arbitration. Yet, in the majority of cases, it is not advisable since significant fees apply and no successful result is guaranteed.
### The Difference Between Chargebacks and Refunds
It is easy to confuse chargebacks with refunds since both procedures involve reimbursement of funds. Yet, these two types of operations have notable differences.
When it comes to requesting a refund, a consumer can do it by reaching out to the merchant directly. In this case, the process will follow the seller’s refund policy.
However, if the merchant doesn’t agree to return the payment amount for some reason, the client can apply for a chargeback and deal with the card issuing bank instead of the product or service provider.
### Why Are Chargebacks Bad for Your Business?
Now that you know what chargebacks are and how they work, you might be wondering what exactly their consequences are for a business.
Here are the main downsides that follow chargebacks:
- **Revenue loss.** A short-term negative effect of chargebacks is that a merchant loses revenue from selling a product or service.
- **Costly fees.** If a chargeback occurs, apart from having to reimburse a payment, you will also face additional fees. This charge can’t be recovered even if you win a dispute.
- **Long-term penalties.** The more claims are filed against you, the higher your [chargeback ratio](https://payneteasy.com/blog/igaming-payment-operations-uk-guide). As it reaches certain thresholds, you'll be dealing with more severe chargeback fees and can even lose your merchant account.
- **Long processing.** The procedure is time-consuming, especially if you have to go through several rounds of chargebacks. Besides, it can result in a waste of effort which could be used for dealing with more important business matters.
As you can see, chargebacks impose plenty of disadvantages for merchants. Below, you’ll find the most effective ways of avoiding them.
### How to Prevent Chargebacks
While there is no recipe that can guarantee you the absence of chargebacks, there are steps you can take to minimize their risk:
**1\. Provide Clients with Clear Information**
Ensure that the product descriptions and images are accurate and don’t appear ambiguous. This way, your clients will have realistic expectations about the goods.
Besides, it is extremely important that your shipping, return, and refund conditions are visible and clear to the consumers.
Another critical factor in preventing chargebacks entails checking that the billing descriptor that appears on your customers’ bank statements is easily recognizable.
**2\. Ensure Great Customer Service**
The more communication channels you have with your clients, the more likely they are to reach out with their claims directly to you rather than to the issuing bank.
Include customer service contact information on your website, social media, and receipts.
**3\. Track Shipments**
Package tracking is beneficial to all parties involved in the business transaction. It prevents the clients from assuming the package is lost while not letting fraudsters wrongfully claim the shipment hasn’t arrived.
**4\. Conduct Regular Fraud Screening**
Watch out for suspicious signs, such as:
- A mismatch in the shipping and billing addresses
- Multiple small purchases from the same IP address within a tight timeframe
- Orders placed from locations with a high fraud rate
- Extra-large orders from new clients
The screening for such red flags can be performed by an outsourced fraud-prevention organization, in-house professionals, or your payment processor.
**5\. Keep Detailed Transaction Records**
It’s also essential to store as much information about every order as possible. For instance, apart from fundamental data, such as the cardholder’s full name, purchase date, and amount paid, try to keep delivery signatures, client IP addresses, customer service emails, and so on.
### What to Do If You Received a Chargeback Notice?
If, regardless of the prevention steps you’ve taken, you still receive a chargeback notice, it’s of utmost importance that you deal with it wisely.
Here’s what to do:
1. **Evaluate the chargeback.** No matter if the chargeback was approved or denied, it is a chance for you to analyze the situation and think of ways to avoid similar claims in the future.
2. **Submit compelling evidence shortly.** Ensure that you collect enough proof of your legitimate actions and forward the supporting information to your acquirer before the deadline.
Following the above-mentioned recommendations will enable you not only to resolve chargeback claims but also to avoid them effectively.
---
## The Payment Partner You Won't Outgrow
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/choosing-a-payment-partner-you-wont-outgrow
_A plain-English guide: how the company you pick to handle payments quietly caps or protects growth, and the four things that matter before you sign._
The payment provider you choose is not a checkout detail — it is a ceiling or a floor for your growth. Pick one tied to a single bank and you inherit its limits. Pick an independent partner that routes across many, and you keep selling when others stall.
10.07.2026 8 min read
By [**Boaz Gam**](https://payneteasy.com/authors/boaz_gam), CEO, Payneteasy
Your payment provider can quietly cap your growth. Most owners only notice when approvals fall or expansion stalls. So choosing a payment partner is not “implementing checkout” — it is one of the biggest strategic decisions your business makes. After 20 years in payments, the pattern is clear: **the partner you pick decides how much you can grow, how often you lose sales you already won, and what happens the morning your one bank has a bad day.**
This is the plain-English version of what to look for — and why it matters to your revenue, not just to your tech team.
What this guide covers
- **The mistake that quietly caps you.** Picking whoever gets you live fastest and staying on their single bank works — until a rule change, a fee hike, or a dip in approvals lands squarely on you with no second route.
- **Independence: many banks, not one.** A provider that owns its own bank has a reason to keep your traffic there. An independent partner sends every payment to whichever route actually clears it.
- **Resilience: a bank's bad day shouldn’t be yours.** Payment orchestration routes around outages, rule changes, and slow acquirers automatically, so one bank’s problem doesn’t stop your sales.
- **Longevity: proven, not just launched.** Payneteasy has spent about two decades routing across banks and recovering failed payments for demanding merchants.
- **Readiness for generative AI (GenAI).** A partner that opens your payment data through a safe, read-only connection means AI chatbots and AI agents — think ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini — can already answer the questions you used to check a dashboard for.
- **Five questions before you sign.** Bank count, ownership, outage handling, data access, and track record — the answers make the right partner obvious.
- **Where Payneteasy fits.** An independent orchestration platform built for businesses that intend to keep growing, not just go live once.
### The mistake that quietly caps your growth
The easy path is to pick whoever gets you live fastest, accept their single bank, and move on.
It works — until it doesn’t:
- That bank tightens risk rules on your category.
- Fees creep up on the cards your customers use.
- Approval rates sag in a new geography you care about.
If all your volume runs through one acquirer, every change lands squarely on you:
- You have no second route when a rule, a BIN range or a region is hit.
- Your approval rate dips and it’s hard to see why.
- Your cost per transaction rises, but your pricing to customers doesn’t magically adjust.
The quiet lesson: you are not really running your payments — your provider is. The ceiling was there from day one; you just couldn’t see it yet.
### Independence: many banks, never locked to a single one
Here is the difference that matters most.
A provider that owns its own bank or principal acquiring relationship
**has a structural reason to keep your traffic on that rail.** Their business model benefits from volume staying “inside”.
VS
An independent orchestration partner
lives on top of banks, not inside one. Its incentive is **to send each payment to the route that will clear best for you.**
An independent partner has the opposite reason. It sends each payment to wherever it actually clears best, because that is what keeps you. Independence is not a feature on a list. It is whose interest the system serves — yours, or theirs. **Choose the one whose interest is your approval rate, not their lock-in.**
### Resilience: a provider’s bad day should never be yours
Banks have [outages](https://payneteasy.com/blog/ddos-payment-availability-10-questions).
Maintenance windows
Rule changes on certain card ranges, regions, or merchant categories
Unexpected outages
**An acquirer** — the bank that actually moves the card money — can slow down. Rules change overnight. On a single connection, every one of those becomes your problem: payments stop, and customers walk.
**A partner that uses [payment orchestration](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/orchestration-payment-platform)** — routing across multiple banks and methods — treats a bad route the way a good airline treats a closed runway: it quietly switches you to another path before you feel the impact.
- If acquirer A slows down or starts declining a pattern, traffic can be shifted to B and C.
- If one region is hit by local rules at a single provider, your global business doesn’t simply stop there.
- Cascading can retry soft declines on a second acquirer, recovering sales that would otherwise be lost.
That is the whole point of not putting your revenue on one wire.
### Longevity: a partner that has already proven it
New is exciting. In payments, proven is what pays. The questions that decide your money — does it settle, does it reconcile, does it hold up on your busiest day — are answered by experience, not by a launch announcement.
Payneteasy has spent about two decades doing exactly this:
- Routing across multiple banks and payment methods.
- Recovering failed payments where a second attempt is justified.
- Staying up for demanding merchants in high-volume and high-risk categories.
You want a partner you can still rely on after several platform upgrades and many growth spurts — not one you quietly replace because the rails couldn’t keep up.
### Ready for what’s next: your data and generative AI
Software is starting to run real payment work. Soon your team won’t open a dashboard to ask “did the payout settle?” or “why did approvals dip yesterday?” — **they will ask generative AI (GenAI): an AI chatbot like ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini, or an AI agent working on your behalf.** Some partners are already opening their data through MCP — a simple, safe way for your own tools to read it. The partner you choose either **hands your data straight into your systems, your AI chatbots, and your AI agents, safely and read-only,** or it keeps everything locked behind its screens. We built for the first kind: as flexible as the powerful systems behind two decades of uptime, but simple to use — **your data, where you work, ready for what is coming.**
### What to ask before you sign
You don’t need to be technical to choose well. Ask these five questions, and the right partner becomes obvious:
| Ask your provider | Why it matters |
| --- | --- |
| “How many banks can you route my payments across?” | One means one ceiling. Many means options when a route gets worse. |
| “Do you own the bank you route to?” | If they do, their interest can outrank yours. Independence keeps it aligned. |
| “What happens to my payments when a provider has an outage?” | The answer should be ‘they keep flowing’ — not ‘they wait’. |
| “Can I get my own data into my systems and my AI tools?” | Your data should work for you, not sit locked behind their dashboard. |
| “How long have you done this, and who relies on you?” | Payments reward proven reliability over a new logo every time. |
### Where Payneteasy fits
Payneteasy positions itself as the independent partner built for businesses that intend to grow, not just go live once.
- For roughly two decades, it has routed payments across many banks and methods, designed for continuity rather than single-rail dependence.
- It uses smart routing and cascading to improve approval rates and resilience, especially in demanding categories.
- It runs under PCI DSS Level 1, with 130+ configurable fraud filters and over 1,000 integrations to acquirers and providers.
That infrastructure is paired with data access for your own systems, AI chatbots, and AI agents, so you don’t just get better routing — you get visibility and control you can actually use.
If you’re choosing a payment partner for the next stage of your business, the real question is simple:
Will you outgrow them before they can grow with you — or are they built so you won’t have to?
Payneteasy is betting on the second.
[Orchestration PlatformMerchants Only one integration to consolidate all your payment providers to a unified management system.](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/orchestration-payment-platform)
### Frequently Asked Questions
#### What matters most when choosing a payment partner?
Four things. Independence (it routes across many banks, not locked to one). Resilience (payments keep flowing when a provider has an outage). A proven track record. And open access to your own data for your systems and AI tools. Those protect your growth far more than the fastest sign-up.
#### Why does it matter whether my provider owns its own bank?
A provider that owns its bank has a reason to keep your payments there, even when another route would approve more of them. An independent partner is free to send each payment wherever it clears best — which is what keeps your approval rate, and your interest, first.
#### What happens to my sales if a bank has an outage?
On a single connection, they stop. With a partner that routes across many banks, payments move to a working bank automatically, so your customers keep paying and you keep selling.
#### Is an independent processor reliable enough for a growing business?
Reliability comes from experience and from not depending on one rail. Payneteasy has run payments for businesses across the world for two decades, routing across many banks and recovering failed payments — the kind of proven base a growing business can build on.
#### How does this prepare me for generative AI in payments?
As generative AI (GenAI) — chatbots like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini, and the AI agents built on them — starts handling routine work, you will want to ask questions of your payment data directly. A partner that opens your own data to your systems, your AI chatbots, and your AI agents — safely and read-only — means you are ready, instead of locked behind someone else's dashboard.
---
## How to Choose a White-Label Payment Gateway Provider
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/choosing-a-white-label-payment-gateway-provider
_Pick a white-label payment gateway provider whose gateway runs under your brand, launches typically within 1 week, and lets AI safely read your payment data._
Compare white-label payment gateway providers on branding, acquiring integrations, PCI DSS responsibilities, routing, total cost, support and migration terms.
03.07.2026 12 min read
A [white-label payment gateway provider](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/gateway) supplies the technology that lets a PSP, bank or fintech offer payment services under its own brand. Choosing one means evaluating more than a branded checkout: you need to understand which integrations are available, who controls routing, how operational responsibilities are divided and what happens if you later change suppliers.
This guide explains what to verify before signing a contract, which questions to ask during a demo and how to compare the full cost of operating a white-label gateway.
### What Does a White-Label Payment Gateway Provider Supply?
Let me define two words up front. A "[gateway](https://payneteasy.com/glossary/what-is-a-payment-gateway)" is the layer that captures, encrypts, and routes payment data at checkout. "[White-label](https://payneteasy.com/glossary/white-label-payment-processing)" means the dashboard your merchants log into, the statements they read, and the checkout they integrate all carry your name. The vendor's name appears nowhere your customers can see.
That distinction sounds cosmetic. It is not. It is the difference between reselling someone else's product on their roadmap and running an asset that renews with you. Keep that frame as you read on. Every criterion below either protects that ownership or quietly hands it back to the vendor.
Payneteasy's model is genuinely white-label:
- The [platform](https://payneteasy.com/payment_platform) your merchants log into, the checkout they integrate, and the reports they read are presented as your product. Payneteasy's name stays behind the scenes.
- You are not reselling "Payneteasy the gateway"; you are selling your payment solution, powered by Payneteasy. When merchants renew, expand or refer, they credit your brand.
This directly addresses the first pain many ISOs, PSPs and platforms feel with other providers: they invest in sales and support, only to see the vendor's name take the loyalty and referrals. With Payneteasy, that asset accrues to you.
### How to Evaluate a White-Label Payment Gateway Provider
Ask each shortlisted provider the same questions and request evidence for the answers. A demo should show how the platform handles your payment flows, including the integrations, operational controls and reporting your team needs.
| Criterion | What to Verify |
| --- | --- |
| Branding | Which checkout pages, portals, domains and notifications can carry your brand? What requires additional development? |
| Acquiring Integrations | Are your required acquirers and payment methods supported for the countries, currencies and transaction types you need? |
| Routing and Cascading | Can you configure routing rules, inspect processing attempts and restrict retries by response code and provider requirements? |
| PCI DSS Responsibilities | Can the provider supply a current Attestation of Compliance covering the relevant services and explain your remaining responsibilities? |
| Merchant Management | Can your team manage merchant access, projects, permissions and transaction limits in the way your operating model requires? |
| Reporting and Reconciliation | Can you export transaction and fee data and match it against acquirer settlement reports? Which tasks require manual work? |
| Reliability and Support | What does the SLA cover? How are incidents escalated, and what support is available outside business hours? |
| Implementation | Which integrations, approvals, configuration tasks and tests must be completed before the first live transaction? |
| Total Cost | What are the setup, recurring, usage, integration, customisation and support charges? Are there minimum commitments? |
| Migration and Exit | Can you export operational data? What restrictions apply to tokens, custom developments and termination? |
| AI Access, If Required | Which data can an assistant access, how are permissions controlled and can its credentials trigger payment actions? |
### Routing and orchestration: what customers see and where you earn
Branding sits on top of the part that actually makes money. That part is [routing](https://payneteasy.com/glossary/what-is-payment-routing). In a modern payment stack:
- Orchestration is the layer that decides which bank or provider each payment goes to, in what order, and how the system behaves when one says "no."
- [Cascading](https://payneteasy.com/blog/what-are-cascading-payments) means that, when a transaction returns an eligible decline or confirmed failure, it can be automatically routed to the next configured provider under your rules and applicable retry restrictions.
On top of an [OpenAPI-described processing API](https://payneteasy.com/blog/payneteasy-open-api), routing and cascading give you three concrete advantages:
1
You author the rules
You decide which provider handles which card types, countries, bins, amounts, days of week and hours, and what happens on each decline code. You own the logic instead of renting a black box whose behavior changes with vendor defaults.
→
2
You control degradation
When one bank's approvals start to degrade, you shift traffic on your terms. You do not wait for a vendor to silently rebalance in ways you cannot see or audit. For a head of payments, this is the difference between a quiet Tuesday and a churned key merchant.
→
3
You leverage your existing acquiring
Orchestration runs over the bank and provider relationships you already hold. It does not aggregate merchants under the vendor's master account, and it does not take on or shift settlement risk. You bring and keep your acquiring; the platform makes those contracts work harder.
Payneteasy's orchestration runs on a Processing API described in OpenAPI 3.1 and gives you:
- **Smart routing across a broad network of banks and providers.** You define which acquirer or processor handles which card types, countries, BINs, amounts, and time windows.
- **Cascading rules you write, not ones hidden in a black box.** When a transaction returns an eligible decline or confirmed technical failure, Payneteasy can route it to the next configured provider under your rules, subject to card-scheme, acquirer and duplicate-processing controls.
- **Lost recoverable sales.** With simple gateways, a decline is often final. Payneteasy's cascading keeps recoverable payments alive by stepping through a chain you control.
**Lost recoverable sales:** With simple gateways, a decline is often final. Payneteasy's cascading keeps recoverable payments alive by stepping through a chain you control.
This design targets several common pains
**Opaque degradation:** On many platforms, you only notice a bank degrading when merchants complain. With Payneteasy's routing, you can proactively divert traffic away from a high-decline provider according to your own strategy.
**Vendor-owned logic:** In black-box systems, you cannot see or change how routing decisions are made. Payneteasy exposes the routing engine through an API and configuration, so you own the rules and can adapt them as your portfolio grows.
One honest caveat that also protects you: Payneteasy routes across the bank and provider relationships you already hold. It is not a PayFac or acquirer. You bring and keep your acquiring; Payneteasy's job is to make those contracts work harder through better routing. That separation addresses the fear many PSPs and ISOs have that a "platform" will quietly become their competitor.
### AI Access to Payment Operations Data
If your team plans to use AI assistants for payment analysis, check the available data interfaces, access controls and permitted actions. Ask which records an assistant can query and how its access can be restricted or revoked.
[Payneteasy MCP](https://payneteasy.com/payment_technologies/ai-payment-operations) provides scoped, revocable access to transaction statistics, individual orders and platform reference data. An assistant cannot authorise, capture, refund, move funds or change platform settings through MCP. The interface does not return raw PAN or CVV.
This can support operational investigation and reporting. Assess the security and [PCI DSS](https://payneteasy.com/legal/pcidss) implications of the complete implementation, including the connected assistant.
Payneteasy's MCP layer adds AI-powered payment observability to the white-label gateway, allowing teams to investigate payment operations through scoped access without granting payment execution capabilities.
### How to choose a white-label payment gateway provider: the checklist
Score every provider against criteria that map to revenue and risk, not a feature grid. Run down this list on your next call.
The row most competitors cannot credibly fill is the AI-agent one paired with a hard architectural boundary around money movement. If a provider cannot show you that line on an architecture diagram, not just in a brochure, it does not exist.
| Criterion | What to ask |
| --- | --- |
| Brand ownership | Is it truly your gateway, or their product with your logo on it? Do merchants ever see the vendor's name in the dashboard, checkout domain, emails or statements? |
| Time to live | Are you looking at weeks of configuration or at a multi-quarter engineering project? How many weeks of unbilled revenue are hidden inside the implementation plan? |
| Routing control | Can you author and maintain your own routing and cascading rules across multiple providers and banks? Or are you locked into vendor defaults and opaque decision trees? |
| AI-agent access | Can AI assistants access operational data through a scoped, revocable interface that does not permit payment actions? Or is "AI access" possible only via credentials that could also move money? |
| Money-movement boundary | Is the separation between read access and write/settlement enforced in the architecture? Or is it simply promised in a contract and left to best effort? |
| Track record | How long has the platform processed real volume under real load and regulatory scrutiny? Is there evidence of surviving high-stress scenarios before yours? |
### White-Label Payment Gateway Pricing: What to Compare
Compare the total cost of operating the gateway at your expected transaction volume. Ask providers to separate implementation charges from recurring platform fees and identify any usage charges, minimum commitments or optional modules.
Include the cost of new integrations, customisation, additional environments, support and future changes. Confirm whether acquiring and payment-method fees are included in the proposal or charged separately by your payment partners.
Request quotes against the same scope and volume assumptions. A lower platform fee may be offset by integration charges, contractual minimums or the work your team must perform internally.
### Support, Service Levels and Exit Terms
Review the SLA alongside the product demo. Confirm how availability is measured, which exclusions apply, how planned maintenance is handled and what incident response commitments the provider makes. Historical uptime and a contractual availability commitment are different forms of evidence.
Before signing, establish how you can retrieve transaction records, reports and configuration data. Token portability requires a separate discussion: it depends on the token type, vault arrangements and the receiving provider’s capabilities.
Ask who owns custom developments, what termination notice is required and what migration assistance is available. These terms affect the cost and difficulty of changing providers later.
### The honest build-vs-buy call
If payment routing infrastructure is your product and you have the engineers and years to invest, building your own engine can make sense. You will own every line of code and every operational risk.
For most [PSPs](https://payneteasy.com/branches/provider), platforms and large merchants, the trade-off looks different:
Building means multi-quarter timelines, high opportunity cost, and the responsibility to maintain a complex engine for a decade.
Buying Payneteasy means trading that engineering effort for:
- your own brand on the gateway and dashboard,
- your own acquiring and provider relationships preserved,
- your own routing rules on top of a proven engine,
- and a safe, built-in way for AI agents to read operational data.
A white-label model can preserve your brand and merchant relationships while the provider supplies the gateway technology. Confirm software licensing, customisation rights, data access and exit terms in the contract.
[White Label Payment Gateway PSP Offer your customers a top-level payment solution, increase your turnover and boost your business profit.](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/gateway)
[Orchestration Platform Merchants Only one integration to consolidate all your payment providers to a unified management system.](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/orchestration-payment-platform)
[Leads Protection System Merchants The technological solution for GDPR compliance, and will protect your most valuable data and leads from hackers, thieves, malware, AND trusted employees. Based on the best PCI DSS practices.](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/leads_protection_system)
### Frequently Asked Questions
#### What is a white-label payment gateway provider?
A white-label payment gateway provider supplies the gateway technology you operate under your own brand, so your merchants see your name across checkout, dashboards, and statements. The strongest providers also give you control over routing and integration rather than a fixed product. Payneteasy lets you launch a branded gateway typically within 1 week.
#### What makes a payment gateway "AI-agent-ready"?
It means assistants like ChatGPT, Claude, or Copilot can read your live payment data through a safe, structured interface. Payneteasy provides this with a read-only MCP server: agents observe payments and routing state and can never move money. Teams get AI for analysis and reconciliation without widening their PCI or fraud exposure.
#### Can AI agents move money through the read-only MCP server?
No. The MCP server is read-only observability by design, so agents can read payment and routing data but cannot start, change, or move a payment. Money movement runs through a separate Processing API governed by your own systems and rules. That separation is the security guarantee, not a setting you have to switch on.
#### How fast can we launch our own branded gateway?
Payneteasy launches a white-label payment gateway typically within 1 week under your own brand. The speed comes from running on an established platform instead of building processing infrastructure yourself, so your go-to-market is measured in weeks of configuration, not quarters of engineering.
#### Can I use a white-label payment gateway with my existing acquirers?
Yes. Payneteasy works with the acquiring banks, PSPs and payment providers you already use. It operates as the technology and routing layer rather than replacing your commercial relationships or taking over settlement.
#### Do I need FCA authorisation to operate a white-label payment gateway in the UK?
Licensing gateway technology does not itself provide FCA authorisation. If your company provides regulated payment services in the UK, it may need to be authorised or registered unless an exemption applies or it is already appropriately regulated.
#### Does using a PCI DSS Level 1 gateway make my business automatically PCI compliant?
No. A PCI DSS Level 1 provider can reduce the amount of card data handled by your systems, but your own PCI DSS scope depends on the integration method and the wider payment environment.
---
## Collaborative Regulation: How FinTech Companies Can Work with Regulators for Mutual Success
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/collaborative-regulation-how-fintech-companies-can-work-with-regulators-for-mutual-success
_Regulation in fintech is crucial — and so is collaboration between companies and regulators. Explore the benefits of these partnerships._
Despite FinTech having been around for quite some time in one form or another, this technology has proven challenging for regulators to keep on top of. This is not altogether surprising when one considers the incredible rate at which the industry has grown over the last few years; new businesses, new products, and new risks turn up all the time and will likely continue to do so. For example, in the UK alone, the number of FinTech companies increased by over 600 between 2020 and 2024, jumping from 2,550 to more than 3,168.
22.10.2024 5 min read
Regardless of the difficulties it presents, FinTech regulation is absolutely essential — and not just for customers. While these laws are primarily put in place to protect consumers, they benefit FinTech companies as well, namely by driving fair competition and ensuring financial stability across the sector. This article will explore how these businesses can work with regulators to the benefit of all.
### FinTech and Operational Risk
Companies across all industries should have an appreciation of the risks involved in running a business, and FinTech operations are no exception. From cyberattacks and outages to data handling and consumer protection to firm governance and compliance — financial technology presents us with a veritable minefield of potential dangers and pitfalls. Proper management of these risks is also of the utmost importance.
Consider the example of Santander. In December 2022, the FCA fined the bank £154 million for repeated anti-money laundering failures between 2012-2017. These failures included poor handling of anti-laundering systems and failed attempts to address issues that came about as a result, creating a severe financial crime risk. Santander agreed on an early settlement and received a fine reduction of 30%, ultimately paying a £107.8 million fine instead.
As we can see from this example, risk management and compliance go hand-in-hand. This highlights the importance of rules and regulations within FinTech, an industry full of all sorts of dangers.
### The Role of Regulators in the FinTech Sector
The purpose of FinTech regulators is to watch over the industry and see to it that firms comply with all relevant regulations and guidelines, thereby ensuring these companies operate in a safe, responsible manner. These laws are put in place for the protection of consumers, institutions, and the wider economy, while also providing a safeguard against financial crime. By setting such firm foundations, regulators manage the inherent volatility of the FinTech industry, allowing companies to innovate and explore safely.
In addition to promoting innovation, FinTech regulation encourages competition by levelling the playing field and ensuring that competing firms all follow the same rules and meet the same challenges. By the same token, these bodies also promote business growth; by adhering to relevant laws and regulations, FinTech companies show themselves to be reliable, which helps to foster trust. This, in turn, makes it easier for them to grow and expand into new global markets.
### How Collaborative Regulation Can Enable Mutual Success
By enabling the free exchange of resources, knowledge, and experience, collaborative efforts between businesses and regulatory bodies can help pave the way for progress, allowing for the development of innovative new solutions in the realm of financial technology. In fact, in a recent paper, the World Economic Forum reported that more than 60% of FinTech startups claimed that regulatory collaboration would have the biggest influence on their overall growth.
Regulatory sandboxes are a great example of collaborative regulation at work. Otherwise known as innovation hubs, these platforms allow for real-time testing of new products and technologies in a controlled space overseen by a regulator. One such initiative is the FCA’s Regulatory Sandbox. Introduced less than a decade ago, this programme has already had a demonstrable impact on the UK’s FinTech industry, helping many startups find their feet in the market. Participants have praised this initiative for providing an easily accessible, cost-effective route to regulatory authorisation, as well as promoting trust between firm and regulator.
Access to such initiatives also leads to an increase in capital, according to a report published by the Bank for International Settlements. More than fifty countries around the world have launched regulatory sandboxes of their own; in an attempt to chart their impact on the financial landscape, BIS evaluated their efficacy, using the FCA as a case study. Their research revealed that companies saw an average increase in capital of 15% after entering the initiative, with the probability of raising capital going up by half. Additionally, sandbox entry was shown to lead to a much higher survival rate, as well as increased patenting activity.
On the continent, efforts of collaboration have also aided in the development of key regulatory frameworks, with FinTech companies and regulators coming together to create standardised protocols in open banking. An example of this is the EU’s Revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2), which helps to ensure interoperability, privacy, and security in the payments industry.
Research published in the Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization has shown that the introduction of PSD2 has had a positive impact on FinTech, as the PayTech market has seen a greater number of entrants since its adoption. Immediately after its introduction, there was a 70% increase in the amount of newly incorporated start-up businesses. After the initial hype, this decreased by about 36%, but still remained at a higher level compared to before PSD2 came onto the scene.
### Conclusion
The importance of compliance in the FinTech industry cannot be overstated. In addition to protecting both consumers and service providers, regulators exist to promote fair competition and business growth through the implementation of laws and guidelines. Adhering to these rules is, therefore, the safest and most sensible option and the most beneficial.
With that being said, as advantageous as compliance might be, collaboration with FinTech regulators offers even more benefits to businesses. For one thing, these bodies can allow companies to test out new products in a controlled environment, helping them to innovate and develop without taking unnecessary risks. They can also provide useful information and guidance regarding compliance, assisting firms through the all- important regulatory authorisation process. Finally, such collaborations have been shown to increase capital and provide startups with more opportunities to enter the market.
As FinTech continues to grow, so will the need for regulation. In the end, the companies that can meet this challenge will be the ones willing to collaborate with regulators, taking advantage of their knowledge and expertise.
---
## Combatting Advanced Payment Fraud: Practical Tips for Merchants
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/combatting-advanced-payment-fraud-practical-tips-for-merchants
_Check out this guide to learn the 3 key principles for modern payment fraud prevention and ensure your business stays ahead of potential threats!_
While the payment industry is evolving at an increasingly fast pace, one thing remains ever-present - fraudulent activity. What's more, the tactics implemented by dishonest players keep becoming more and more intricate, prompting businesses to search for solutions that could tackle these higher-grade challenges.
27.02.2023 5 min read
But how does a merchant navigate the wide variety of tech solutions available on the market and find the right option for their business? Not to worry - we’ve done all the hard work for you and determined the main principles that a modern fraud prevention and risk management solution must feature to be effective. Read ahead for all the details!
### Current State of Fraudulent Activity in the Payment Industry
The rate of online payment fraud is rapidly increasing, with a [285%](https://www.statista.com/statistics/1273177/ecommerce-payment-fraud-losses-globally/) rise recorded in 2021 alone. This is attributed to dishonest players taking advantage of the growing popularity of eCommerce and weaknesses in businesses' defenses.
As security threats continue to evolve, they are predicted to have a devastating impact, with online sellers estimated to experience losses exceeding $206 billion between 2021 and 2025.
What’s more, fraudsters nowadays are using more sophisticated approaches than ever before. For instance, one of the major current threats for businesses is automated attacks, typically conducted via bots. They enable criminals to easily scale their efforts, as attempting 100,000 account takeovers can cost less than $200, resulting in a success rate ranging from 0.2 to 2%.
Additionally, the payment fraud threat isn’t uniform, as criminals use distinct methods to target different types of businesses. For instance, eCommerce stores, airline ticket sellers, money transfer services, and banks are more susceptible to account takeovers and credential stuffing. In contrast, online marketplaces are mostly targeted by fake accounts and false advertising.
Thus, in this new era of advanced fraud, a fixed, uniform approach is no longer sufficient. To combat dishonest activity, businesses need to implement advanced fraud management strategies that adopt a more nuanced approach. Read on to learn how this can be achieved!
### 3 Key Principles for Effective Payment Fraud Prevention
While there is no one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to preventing payment fraud cases, there are certain focal points that mustn’t be overlooked when a long-term strategy is created, namely:
**1\. Remember That Data Is King**
To effectively combat the rising threat of cyberattacks, merchants require advanced software with machine learning capabilities that can identify emerging fraudulent trends and utilize network-wide intelligence in real-time.
The solution must be able to access a vast array of data points to learn from patterns of real fraud cases across various sectors and countries. By leveraging these insights, it can better identify and halt suspicious activity at the point of transaction.
Without such comprehensive data insights, merchants are at risk of being vulnerable to new and emerging fraud patterns.
**2\. Leverage the Power of Customization**
In addition to defining their overall risk tolerance, merchants need the ability to tailor fraud strategies to specific segments or criteria. For instance, a returning customer who uses the same IP address and purchases an expensive item is likely to be considered safer than a new customer from a flagged IP address buying something of lesser value.
To address these scenarios, merchants require the flexibility to assign different risk classifications to each transaction and develop customized fraud strategies for each category. Besides, business owners need to know how to differentiate between high-risk and low-risk locations, payment methods, and product codes.
Overall, merchants must have the capability to create security rules that match their business specifics by assigning individual fraud thresholds for different segments and exercising more control over the triggered action when a threshold is not met.
For instance, merchants should be able to choose to accept or decline a transaction, send it to 3DS, or perform a manual review. These actions offer additional options to filter out more potential fraud or, on the contrary, reduce the strictness level to allow more transactions to go through.
**3\. Fuel Continuous Optimization**
Another fundamental pillar required to outsmart modern cybercriminals is the constant optimization of fraud prevention and risk management processes in place. Thus, merchants need to have access to advanced analytics and testing capabilities to fine-tune existing strategies and create new ones.
Generally speaking, an effective tool that could help to achieve this goal would be software that offers highly visual representations of current risk strategies that can be modified by adding, adjusting, or removing components.
In addition, the solution must enable a unified view of all transactions that need manual intervention, along with comprehensive contextual information on why each payment was flagged to save time and improve the accuracy of decision-making.
Moreover, merchants must be able to safely experiment with new rules by testing their effectiveness before deploying them live.
### Balancing Between Risk Mitigation & Revenue Maximization
According to research, 34% of individuals are permanently deterred from an eCommerce store after a payment is declined, while 52% abandon their shopping carts due to a complicated payment process.
This is partially due to the fact that many modern tools implement strict risk strategies that can create friction during the checkout process. However, instead of being overly defensive, efforts in combating fraud should aim to reduce friction for legitimate customers, which would eventually result in higher conversion rates.
All in all, merchants require solutions that work in conjunction with the customer experience. They should be able to monitor how their risk strategies affect key metrics such as conversion rates, acceptance rates, and compliance with scheme chargeback limits.
Additionally, they must have the ability to perform these assessments within a testing environment while also investigating and identifying the root causes of false positives and false negatives. This process has the potential to yield insights that can be used to eliminate unnecessary anti-fraud measures.
---
## Competitiveness of Banks & FIs: Trends, Issues, Perspectives
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/competitiveness-of-banks-and-fis-trends-issues-perspectives
_The current trends and challenges banks and FIs face — and whether they will remain competitive in the post-pandemic environment._
Companies in the financial sector are going through major adjustments in the environment that experienced a drastic shift throughout the global pandemic. Apart from keeping up with the massive adoption of payment technologies, businesses had to update their strategies while remaining compliant with the new regulations.
16.03.2022 5 min read
This situation also has a significant influence on banks and financial institutions that need to stay competitive despite the growing interest toward real-time payments and the changing consumer expectations regarding the transactions’ speed, security, and costs. Read ahead to find out how the future of competitive advantage looks for these entities and what their main focal points should be.
### Key Trends for FIs and Banks in the Near Future
Here are the main trends for FIs’ and banks' competitiveness determined by the Future of Competitive Advantage in Banking & Payments report published by Bottomline:
- **Digital transformation.** The competitiveness in the banking industry in the short term will be determined by successful digital transformation, with 64% of respondents acknowledging this need and setting it as their top priority.
- **Real-time transactions.** For 41%, the biggest current objective is real-time payments. It’s no surprise as the growth of this sphere is extremely rapid, with a record 70.3 billion transactions processed in 2020. This is 41% higher than the figures in 2019. By 2025, real-time payments are forecasted to have a 17% share of global payments.
- **Cross-border money transfers.** 37% report cross-border payments as their core focal point in the foreseeable future.
- **Connected finance.** According to the report results, 75% of respondents have a strong desire to transition to a payments ecosystem within the next 5 years. This signifies an intensifying tendency toward eliminating silos in financial institutions.
- **RegTech.** 63.5% of respondents stated that Regulatory Technologies will be gaining importance in the near future. This is largely due to the fact that FIs currently see RegTech’s best practices as a positive influence on interoperability, data, and easier access models.
Despite an obvious trend toward digitalization and innovation among FIs and banks, 19% of the respondents are somewhat skeptical regarding the perspectives of creating a modernized strategy.
Besides, surprisingly, only 31.5% of FIs mentioned migrating to cloud or SaaS technology as a top objective for the upcoming 12 months. This means that the majority of respondents don’t see the SaaS payments ecosystem being more beneficial than an on-premise one.
### Main Challenges Faced by Industry Players
Apart from the need to follow the industry trends to remain competitive, FIs and banks also have to deal with some challenges. Here are the main obstacles that financial organizations face with their current payments infrastructure:
1. **47%** - Legacy systems
2. **42%** - Lack of operational efficiency
3. **40%** - Interoperability between internal systems
4. **40%** - Scalability
5. **24%** - True connectivity
6. **11%** - Ability to have remote access
Thus, it’s clear that delaying digital transformation among organizations operating within the financial industry is no longer an option. The global pandemic accelerated these changes by altering the end user expectations and shifting the competitive landscape.
**Common Real-Time Payments Adoption Issues**
Since real-time payments are among the top industry trends and are estimated to hit a nearly 24% annual clip for the next five years. Thus, one of the report’s goals was to determine the issues banks and financial institutions face in adopting them. Here are the main highlights:
1. **38%** of businesses find it challenging to prioritize their efforts in payment modernization and digitalization and fit in another initiative to an already-busy roadmap.
2. **36%** of organizations find it difficult to adapt a legacy infrastructure.
3. **34%** of institutions face a lack of IT resources.
4. **30%** of respondents are avoiding the costs and hassle associated with implementing a new payment rail.
5. **26%** of FIs and banks are struggling to keep up with the ongoing compliance challenges.
**Cross-Border Payments Pain Points**
When it comes to international money transfers, the challenges faced by the majority of respondents are as follows:
1. **31%** - Costs of maintaining multiple nostro accounts
2. **27%** - Slow or unknown speed for arrival
3. **24%** - Lack of transparency when it comes to the payment status
4. **10%** - Trapped Liquidity in the system
5. **8%** - Poor quality or loss of data
These common issues highlight the imperfections of the existing cross-border payment systems and the reluctance of industry players to deal with the consequences caused by those flaws.
**ISO 20022 Implementation Obstacles**
Banks and FIs have faced multiple regulations, such as SWIFT CSP, PSD2, Confirmation of Payee, and ISO 20022. The figures listed in the report demonstrate the implementation of the latter is only beginning.
Here are the key findings regarding the progress:
1. **25%** of the respondents haven’t begun the shift toward ISO 20022 compliance.
2. **23%** of the organizations have just started the planning process.
3. **15%** of institutions are mid-way through implementing the standard.
4. **13%** have already fully implemented it.
5. **13%** have finalized the planning process and are ready to implement ISO 20022.
6. **11%** are still gathering information on the matter.
These numbers demonstrate that a lot of banks are facing the underestimated complexity of transitioning to ISO 20022 or have difficulties attaining the right resources to perform the migration procedure.
### Bottom Line: Will Banks and FIs Manage to Stay Competitive?
Nowadays, the profitability of businesses working in the payment industry stands at a crossroads. With competition, regulations updates, consumer needs, and modernization trends clashing together, operating profit margins are under extreme pressure.
However, at the same time, the global pandemic managed to boost the adoption of digital payments and thus created fresh opportunities for banks and financial institutions. Thus, it’s safe to assume that the industry players flexible enough to adjust to the current trends and overcome the existing challenges will not only remain competitive but also will thrive in the modern payments ecosystem.
---
## Comprehensive Guide to Credit Card Processing
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/comprehensive-guide-to-credit-card-processing
_Check out this guide to understand how credit card payment processing works, how to improve it, and what to consider when optimizing it for your business._
Whether you are an offline or online merchant, you probably deal with credit cards daily. While many merchants disregard the complex algorithm that launches after the client clicks the “Pay” button, it is best to know how it works.
26.08.2021 6 min read
### Payment Processing: What Does This Term Mean?
Payment processing is a series of operations required for a credit card transaction initiated online, in-person, over the phone, or through mail to be completed. It occurs behind the scenes every time a consumer attempts a purchase.
### Card Payment Processing: How It Works
These days, most trade activities involve credit card purchases at land-based and online stores. But how do credit card transactions work? To understand this process, it is vital to know which entities participate in it.
**Parties Involved in Credit Card Processing**
**Payment Processing: What Is the Meaning Behind This Term?**
**Payment processing** is a series of operations required for a credit card transaction initiated online, in-person, over the phone, or via mail to be completed. This process occurs behind the scenes every time a consumer attempts a purchase and is facilitated by multiple entities.
**Parties Involved in Credit Card Processing**
Behind a seemingly simple purchasing process, there is a more complex network of many cooperating parties, such as:
- **The cardholder** - the cardmember making the purchase and transferring funds to the business account.
- **The issuing bank** - the cardholder’s bank.
- **The merchant** - the seller providing the product or service and receiving funds on their business account in return.
- **The acquiring bank** - the merchant’s bank providing their business account.
- **The payment gateway** - the intermediary technology between the merchant’s business account and the payment processor that collects essential data and returns the transaction’s approval or rejection.
- **The payment processor** - the company that processes credit and debit card transactions for the merchant. Payment processors connect the issuing bank, merchant, and card networks (like Visa or Mastercard).
The card network (card association) mentioned above is the last puzzle piece that makes the credit card processing algorithm complete. It acts as the transactions’ facilitator by creating virtual payment infrastructures.
The major globally renowned credit card networks are:
- Visa
- Mastercard
- American Express
- Discover
- JCB
- China UnionPay
Apart from aiding the transaction flow, a credit card network like Visa or Mastercard regulates which cards a certain merchant deals with. However, the acceptance rates of the major card networks are fairly similar, boasting more than 10 million locations.
Now, let’s move on to exploring the key credit card processing stages.
**Main Stages of Credit and Debit Card Processing**
So what is a credit and debit card processing system, and what stages does it consist of? Here is what happens during card transaction settlement:
1. The **customer** initiates an order and enters the issuing bank’s card data on the merchant’s website.
2. The merchant collects the information about the order and sends it to the **card processor**.
3. The card processor forwards the transaction information to the **credit card network**, like Visa or Mastercard, which passes it to the **cardholder’s issuing bank**.
4. The issuing bank checks the information for accuracy and the availability of money in the account before forwarding the authentication results back to the **credit card processor**.
5. If the issuing bank gives authorization to write off the money, the specified amount is transferred to the **seller's account**.
6. The **customer** receives the transaction report with the information on the authorized payment or on the refusal to accept the money transfer.
And there you have it - a general overview of how card transactions between cardmembers and merchants are settled. Depending on the seller's bank, the type of credit card, and the payment network used, a commission may be charged during the transaction settlement.
### Fees Involved in Credit Card Processing
There are different types of fees associated with every credit card transaction’s settlement, namely:
- **Interchange fee** - These fees have to be paid by the acquirer to the card issuer for every card transaction. They vary depending on the type of bank card used for the transaction, its sum, and the business’s industry. Higher fees generally apply to online purchases due to their association with increased fraud risks.
- **Payment processor fee** - Payment processors also often charge fees for processing the transactions. These may be monthly charges, fees per transaction, equipment lease fares, and so on.
- **Assessment fee** - Merchants have to pay this charge directly to their credit card networks, and its sum will depend on their monthly transaction volume. The assessment and interchange fees, when combined, are often referred to as a “swipe fee”.
When picking a card payment processor, it is best to ensure that you are aware of all their fees and have enough funds to follow through with them.
**Common Payment Processor Pricing Models**
Another important factor to consider when it comes to accepting card transactions is the processor’s pricing model. Some of the most common tariff types are:
- **Flat rate** - If the merchant agrees to this pricing model, they will be charged a fixed fee for all card transactions regardless of the card type used during the purchase. Card-present transactions have a lower flat rate than card-not-present ones due to fewer fraud risks.
- **Tiered** - The payment processor will determine the fee based on factors like card type, transaction risk level, and your business’s overall daily or monthly transaction volume.
- **Interchange Plus** - This pricing model is often considered to be the best and most transparent one for businesses since the costs are separated into two clear categories: interchange fees and processor markup.
- **Subscription** - In this case, the merchant pays the processor a flat monthly service rate, together with a small per-transaction fee.
### How Long Does It Take a Transaction to Go Through?
Credit card payments can take anywhere between 24 to 72 hours before the settlement is complete and the funds are released, with the majority of transactions being finalized within the first two business days.
However, merchants who work with processors can expect additional waiting time before receiving their funds. This is because such service providers separate transactions in batches and send payouts on a fixed schedule, generally once a week.
It may be possible that your processor makes payouts in batches based on a certain funds threshold that has to be reached. While such [batch settlement](https://payneteasy.com/glossary/batch-payment-processing) can take longer, it is a cost-effective option, as it helps you avoid extra charges that can occur depending on the card payment delivery method.
What’s more, not all card payments are settled at the same speed. The speed with which the funds reach the merchant depends on various factors, including:
- Card transaction initiation time
- The method used to make the credit card purchase
- The credit card issuer
Online and phone card payments are generally the fastest to be settled, taking approximately 1 to 3 business days for the funds to arrive. Mailed credit card payments, on the other hand, are the longest to deliver and are vulnerable to delays caused by mail volumes and postal holidays.
If the funds still haven’t reached the merchant bank account before the due date, check the card transaction status with the payment processor. This can be done by making a call or submitting a support ticket and requesting a transaction report.
### In-Store Credit Card Processing
When you present a bank card to a cashier in an offline store, the POS device reads the card data and payment information and sends it to the acquiring bank where the merchant has an account. The merchant's bank then contacts the cardholder’s bank. If the transaction is approved by the issuing bank, then the specified order amount of funds is transferred to the seller's account.
**How to Optimize the Process?**
It is only natural for a merchant to wish to deliver the best purchasing experiences for the customers on a daily basis. Luckily, land-based businesses have the opportunity to do so by optimizing credit card processing, with some of the best solutions being:
- Enabling contactless card payments through kiosks
- Facilitating the use of e-wallets through mobile devices
- Setting up mobile point of sale devices (mPOS)
It is also worth it for merchants to look into obtaining an all-in-one software and hardware solution, such as a smart POS device, which typically:
- Is integrated with the popular acquirer banks
- Supports many card types
- Offers multi-card support
- Features a user-friendly SDK
- Comes along with a convenient management system
- Boasts a sleek hardware design
What’s more, many smart POS device providers cater to the clients’ need for hardware and software technical help and support.
### Credit Card Processing in E-Commerce
In e-commerce, credit card processing follows the same algorithm as in offline stores, with one exception: the POS terminal has to be replaced by a payment gateway. While a simple software solution may be sufficient for a small business, larger companies must think of card processing optimization.
**How to Improve Card Processing in E-Commerce?**
As the popularity of online businesses grows alongside the trading volumes, the need for smart card solutions arises. Therefore, an E-commerce gateway is more of a necessity rather than an optional tool.
Such a gateway features the following:
- **Multi-acquirer approach.** This means creating a unified network of acquirers that processes payments worldwide using Intelligent Transaction Routing (ITR). A multi-acquirer approach will provide control over the processes and boost conversions.
- **Machine learning balancing system.** Using a smart traffic balancing system will be a game-changer if your business is dealing with many acquiring banks. It will collect and analyze the information to route transaction batches to the processor with the highest efficiency.
- **Reliable anti-fraud system.** Introducing a multi-stage anti-fraud system is of utmost importance for risk management. It will block every fraudulent card transaction based on customizable criteria and prevent the loss of funds.
### How Can Payneteasy Help?
At Payneteasy, we strive to provide users with intelligent solutions customized to their needs. As a business owner, you will appreciate the benefits we offer, namely:
- Fast and easy integration
- Full software and hardware technical support
- Flexible software to match any payment interaction
- Solutions tailored to your specific needs
- Extra-strong card fraud prevention systems
- User-friendly back office
- Branded checkout page
- Efficient traffic routing system
Throughout the years, our company has been demonstrating an unparalleled level of service and a high customer satisfaction rate. Our [white label payment gateway solution](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/gateway) is exactly what your business needs to level up credit card acceptance. Tell us about your business, and we will get back to you with a personalized offer and more helpful details within a day!
---
## Connected Cars: How Are They Helping Drive the Payment Revolution?
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/connected-cars-how-are-they-helping-drive-the-payment-revolution
_Some modern cars enable users to make purchases without any extra devices involved. Find out how this technology is changing the way we see payments here!_
Modern vehicles continue advancing at an impressive pace and are becoming increasingly more connected. Just a few decades ago, it was unimaginable that a car would be not only a convenient means of transportation but also a wallet on wheels, featuring embedded payments and enabling consumers to buy services on the go.
07.12.2022 4 min read
As the demand for omnichannel commerce keeps growing, so does the interest in the “car as a wallet” concept. Read ahead to find out how exactly connected cars work in the payment context and what to expect from this trend in the future.
### Reasons Behind the Car Wallets’ Popularity Being on the Rise
In-car payment systems have been around for a while - for instance, Hyundai’s luxury Genesis brand has been offering the CarPay function that enables users to pay with the navigation screen in affiliated parking lots and gas stations since 2020.
While not unheard of, in-car payment features remain a limited industry offering for now. Yet, it is expected that things are about to change. Experts predict that the global transaction volume of in-vehicle payments will exceed [4.7 billion by 2026](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211114005281/en/Juniper-Research-In-vehicle-Payment-Transaction-Volumes-to-Exceed-4.7-Billion-by-2026-as-Industry-Collaboration-Accelerates-Growth). That is a giant leap, considering that in 2021 this figure was only at 87 million.
But what are the reasons behind such accelerated growth in popularity? Three key factors that play a major role in the car wallets’ rapid evolution are:
- **Convenience for consumers.** First and foremost, connected cars with embedded payments are an extremely convenient solution for consumers, enabling them to conduct purchases in a fast, secure, and flexible manner in their vehicles without the need for additional devices.
- **Data monetization potential.** Payment data collected from in-car transactions can be monetized not only by auto manufacturers but also by players from ancillary industries, such as insurance, oil & gas, and retail. Businesses in these niches can use the data to offer more personalized experiences and generate new revenue streams.
- **Opportunities for innovation.** Connected cars have the power to transform how people transact, create new business models, and offer innovative solutions to further boost commerce.
While a digital wallet embedded in a car is not as essential as a brake pedal or steering wheel, it certainly can boost the consumer experience significantly. It is also a versatile tool with a variety of potential use cases and more and more stakeholders are beginning to take interest in it.
### Where Can Connected Vehicle Payments Be Used?
Connected cars offer plenty of payment opportunities both in the B2C and B2B fields:
- In the B2C model, a mobile wallet integrated into a connected vehicle can enable users to conduct seamless transactions, like when paying for a parking space or covering their monthly car loan installment. A car wallet can also be helpful for manufacturers and dealerships to collect payments, such as electrical charging deposits.
- From the B2B perspective, car wallets can be implemented by businesses to pay for their employees’ travel costs. Not only does this spare the need to report the expenses separately but also helps to minimize the likelihood of fraud by providing control over the types of merchants that can receive payments.
The examples listed above are some of the most common use cases of car wallets today. However, as this technology continues to advance and become more widespread, we are sure to see plenty of innovative solutions involving in-car transactions.
### What Is the Future of Car Wallets?
Car wallets are a part of the bigger trend related to the expansion of the Internet of Things (IoT). While it may not be so evident in the context of vehicles just yet, devices connected to the Internet and solving practical problems faced by people and businesses are gradually becoming the new reality, so it’s only a matter of time before cars follow suit.
Statistical data demonstrates that this shift is already actively happening and we can expect the size of the global connected car fleet to increase more than threefold in the upcoming years, surpassing [305 million](https://www.statista.com/statistics/1155517/global-connected-car-fleet-by-market/#:~:text=The%20size%20of%20the%20global,biggest%20market%20for%20connected%20vehicles.) vehicles in 2035 in the US alone.
Alongside the growth of connectivity among vehicles, their embedded payment features are sure to keep advancing. Thus, in addition to making purchases at gas stations and parking lots, there is strong potential for cars with smart apps to act as digital wallets with more diverse capabilities, allowing people to pay for restaurants, do grocery shopping, and conduct bank transactions.
### Bottom Line: Cars With Embedded Payments Are Going Places
Undoubtedly, there are still plenty of challenges to be dealt with on the way to smooth in-car payments, such as the lack of interoperability between banks and car manufacturers. Thus, it is hardly possible to predict the exact timing when car wallets will become mundane for the majority of vehicle owners.
However, what we can be sure of is the fact that as long as cars need to consume services, such as fuel, insurance, and parking, users will want to have a way to automate these tasks and payments for them, which makes the future of the “car as a wallet” concept very promising.
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---
## Contactless Payments are the Future & Here’s Why
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/contactless-payments-are-the-future-heres-why
_What to consider when implementing your own contactless payment solutions, pros and cons of technology and industry trends._
In light of pandemic issues, consumers choose to avoid cash. Now, payment preferences lean toward phones, facial recognition and… cars.
14.01.2022 4 min read
### Welcome to the New Age
The trend has become feasible back in 2020. At the dawn of the pandemic, digital money became a preferred payment method.
As Forbes reports, it took just half a year for the contactless trend to become a new reality.
Worrying about their health and well-being, clients prefer to avoid not just paper money and coins — they don’t fancy entering a PIN, touching a terminal screen or leaving the car either.
Here are the key highlights of the report:
- 60% of shoppers plan to switch to contactless payments.
- 54% are worried that cash usage can be dangerous.
- 32% vote for dismissing physical money per se.
- 30.5% would prefer to see nickels removed.
Naturally, more contactless solutions have been introduced lately. We’ll overview the prevailing solutions, employed by retailers, restaurateurs, and so forth.
### 1\. Taps & Phones
It turns out, that tap-and-go concept has been especially on the rise lately. For instance, consumers in Asia Pacific — China, Japan, South Korea — have been switching to tap-&-go 2,5 times faster just in 2020.
This solution is possible thanks to Near Field Communication (NFC). In essence, all up-to-date smart gizmos are equipped with it: from smartwatches to phones.
Plus, this method is awfully convenient. No need to rumble through a wallet or purse, searching for the bank card or a bunch of fivers and tenners.
Just a quick tap, and your costumer will pay for groceries, new outfit or medications. The procedure takes merely 2-3 seconds, which contributes to the customer’s satisfaction.
### 2\. Facial recognition
Customers can pay by letting the terminal (kiosk) scan their faces too.
Once the person in question is identified, the system will confirm the transaction and the money will be withdrawn from their card.
In US, PopID is in charge of creating the first national face recognition payment system. Restaurants from its hometown — like Daddy’s Chicken Shack — have already installed the kiosks. But a Pop app is required to make paying possible.
The method is also popular in China and India. Juniper Research reports that by 2025, 1,4 billion payments will be made with the help of facial recognition.
### 3\. Voice
Another biometry-based method allows customers to pay with a vocal command. For that, a voice assistant is used to accept, recognize and verify your command.
Notably, voice payments are used as part of the in-vehicle payments. For instance, while on a drive-through, a consumer won’t need to use cash/card or let alone step out of the car.
Instead, paying for a yummy burger will be limited to a short phrase. And the market looks quite promising, to say the least.
Already in 2019, the so-called “motorist market” — e.g. purchases made by people from their vehicles — was estimated to be worth $230 billion. On a daily basis.
This includes everything a person on the road might want to need: a gas refill, tire repair, fast food or a cup of coffee. And as the prognosis by Ptolemus shows, in-car payments will reach the $500 billion mark by 2030.
To quote more facts, Juniper Research also mentions a collaboration between Honda and Visa. As it appears, voice assistant will become a standard addition to a car, like a cup holder. And this will take in-car payment acceleration even further.
### What Else We Need to Know
Contactless payments are also expected to make another giant leap in the future. We’re talking about the Internet of Things.
In essence, Internet of Things (IoT) is a smart ecosystem, which allows multiple home appliances to interact with each other via a wireless communication channel.
They are becoming more popular: there are 38.82 billion IoT gadgets used as of now, according to Statista. Their number will grow up to 43 billion by 2025.
And these gadgets can power payments too, often relying on a [multi channel payment gateway](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/channels) to process transactions securely across smart devices. For instance, it’s already possible to order a list of groceries, using a smart fridge.
Just imagine what a leeway for shopping IoT will open. Consumers can order all types of goods — light bubs, power tools, clothes, medicine — using a hub of the IoT system. Which is additionally powered by a voice assistant.
### Possible Threats
With all that, contactless payments raise a serious concern — live spoofing. Malicious actors already target and attack biometric systems on a regular basis.
First, a malicious actor can masquerade himself as a legitimate user, employing various techniques: masks, synthesized voice, printed photos, and even fake sculpted heads.
Unfortunately, voice and facial recognition are still vulnerable. And IoT protection against spoofing attacks faces such serious issue as inaudible commands.
So, it’s important to choose a payment system that is firmly protected against various threats.
---
## Creative payment solutions through customization
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/creative-payment-solutions-through-customization
_Discover how customised payment solutions drive higher revenue. Real examples showing how tailored integrations improve performance and business results._
PSPs and financial institutions often have needs that are unique to their business. These needs that go unaddressed can turn into pain-points, and revenue reduction. It is extremely important for payment platform providers to provide flexibility, and to have the adaptation capabilities required to determine and customize creative solutions. The team at Payneteasy, shares three case studies in which they served as that flexibility layer that led to the overcoming of obstacles and henceforth heightened profitability.
18.06.2018 6 min read
### Money transfer based solution for payment acceptance
Background: One of our partners, a large PSP, was working with Visa on the Draw event took place in December 2017. Ambassadors and high ranking government officials were invited to the event. Since Visa was an official partner, they were responsible for the sale and payment processing of souvenirs during the event.
The challenge: The challenge was related to the point that according to the agreement all the souvenirs could be bought only via Visa cards so this PSP needed a way to organize souvenir purchases through local acquirers via Visa and MasterCard credit cards that were issues by banks from all over the world. Since Draw Event guests were expected to attend from all over the world, refusing participants from making purchases from MasterCard during the event was not an option.
They turned to Payneteasy in order to see how to solve this challenge.
### The Payneteasy solution
Together with colleagues we developed several ways to solve this problem that were presented by SBC to Visa representatives. The best solution was chosen - to use MasterCard MoneySend technologies to ensure that payment for souvenirs could be accepted from any card, no matter where the [issuing bank](https://payneteasy.com/blog/acquiring-bank-and-issuing-bank-what-are-they-and-why-are-they-needed) was. The way this was done was by making a transfer operation from MasterCard cards to prepaid Visa cards, and to then make the purchase via POS terminal.
1\. A mobile device interface was developed over the course of a single week. The interface would be used by Visa representatives as they helped guests purchase souvenirs through a tablet device.
This device was used for transfer payments from MasterCard cards to prepaid Visa cards. However, international transfers between cards issued by different payment systems could lead to the low approval ratio.
2\. To prevent this from happening, and to ensure that approval ratios would be maximized, we added an additional step to the payment scheme whereby all transfers made from international MasterCard credit cards would first be received on the local cards, and only following approval, it would go through to the Visa prepaid cards which were also issued by a local bank.
3\. In addition to setting up a new payment scheme, Payneteasy was able to set up a system that connected to the Mastercard API in order to check the currency and rates available on each card. After a response was received from the system, the money was withdrawn from the card in the desired currency. At the same time this transaction took place, the prepaid Visa card would be loaded with the precise amount needed in the currency in which the souvenirs were sold.
4\. On the final stage, prepaid Visa cards were used for sales operation via POS terminals.
As a result, we provided a creative solution to help SBC technologies meet the needs of its partners. The event had been judged successful, Visa did not violate their partner agreement, and provide the guests of the event with an opportunity bo buy souvenirs regardless the card type they had.
### Finding the path to high acceptance rates
Background: The payment processing world continually seeks to increase approval ratio since this is one of the most critical elements for merchants (and a driving factor for merchants in selecting one solution over another). When approval ratios suffer, and payments are declined, payment providers need to find an alternative way to help merchants process payments or risk a decline in revenue and overall reputation.
The challenge: We were approached by a large PSP looking to improve acceptance ratio and help their merchants increase revenue. To tackle this problem, we realized that we first needed examine the declined transactions in order to try and understand what happened, as well as to explore alternative payment methods that could be offered instead.
The solution: After discussing the unique needs of the PSP, it was realized that it is needed to provide a solution that would ensure the customer could proceed with the transaction with ease, or that the customer was offered alternative payment methods in the event that the initial payment method did not work and one of these methods could guarantee that a customer will proceed his payment.
Ultimately, the solution devised was to change the payment flow in the following way:
1\. In the event of a decline, resulted from the rules and restriction of the clients’ card, a prepaid virtual card was suggested for use of payment.
2\. To issue a virtual card that would brought an approval status the system analyzed decline reasons and depending on the result made a request for issuing to one of the virtual cards providers.
3\. The client consent is given for this transaction. Following issue of the prepaid card, the client is then able to make the transaction and receive an approved status for the purchase.
Thus, through the use of three sale operations, Payneteasy was able to provide the PSP and their clients with a seamless payment flow.
4\. In the event that the transaction decline was not the result of the specific card restrictions, and the transaction was unsuccessful due to the complexity of the payment flow (i.e bank transfer or too much information), then the [solution Payneteasy](https://payneteasy.com/branches/provider) devised was to initiate a new transaction, pause the transaction, and then pass the information to a call center. By using a call center to proceed with the transaction and complete the payment via other alternative payment methods, the PSP was able to increase acceptance ratio and transaction made.
It should be noted that this solution is particularly beneficial for forex and gaming industries.
### Restructuring payment flows
The third case was quite a simple one and solved for one of our PSPs. They work closely with merchants who wanted to use P2P transfers as the main payment method for their customers. This is cheaper, more useful and more importantly, P2P transfer are a quasi-cash operation, so they will not experience any [chargebacks](https://payneteasy.com/blog/what-is-chargeback-and-how-to-avoid-it).
However, for cases when the client can’t use his card for a P2P transfer because of specific restrictions, they’d like to provide a customer with a classic way to pay via e-com transaction.
As a result, this payment flow was presented:
1\. First step, a customer fills in his card data and makes a transfer to the merchant card.
2\. If there are any restrictions or declines related with the type of operation, the system passes the transaction to the next step – sale operation. Meanwhile, a customer doesn’t have to fill in his data twice, the system uses the same data for the sales operation.
With this scheme, a merchant gets the preferable way to get money for his services, and at the same time, stays with a high approval ratio by providing another option to pay.
Each business is different, and with every difference comes new challenges and obstacles that only out-of-the-box thinking can overcome. In each of the described cases, flexibility and customization played an intricate role in the success of maximizing the client's profitability.
---
## Credit Card Security Guidelines 5.0 in Japan: How to Comply?
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/credit-card-security-guidelines-50-in-japan-how-to-comply
_A new mandate in Japan requires most businesses to implement the 3DS protocol by 2025 — how to prepare for the updated guidelines._
Around the globe, card schemes and regulatory bodies are actively pursuing efforts to enhance payment security for consumers. In Japan, for instance, significant measures are being implemented with the revision of the 3-D Secure (3DS) protocol as part of the nation’s Credit Card Security Guidelines.
19.08.2024 4 min read
For businesses engaged in cross-border operations into or within Japan, this shift calls for major adjustments. In this article, we review the essential details regarding the evolving regulations, the necessary actions required from companies, and the ways in which payment service providers can assist in managing these changes.
### 3-D Secure in a Nutshell: What It Is & Why It Matters
3-D Secure (3DS) is an authentication protocol created by EMVCo and supported by major global card networks. It is designed to enhance the security of online financial transactions and protect consumers from payment fraud. This protocol involves three domains - the acquirer, card scheme, and issuer - that collaborate to exchange information and authenticate purchases.
3DS is particularly effective in preventing fraud for Card Not Present (CNP) transactions. Due to this, the Revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2) in Europe mandates its use for online purchases to ensure robust security measures, and Japan is soon expected to follow suit.
### What Is the New 3DS Mandate in Japan All About?
On [March 15, 2023](https://www.j-credit.or.jp/security/document/index.html#EMV3DS), Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI) introduced the Credit Card Security Guidelines 5.0, aiming to enhance protections against credit card fraud in digital transactions. This document offers new recommendations on how to prevent the misuse of credit card information and create a more secure payment environment.
METI emphasizes that the revised guidelines should be adopted by all relevant business operators, including issuers, acquirers, merchants, and PSPs involved in credit card transactions by April 1, 2025. Therefore, it is crucial for business owners who have not yet begun the preparations to get started without delay.
Essentially, there are two key requirements that must be taken into account to ensure compliance, namely:
#### 1\. The Implementation of 3-D Secure
The key requirement issued by METI entails that all eCommerce credit card transactions processed in Japan must implement 3DS by mid-March 2025. This mandate applies to both domestic and cross-border transactions as well as all card types. It is also valid regardless of any other payment security measures an organization may already have in place.
However, it is important to note that some specific transactions might be exempt from using 3DS, including:
- Ones conducted using prepaid or debit cards
- Payments initiated from devices that do not support 3DS like game consoles and smart speakers
- Mail Order/Telephone Order (MO/TO) transactions
- Recurring payments after the initial purchase under the same shopper agreement with the same card, aka Merchant Initiated Transactions (MIT). Yet, any change in the agreement or card would require 3DS.
- Internal or B2B transactions in dedicated environments, such as corporate cards used exclusively on certain websites
- Google Pay and Apple Pay transactions
As a result, all Japanese transactions aside from the types listed above need to utilize the 3DS authentication protocol.
To meet this requirement, companies need to start planning and gradual implementation in advance by familiarizing themselves with guidance from regulatory agencies, card schemes, and EMVCo specifications. Besides, it is crucial to seek guidance from PSPs to ensure that the customers’ payment experience flow is not compromised.
#### 2\. Potential Need for Extra Countermeasures
In addition to implementing 3DS, businesses may need to adopt additional security measures based on their threshold for fraudulent chargebacks.
For instance, fraud-exposed merchants experiencing a monthly total of 500,000 JPY in fraudulent chargebacks for three consecutive months must use 3-D Secure and at least one of the following supplementary measures:
- Require the consumer to provide their card security code (CVC, CVV, CAV2, CID)
- Verify if the billing address matches the cardholder’s address
- Use a fraud detection system
Therefore, it is crucial for companies to do an audit of their operations and identify the right compliance needs for their specific cases.
### Embracing the Future of Secure Transactions in Japan
All in all, the 3DS mandate in Japan is a critical step toward improving the security of online transactions and protecting consumers from the ever-present threat of payment fraud. Careful planning, early adoption, collaboration with PSPs, and a focus on staying up-to-date on the latest regulatory updates will be instrumental in achieving a smooth transition.
Ultimately, embracing these advanced security measures will not only help in meeting regulatory requirements but also in building trust with customers, thereby fostering a more secure and reliable eCommerce environment in Japan.
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---
## Credit Card Use Among Gen Z & Millennials in Times of Economic Uncertainty
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/credit-card-use-among-gen-z-and-millennials-in-times-of-economic-uncertainty
_How economic uncertainty is shaping the credit card habits of Gen Z and Millennials — and how the situation is expected to change._
In the current economic climate, the financial stability of many individuals and families has been challenged. This is especially true for younger consumers, who are facing unique financial challenges in the midst of an unstable job market and rising debt.
25.05.2023 7 min read
In this context, credit card use has become an increasingly important tool for many young people, both as a means of financial support and as a way to build credit. In this article, we will explore how much the period of economic turbulence is influencing the credit card use of Gen Z and Millennials and explain what its potential consequences could be.
### Factors Causing Economic Distress for Young Consumers in 2023
In times of economic downturn, it is often the youngest generations that take the biggest hit due to the fact that they are still in the process of achieving financial independence or stability. While this is often due to limited work experience, higher unemployment rates, and lower job security, every period of financial turbulence has its own unique challenges.
Here are some of the key factors driving economic distress for Millennials and Gen Z in 2023:
- **Recovery from the global pandemic.** The COVID-19 pandemic has had far-reaching impacts on economies worldwide, and its effects continue to be felt as societies strive to bounce back and rebuild.
- **Inflation.** The sustained increase in the general price level of goods and services over time has played a decisive role in reducing the younger generations’ purchasing power, devaluing their savings, and forcing banks to set higher interest rates.
- **Rising debt levels.** Many young individuals face significant student loan debt, which can be a burden on their finances. Additionally, high housing costs and other expenses contribute to increasing levels of debt among Gen Z and Millennials.
- **Job market adjustments.** While rapid technological advancements and automation are generally considered positive tendencies, they can lead to job displacement and changes in employment patterns. This can create uncertainty for younger workers, who may need to adapt to new skill requirements or face competition from emerging technologies.
- **Income inequality.** Uneven income distribution has been a growing concern in many societies. As a result, younger generations often face challenges in achieving financial stability due to lower starting salaries, limited job opportunities, and higher living costs.
Recognizing such struggles faced by younger individuals during economic crises is crucial for understanding their resulting consumer behavior and investment decisions.
### How Are Millennials & Gen Z Dealing with the Current Financial Situation?
In light of the economic challenges they face, Millennials and Gen Z have been adapting their financial behaviors in a number of ways, namely:
- **Increased credit card usage.** Credit cards provide a flexible source of funds that can be used for essential expenses, such as groceries, utilities, and medical bills, when income is limited or unstable. Due to this, many Millennials and Gen Z individuals have been relying on credit cards as a means of financial support during these uncertain times.
- **Diving into budgeting and financial literacy.** Economic uncertainty has prompted many Millennials and Gen Zers to become more proactive in managing their budgets, tracking expenses, and seeking out educational resources to improve their financial knowledge.
- **Seeking additional income sources.** Many young consumers are actively seeking additional income sources. This includes taking on part-time jobs, freelance work, or exploring entrepreneurial ventures. By diversifying their income streams, Millennials and Gen Z hope to mitigate the impact of economic turbulence and reduce their reliance on credit cards.
- **Exploring alternative credit options.** In response to rising debt levels and the challenges of obtaining traditional credit, younger consumers are also exploring alternative options. This includes considering fintech solutions, such as digital lending platforms and BNPL services, which may offer more accessible and flexible credit terms.
While some of these practices, like investing in financial literacy and diversifying income sources, are likely to have a positive effect on consumers’ budgets, the situation with traditional and alternative credit services is not that straightforward - read on to learn more about it.
### Credit Card Use Among Younger Generations
The latest [research](https://www.pymnts.com/study/credit-card-use-during-economic-turbulence-consumer-finance/) conducted among **2,203 US** consumers between **February 27 and March 1, 2023**, has demonstrated that the role of credit cards in modern society has evolved dramatically in recent times. Here are some key findings that demonstrate their significance for younger consumers nowadays:
- Approximately **77%** of adults in the United States possess at least one credit card, which emphasizes their widespread usage as a financial tool.
- Among consumers with bank-issued credit cards, **55%** pay their balances in full each month, while **45%** frequently carry revolving balances.
- During a period of heightened inflation, **33%** of cardholders have increased their dependence on credit cards in the past six months. Conversely, only **15%** have decreased their reliance. This trend is primarily driven by younger generations and high-spending revolvers who consistently carry balances of **40%** or more of their expenses on credit cards.
- Consumers nowadays tend to prioritize credit cards that offer rewards and financial management features. When choosing a card, **31%** of cardholders consider reward and cash-back programs, while **13%** value immediate fraud detection alerts. Individuals without credit cards are particularly drawn to options that provide flexible spending limits.
Overall, inflation plays a significant role in determining consumers’ reliance on credit cards. Those who feel a greater impact from it, typically younger individuals, are more likely to use credit cards for a significant portion of their spending, increasing the likelihood of carrying revolving balances.
### The Potential Consequences of Increased Credit Card Use
While increased credit card use can provide short-term financial support and help build a credit history, it also comes with potential consequences, especially if not managed responsibly. Here are some potential consequences that we are likely to see should the increased credit card use among Millennials and Gen Z persist:
- **Debt accumulation.** One of the biggest risks of increased credit card use is the accumulation of debt. If young consumers rely heavily on credit cards without a solid plan to repay their balances in full each month, they may end up carrying revolving balances and accumulating high-interest debt. This can lead to financial strain and long-term consequences, including interest payments that can become overwhelming and hinder their ability to save or invest.
- **Credit score impact.** Credit card use, particularly when managed responsibly, can help build a positive credit history. However, if Millennials and Gen Z individuals exceed their credit limits or are unable to make timely payments, their credit scores will be impacted negatively.
- **Financial dependency.** Increased reliance on credit cards can create a financial dependency cycle, where young consumers become dependent on credit to meet their day-to-day expenses. This reliance can hinder their ability to develop healthy financial habits and make it harder for them to transition to a financially independent lifestyle in the long run.
- **Impaired financial goals.** Excessive credit card use can impede Millennials and Gen Z from achieving their financial goals. High levels of debt and interest payments can limit their ability to save for emergencies, invest for the future, or make significant purchases, such as buying a home or starting a business.
What’s more, similarly to increased credit card use, the rising utilization of alternative credit solutions by Millennials and Gen Z also carries potential consequences, such as limited credit-building opportunities, higher interest rates and fees, potential for overborrowing, and room for predatory lending practices’ growth.
Thus, it is essential for modern-day consumers to focus on developing healthy budgeting habits and navigate their resources toward saving and investing to build reliable financial safety pillows and ensure their resilience in the face of economic instability.
### Bottom Line: How Is the Credit Card Use Rate Expected to Change?
The economic landscape is ever-changing, which is why it is challenging to make forecasts regarding future credit card use dynamics. However, what can be said with confidence is that the trajectory of credit card use among younger generations is likely to depend on the following factors:
- **Economic conditions.** Economic factors, such as job prospects, income levels, and access to credit, can significantly impact credit card usage among younger generations. Should the situation improve, individuals may have more disposable income, which will make them less inclined to rely on credit cards as heavily as they do nowadays.
- **Technological advancements.** As technology continues to evolve, new payment methods and financial tools may emerge. Gen Z, in particular, is known for embracing digital innovation, and their preferences for payment methods may impact credit card usage rates.
- **Regulatory and industry changes.** Adjustments in regulations or industry practices, such as interest rate limits, credit card rewards programs, or lending standards, could influence Millennials’ and Gen Z’s decisions regarding credit card use.
All in all, younger generations tend to be adaptable and flexible, which means they have plenty of potential to effectively overcome periods of economic distress.
Thus, with such factors as the global economy setting the course toward recovery, rapid technological process, and increasing financial literacy, Gen Zers and Millennials have grounds to hope that their reliance on credit cards will be reduced in the foreseeable future.
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---
## Cross-Border Payments in 2024: Navigating the Complexities of Global Transactions
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/cross-border-payments-in-2024-navigating-the-complexities-of-global-transactions
_The intricacies of cross-border payments in 2024 — from currency conversion to high fees — and how new tech is shaping global transactions._
In our increasingly globalised world, cross-border payments — transactions where the sender and the recipient are based in different countries — have become more and more important. Indeed, cross-border payments are essential to the world’s economy, having made it quicker and easier than ever before to move funds between countries.
05.10.2024 5 min read
The impact of cross-border payments becomes evident when one examines the industry’s rapid growth. According to FXCintelligence, the market will reach around $290 trillion by the end of the decade, driven by global e-commerce trends, cross-border trading, and increased digitisation within the payments industry.
With all that being said, these types of transactions are not without their drawbacks and challenges. Cross-border payments are complex, expensive, and not as accessible as they could be, in large part because of the number of processes and intermediary bodies involved. This article will explain what these obstacles are and discuss why it is important that we overcome them.
### How Cross-Border Payments Work
When a transaction is made between two accounts based in the same country, the entire procedure is relatively straightforward, with funds simply being transferred from the payer to the payee. It’s when the accounts are in different countries that this process becomes more difficult and drawn out.
The first step in a cross-border transaction is the initiation of the payment via a bank or payment service provider (PSP), during which the sender inputs the necessary payee details. After this, the bank or PSP must convert the money being transferred into the appropriate currency when applicable. This is one of the many complexities of the cross-border payment process, made more difficult still by constantly changing exchange rates.
Next, the converted funds are sent either directly to the recipient or to an intermediate bank. Intermediaries are required when there is no direct link between the payer and the payee’s respective banks. In some cases, there may be more than one intermediary involved in the transaction, in which case the funds are transferred from one to the next in a chain. As one might expect, the more intermediate banks that are involved, the more costly and time-consuming this process becomes, especially when one takes into account the number of regulatory hoops these bodies have to jump through. These include Counter-Terrorism Financing, Anti-Money Laundering, and Know Your Customer compliance checks, amongst others.
Finally, after having navigated these various intermediaries, the transferred funds at last reach the payee’s bank and are credited to their account. If, for whatever reason, the sender did not make the necessary currency conversions, this is carried out by the recipient’s bank.
### Types of Cross-Border Payments and Their Benefits
There are a broad variety of cross-border payment types, each with its own benefits, drawbacks, and particular uses. When choosing between these methods, you should always weigh up the pros and cons, being mindful of your specific needs.
Here, we’ve broken down three of the most popular options:
- **Wire transfers** are transactions between two banks or financial institutions. While these payments are subject to limits, such caps are usually set quite high, so this method is often used to send large amounts of money. It should be noted that while wire transfers are convenient and reliable, they aren’t the fastest option and are also subject to bank fees.
- **Electronic funds transfers (EFTs)** are digital payments made from one bank account to another. Otherwise known as electronic payments or e-cheques, this payment type is secure, readily accessible, and faster than many of the alternatives. EFTs are also more affordable than traditional transfers, though you may still have to pay a flat fee and could be charged for currency conversion.
- **Online payment platforms** make it possible for companies and individual consumers to make quick, convenient transactions from their computer or mobile, usually at little cost. This method of payment is usually very secure, but users should remember that they are not invulnerable to cyberattacks.
### The Challenges of Global Transactions
According to a recent report from McKinsey and Company, many of the challenges faced in the cross-border transaction industry stem from a wide variety of operational inefficiencies. Suboptimal back-office processes, outdated operating models, and excessive management costs all contribute to the time delays and high fees associated with global payments. These issues can best be addressed by implementing efficient best practices and more advanced payment technology, as well as by promoting a culture of transparency to reduce enquiries and expedite regulatory processes.
McKinsey also highlights the possibility for collaborative solutions in the cross-border transaction industry, noting that such efforts in the realm of domestic payments have resulted in greater efficiency and better service. We can find a real-life example in SWIFT’s Global Payments Innovation, an initiative that has brought together more than 250 banks and sees over $100 billion a day in cross-border payments. This is made possible by a range of shared multilateral service level agreements, as well as end-to-end tracking and real-time payment processing.
### Conclusion
Cross-border payments allow both individuals and companies to transfer money from one country to another quickly and with relative ease. Unsurprisingly, the possibility for such transactions has had a great impact on a wide range of industries, from international trade and tourism to investment and remittances and beyond. As a result, cross-border payment technology has rapidly established itself as the beating heart of our global economic circulatory system.
With that being said, there’s no denying that the industry has its fair share of challenges. High costs, delayed processing times, and other such obstacles have an impact on the efficiency and accessibility of global transactions. Given the increasing importance of this revolutionary technology in our society, it benefits all to address these issues. This will be difficult, likely requiring extensive operational overhauls and the implementation of new payment technologies, but if we work together and embrace a spirit of collaboration, these lofty goals will surely prove achievable.
[White Label Payment Gateway PSP Offer your customers a top-level payment solution, increase your turnover and boost your business profit.](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/gateway)
[Orchestration Platform Merchants Only one integration to consolidate all your payment providers to a unified management system.](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/orchestration-payment-platform)
---
## Cross-Border Payments Interoperability: ISO 20022 and Beyond
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/cross-border-payments-interoperability-iso-20022-and-beyond
_What SWIFT's new ISO 20022 standard brings — and whether it alone can solve cross-border payments' interoperability issues._
As soon as SWIFT announced the rollout of ISO 20022, it became clear that it would be a revolutionary step for cross-border payments. Here we will discuss how this standard will influence the current state of affairs of international money transfers and explore whether it is enough to solve the interoperability problem the industry is facing.
24.02.2022 3 min read
### ISO 20022 Overview
ISO 20022 is an emerging standard for payment messaging. Its aim is to provide a universal language and model for payment transactions worldwide and ensure higher quality data compared to existing standards.
The benefits of ISO 20022 are said to be:
- Richer, better structured and more granular data carried in payments messages.
- Boost in overall payments quality due to improved transparency and more remittance information.
- Improved analytics, automation, resilience, and fraud management.
- Modern technological solutions that facilitate easy integration.
**Transition Timeline**
On December 15, 2021, SWIFT announced the launch of a central translation service called In-Flow Translation. Its main purpose is to ensure a smooth transition from the existing payment messaging standard to the updated one.
The In-Flow Translation measures will be in effect from November 2022 to November 2025. However, the first users can start using the service already in August 2022, upon prior request. Currently, there is no plan to provide this service beyond the mentioned timeline.
Thus, SWIFT’s clients have three years to adjust to the new messaging service with the help of In-Flow Translation’s functionality of delivering messages in both the FIN MT and ISO 20022 formats.
### Is the New Standard the Only Solution Required?
With a wide array of advantages and potentially worldwide acceptance, ISO 20022 may seem like the only solution needed to resolve the interoperability issues faced by cross-border payments. But is it really so?
According to Charlotte Hogg, CEO of Visa Europe, it is only one of the several steps that need to be taken. This statement is supported by the words of Michael Gorriz, chief information officer at Standard Chartered, who confirmed that the new standard is not the only solution to the existing challenges. He also mentioned that the networks that have already adopted ISO 20022 are already reaping the benefits and registering considerable improvements in the quality of data and payments.
Besides, Ather Williams, executive VP at Wells Fargo, stated that the new ISO standard is a way of acknowledging the issue that has lasted for decades with payments and related information not having synchronized entry sources. Attaching richer data to the payment itself will reduce the need for manual interventions into the process.
### An Insight Into the Future of Cross-Border Transactions
The interest toward creating a faster and cheaper infrastructure for international money transfers is continuously growing. This is driving innovation in the sphere from both industry giants, like SWIFT, and emerging fintech startups.
As M. Gorriz admits, the key to a successful evolution of cross-border payments is being open to different approaches, participating in the arising initiatives, and testing them. This way, it is possible to track where the market will focus and determine the winning scheme. He also said it’s crucial to understand that throughout the evolution of international money transfers, data privacy regulations are also likely to be adjusted.
C.Hogg agrees with the statement and adds that financial institutions must ensure that the global infrastructure that is being built and the tools that are used for fraud protection need to deliver local benefits on a daily basis, thus having a positive influence on the global picture.
### How to Ensure a Smooth Transition to ISO 20022?
Steven Lindsay, Business Lead of SWIFT Platform, assures that one of the main objectives of the implementation strategy of ISO 20022 is for the transition to be seamless and convenient for both the financial institutions and their clients.
The In-Flow Translation initiative is one way of ensuring that this target is met. It will create and test the necessary environment for the effective use of the new payment messaging standard. Besides, the three-year transition period will provide enough time for organizations to train personnel for it to be qualified for supporting the operations in compliance with ISO 20022.
---
## 10 Questions to Ask Your Payment Provider About Surviving a DDoS Attack (Before You Sign)
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/ddos-payment-availability-10-questions
_DDoS can break checkout, 3-D Secure redirects and notifications without taking a website down. Ten questions to ask any payment provider before you sign._
DDoS doesn't just take down websites — it can break checkout, 3-D Secure redirects and payment notifications. When you choose a payment provider, availability under attack is a contract-level question, not a marketing claim. Any merchant with a revenue peak is a target: a ticket on-sale draws the same unwanted attention as any other predictable high-traffic window.
11.08.2026 11 min read
Technically reviewed by the Payneteasy infrastructure team lead.
DDoS payment availability — whether payments keep flowing while an attack is under way — is the one thing a payment provider cannot improvise. Once an attack starts, either checkout, the 3-D Secure redirect and the payment notifications keep working, or the revenue stops. The questions below are the ones worth asking before a contract is signed — each one with the answer a serious provider should be able to give, and the artifact that backs that answer up.
What this guide covers
- **Why payment availability is the real DDoS story.** The costlier DDoS target is rarely the corporate website — it is the hosted payment page, checkout flow, and the webhook or callback endpoints that carry 3-D Secure redirects and payment notifications, all of which can break while the main site stays up and shows green.
- **Questions 1–5: protection, failover and telling an attack from a spike.** Whether checkout and the transactional API are isolated from the corporate website, what happens if the DDoS protection layer itself fails, whether failover to another acquirer is automatic, how webhook and callback endpoints are protected from floods, and how the provider tells a real attack apart from a legitimate traffic spike.
- **Questions 6–10: SLAs, incident history and merchant-side readiness.** Whether SLAs name checkout and API availability specifically, whether the provider measures and will share approval-rate impact from real incidents, whether there is a status page and a post-mortem practice, what vertical and peak-season experience the provider has, and what merchants themselves need to get right — timeouts, retry logic, integration settings.
- **How to read the answers.** Vague answers like “enterprise-grade protection” or “we take this very seriously” are a red flag; specific answers — a named SLA, a plain description of separation, real approval-rate data — are the green flags. Multi-acquirer cascading is the structural reason orchestration and routing come up so often on this checklist.
### Why payment availability is the real DDoS story
Most conversations about DDoS **start and end with the corporate website**. That is the visible failure — a slow homepage, an error page, a headline someone screenshots. It is rarely the expensive one.
The costlier target is narrower: the hosted payment page, the checkout flow, and the webhook or callback endpoints that carry 3-D Secure redirects and payment notifications. These can break even while the main website stays up and shows green. A slow checkout page raises cart abandonment. A stalled 3-D Secure redirect leaves a transaction stuck mid-authentication. A flooded notification webhook can mean an order is paid for but never marked as paid — a reconciliation problem that surfaces days later, not an alert that fires in real time.
That is why "is your website resilient" **is the wrong opening question for a payment provider. The better one is narrower: is the part of the stack that actually touches money protected the same way — and does it fail the same way — as the marketing site?** The ten questions below are how you find out.
### Not all DDoS attacks are alike: a short vocabulary for reading the answers
The ten questions below do not require you to be a network engineer, but the answers come back in a particular vocabulary — the attack vectors and the mitigation strategies that answer them — worth knowing in advance. **A DDoS — distributed denial of service** — is a malicious attempt to make online services unavailable to legitimate users by directing traffic at them from multiple systems at once. The sources are usually botnets: thousands of hijacked devices — servers, routers, phones — each flooding traffic from its own IP address. Financial institutions and payment systems are attractive targets because downtime means lost revenue, and because attacks can be timed: gaming companies see them at launches, ticketing during on-sales, online banking around paydays.
| Attack family | What it does | What mitigation looks like |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Volumetric attacks** UDP floods, ICMP floods, amplification attacks | Saturate bandwidth capacity with malicious traffic; the classic sign is a sudden surge of incoming traffic out of nowhere. | Traffic filtering upstream of the platform, and content delivery networks that absorb large-scale attacks before they reach core systems. |
| **Protocol attacks** SYN floods are the textbook case | Work at the network layer: exhaust the connection state of a targeted server or the network devices in front of it, rather than raw bandwidth. | Rate limiting, and load balancing across multiple servers so no single point holds all the state. |
| **Application layer attacks** the most relevant to payments | Mimic legitimate users loading pages, submitting forms, hitting checkout or login portals — which is exactly what makes them expensive to filter. | Web application firewalls plus behavioral analysis and anomaly detection — separating abnormal traffic patterns from real buyers by shape, not volume. |
**Not all DDoS attacks arrive alone, either.** Volumetric DDoS attacks can be cover for a quieter attempt to exploit vulnerabilities elsewhere, which is why serious DDoS defense treats availability as a security discipline, not just a bandwidth problem. Competent DDoS mitigation is layered. **It starts with early detection**: real-time monitoring and threat intelligence. Behind that sit security teams with a rehearsed incident response, and redundant infrastructure that keeps critical services degraded rather than fully unavailable until normal operations are restored.
For the financial sector, this is not optional. In the EU it now has a name: **the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA)** requires financial entities and their critical ICT providers to test operational resilience against cyber threats, DDoS included, and to show continuity plans that name **availability explicitly**. For a merchant the translation is narrower: **website availability is not the metric that matters**; whether **payment gateways, mobile apps and the APIs behind them keep processing is**. The questions below are **how to find that out, and how to tell a provider that can actually mitigate damage from one that can only describe protection in the abstract.**
### The 10 questions to ask your payment provider
#### 1\. Are checkout and the transactional API protected — and isolated from the corporate website?
**Why it matters:** A Layer 7 (application-layer) DDoS attack is expensive to filter because it mimics real browser traffic — page loads, form submissions, checkout attempts — instead of just flooding bandwidth. **If checkout, the transactional API and the marketing site share the same protection tier, an attack tuned for one can degrade the others**: mitigation calibrated for the noisy public site can throttle real buyers on the payment page, and a flood on a blog post can starve the API of resources. **Separation is not a security nicety — it is what keeps a bad day on the website from becoming a bad day on revenue.**
**What a good answer sounds like:**
> a plain description of real separation — different infrastructure, not just a different subdomain on the same box — covering both the hosted payment page and the transactional API, tuned for transactional traffic and independent from the corporate website. A generic "we use a CDN" or "everything runs in the cloud, so it's fine" does not answer this. Ask to see how a [hosted payment page](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/gateway) and the API are set apart from the rest of the site.
#### 2\. What happens if the DDoS protection layer itself fails?
**Why it matters:** The WAF, CDN or DNS layer that protects checkout is itself infrastructure, supplied by a vendor, and that vendor is a single point of failure like any other dependency. A mitigation-vendor outage looks, from the merchant's side, identical to a platform outage — the payment page is unreachable either way, and the cause is invisible to you.
**What a good answer sounds like:**
> a provider that can describe, in general terms, how it plans for that case — regional failover, DNS resilience, what degraded (rather than fully down) looks like — without needing to name specific vendors or disclose its own configuration. A considered account of what happens when the protection layer itself has a bad day is a more useful answer than a blanket assurance that it will not.
#### 3\. What happens to transactions when one acquirer is unavailable — is failover automatic?
**Why it matters:** [An acquirer](https://payneteasy.com/glossary/what-is-an-acquirer) outage, or an attack aimed at one processing path, does not have to become your outage. If a provider can only send transactions down a single route, one bank's bad day is your bad day. If it can reroute automatically, one path degrading is a blip instead of an incident.
**What a good answer sounds like:**
> multi-acquirer routing with cascading — a declined or unreachable attempt retried automatically through another configured route, with no manual step. This is publicly describable architecture; ask a provider to walk you through how its [orchestration and cascading](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/orchestration-payment-platform) actually behaves when one path goes down, not just whether it exists.
#### 4\. How are webhook and callback endpoints protected from floods?
**Why it matters:** Webhooks, callbacks, and 3-D Secure redirect endpoints are often the least protected part of a payment integration, built for machine-to-machine traffic that gets less attention than checkout. A flood here doesn't need to take down a website to cause damage — it can desynchronize a merchant's order state from the provider's. There's also a subtler failure: anti-bot protection meant to guard checkout can itself block machine-to-machine traffic it was never designed to handle. A callback or 3-D Secure (ACS) return call can't solve a CAPTCHA, so if those paths aren't excluded from bot-challenge rules, the protection ends up blocking the very notifications it should let through.
**What a good answer sounds like:**
> rate limiting, retry-safe design so a dropped notification gets redelivered instead of lost, and monitoring on notification and [3-D Secure redirect](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/3ds_adapter) traffic specifically, not just on the main site. Ask, specifically, whether callback and 3-D Secure (ACS) return paths are excluded from bot-challenge rules, whether scheme and acquirer IP ranges are allowlisted, and what happens to transactions already in flight at the moment mitigation switches on.
#### 5\. How does the provider tell an attack apart from a legitimate traffic spike — and what happens to conversion during mitigation?
**Why it matters:** A ticket on-sale or a flash promotion can look like an attack to a defence system that is not tuned for payments — a burst of real buyers hitting checkout in the same second. If mitigation treats that burst as hostile, you lose real revenue to false positives: legitimate customers get challenged, rate-limited, or blocked exactly when you need them to convert.
**What a good answer sounds like:**
> a description of how the provider distinguishes traffic shape from raw volume, plus candor that mitigation can add friction — extra checks, slower responses — and how that friction is minimized during an active event. "You'll never notice" is not a credible claim; a considered tradeoff is.
#### 6\. What SLAs cover checkout and API availability specifically — and how are they measured during an attack?
**Why it matters:** A [general uptime SLA](https://payneteasy.com/blog/payment-gateway-uptime) for "the platform" can be technically true while checkout is degraded, if it is written around infrastructure uptime rather than transaction success. Ask what the SLA actually covers, and whether it distinguishes a full outage from degraded performance under load.
**What a good answer sounds like:**
> a document you can read, not a verbal assurance, naming checkout and API availability specifically.
#### 7\. Does the provider measure how incidents affect approval rates — and will they show you the data?
**Why it matters:** An attack does not have to cause a full outage to cost money. Added latency, timeouts, or friction can quietly depress [approval rates](https://payneteasy.com/glossary/approval) by pushing marginal transactions into decline. Ask what exists and in what form: does the provider track approval-rate impact specifically, as distinct from simple uptime, and can it show you that data.
**What a good answer sounds like:**
> an incident-history summary with approval-rate context — "here is what that looked like the last time it happened" — which is a stronger signal than a general capacity claim, because it shows the provider measures the thing that matters to you, not just the thing that is easy to report.
#### 8\. Is there a status page, and a post-mortem practice after incidents?
**Why it matters:** How a provider talks about its bad days says more than how it talks about its good ones. Ask what exists and in what form: is there a status page you can check in the moment, and is there an incident-history summary or written account afterward describing what happened and what was affected.
**What a good answer sounds like:**
> a public or customer-facing status page, plus a commitment to a post-incident writeup describing what happened, what was affected, and what changes as a result. A specific process, even a modest one, tells you more than a general assurance. As one example, Payneteasy publishes a public status page at [status.payneteasy.eu](https://status.payneteasy.eu/): availability is measured and reported there by an independent monitoring service, which the SLA names as the agreed source of availability data, and processing is reported as a separate check from the user interface — so the transactional path can be read on its own.
#### 9\. What experience does the provider have with attacks in your vertical and during peak seasons?
**Why it matters:** What matters isn't whether a provider has "worked with your industry" in the abstract, but whether it has handled your specific peak-load profile: the ratio of normal to peak traffic, how long the surge lasts, and what breaks first — connection limits, queueing, database contention, or the mitigation layer itself. A provider that has only run steady, low-variance traffic hasn't been tested the way your peak will test it.
**What a good answer sounds like:**
> specifics about the traffic pattern and peak-load profile the provider has supported — the shape of the surge and what it stressed first — not a generic "we work with a range of industries."
#### 10\. What is required on the merchant's side — timeouts, retry logic, integration settings?
**Why it matters:** Availability under attack isn't entirely the provider's job. An integration that times out too aggressively, retries in a way that risks duplicate charges, or can't handle a slow-but-not-failed response gracefully can turn a well-mitigated attack on the provider's side into a broken checkout on yours. There's a subtler version of the same problem: mitigation adds latency, and that latency can trip the acquirer's timeout before it trips yours — leaving a transaction in an indeterminate state that turns into a reversal, a void, or [manual reconciliation](https://payneteasy.com/glossary/payment-reconciliation) instead of a clean approval or decline. Ask the provider how it handles transactions caught in that gap, not just how fast its mitigation reacts.
**What a good answer sounds like:**
> specific, written integration guidance — recommended timeout values, idempotent retry behaviour, and how to handle a delayed webhook — not "just call the API and it works." Ideally, it also includes guidance on transactions left in a latency-driven indeterminate state: automatic reconciliation, or a documented manual process.
### How to read the answers: the DDoS payment availability checklist
Treat the ten questions as a DDoS payment availability checklist and score every provider against the same sheet. Vague answers — "enterprise-grade protection," "we take this very seriously," "our uptime is excellent" — are a red flag no matter how confident they sound, because they don't say what happens to your checkout specifically. Specific answers — a named SLA covering checkout and API availability, a plain description of the separation between the marketing site and the transactional contour, real approval-rate data from an incident — are the green flags.
| Step | What to do |
| --- | --- |
| **1\. Ask the ten questions** | Put all ten to the provider before you sign, not after an incident — a provider that takes availability seriously should be able to answer every one of them in plain language. |
| **2\. Sort the answers into red and green flags** | Vague reassurance — "enterprise-grade protection," "we take this very seriously" — is a red flag. A named SLA, a plain description of separation, and real approval-rate data are the green flags. |
| **3\. Ask for the paperwork, not the assurance** | A document you can read beats a verbal promise — an SLA naming checkout and API availability specifically, plus a status page and a post-incident writeup practice. |
| **4\. Close the loop before you sign** | These are contract-level questions, not a marketing claim — get the specific answers committed before you sign, not after the first incident. |
One principle is worth stating plainly — it's public, marketing-level architecture, not anything proprietary: a multi-acquirer setup with automatic cascading keeps payments flowing when a single path degrades, whatever the cause — a declined card, a bank outage, or an attack on one route. That's why orchestration and multi-acquirer routing come up so often on this checklist.
**[Ask us these 10 questions](https://payneteasy.com/contacts)** — we would rather answer them before you sign than after an incident.
[Orchestration PlatformAvailability Multi-acquirer orchestration with automatic cascading — when one acquirer is unavailable or degraded under attack, traffic reroutes to another path instead of your checkout going down with it.](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/orchestration-payment-platform)
[White Label Payment GatewayPSP Offer your customers a top-level payment solution, increase your turnover and boost your business profit.](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/gateway)
[Smart Payment StrategyRouting Routing and balancing rules that decide where each transaction goes — send in traffic, get back profit.](https://payneteasy.com/payment_technologies/routing_and_balancing_system)
[3-D Secure Adapter3DS Standalone 3DS authentication that plugs into your existing processing flow.](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/3ds_adapter)
---
## Digital ID Wallets: Differences in Adoption Between the EU & the US
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/digital-id-wallets-differences-in-adoption-between-the-eu-the-us
_Unified digital ID wallets in the EU and the US are closer than ever. How the two regions approach adoption, regulation and rollout differently._
The idea of integrating secure and trusted digital ID wallets on a national level has been present in the European Union and the US for many years. Thus, as global digitization continues, both of these geographical areas develop their take on the adoption of this initiative.
18.11.2022 5 min read
This guide will take you through the concept of digital ID wallets, explain the distinctions between the US and EU approach to their integration, and list the risks and potential obstacles that can be encountered throughout the implementation process.
### What Exactly Are Digital ID Wallets?
Digital ID wallets are smartphone-based systems designed for securely storing the owner's essential documents and personal information, including:
- Identity cards
- Driving licenses
- Medical records
- Bank cards
- University degree titles
Currently, both centralized and de-centralized digital ID schemes exist across many countries worldwide, featuring their respective pros and cons.
### Digital ID Wallets and Payments - What’s the Connection?
Identity and payments are tightly interlinked. This creates exciting opportunities yet makes payment solutions vulnerable to a variety of risks, such as phishing and identity theft.
Thus, while the financial services sector has already proven it can offer uberized experiences, it has yet to conquer a new frontier by developing an advanced and secure digital-first ID wallet experience that can serve users on both national and international levels.
Digital ID wallets that will enable people to verify their identity and make payments throughout such large jurisdictions as the EU and US will need to possess the following features:
- Unmatched consumer data security
- Seamless application
- Straightforward onboarding
- Simple issuance process
- User-friendly design
- The absence of manual intervention required
Besides, when developing such a fundamental online identification and payment system, it’s critical to keep local user preferences and expectations in mind. This is one of the key reasons why the adoption of digital ID wallets in the EU and the US cannot follow identical paths.
### Digital ID Model Distinctions in the EU Vs. the US
The majority of governments initially chose to test the waters first before switching from physical IDs to 100% digital options, which resulted in the emergence of hybrid identity credentials. By August 2020, governments worldwide have launched over 165 digital or partially digital identity schemes[1](https://payneteasy.com/blog/digital-id-wallets-differences-in-adoption-between-the-eu-the-us#note1).
However, the COVID-19 pandemic prompted the majority of jurisdictions to focus on streamlining the transition to fully digital ID wallets, with the US and EU being among the fastest markets to adapt.
Let’s take a closer look at the main distinctions between the approaches to digital identity adoption in these two regions:
**European Union**
According to recent surveys, 2 out of 3 EU citizens are looking forward to the launch of a pan-European Digital ID Wallet system. What’s more, 27% of respondents are already using some form of official national Digital ID scheme, while 45% are relying on insecure DIY scans and photos of their documents to prove their identity[2](https://payneteasy.com/blog/digital-id-wallets-differences-in-adoption-between-the-eu-the-us#note2).
In contrast, the adoption of branded e-wallets, such as Apple Pay and Google Pay, is a reason for concern among many EU governments, as their citizens’ identities are being aggregated and controlled by foreign-owned organizations.
Thus, a unified digital identity wallet is expected to meet the needs of both governments and their residents and become a much-needed response to the growing demand for convenient online identification and sensitive information storage.
The EU-backed Digital ID Wallet (EDIW) project will officially start with a pilot phase in 2023, with the expectation for every member state to introduce it to its citizens by 2024.
**United States**
When it comes to the US, most Americans doubt the efficacy of a government-issued national ID wallet, viewing it as an additional control measure of the state.
However, at the same time, many US citizens are willing to use their identity credentials within their Apple Pay or Google Pay digital wallets.
In response to this sentiment, Apple has registered several patents related to verified identity claims and is working on creating a de-centralized ID wallet solution that will control the verification of identity documents like driver licenses and passports via iPhone or Apple Watch.
### Benefits of Digital ID Wallets
Despite the varying approaches to digital ID wallet adoption in different countries, the potential advantages such identification solutions offer are universal, namely:
- Secure storage of sensitive information
- Safer identification and payment processes
- Improved control over data sharing
- Outstanding convenience for users
- Simplified transactions
- A unified and transparent system available across different jurisdictions
- The absence of need to carry printed documents
However, even though digital ID wallets are sure to promote inclusion and economic opportunity across countries, their integration is far from being challenge-free.
### Challenges and Risks of Digital ID Wallet Adoption
The main risks both centralized and de-centralized digital ID frameworks may be facing are biometric and synthetic identity fraud. In the first case, dishonest players aim to compromise the unique genetic code of an individual, while the latter type of fraudulent activity entails bad actors creating a fake identity by combining the credentials of multiple different people.
This is especially true for industries such as healthcare and financial services, where sensitive details need to be kept for extended periods, such as 10 years or longer. Thus, to protect critical data from leaking, organizations in these niches will need to adopt advanced security measures, such as behavioral biometrics, adaptive risk-based authentication, and device reputation checks.
As for digital ID wallet implementation challenges, the key aspects that need to be tackled are:
- The competition of interests between governments and tech giants
- The absence of unified implementation standards
- The lack of interoperability across platforms in different countries
As digital wallet projects advance across different jurisdictions, governments and organizations may see other risks and challenges arise. That’s why remaining alert and agile is key to a successful adoption process.
### Bottom Line: Is the Digital ID Wallet Initiative Good News?
While there are significant differences in approaches to digital ID wallets across countries, as illustrated by the examples of the EU and US in this article, these distinctions are driven by the varying perception of governments’ and corporations’ roles in relation to identity rather than the available tech choices.
Therefore, although every region is adopting digital ID frameworks at its own pace, with a unique approach, and facing distinct challenges, the ultimate goal of introducing mobile ID wallets is to optimize day-to-day identification operations and ensure their convenience, security, and inclusivity, making this initiative a critical step toward a digitalized world.
_1 - McKinsey - How governments can deliver on the promise of digital ID 2 - Thales - Thales Major Citizen Survey Predicts Warm Welcome For New European Digital ID Wallet_
---
## Digital Payments in Asia: An Overview of the Top 3 Local Challenges
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/digital-payments-in-asia-an-overview-of-the-top-3-local-challenges
_The Asian market is full of digital payments opportunities, but also challenges that stall its growth — a closer look._
The Asian continent is known for being proactive in adopting new tech and creating innovative digital solutions across a variety of spheres, including healthcare, education, and finance. While this statement is also true for the local payment scene, many industry analysts agree that it is still only taking its first evolutionary steps.
05.12.2023 5 min read
In this detailed overview, we take a closer look at the key challenges in the Asian digital payments landscape and offer insights into its future development potential. Keep reading to find out all the details!
### 3 Main Areas of Uncertainty Linked to Payments in Asia
While the Asian payment industry is vast and diverse, and each of its jurisdictions has unique challenges, there are also common region-wide uncertainties that need to be addressed, namely:
**1\. Digital Wallet Expansion**
E-wallets are the first thing that comes to mind in the Asian digital payment context. This is due to the fact that the continent has recently witnessed a boom of new digital wallet solutions, accompanied by aggressive promotional campaigns featuring substantial cashback and discounts.
As a result of this trend, the local market became oversaturated. Therefore, even though some digital wallets became household names, others either faded away or merged into larger entities. Ultimately, three main types of wallets and pseudo-wallets have taken center stage, namely:
- **Staged digital wallets like GrabPay, GoPay, and ShopeePay.** To use such wallets, people need to start by loading monetary value into them. This can be done via bank transfers, card payments, or physical retail outlets. When a user conducts a payment, the value is then deducted from the pre-loaded sum.
- **A2A real-time direct debit.** Although this approach refers to banks launching separate wallet apps, they are often used similarly to e-wallets and employ the same standardized QR codes. In essence, it involves linking domestic real-time payment networks directly to a user’s bank account, from where the payments are debited instantly.
- **Pass-through wallets like Apple Pay and Samsung Pay.** These wallets are directly linked to credit or debit cards. Yet, their prevalence is limited in most Asian markets due to low payment card penetration, with the exception of Singapore and South Korea.
Staged digital wallets are currently prevalent in developing Asian markets due to their accessibility and independence from bank accounts or card ownership. However, they still face slim profit margins from payments. This prompts many of these solutions to join larger super app ecosystems to improve monetization by offering other services.
At the same time, traditional banks, which are often criticized for lagging in technology, have seen plenty of positive feedback after introducing A2A real-time payments in Asia. National real-time payment rails like PayNow (Singapore), DuitNow (Malaysia), or PromptPay (Thailand), allow both consumers and merchants to enjoy lower MDR fees and instant fund receipt.
Due to this, Account-to-Account payments, despite requiring a bank account, pose substantial competition to local staged wallets. This is also intensified by the increasing government emphasis on boosting banking penetration across Asia.
**2\. Local Adoption of SoftPOS Systems**
The SoftPOS concept, which is short for Software Point of Sale, is an innovative method for processing card payments through software installed on a mobile device. This means that instead of relying on traditional card readers, businesses using SoftPOS can accept payments directly through smartphones or tablets.
While the SoftPOS concept is promising and is getting rapidly adopted across the globe, it faces certain practical challenges in Asia. Firstly, the local target market for SoftPOS consists mainly of SMEs and tends to favor transactions involving paper receipts.
Secondly, Android Smart POS devices have been gaining widespread adoption due to their convenience and affordability. These devices now boast enhanced features, including built-in printers, GPS functionality, and even loudspeakers for broadcasting transactions and new orders.
Thus, despite the initial enthusiasm, the adoption of SoftPOS in Asia remains limited. Yet, even though it is unlikely to replace traditional POS hardware on the continent anytime soon, it still plays a role in niche scenarios, such as catering to tourists in luxury boutiques or at airports.
**3\. Use of Cash Across the Fragmented Market**
The diversity in local payment practices within Asia has played a critical role in shaping the level of digital solution adoption. In fact, although the region [leads](https://asia.nikkei.com/business/finance/thailand-japan-and-vietnam-lag-in-asia-s-digital-payments-rush) the way in embracing digital payments, certain markets, like Thailand and Japan, still heavily rely on cash, which constitutes 56% and 51% of POS transactions, respectively.
Despite the efforts to increase the banked population in Thailand, the share of unbanked individuals remains high. Besides, while e-wallets have gained traction, locals still prefer A2A payments via PromptPay, which made up 42% of eCommerce transaction value in 2022. This also aligns with the preference for transactions that resemble cash exchanges with real-time settlements for merchants.
In contrast, Japan’s attachment to cash can be linked to such factors as:
- Aging population
- Extensive ATM network
- High card acceptance fees
What’s more, many small businesses in Japan have historically resisted the shift toward cashless transactions, which makes this tendency somewhat of a cultural phenomenon. As a result, Japan is expected to maintain the highest cash usage rate of 37% by 2026 in spite of the accelerating adoption of digital wallets across the rest of Asia.
### Summing Up: How to Tackle Current Challenges?
Despite the uncertainties present in the Asian digital payments landscape, it offers multiple opportunities for local industry players, businesses, and investors.
As a rule of thumb, it is crucial to analyze specific markets within the region and develop custom strategies to address their unique challenges. Such a data-driven and innovative approach will enable players in the Asian digital payments industry to unlock the region’s potential for further advancement.
[White Label Payment Gateway PSP Offer your customers a top-level payment solution, increase your turnover and boost your business profit.](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/gateway)
[Orchestration Platform Merchants Only one integration to consolidate all your payment providers to a unified management system.](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/orchestration-payment-platform)
---
## Digital Platforms: in the Spotlight of Modern eCommerce
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/digital-platforms-in-the-spotlight-of-modern-ecommerce
_Digital platforms are thriving across industries and are here to stay. Level up your platform business with the proven tools listed in this guide!_
The platform economy has caused a revolution in the world of commerce and has become its backbone across a variety of industries. Read this guide to find out how digital platforms have achieved such prominence in the global market and which technological solutions can make them reach even greater heights.
27.04.2022 4 min read
### In a Nutshell: What Are Platform Businesses?
Digital platforms facilitate transactions between two or more interdependent groups, typically consumers and manufacturers. Unlike the supply chain system linear businesses use to create and control the inventory, platforms simply link different parties together.
**Main Platform Business Models**
While digital platforms appear in many different forms, they can be roughly divided into three categories, namely:
- **Marketplace** — eCommerce platforms, such as eBay, Amazon, and Alibaba that connect shoppers with merchants.
- **Software as a service** — cloud software like that of Wix, Shopify, and Teesnap that caters to small and medium-sized businesses.
- **On-demand platforms** — gig economies like Uber Eats, Postmates, and Fiverr that link services with consumers, relieving businesses from a lot of overhead expenses.
### The Boom of Digital Platforms
The growing popularity of platforms is visible to the naked eye. But did you know that the emerging digital ecosystems could reach $60 trillion by 2025, accounting for over 30% of global corporate revenue?
What is the reason behind such roaring success? In fact, there are plenty of advantages digital platforms offer, such as:
- **Accelerating business growth.** Platforms can make even the smallest local business get noticed on a global scale and make its outreach and revenues grow exponentially.
- **Offering a wider variety of choices.** Digital platforms are hubs for a wide array of merchants and service providers, making the shopping experience similar to the one consumers get in a shopping mall.
- **Simplifying business operations.** Opting for selling goods or providing services via a digital platform spares businesses the hassle of creating their own web stores, organizing delivery services, and developing their proprietary software.
- **Providing mediation services.** In case the consumer files a dispute, platforms often take the mediation procedure into their hands or, at least, optimize the process for the convenience of all parties involved.
The list of benefits provided by digital platforms doesn’t end there! Perhaps, the ultimate advantage of such businesses is that they are as close to ensuring completely frictionless shopping experiences as no other eCommerce solutions are.
But is there anything that could be done to improve emerging platforms even more?
### Payneteasy: Ensuring Frictionless Transactions for Digital Platforms
One of the key functions of digital platforms is to facilitate eCommerce functions for the parties involved. To achieve a truly seamless shopping experience, ensure an advanced level of safety, and allow businesses to grow, the platform in question should have a strong payments infrastructure.
At Payneteasy, we know what it takes to integrate a payment system that will not only become an integral part of a digital platform but will also be able to scale up together with it.
Accepting the fact that every platform’s payments journey is unique, we provide software that encompasses the following principles for long-term success:
- Continuous innovation
- Flexibility to support your growing platform
- Individual approach and custom solutions
- Support of a plethora of globally renowned and local payment methods
We believe that simplicity is key, so we always strive to pack advanced payment solutions in a compact tech stack. This way, you can boost the shopping experience for your customers while avoiding the overwhelming pressure of dealing with complex software.
### Keep Growing with the Right Payment Solutions
In the digital era, one can be sure that platforms are just at the beginning of the journey toward their full potential. Thus, it’s a great moment to hop on the trend and keep upgrading your digital platform as soon as new opportunities emerge in the niche.
That’s why it’s so important to have a reliable integrated payment solution that will support your growth strategy and won’t let you and your customers down. Our [white-label payment gateway](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/gateway) with a smart traffic routing system and a robust set of APIs to accommodate any transaction are the ultimate tools you need to facilitate smooth and secure transactions.
[White Label Payment Gateway PSP Offer your customers a top-level payment solution, increase your turnover and boost your business profit.](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/gateway)
---
## E-Commerce vs. M-Commerce: What’s the Difference?
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/e-commerce-vs-m-commerce-whats-the-difference
_What is e-commerce and m-commerce, what is the difference between them, and which of these technologies is right for your company?_
Business goes digital more actively these days. Its two main pillars are electronic and mobile trade transactions. Let us tell you more about them.
12.07.2021 4 min read
### MCommerce: What Is It?
Mobile commerce is a lazy shopper’s dream. Whenever you use trade services and make payments from your phone, tablet or any other mobile devices that can be placed in the palm of your hand — this is mCommerce.
It is estimated that in 2019 mCommerce generated more than 67% of all electronic sales. In 2021 these sales are expected to generate $3.56 trillion worldwide.
The reason why this type of commerce is evolving so fast is prosaic: it’s super convenient. Mobile gadgets turned into a magic key that grants access to:
- Payments: it takes a few taps to make transactions.
- Virtual window-shop: catalogs, product lists, photo galleries, etc.
- Social media: Form Instagram to Snapchat — every popular channel of communication is at the user’s fingertips.
So, these days shopping is pretty much limited to having credit cards and making a few taps - the product will be delivered to your house porch in no time.
The convenience of payments and instant accessibility attract people who are your potential customers. Therefore, mCommerce is the future’s dominating business model. Especially with the mobile phones turning into smart pocket wallets and oftentimes replacing cash and physical payment cards.
### ECommerce: What Is It?
Electronic commerce is also about selling and buying stuff via the web using a desktop computer or a laptop.
Be it a sale of goods on a flea market like Bonanza or Letgo, a wholesale purchase of light bulbs and audiobooks from Amazon or selling charcoal face scraps with the help of Instagram — these are all faces of eCommerce.
In 2021, eCommerce is expected to reach the $4.89 trillion threshold. Compare it with the forecast for the brick-and-mortar retail in 2021 with its $5.630 capitalization. They can duel on par.
### So, What’s the Difference?
As you can see, both the MCommerce and ECommerce models offer various advantages for businesses. Let’s sum up the key differences between these “twin” sectors:
| M-Commerce | E-Commerce |
| --- | --- |
| Requires a mobile gadget | Requires a computer/laptop |
| High mobility: electronic payments, push notifications, native apps released by the retailers | Limited mobility, online stores instead of mobile applications. |
| Boosted security with authorization tools: digital signatures, fingerprinting etc. | Excludes mobile fraud |
| Simplicity: just a few taps | Not very convenient in terms of user-interface navigation |
| Mobile banking adds up to convenience — your fingerprint or SMS verification basically play a role of electronic signature when you authorize a payment | No mobile banking |
| Mobile operators may fail to provide stable connection | More or less stable connection |
Thus, each business segment features both pros and cons: mobile payments are notably quicker and easier while the transactions conducted from a computer can be more reliable and safe.
### Portfolios
Basically, people can buy any products or services from businesses with the use of digital commerce: from a deck playing cards to a house somewhere in Sarasota. So, naturally these two segments intermingle.
If we talk about mobile, then we can say that people who use credit cards and various digital payment methods want to access more and more services while being on the go. Services like booking or travelling, for example. Plus, it's easier to buy a new favorite mobile game or a cool app that makes your pics look like vintage Kodak photos using a credit card and a smartphone.
At the same time, eCommerce isn’t as easy in terms of mobility or making payments. But it allows to browse the photos of the goods a business offers on a bigger screen. And visual component is always crucial. Especially when you want to purchase a sizable item: sofa, carpet, flamingo statuette for your garden, etc.
But while a person may check what a business offers via a desktop version of the website, mobile transfers can be their payment method of choice. And vice versa. So, these two services are just twin sides of one big market. And both are worth an investment.
### What We Offer
Payneteasy is dedicated to assisting businesses in optimizing the way they process payments. So whether you need a solution to start accepting credit cards through your website and app or require help with any other feature to ensure a smooth shopping experience for your clients, don’t hesitate to reach out!
Our company will help your business to:
- Integrate online acquiring.
- Execute commercial transactions.
- Protect your company and clients from [online fraud](https://payneteasy.com/payment_technologies/risk_management_and_dispute_management_system).
- Put your company in compliance with the AML regulation and much more.
Contact us now and take your business to the next level!
---
## E-Payments in Southeast Asia: A Striving for Consolidation & Interoperability
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/e-payments-in-southeast-asia-a-striving-for-consolidation-and-interoperability
_Explore the initiatives, benefits, and potential impact of e-payment interoperability and consolidation initiatives currently ongoing in Southeast Asia!_
Nowadays, the digital revolution is actively reshaping the way people conduct financial transactions around the world. Amidst this fascinating transformation, Southeast Asia, a region characterized by its vibrant economies, rapid technological advancements, tech-savvy consumers, and thriving eCommerce market, has emerged as a hub for innovation in the realm of electronic payments.
31.05.2023 6 min read
In this article, we will cover SEA’s e-payment developments over the past years, explore the region’s current trends in this sphere, and explain how these tendencies can influence the future of the local payments landscape. Without further ado, let’s dive in!
### How Has SEA Managed to Radically Optimize Payments in Just a Few Decades?
In the 1990s, during the early stages of Internet adoption in Asia, payment processes were manual, cumbersome, and time-consuming. Advanced solutions like NFC or QR code-based payments were yet to be developed, and so were effective ways of preventing fraud.
However, the advent of the world wide web marked a significant turning point in the local landscape, enabling it to change rapidly and revolutionizing the way transactions were conducted. As a result, in just a few decades, the SEA region has gone from heavily relying on cash-based payments to fully embracing digital financial solutions.
In addition to the growing use of the Internet, Southeast Asia had a number of other catalysts driving the development and adoption of e-payments throughout the past years, including:
- **Mobile-first mindset.** SEA boasts a high smartphone penetration rate, which created a fertile ground for optimizing payment processes and making them seamless, secure, and accessible anytime, anywhere. As a result, local consumers gladly embraced the convenience and accessibility of mobile wallets and payment apps.
- **eCommerce boom.** As online shopping gained popularity across SEA, businesses sought secure and efficient payment solutions to facilitate digital transactions. This surge in demand spurred the development of robust e-payment platforms that can handle large transactional volumes.
- **Government initiatives.** Governments across SEA recognized the transformative power of digital payments and actively introduced favorable policies and regulations to encourage adoption and innovation in this sphere. For instance, regulatory sandboxes were established to foster experimentation and collaboration among fintech companies while promoting consumer protection and data security.
- **Financial inclusion agenda.** E-payment adoption in SEA has been closely linked to the region’s commitment to achieving financial inclusion. Digital payment solutions, with their low barriers to entry and accessibility, have played a pivotal role in bringing previously unbanked individuals into the formal financial system.
All these factors have played a significant role in shaping the Southeast Asian e-payments landscape as we know it today in record time. But how is it expected to continue evolving throughout the years to come? Keep reading to find out!
### Setting the Course for Further E-Payment Developments
The days when Southeast Asia was lagging in the sphere of e-payments are long gone. In fact, the region often sets an example with its innovative approach to defining this sector’s development agenda.
For instance, lately, SEA has been setting the tone by gradually shifting toward enhanced consolidation and interoperability in the online transactions sphere. Let’s take a closer look at these two trends.
**Consolidating E-Payment Services to Boost Efficiency**
Consolidation in the digital payments landscape promotes convenience, improves user experiences, expands market reach, and fosters innovation. Thus, it comes as no surprise that e-payment businesses in SEA are actively harnessing the power of this practice. Here are some examples of local companies joining forces to offer integrated services over the past few years:
- **Grab & OVO, Indonesia.** In [2018](https://finance.detik.com/moneter/d-5262014/bri-dan-ovo-hadirkan-aplikasi-pinjaman-modal-digital-bagi-umkm), a ride-hailing platform Grab, merged its efforts with OVO, one of Indonesia’s leading digital payment providers. This consolidation created a dominant player in the market, enabling users to access a wide range of services, including transportation, food delivery, and financial transactions via a single platform.
- **GoPay & PayLater, Indonesia.** GoPay, the digital payment platform of Gojek, another prominent ride-hailing and on-demand services company in Indonesia, collaborated with PayLater in [2019](https://asia.nikkei.com/spotlight/sharing-economy/in-fintech-race-go-jek-app-extends-consumer-credit-to-offline-stores). PayLater offers installment-based payments, and its integration with GoPay allows users to access these services seamlessly.
- **Grab, Sea & Singtel, Singapore.** In 2020, Grab announced a partnership with Singtel, a leading telecommunications provider in Singapore. The collaboration aimed to create a digital bank and establish a consortium comprising Grab, Singtel, and other partners to apply for a full digital banking license in Singapore. This was successfully achieved in August 2022, marking a historical event for the country’s fintech scene.
- **UnionPay & NETS, China and Singapore.** In 2020, China’s UnionPay, a major payment scheme provider, collaborated with NETS (Network for Electronic Transfers Singapore) to enable the acceptance of UnionPay cards across Singapore. This partnership enables UnionPay cardholders to make payments at NETS acceptance points, expanding the reach and convenience of digital transactions.
- **NETS and DuitNow QR codes, Malaysia and Singapore.** In [March 2023](https://payneteasy.com/blog/malaysia-and-singapore-unveil-a-new-cross-border-qr-code-payment-linkage), the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) enabled clients of participating FIs to make retail purchases by scanning NETS QR and DuitNow QR codes through a single system, which significantly boosted payment efficiency.
Overall, such initiatives play a crucial role in advancing digital payment adoption and driving financial inclusion across the region. What’s more, they promote interoperability between companies and services, which leads us to the second major e-payment trend in the SEA region.
**Improving E-Payment Accessibility & Innovation Through Interoperability**
The concept of interoperability is all about creating a seamless experience for users by enabling the smooth functioning of various components and stakeholders within the payment ecosystem. This includes establishing links among merchants, banks, and payment providers, as well as ensuring top-notch interactions between nations, different digital platforms, and businesses and customers.
Southeast Asia is renowned for its consistent efforts in ensuring interoperability across the region - here are some of the most prominent initiatives:
- **ASEAN Payment Connectivity.** The Association of Southeast Asian Nations has launched the ASEAN Payment Connectivity initiative to enhance cross-border payment linkages within the region. The initiative seeks to facilitate real-time fund transfers, streamline transactions, and promote interoperability among payment systems across member states.
- **National payment switches.** Several countries in Southeast Asia have established or are in the process of setting up national payment switches. These switches act as intermediaries, enabling interoperability among various payment networks, allowing consumers to transfer funds seamlessly between different platforms, and promoting common standards.
- **Regulatory support.** Governments in Southeast Asia are playing an active role in promoting interoperability by formulating policies and regulations that encourage collaboration. They are working toward creating a healthy environment for competition, innovation, and cooperation in the e-payments sector.
Note that the e-payments landscape is dynamic, and new national and cross-border interoperability developments keep being launched in SEA at an impressive pace.
### What Does the Future of E-Payments in SEA Look Like?
Given Southeast Asia’s impressive track record in the e-payments sphere over the past decades, the region’s future in this sector looks very promising. In fact, the growth trajectory is expected to continue as more individuals and businesses embrace digital transactions.
What’s more, the current developments in SEA’s digital payments realm are expected to be further driven by emerging technologies like blockchain, artificial intelligence (AI), and biometrics. These technologies can enhance security, speed up transactions, and enable more advanced and innovative payment solutions.
Moreover, we are likely to see even more emerging collaborations among different stakeholders, including governments, financial institutions, fintech startups, and technology companies across the region. These partnerships will be crucial for fostering a future-ready environment conducive to the growth of e-payments in the region.
---
## Pay by Bank, Instant Payments, Alternative Payment Methods: What Really Works for E-Commerce in 2026
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/ecommerce-payments-2026
_Case study: how a marketplace lifted conversion from 58% to 71.4% via payment orchestration, smart routing and local payment methods._
E-commerce in 2026 operates on a radically transformed payment landscape. Digital payments have moved from a convenient add-on to default infrastructure — the invisible layer that determines whether a transaction completes or a customer walks away. The shift is not incremental. Merchants who treated payments as a back-office function two years ago now find themselves losing revenue to competitors who treat payments as a strategic conversion lever.
27.04.2026 12 min read
This article examines what actually works. Not theoretical frameworks or vendor promises, but real data from a pan-European deployment covering 12 countries, €450 million in gross merchandise value, and 8.5 million active buyers. We break down which payment methods drive conversion, how [smart payment routing](https://payneteasy.com/payment_technologies/routing_and_balancing_system) reduces costs, and why the answer is never a single method but a carefully orchestrated configuration.
### The Rise of Mobile Wallets and Digital Payments
Apple Pay, Google Pay, and regional super-apps have become the primary payment interface for millions of consumers across Europe and beyond. In leading markets, digital wallets are no longer an alternative — they are the dominant checkout method, particularly on mobile devices where they eliminate the friction of manual card entry entirely.
The rise of wallets rests on three pillars:
- **Convenience.** One-tap and biometric authentication (Face ID, fingerprint) reduce checkout to a single gesture. There is no typing, no remembering passwords, no searching for a physical card. For mobile shoppers — now the majority of e-commerce traffic — this is transformative.
- **Perceived security.** Tokenization means the actual card number is never shared with the merchant or transmitted over the network. Consumers understand this intuitively: paying with a fingerprint feels safer than typing 16 digits into a form. This perception drives adoption even when the underlying fraud rates are comparable.
- **Integration with daily life.** Wallets are no longer standalone payment apps. They are embedded in messaging platforms, transit systems, loyalty programs, and operating systems. A consumer who uses Apple Pay for coffee, metro tickets, and app subscriptions will default to it at checkout without conscious deliberation.
For merchants, the implication is clear: if your checkout does not surface wallet options prominently — ideally before any form fields appear — you are creating friction that competitors have already eliminated. However, wallet dominance varies significantly by geography and demographic. The strategic question is not whether to support wallets, but how to prioritize them within a broader payment mix.
### Instant Bank Payments and Pay-by-Bank
While wallets dominate the consumer-facing interface, a quieter revolution is reshaping the plumbing beneath. Instant bank payment rails — powered by open-banking APIs and real-time clearing infrastructure — are emerging as a serious alternative to card networks for e-commerce settlement.
The mechanics are straightforward. Instead of routing a transaction through card schemes (Visa, Mastercard), the payment moves directly from the buyer’s bank to the merchant’s bank via real-time payment infrastructure. Open-banking interfaces allow this to happen within the checkout flow: the customer selects their bank, authenticates via their banking app, and confirms the payment — all without leaving the merchant’s site or sharing card details.
Regional implementations have already proven the model. Spain’s Bizum, originally a peer-to-peer payment app, has rapidly expanded into e-commerce checkout. Dutch iDEAL has been the dominant online payment method in the Netherlands for over a decade. Poland’s BLIK processes hundreds of millions of transactions annually. Sweden’s Swish, Germany’s Giropay, and Portugal’s Multibanco each serve as proof points that bank-based payments can match or exceed card conversion when properly integrated.
The economic argument is compelling. Pay-by-bank transactions offer an opportunity for lower fees compared to traditional card schemes — typically 0.2–0.4% versus 1.5–2.5% for card payments. For high-volume merchants, this difference translates to millions in annual savings. There is also potential for faster settlement: while card payments typically settle in 1–3 business days depending on the PSP and acquirer arrangement, instant bank transfers can clear within seconds, improving cash flow and reducing reconciliation complexity.
The challenge is fragmentation. Each market has its own preferred bank payment method, its own technical integration requirements, and its own consumer expectations. A merchant selling across 12 European countries may need to support a dozen different bank payment methods — each with its own API, certification process, and settlement flow. This is where [payment orchestration platforms](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/orchestration-payment-platform) become essential: they abstract this complexity behind a unified interface, allowing merchants to deploy local bank payments without building and maintaining individual integrations.
### Case Study: Pan-European Fashion Marketplace
Theory becomes actionable when grounded in real outcomes. The following case study is drawn from a pan-European fashion marketplace operating across 12 countries with €450 million in annual GMV and 8.5 million active buyers. The company name is withheld for confidentiality, but the numbers are precise and audited.
**The problem.** By late 2024, 78% of the marketplace’s traffic came from mobile devices, but the checkout conversion rate sat at just 58%. The payment stack was limited to cards and PayPal — methods that worked well on desktop but created significant friction on mobile. German customers were abandoning carts because Giropay and Sofort were unavailable. Spanish shoppers expected Bizum. Polish buyers wanted BLIK. The marketplace was leaving money on the table in every market.
The cost structure was equally problematic. Payment processing consumed 2.8% of revenue, with 73% of volume flowing through expensive international card schemes. Fraud sat at 0.8% — manageable but not optimal. More damaging were false declines: 12% of legitimate transactions were being blocked by overly aggressive fraud rules. That meant 1 in 8 genuine customers was being turned away.
The operational burden was also unsustainable. Each new payment method required 3–5 months of integration work, tying up 4 backend developers who spent 40% of their time on payment infrastructure instead of core product development.
**The solution.** In February 2025, the marketplace deployed a [payment orchestration platform](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/orchestration-payment-platform) providing a unified API to over 100 payment methods, ML-powered [smart payment routing](https://payneteasy.com/payment_technologies/routing_and_balancing_system), and direct acquiring relationships in 20 countries.
The initial deployment included 12 local payment methods: Giropay, iDEAL, Bizum, BLIK, Swish, Bancontact, Sofort, Multibanco, and MyBank, among others. Three BNPL providers were integrated simultaneously: Klarna, Afterpay, and Twisto. The orchestration layer managed 47 routing scenarios based on country, device type, basket value, customer history, and time of day.
A concrete routing example: a returning Spanish customer on mobile with a basket under €50 would be presented with Bizum first, then Apple Pay, then cards. A new German customer with a basket over €150 would see Klarna (BNPL) first, then Giropay, then cards. Each scenario was data-driven and continuously optimized through A/B testing.
**The results.** Six months after deployment (December 2025), the impact was measured across every key metric:
- **Conversion rate: 58% → 71.4%** — a 23% improvement. This single metric translated to tens of millions in incremental revenue.
- **Local payment methods contributed +11 percentage points** to the conversion lift. Spain saw a 34% increase driven by Bizum adoption. Poland gained 28% with BLIK.
- **Smart orchestration contributed +7 percentage points** through optimal method selection, cascade routing (automatic retry via alternative processor on decline), and dynamic 3DS application.
- **False declines dropped from 12% to 4.5%** — a 5 percentage point improvement. ML-based [fraud protection](https://payneteasy.com/payment_technologies/control/antifraud) models, trained on billions of cross-industry transactions, distinguished legitimate customers from fraudsters with far greater accuracy than rule-based systems.
- **Fraud rate fell from 0.8% to 0.32%** — simultaneously reducing losses while approving more legitimate transactions.
- **Processing costs dropped from 2.8% to 1.85% of revenue**, saving approximately €5 million per year. Direct bank payments grew from 8% to 34% of transaction volume at processing costs of 0.2–0.4%, compared to 2.5% for card transactions routed through international schemes.
- **New method deployment time collapsed from 3–5 months to 5–7 days.** When French Paylib was added to the mix, the entire integration took 4 days with zero developer involvement from the marketplace’s team.
### Smart Routing and Payment Orchestration in Action
The case study above was not driven by simply adding more payment methods. The critical differentiator was how those methods were orchestrated — specifically, the 47 routing scenarios that determined which method to present, in which order, to which customer, at which moment.
[Payment routing](https://payneteasy.com/glossary/what-is-payment-routing) in its simplest form is a set of rules: if the customer is in Germany, show German methods first. But modern orchestration goes far beyond static rules. ML-driven routing considers dozens of variables in real time:
1. **Geographic context.** Country, region, and even city-level preferences. A customer in Barcelona may have different payment habits than one in rural Andalusia.
2. **Device and session data.** Mobile users convert better with one-tap methods. Desktop users tolerate more complex flows. Tablet users fall somewhere between.
3. **Basket composition and value.** High-value baskets benefit from BNPL options. Low-value impulse purchases convert best with wallets and instant bank payments.
4. **Customer history.** Returning customers who previously paid with BLIK should see BLIK first. New customers get the statistically optimal default for their segment.
5. **Time of day and day of week.** Payment preferences shift throughout the day and week, as behavioral data consistently demonstrates.
6. **Processor performance.** Real-time monitoring of approval rates, latency, and error rates across acquiring partners. If one processor’s approval rate drops, traffic is automatically shifted to alternatives.
Cascade routing adds another layer: when a transaction is declined by the primary processor, the orchestration platform automatically retries through an alternative acquirer or payment method before returning a decline to the customer. This alone recovered an estimated 3–4 percentage points of conversion in the case study.
For merchants managing multi-currency operations across multiple markets, the orchestration platform also handles [FX rate](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/fx_rate) optimization — selecting the most favorable conversion path for each transaction based on real-time rates and fee structures.
The technical architecture matters here. A [white label payment gateway](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/gateway) with a single API integration allows merchants to access the full range of methods and routing logic without maintaining individual connections to each payment provider. The orchestration layer sits between the merchant and the payment ecosystem, abstracting complexity while providing granular control over routing rules, fallback logic, and optimization parameters.
### Behavioral Insights That Drive Conversion
Raw conversion data tells you what happened. Behavioral analysis tells you why — and how to optimize further. The pan-European deployment surfaced several patterns that are broadly applicable to e-commerce payment strategy.
**Wallet adoption varies dramatically by geography.** Apple Pay and Google Pay accounted for 31% of transactions in Sweden and the Netherlands, but only 4% in Poland and Italy. This is not a technology gap — smartphone penetration is comparable. It reflects deeply embedded payment cultures: Polish consumers trust their banking apps (BLIK) more than third-party wallets, while Swedish consumers have embraced wallets as extensions of their digital identity. The lesson is that payment method prioritization must be localized, not globalized.
**Time-of-day patterns are significant and consistent.** Between 19:00 and 23:00, customers were 40% more likely to choose instant bank transfers over other methods. The hypothesis is straightforward: evening shoppers are at home, have their banking apps readily accessible, and are more comfortable completing bank authentication flows when not in a hurry. During daytime hours (12:00–17:00), cards and wallets dominated — shoppers on the go defaulting to saved cards and one-tap methods that require minimal attention.
This insight directly informs routing strategy. An orchestration platform that adjusts method presentation based on time of day can capture incremental conversion by surfacing the method most likely to complete at that moment.
**Method persistence is remarkably strong.** 73% of returning customers reused the same payment method they selected on their first purchase. This means the first transaction is disproportionately important: get a customer to complete their initial purchase with a low-cost method (bank transfer, local payment), and they are likely to continue using it. Personalizing the checkout by individual history — not just segment averages — is therefore a high-leverage optimization.
These behavioral patterns compound. A customer in Sweden shopping at 20:00 on mobile is a very different conversion challenge than a customer in Poland shopping at 14:00 on desktop. The orchestration platform’s ability to evaluate these variables simultaneously and present the optimal payment mix for each specific scenario is what separates modern payment strategy from legacy approaches.
### Buy-Now-Pay-Later: Category-Specific Optimization
Buy-Now-Pay-Later has been one of the most discussed payment trends of recent years, but the data from the case study reveals a more nuanced picture than the hype suggests. BNPL is not universally effective — its impact is highly category-dependent, and merchants who deploy it without segmentation are likely to see disappointing results.
**Women’s clothing: 22% BNPL adoption, +38% average basket size.** This is where BNPL delivers its strongest returns. The combination of higher-value purchases, fashion-conscious consumers willing to try multiple items, and the psychological appeal of spreading payments across installments creates a powerful conversion and upsell mechanism. For a fashion marketplace, BNPL in this category is not optional — it is a competitive requirement.
**Accessories: 6% BNPL adoption, +9% basket growth.** A dramatically different picture. Lower price points reduce the appeal of installment payments, and the impulse-purchase nature of accessories favors instant payment methods. Deploying BNPL for accessories is not harmful, but it consumes checkout real estate and cognitive load without proportional return.
The strategic implication is clear: BNPL should be deployed selectively, with prominence adjusted by product category, basket value, and customer segment. An orchestration platform that can dynamically adjust BNPL visibility based on cart contents — showing Klarna prominently for a €200 dress but deprioritizing it for a €15 phone case — captures the upside while avoiding the noise.
Provider selection also matters. Klarna’s brand recognition varies by market. Afterpay resonates with younger demographics. Twisto has strong traction in Central European markets. The orchestration layer must not only decide whether to show BNPL, but which BNPL provider is most likely to convert for a specific customer in a specific market buying a specific product category.
### What Really Works: The Strategic Configuration
After examining the data, the behavioral patterns, and the case study results, the answer to “what really works” is not a single payment method. It is a strategic configuration — a deliberately architected payment ecosystem where each component serves a specific role.
- **Mobile wallets as the interface layer.** Apple Pay and Google Pay are the front door for mobile commerce in leading markets. They reduce friction to its theoretical minimum and capitalize on biometric authentication. Present them first, always, on mobile devices — but respect regional preferences where local alternatives outperform.
- **Pay-by-bank as the cost backbone.** Direct bank payments at 0.2–0.4% processing cost versus 2.5% for cards represent a structural cost advantage. As open banking matures and consumer familiarity grows, bank payments will capture an increasing share of e-commerce volume. Merchants who build this infrastructure now will have a durable competitive advantage.
- **BNPL as a selective conversion lever.** Deploy aggressively in high-value categories where it drives both conversion and basket size. Deprioritize in low-value and impulse categories where it adds complexity without proportional return.
- **Cards as the universal fallback.** Cards are not going away. They remain the most widely accepted, most familiar, and most reliable payment method globally. The strategic shift is from cards-as-default to cards-as-fallback — always available, but presented after more cost-effective and higher-converting alternatives.
The architecture that enables this configuration is modular [payment orchestration](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/orchestration-payment-platform). A single integration point that provides access to the full method ecosystem, ML-driven routing that optimizes in real time, and a management layer that allows weekly A/B testing of method presentation, routing rules, and fallback sequences.
The case study demonstrated that this approach works even at scale — for a [marketplace](https://payneteasy.com/branches/marketplaces) processing nearly half a billion euros annually, the orchestrated configuration delivered a 23% conversion improvement, €5 million in annual cost savings, and a fraud rate reduction of 60%. These are not marginal gains. They are structural advantages that compound over time as ML models learn, customer payment habits solidify, and new methods are added in days rather than months.
The merchants who will lead e-commerce in 2026 and beyond are those who treat payments not as a cost center but as a strategic asset — continuously optimized, locally adapted, and architecturally designed for the pace of change that defines modern digital commerce.
[White Label Payment Gateway PSP Offer your customers a top-level payment solution, increase your turnover and boost your business profit.](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/gateway)
[Orchestration Platform Merchants Only one integration to consolidate all your payment providers to a unified management system.](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/orchestration-payment-platform)
[Leads Protection System Merchants The technological solution for GDPR compliance, and will protect your most valuable data and leads from hackers, thieves, malware, AND trusted employees. Based on the best PCI DSS practices.](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/leads_protection_system)
### Frequently Asked Questions
#### What payment methods drive the highest e-commerce conversion in 2026?
The highest-converting payment configurations in 2026 combine mobile wallets (Apple Pay, Google Pay) for frictionless mobile checkout with local bank payment methods (Bizum, BLIK, iDEAL, Swish) tailored to each market. Data from pan-European deployments shows that adding localized payment methods can improve checkout conversion by 11 percentage points or more, with specific markets seeing gains of 28–34%. The key is not a single method but an orchestrated mix optimized by geography, device, basket value, and customer history.
#### How does payment orchestration reduce transaction costs?
Payment orchestration reduces costs by intelligently routing transactions through the most cost-effective processing path. Direct bank payments (pay-by-bank) typically cost 0.2–0.4% per transaction compared to 1.5–2.5% for international card schemes. By shifting volume from expensive card rails to local bank payments and optimizing acquirer selection, merchants can reduce processing costs significantly. In one documented case, a €450M marketplace reduced costs from 2.8% to 1.85% of revenue — saving approximately €5 million annually.
#### What is smart payment routing and why does it matter?
Smart payment routing uses machine learning to determine the optimal processing path for each transaction in real time. It considers variables including customer location, device type, basket value, purchase history, time of day, and processor performance metrics. When a primary route declines a transaction, cascade routing automatically retries through alternative processors before returning a decline to the customer. This approach can recover 3–4 percentage points of conversion that would otherwise be lost to false declines and processor-specific issues.
#### How quickly can new payment methods be deployed with an orchestration platform?
With a modern payment orchestration platform, new payment methods can typically be deployed in 1–2 weeks compared to the 3–5 months required for direct integrations. In one documented case, French Paylib was integrated in just 4 days without any developer involvement from the merchant’s team. This speed is possible because the orchestration platform maintains pre-built connections to over 100 payment methods, and adding a new method requires configuration rather than code development.
#### What role does BNPL play in e-commerce payment strategy?
Buy-Now-Pay-Later is most effective as a category-specific tool rather than a universal checkout option. Data shows BNPL adoption rates vary dramatically by product type: 22% adoption with a 38% basket size increase for women’s clothing, versus only 6% adoption with 9% basket growth for accessories. The strategic approach is to deploy BNPL selectively — prominently in high-value categories where it drives both conversion and upsell, while deprioritizing it for low-value impulse purchases where it adds complexity without proportional return. Provider selection (Klarna, Afterpay, Twisto) should also be localized based on brand recognition in each market.
### You may also be interested
Payments
[](https://payneteasy.com/blog/live-support-vs-automation-payments)
#### [Why Live Support Is More Important Than Fully Automated Call Centers in Payment Infrastructure](https://payneteasy.com/blog/live-support-vs-automation-payments)
April 27, 2026 8 min read
When a PSP went down during a flash sale, a human support agent recovered €230,000 in sales within 5 minutes by dynamically rerouting payment traffic.
Payments
[](https://payneteasy.com/blog/reducing-settlement-risk-with-open-banking-flows)
#### [Reducing Settlement Risk with Open Banking Flows](https://payneteasy.com/blog/reducing-settlement-risk-with-open-banking-flows)
April 27, 2026 7 min read
How Open Banking separates debtor and creditor flows to reduce settlement risk for B2B platforms.
Payments
[](https://payneteasy.com/blog/risk-management-in-payment-orchestration-platforms)
#### [Risk Management in Payment Orchestration Platforms](https://payneteasy.com/blog/risk-management-in-payment-orchestration-platforms)
April 27, 2026 8 min read
How orchestration platforms embed risk management directly into payment infrastructure to protect businesses.
---
## Effective Payment Solutions for Optimizing the Customer Journey
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/effective-payment-solutions-for-optimizing-the-customer-journey
_Enhancing the payment process is a straightforward way to improve the overall customer journey. Learn how to do it effectively in this guide!_
The steps through which a consumer goes from discovering and purchasing a product to receiving and using it is called the customer journey. While each of the stages of this process is important, the payment phase must be on top of the business priority list. After all, if the checkout doesn’t flow smoothly, it is likely to result in cart abandonment and, consequently, loss of profit for the merchant.
03.06.2024 4 min read
Due to this, it is crucial for sellers to keep up with the latest industry trends and technological advancements and invest in customer journey optimization. In this guide, we will go over some of the most effective ways of upgrading the payment process to ensure your clients get the fastest, most convenient, and secure checkout experiences, boosting brand loyalty and store revenue!
### Top 5 Ways of Upgrading Your Payment Process
While there are numerous strategies that businesses can use to up their payment game, some of them stand out due to their ease of implementation and effectiveness. Here are some of the best approaches through which you can improve your checkout process:
#### 1\. Implementing QR Codes
QR codes have become increasingly popular as a payment method due to their ease of use and versatility. Indeed, they are extremely convenient as they eliminate the need for physical cards or cash and streamline the checkout process for both online and in-person transactions.
Payments facilitated by QR codes are also secure, as they can be encrypted and authenticated to prevent fraud. Due to these benefits, the global QR code payment market was worth [$8.07 billion](https://www.qrcodechimp.com/qr-code-statistics/) in 2020 and is set to hit $35.07 billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 16.11%. Therefore, if this payment method is not a part of your checkout process, it could be the perfect time to introduce it!
#### 2\. Leveraging AI-Powered Payment Orchestration
AI orchestration platforms use advanced algorithms to optimize the payment process for businesses. These platforms route transactions efficiently and minimize processing costs based on the insights gained from the analysis of various factors, including:
- Geographic locations
- Transaction volumes
- Payment methods
- Customer preferences
- Potential risks
By implementing AI-powered [payment orchestration](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/orchestration-payment-platform), merchants can significantly improve payment security, increase acceptance rates, reduce transaction times, and enhance overall customer satisfaction.
#### 3\. Having Digital Wallet Integrations in Place
If you still haven’t integrated digital wallet solutions like Apple Pay, Google Pay, or PayPal in your checkout process, it is definitely worth considering doing so. While digital wallets currently account for less than [50%](https://www.statista.com/statistics/1271701/share-of-digital-wallets-payments-in-e-commerce-by-region/) of global eCommerce payments, this number is expected to increase to 61% already by 2027.
Such impressive growth is mainly due to the fact that e-wallets enable shoppers to securely store their payment information and complete purchases with just a few clicks or taps. They also offer added security features like tokenization, which helps protect sensitive payment data while enhancing trust and confidence in the payment process.
Finally, digital wallets are also easy to integrate - all it takes is to incorporate the necessary APIs or SDKs offered by the providers into your existing checkout system. This integration process typically involves adding buttons or options for customers to select their preferred digital wallet at checkout, along with the backend configurations to securely process transactions.
#### 4\. Providing Subscription Payment Options
Automated billing used in subscriptions reduces friction in the payment process, as customers don't need to manually enter their payment information each time. Thus, offering subscription-based services or products with recurring payment options can simplify the checkout process for returning customers and lead to higher customer retention and increased revenue over time.
Besides, there are plenty of convincing stats proving the effectiveness of the recurring billing model. For instance, in [2020](https://www.subscriptionflow.com/2023/01/5-interesting-recent-statistics-on-the-subscription-business-model/), it amassed $650 billion and is projected to reach $1.5 trillion already by 2025. What’s more, an average subscription billing vendor is growing by 30%–50% annually.
#### 5\. Using Biometric Authentication
Biometric authentication methods, such as fingerprint scanning, facial recognition, or voice log in, mitigate the risks of fraudsters gaining access to sensitive information by using unique characteristics to identify users. Besides, biometrics eliminate the need for customers to remember passwords or PIN codes, reducing friction in the payment process and improving overall user experience.
Thus, by utilizing biometrics in your payment system, you can not only enhance your business security measures but also streamline the checkout experience for users. Moreover, this technology is easy to integrate into various channels, including eCommerce apps, websites, and in-store terminals, which helps merchants ensure consistent security levels across different touchpoints.
### Summing Up: Why Invest in Payment Optimization?
Putting time, money, and human resources into payment optimization can seem like a secondary task at first glance. However, as consumers increasingly look for enhanced security and convenience in their shopping experiences, it becomes clear that the importance of such investments cannot be overestimated.
All in all, businesses that keep this task on top of their priority lists and implement the strategies suggested in this guide are likely to stay ahead of the curve and meet rapidly evolving customer expectations. Those who fail to adapt, on the other hand, risk losing clients and revenues to competitors who offer more streamlined payment experiences.
[Orchestration Platform Merchants Only one integration to consolidate all your payment providers to a unified management system.](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/orchestration-payment-platform)
[Payneteasy 3DS Adapter Strike a balance between utmost security and frictionless checkout with Payneteasy 3DS Adapter.](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/3ds_adapter)
[White Label Payment Gateway PSP Offer your customers a top-level payment solution, increase your turnover and boost your business profit.](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/gateway)
[Payneteasy Channels Start using any PSP from our catalog in 1-2 weeks: the integration is already built, so the only variable is how fast the provider signs off. No more waiting on your cashier's development queue.](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/channels)
---
## Electronic Checks for Businesses: Definition, Benefits, and Implementation
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/electronic-checks-for-businesses-definition-benefits-and-implementation
_What an electronic check is and how your business can benefit from processing this payment method — a complete guide._
The 2021 Q2 volume of eCheck payments reached a [7.3 billion](https://www.nacha.org/content/ach-network-volume-and-value-statistics) count with a value of $18.4 trillion. As of Q2 2026, ACH volume has grown to [9.3 billion](https://www.nacha.org/news/large-gains-same-day-ach-help-drive-ach-network-second-quarter-2026) payments worth $25.9 trillion — an increase of ~27% in count and ~41% in value in just five years. Such rapid growth makes more and more company owners consider offering this payment method to their clients. But what exactly is an eCheck, and how does it work? Read ahead to find out how such payments function and whether your business can benefit from them.
15.10.2021 5 min read
Across the full year 2025 the ACH Network moved [35.2 billion payments](https://www.nacha.org/content/ach-network-volume-and-value-statistics) worth $93 trillion — an average of 141 million transactions a day, and the 13th consecutive year its annual value grew by at least $1 trillion.
### What Is an eCheck?
An eCheck, also known as an electronic check, ACH transfer, or direct debit, is a digital version of a paper check.
eCheck payments are equivalent to traditional paper checks in the majority of ways but are transmitted electronically, which makes them an easier, faster, and safer payment method.
**What Is the Difference Between ACH, EFT, and eChecks?**
EFT is the abbreviation for “Electronic Funds Transfer”. The EFT term covers many types of transactions, such as:
- Wire transfers
- Direct deposits
- ACH disbursements
ACH means “Automated Clearing House” and is the digital system utilized by banks and financial institutions in the US to provide infrastructure for entities that process payments.
Essentially, eChecks are an EFT type that implements the ACH network to process financial transactions.
**How Did the ACH Payment System Begin Dealing with Checks?**
The ACH payment network was introduced in the late 1960s as a response to the increasing use of paper checks. At that time, payment industry players were overwhelmed with concerns about the capacity of the existing technology. Their main question was: “How to efficiently manage the growing volume of financial operations involving paper checks?”
The ACH enabled merchants to accept paper checks by utilizing the routing and account numbers linked to the payer’s bank account alongside the authorization from the client. Due to this, merchants gained the ability to withdraw money directly from the payers’ bank accounts immediately upon receiving their paper checks.
In the 1990s, the ACH network was further adapted to handle not only paper checks but also eChecks by integrating with evolving digital payment technologies.
### How to Use an eCheck
Electronic check payments utilize ACH to perform a direct debit from a payer’s checking account to a business’s bank with the help of a payments processor.
Before we start explaining how to initiate a digital check payment, it is worth mentioning that such a transaction requires customer authorization, which can be done in more than one way, namely:
- Signing a contract
- Accepting a website’s Terms and Conditions
- Giving verbal consent via a recorded call
A business, on the other hand, needs to have a merchant account to be able to accept such digital payments for their goods and services.
**How to Make an eCheck Payment: Data Required**
To conduct an electronic check payment, the consumer has to provide the same data as they would on a paper check, namely:
- Full name
- Payment amount
- Checking account data
- Bank routing number
As a merchant, you will need to include the following details about your business to accept eChecks:
- Company name, address, and years in business
- Bank account details
- Federal Tax ID
- Transaction processing volumes
**Parties Involved in the eCheck Payment Process**
There are four main parties involved in the payment processing of eChecks:
- **Originator.** It is the business that initiates the direct deposit process.
- **Originator’s bank.** The payee’s bank, also known as the Originating Depository Financial Institution (ODFI). It aggregates payments and sends them in batches to an ACH operator.
- **ACH operator.** This party processes the fund requests and settles the funds into the originator’s bank.
- **Client’s bank.** The customer’s bank or the Receiving Depository Financial Institution (RDFI) receives the request, verifies the availability of funds, debits the client’s bank account, and credits the payee’s account.
**eCheck Processing Steps**
Electronic check processing consists of the following steps:
1. **Authorization request.** First, you will need to receive authorization from your customer.
2. **Payment set-up.** When the authorization is complete, you should fill up the required details in the online payment processing software. In the case of recurring money transfers, you also have to input the payments schedule.
3. **Transfer confirmation.** For an automatic withdrawal of funds from the client’s account, all you have to do is submit the details to the ACH network. But how long do eChecks take to process? The money is likely to reach the payee’s account in about three to five days from the moment the transmission of funds is confirmed.
If the money fails to reach the account within the expected timeline, it is advisable to contact the payment processor or financial institution to inquire about the payment status and investigate any potential issues.
**Main Security Components of Electronic Check Payments**
Electronic checks are significantly more secure than paper ones. Here are the core security steps a digital check payment goes through:
1. **Authentication** - the payments provider verifies the client’s input of the account data, so that wrong or fraudulent information doesn’t get sent to the originator.
2. **Encryption** - the digital payment network encodes sensitive information to prevent unauthorized use. Public key cryptography is one of the techniques utilized to cipher the data and protect it in transit. Digital signatures with time stamps also help ensure that electronic check fund transfers are not duplicated. Besides, the SSL Certificate safeguards the information, encrypts transactions, and enables secure communication.
3. **Duplicate detection** - this fraud detection strategy monitors and identifies repeated identical electronic check payments and flags them as suspicious activity.
### Which Companies Can Benefit from eChecks?
Now that we have thoroughly answered the question “What’s a digital check?” you may be uncertain whether your company will benefit from this payment method. eCheck payments are advantageous for a variety of business types, such as:
- **Online merchants.** eCommerce businesses offering their clients an opportunity to use eChecks have a chance of increasing their profits and upgrading customer experiences, as it is a payment method that many clients prefer.
- **Organizations processing large payments.** Transfers using online checks eliminate middlemen, such as those involved in credit card payment processing. For businesses that have a large turnover, this means no interchange fees involved.
- **Subscription-based businesses.** If you offer goods or services that require recurring billing, a paper check alternative might be even more effective than credit cards. Digital checks make auto-pay and auto-renewal functions easy to implement. Besides, checking accounts rarely change, so the payment flow is likely to be uninterrupted in the long term.
If your company belongs to at least one of these categories, it is worth looking into the possibility of integrating eCheck payments.
### The Future of Electronic Check Technology
Checks have gone a long way, evolving from paper to digital format, but there is still considerable potential for their further innovation. Here are some current trends and developments that are set to shape the future of electronic checks:
- **Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML)** technologies are being actively integrated into electronic check payment systems to help identify and prevent online fraud.
- **Biometric authentication** is a highly secure and user-friendly method that can be implemented for authorizing electronic check operations. Nowadays, many digital check platforms use fingerprint or facial recognition to protect sensitive consumer information and their funds.
- **Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT)** are expected to enhance electronic check payments, ensuring safer and faster transaction recording in real time. The immutability of blockchain can also be helpful in upgrading payment tracking and auditing.
- **Mobile wallet integrations** with eChecks enable individuals to transfer funds more effortlessly than ever before. They also eliminate the need for paper checks, boosting the convenience and speed of the payment process.
- **The Internet of Things (IoT)** can potentially revolutionize the digital check payment process. In the foreseeable future, it is forecast to empower smart devices like wearable gadgets and connected vehicles to seamlessly engage with digital check payment networks.
As you can see, the rapid technological progress paired with the benefits of eChecks is driving a significant transformation in the digital payment world. This tendency makes eChecks an increasingly important financial instrument that should not be disregarded by merchants striving to attract customers and up their sales.
---
## End-to-End Data and Privacy Protection in 2022 and Onwards
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/end-to-end-data-and-privacy-protection-in-2022-and-onwards
_If achieving advanced data protection is one of your business goals this year, this guide is for you. Find out how to tackle this matter comprehensively!_
The protection of consumer data and privacy is considered to be one of the top three trends with the greatest impact on businesses in 2022. However, the focus on these critical aspects is sure to last beyond the end of this year.
19.05.2022 3 min read
Read ahead to understand what is the state-of-the-art and holistic solution to data and privacy protection for businesses.
### Why Data Protection Requires a Holistic Approach
In the digital-first economy, ensuring data protection becomes a multifaceted process that involves a variety of aspects, including:
- Data privacy
- Fraud reduction
- Compliance with regulations
- Up-to-date tech solutions
As the global situation changes, so do the regulations in force. At the same time, new technologies emerge alongside advanced fraud methods. These factors become amplified by the fact that payments are no longer limited to traditional channels, and it’s not so obvious who is in charge of customer data protection anymore.
In this ever-evolving ecosystem, businesses have to constantly stay alert to notice such shifts and adjust their approach to data protection.
### Dealing with Local and Global Regulations
Both small and large-scale businesses are facing the need to navigate the emerging guidelines and regulations on local and global levels, such as the GDPR, CCPA, LGPD, and PCI DSS, to name a few. The wider the business’s operations expand, the more stratification of regulations it is likely to encounter across jurisdictions.
However, while compliance with multiple laws can be complex, it’s absolutely necessary to provide the recommended level of data protection to the consumers and avoid the charges associated with the evasion of these responsibilities.
### Latest Tech: Your Reliable Partner in Ensuring Data Privacy
Payment providers are leveraging FinTech solutions to address modern-day data security issues. For instance, one of the latest ways of ensuring the protection of sensitive data is [tokenization](https://payneteasy.com/blog/advanced-data-security-tokenization-explained).
This security method is used to separate personally identifiable information (PII) from other consumer data. This way, a business can have the best of all worlds: provide a decent level of user protection, use non-personal information for business insights, and remain compliant with the current regulations.
### The Key to Advanced Data Privacy
As you can see, the provision of data privacy is a complex and, at times, confusing process due to the amount of contradictory information available. However, there’s a solution that suits virtually any business - finding a payments partner that specializes in data protection.
Outsourcing professional services enables you to take care of other vital business needs while having peace of mind regarding your clients’ data privacy. While this approach doesn’t alleviate the responsibility for compliance with the regulations off your shoulders, it simplifies the way you will achieve meeting all the necessary requirements.
### How Can Payneteasy Help Your Business with Data Protection?
Payneteasy is a payment platform provider trusted by banks, PSPs, financial institutions, and businesses worldwide. Our goal is to empower you with strong technology so that you can achieve your top level of performance.
Our solutions are tailored to the needs of your business and blend frictionless payments, straightforward back office, and advanced data protection together. Our clients also enjoy smart traffic routing, fast software integration, and 24/7 tech support. Contact us now to get started with data protection or any other payment project as soon as possible!
---
## European Payment Regulations: Trajectory for 2024 & Beyond
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/european-payment-regulations-trajectory-for-2024-and-beyond
_The regulatory landscape is evolving rapidly - check out this guide to find out what changes European PSPs and FIs can expect in the near future!_
In the modern European payments landscape, staying compliant with the latest regulations is a key priority for businesses. After all, it isn’t just about ticking boxes - it is about ensuring transaction security and building a fault-free reputation. However, keeping track of the rules and guidelines can be a challenging task due to the pace at which they are changing.
25.04.2024 7 min read
Worry not - we have done the research for you! This guide lists some of the main regulatory shifts that have been evolving over the past few years and are expected to continue shaping the future of payments in Europe in 2024 and beyond. Keep reading to ensure your business has all the necessary legal measures in place to avoid fines and foster consumer trust!
### 6 Key Ongoing Regulatory Initiatives in Europe’s Payment Scene
While there may be variations in some payment regulations across different European jurisdictions, there are six major regulatory initiatives that will inevitably impact businesses and PSPs across the continent in the foreseeable future, namely:
#### 1\. Instant Payments Regulation
Europe is continuously upgrading its instant payment systems to optimize and accelerate transactions across the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA). These collective efforts aim to position Europe as a leader in unified payment innovation.
Since its establishment in [2002](https://www.ecb.europa.eu/paym/retail/sepa/html/index.en.html), SEPA has been streamlining euro bank transfers within the EU. In fact, SEPA Credit Transfer (SCT) enabled electronic euro payments already in 2008, but at the time, they could take up to a business day to process. Naturally, as tech advanced, consumer demand for faster transactions has risen.
To meet this pressing need, the European Payments Council introduced the SEPA Instant Credit Transfer (SCT Inst) scheme in [2017](https://www.europeanpaymentscouncil.eu/sites/default/files/kb/file/2017-11/EPC232-17_SCT%20Inst%20press%20kit_November%202017_FINAL.pdf), which enables instant euro payments 24/7/365. Yet, the adoption of this scheme has been slow, with only [15%](https://www.europeanpaymentscouncil.eu/sites/default/files/kb/file/2023-11/EPC004-16%202023%20SCT%20Instant%20Rulebook%20v1.2.pdf) of euro credit transfers being instant as of 2023.
To overcome this bottleneck, on [February 7, 2024](https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20240202IPR17318/ensuring-euro-money-transfers-arrive-within-ten-seconds), the European Parliament endorsed a regulation requiring credit transfers to be executed within 10 seconds across the EU. Besides, on February 26, 2024, the European Council adopted the Instant Payments Regulation, fully enabling real-time payments for consumers and businesses in the EU and EEA countries.
Later this year, on [March 19](https://thepaypers.com/fintech/news/eu-sets-deadline-for-instant-payments-regulation), the EU’s Official Journal was updated with Regulation (EU) 2024/886, which amended various financial legal initiatives, including:
- The SEPA Regulation
- The Cross-Border Payments Regulation
- The Settlement Finality Directive
- PSD2
This measure is a necessary step to further promote instant credit transfers in euros. It went live on April 8 and has a tight implementation timeline, with Eurozone PSPs being tasked to enable the receipt and sending of instant credit transfers within 9 months and 18 months, respectively. As for non-Eurozone PSPs, the deadlines for the same objectives are 33 and 39 months, sequentially.
#### 2\. AML/CFT Package
Nowadays, global and European authorities actively prioritize efforts to combat money laundering and terrorism financing. However, current laws aimed at addressing these issues unintentionally make it difficult for legitimate organizations to operate smoothly. This is due to an overwhelming amount of paperwork and hindered access to some core services linked to bank de-risking practices.
In response to these issues, on [July 20, 2021](https://finance.ec.europa.eu/publications/anti-money-laundering-and-countering-financing-terrorism-legislative-package_en), the European Commission introduced a series of legislative proposals aimed at improving the EU’s regulations on anti-money laundering (AML) and combating the financing of terrorism (CFT). This package covers the following topics:
- The introduction of a novel EU anti-money laundering authority (AMLA) that is set to hold the power to enforce sanctions and penalties.
- A full revision of the existing fund transfer regulation aimed at promoting transparency and traceability in digital asset transactions.
- An outline of AML obligations for the private sector.
- A directive governing AML mechanisms.
After multiple discussion rounds, on January 18, 2024, the EU Council and European Parliament reached a provisional agreement on the two key components of the EU AML and CFT package: the new AML/CFT Regulation and the 6th EU AML/CFT Directive.
Based on it, all rules that were applicable to the private sector are to be transferred to a new regulation, harmonizing regulations across the EU and closing potential loopholes that criminals use to launder money or finance terrorist activities. The directive, on the other hand, will address the organization of institutional AML/CFT systems at a national level across member states.
Once these documents are finalized, they will be shared with member states’ representatives in the Committee of Permanent Representatives and the European Parliament for approval. If accepted, they will be formally adopted by the Council and the Parliament, published in the EU’s Official Journal, and enacted.
#### 3\. PSD3 and PSR
On [June 28, 2023](https://finance.ec.europa.eu/publications/financial-data-access-and-payments-package_en), the EU Commission published new information regarding potential regulatory updates aimed at enhancing the payment services market and improving access to financial data. The suggested package of measures consists of proposals regarding the following initiatives:
**Third Payment Services Directive (PSD3) & Payment Services Regulation (PSR)**
Since the introduction of PSD2 in [2015](https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/intro/mip-online/2018/html/1803_revisedpsd.en.html), the retail payment landscape has undergone significant changes, including a surge in digital payment methods and a decline in cash transactions. Despite these advancements, the industry still experiences plenty of challenges, such as fraud risks, Open Banking-related uncertainties, and disparities between banks and PSPs.
PSD3 and PSR are set to address these challenges through:
- Improving Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) and Open Banking standards to enhance transaction security
- Prioritizing data protection and privacy to safeguard user information
- Implementing fraud protection measures and ensuring top-level consumer protection
- Introducing an IBAN/name-matching verification service
- Promoting innovation and growth by creating a unified regulatory framework and supporting cheaper international transactions
Once the European Parliament and Council review this proposal, it will proceed into its implementation phase in 2024-2025, with compliance from relevant parties required within 24 months from the moment it goes into full force.
**The Financial Data Access Regulation (FIDA)**
On the same day, the European Commission also announced the launch of the Open Finance Framework. As part of the European Digital Finance Strategy, its goal is to enhance consumer data access and reuse in various financial services.
One of the key aspects of this framework is the Financial Data Access Regulation (FIDA). It will focus specifically on consumer and business rights when it comes to managing shared data beyond payment accounts. For instance, it will introduce new elements like customer-controlled data usage, fees for data access, and improved API standards.
Overall, FIDA’s ultimate goal aligns with that of PSD3 - both initiatives are set to drive Europe toward Open Finance while promoting transparency and control over financial data.
#### 4\. Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA)
DORA was first published on [January 16, 2023](https://www.eiopa.europa.eu/digital-operational-resilience-act-dora_en), and is expected to be fully implemented by January 17, 2025. The goal of this act is to make cybersecurity rules consistent across European finance and set up unified plans for managing digital risks, warning signs, and emergencies.
DORA covers a wide range of finance-related businesses, including banks, investment firms, and payment services, all of which are required to improve their systems and test them by the assigned deadline. If they fail to do so, they will undergo sanctions, which are likely to negatively affect their operations and reputation.
#### 5\. Central Electronic System of Payment Information (CESOP)
CESOP is an initiative designed to tackle electronic VAT fraud in cross-border transactions within the European eCommerce sphere by prompting banks PSPs to submit payment data to financial authorities. Since January 1, 2024, this collected information has been centralized and continuously implemented for fraud prevention purposes.
#### 6\. Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA)
MiCA is a relatively new EU rule governing crypto-assets and stablecoins. This regulation is big news, as it’s the first comprehensive law of its kind globally.
The EU plans to have the whole system in place by [late 2024 or early 2025](https://www.acfcs.org/eu-passes-landmark-crypto-regulation). While this initiative will go into full force 18 months after its final release, the provisions regarding e-money and asset-referenced tokens will take effect straight away.
### Summing Up: The Strategic Importance of Compliance
As you can see, there are plenty of legislative measures and rules that businesses in the financial industry need to keep track of. While it may seem like a daunting task at first glance, it is crucial to remember that these regulations represent an opportunity for businesses to embrace innovation while safeguarding consumer interests.
In other words, navigating regulatory change is not just a necessity but rather a strategic imperative for businesses aiming to thrive in the dynamic payment ecosystem. By proactively embracing these changes, PSPs and FIs can position themselves as leaders in the ever-evolving realm of financial services, fostering business resilience and consumer trust.
[Orchestration Platform Merchants Only one integration to consolidate all your payment providers to a unified management system.](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/orchestration-payment-platform)
[White Label Payment Gateway PSP Offer your customers a top-level payment solution, increase your turnover and boost your business profit.](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/gateway)
---
## EU’s DSA and DMA Receive Final Approval - What’s Next?
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/eus-dsa-and-dma-receive-final-approval-whats-next
_The DSA and DMA are the EU's newly approved laws setting new standards for digital businesses — how yours should adjust._
The Digital Services Act (DSA) and the Digital Markets Act (DMA) are legislative proposals of the European Commission that aim to build a safer online space by protecting users’ fundamental rights and establishing a fair playing field for businesses.
19.10.2022 6 min read
While the proposals for DSA and DMA were made back in 2020, they received the final greenlight only in October 2022. The long-awaited approval of these regulations is the ideal moment to review their development timeline, take a look at their key focal points, find out when they will enter into full force, and gain an understanding of the changes that will follow. Read ahead for all the details!
### DMA Vs. DSA: What’s the Difference?
The DSA and DMA together comprise the Digital Services Package, a set of laws expected to have considerable influence not only in Europe but also worldwide by defining new standards for digital consumer business.
The main goals of these initiatives are as follows:
- **DSA:** to ensure transparency, accountability, and user safety for online platforms by modernizing the eCommerce Directive adopted in 2000. The DSA aims to harmonize various laws in the EU that have arisen at national levels to address illegal content, like the German NetzDG and the French Loi Avia. Under the DSA, such local laws would be overwritten to create a unified legal framework for all EU jurisdictions.
- **DMA:** to set clear rules for the operations of large online platforms, specifically Big Tech companies. The DMA will classify certain platforms as "gatekeepers", depending on their number of users, capitalization, and turnover, making them subject to new obligations. Some companies that are likely to fall into this category include Google, Amazon, Apple, and Facebook. The Act’s aim is to prevent industry giants from abusing their power and ensure new players can enter the market.
Now that the key focal points of the DMA and DSA are clear, let’s take a look at the way they were developed and review the deadlines by which they should be applied.
### The DSA & DMA Development Timeline
Here’s an overview of the Digital Services Package's evolution throughout the years:
- **15 December 2020** - The European Commission made the proposals for the DSA and DMA.
- **25 March 2022** - A political agreement was reached on the Digital Markets Act.
- **22 April 2022** - The European Parliament and the EU Member States reached a consensus on the Digital Services Act.
- **5 July 2022** - The European Parliament approved the DSA along with the DMA.
- **14 September 2022** - The DMA was signed into law by the Presidents of the Parliament and the Council, which concluded the legislative procedure.
- **4 October 2022** - The European Council gave its final approval to the Regulation on a Digital Services Act, which marks the final step for the DSA to come to life.
- **12 October 2022** - The Digital Markets Act was published in the Official Journal. The regulation will enter into force 20 days after this date and become fully applicable on **2 May 2023**.
The DSA hasn’t been registered in the Official Journal of the European Union as of 12 October 2022. However, it is agreed that this initiative will enter into force on the twentieth day following its publication.
The service providers that fall under the DSA regulation will then have time until **1 January 2024** to establish full compliance with it. However, large online platforms will have to apply the DSA earlier - four months after its publication.
With the deadlines approaching, it is only natural to wonder if these new legislative pieces will affect your organization. Find out below!
### Which Businesses Will the DSA and DMA Affect?
The extent to which the new rules will affect your company depends on the type of online business, its size of operations, and other characteristics. Here’s a brief overview of what to expect:
**DSA**
The Digital Services Act (DSA) will mostly concern online intermediaries, such as:
- Online marketplaces
- Social networks
- App stores
- Online travel platforms
- Cloud services
The strictest rules will apply to large online platforms that have a significant societal and economic impact. To fall under this category, the operations of a business must reach at least **45 million** users in the EU (**10%** of the population).
Such companies will be obliged to carry out an annual assessment to identify and address systemic risks linked to their services. The risks that need to be evaluated are mainly related to:
- The spread of illegal content
- Public security
- Negative effects on civic discourse and electoral processes
- Targeted advertising based on sensitive personal data
All in all, the DSA requires fundamental adjustments in the digital services infrastructure. Medium-size platforms will also need to take care of these aspects and put in place new monitoring and reporting mechanisms. Besides, the DSA is expected to boost the development of automated solutions for advanced content review.
**DMA**
To qualify as a gatekeeper under the DMA, a company should have:
- A yearly revenue of **€7,5 billion**, a market value of **€75 billion**, or more than **45 billion** unique monthly visitors on its online platform. However, the EU Commission can also appoint gatekeepers, so companies like Booking or Zalando could be potentially added to the list even though they don’t qualify with the general criteria.
- A significant impact on the market and be a critical intermediary for businesses to reach end users.
- An established position on the market.
Many tech giants match these criteria and thus have to comply with the DMA regulations. In an attempt to even the playing field for competition, the Digital Markets Act bans such activities as:
- Sharing data between services without user consent
- Ranking the companies’ own products or services higher than those of third parties
- Tracking end users outside of the gatekeepers’ platform for targeted advertising without consent
The rules introduced by the DMA could also prevent such services as iMessage and Amazon from displaying their products and services above those of the competitors and cause significant changes in Google and Meta’s advertisement data-gathering practices.
Once the DMA goes into full effect, non-compliant entities could face fines of up to **10%** of their worldwide annual turnover. Moreover, repeated violations could increase these fees to **20%** and cause penalty payments of up to **5%** of the organization’s global daily turnover.
### Bottom Line: Assess the Risks and Address Them
If your company falls under the gatekeeper category according to the DMA or is a large-scale intermediary platform or hosting service that matches the DSA criteria, big changes are coming your way.
However, be prepared that even if your business will not be directly impacted by the new rules, it is most likely to face indirect consequences, with one of the most obvious influences associated with the restrictions of personalized target advertisements.
Although the impact of the DMA and DSA will not be the same for all businesses as it was with the GDPR, experts advise putting the insights gained during that era into practice. Thus, whether you run a small, medium, or large company, it’s critical to develop an understanding of the new rules as soon as possible, assess your organization’s status, and make relevant changes to prevent last-minute hasty adjustments.
---
## Evaluating PSD2’s Impact and Potential for Improvement in 2023
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/evaluating-psd2s-impact-and-potential-for-improvement-in-2023
_Check out this evaluation of the positive effects and implementation challenges of PSD2, along with key stakeholders’ opinions on its improvement!_
The Revised Payment Service Directive (PSD2) was introduced by the Council of the European Union in 2015 to drive innovation and adapt banking services to new technologies. Ever since its launch and especially after its major update in 2019, experts have been closely monitoring the directive’s performance.
05.07.2023 5 min read
Recently, the EU Directorate-General for Financial Stability, Financial Services, and Capital Markets Union published a [study](https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/f6f80336-a3aa-11ed-b508-01aa75ed71a1/language-en) examining PSD2’s impact on the market, assessing its value in terms of effectiveness, efficiency, and relevance. In this article, we explore the study’s findings, go over both its positive achievements, and highlight the areas that may require further adjustments.
### Has PSD2’s Introduction Resulted in Positive Dynamics in the EU?
PSD2’s initial goals were to enhance transaction efficiency, foster a pan-European payments ecosystem, and ensure standardized rights and responsibilities for the stakeholders. According to the EU’s new study, the directive has managed to make progress in these areas and has proven to be relevant over time by making such positive contributions as:
- **Increasing access to third-party providers (TPP).** One of the goals of PSD2 was to enable more TPPs to access customers’ financial information and initiate transactions on their behalf. The study indicates that this objective has been achieved, and the inclusion of TPPs has added a combined annual value of €1.6 billion to the EU payments market.
- **Establishing the regulatory infrastructure for Open Banking.** By mandating banks to provide access to customer data to authorized TPPs, PSD2 has created the foundation for open banking in Europe. This enables customers to securely share their data with banks and financial service providers, promoting competition and innovation in the industry.
- **Improving payment security.** By introducing Strong Customer Authentication (SCA), PSD2 has contributed to strengthening the overall security of payment transactions, providing consumers with increased confidence and trust when making online payments.
- **Enhanced consumer protection.** The directive ensures that consumers have clear information about their rights, such as refund policies and liability limits in case of unauthorized transactions. By setting these standards, it has enhanced transparency and accountability in the payments ecosystem.
- **Decreasing fraud losses.** The report estimates that consumers have saved approximately €900 billion in fraud losses due to the advanced customer protection measures implemented by PSD2.
These factors have been fundamental in shaping the European payments landscape as we know it. However, the integration of PSD2 has also been associated with certain downsides - read on to learn more about them.
### Challenges Linked to PSD2’s Implementation
While the report highlighted the positive outcomes of PSD2’s implementation, it also identified areas for improvement linked to it. Some of them were attributed to potential flaws in the original concept, while others were related to rapid advancements in technology and evolving customer behaviors.
Here are the key obstacles that became evident throughout PSD2’s execution, according to the study:
- **Friction during customer checkout.** While providing enhanced security, the SCA requirement has made the customer checkout experience more difficult and cumbersome in many cases, leading to instances of shopping cart abandonment.
- **Loopholes for fraudsters.** Despite increased oversight associated with PSD2, the study highlights the existence of loopholes in SCA that enable fraudsters to bypass security measures. Further improvements in supervision are necessary to address this issue.
- **Technical difficulties.** The integration of new APIs, security protocols, and data-sharing mechanisms turned out to be complex and time-consuming for many FIs and TPPs. Some entities faced difficulties in adapting their systems to comply with the new requirements, which led to delays and disruptions in service.
- **Confusion among some consumers.** Despite efforts to promote awareness of PSD2 and its benefits, the study highlights a lack of understanding among consumers. Many users did not fully grasp the changes brought about by PSD2 and were hesitant to share their financial data with third-party providers, hindering the adoption of new payment services.
- **Inconsistencies across EU member states.** While the directive provides a framework, individual countries have some flexibility in interpreting and introducing the regulations, which has led to variations in approaches, timelines, and requirements. The study highlights a case in Italy where certain systems favored payment service providers over consumers.
These challenges highlight the complexity and evolving nature of PSD2’s implementation, which call for ongoing monitoring, adaptation, and collaboration between regulatory bodies, financial institutions, TPPs, and consumers to address emerging issues effectively.
### Can the Implementation of PSD2 Be Considered Efficient?
To analyze the efficiency of PSD2’s execution, the EU Council gathered data on the resources involved in its execution, including manpower, time, and finances. These figures were compared to the positive and negative changes that resulted from the implementation.
As a result, the study concluded that the effects of the directive are generally positive. The researchers also stated that the benefits of the updated directive generally outweighed the drawbacks. However, it should be noted that this assessment is not universally agreed upon.
Banks and banking associations, in particular, disagreed with the Council’s findings. The majority of such entities consulted for the study admitted that the costs of implementing PSD2 outweighed the benefits they received.
To compound the issue, they note that the mandated fraud protections under PSD2 are rapidly becoming outdated due to fraudsters continually refining their techniques and employing advanced technologies. Even TPPs established before PSD2, although more positive overall, generally agreed with the negative assessment.
With that said, it must be noted that the study took a broad perspective, taking into account both short- and long-term impact. Yet, while the directive incurred significant upfront investment costs, the benefits are being realized gradually and have the potential to be significant over a longer term. Thus, it is currently impossible to accurately calculate the overall cost-to-benefit ratio.
### How Can PSD2’s Execution Be Upgraded Moving Forward?
While attempting to categorize PSD2 as either a resounding success or a complete failure oversimplifies the matter and is virtually impossible at this point due to it being a rather new initiative, it is certain that it has driven significant positive changes driven yet has plenty of challenges to overcome.
To address the situation, the European Council suggests such ongoing efforts as:
- Streamlining the consumer process to prevent cart abandonment
- Clarifying obligations for merchants and FIs, especially for cross-border transactions
- Implementing better oversight measures
- Continuing to foster innovation and competition among service providers
- Addressing technical and interoperability issues
Although these proposals are sensible and potentially beneficial, they will likely entail additional rules and restrictions. Due to this, they also come with a risk of creating a convoluted system by layering mandates upon mandates. Thus, the key challenge currently faced by the EU Council is the need to introduce the necessary updates while avoiding making the system too unwieldy.
---
## Everything You Need to Know About Cross Border Payments
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/everything-you-need-to-know-about-cross-border-payments
_Everything you need to know about cross border transactions can be found in this article, as well as how we can help you if you want to use them._
In the era of economic globalization, cross-border payments have become a vital necessity. In 2019, their value totaled $130 trillion and is estimated to reach $250 trillion by 2027. Since the volume of cross border payments is demonstrating such rapid growth, it is an absolute must for business owners to be aware of what these transactions are and how to initiate and process them efficiently. Our guide is your key to mastering the intricacies of such international payments.
09.09.2021 10 min read
### What Are Cross Border Transactions?
Cross border payments are financial transactions performed between a payer and a recipient based in different countries. By definition, these payments are far more complex than domestic transactions, as they involve multiple jurisdictions, time zones, and legal regulations. Typically, a cross border transaction is thought to lag a domestic payment when it comes to speed of the transfer process, accessibility, cost, and transparency.
Cross-border transactions can be categorized as:
- Retail payments - performed as B2B, [B2C](https://payneteasy.com/glossary/what-are-b2c-payments), and P2P transfers, including remittances. For example, shopping at e-stores located overseas, sending a sum of money as a gift to your friend living abroad, and providing financial help to a family member in a foreign country.
- Wholesale payments - conducted between governments, financial institutions, and large non-financial organizations. Some examples are foreign exchange, trading of commodities and securities, payments for the import and export of goods.
The importance of both cross-border transaction categories for the modern global economy cannot be overestimated. It is an intensifying payments niche due to a variety of factors, including:
- Manufacturers scaling up their supply chains
- Growth of e-commerce and international trade
- Global investment flows
- Migrants forwarding funds as international remittances
As a response to these global trends, innovative technological solutions and business models drive the development of cross border money transfers and payments.
### Main Cross Border Payment Methods
These days, there are various payment methods that can facilitate a cross-border transaction. For your convenience, we have made a compilation of the major methods available.
**Modern**
The global cross-border transaction methods you are likely to come across nowadays are:
- International Wire Transfers. It's the oldest method of cross-border transaction, often referred to as “remittance”. This procedure requires the payee to visit a bank or agency and make the payment in person. Such a global transaction process normally takes up to five working days, is costly, and has limited traceability, yet is still widely used.
- Credit Cards. Payment cards are owned by the vast majority of people and relieve us from the need of carrying cash, even when traveling to foreign countries. Every person is likely to have made a cross-border payment through one of the four major credit card networks: American Express, Discover, Mastercard, or Visa.
- Virtual Wallets. This category includes eWallets, mobile wallets, and digital wallets that can store funds, process global payments, and save user data.
- Forex Cards. These cards are perfect for travelers as they enable easy international money transfers and payments, as well as help avoid currency exchange rate swings.
- Visa Direct. This service provides push payments (within 24h from authorization) for individuals and businesses worldwide.
- SWIFT GPI. GPI stands for Global Payments Innovation. It’s a convenient, fast, and transparent worldwide payments service with fully traceable transactions launched by SWIFT in 2017. SWIFT GPI is a combination of the traditional SWIFT global banking and messaging services with improved rules. Such cross-border payments entail that any bank that joins the network must have transparent fees, transaction tracking, and official confirmation when the funds are credited.
- MasterCard Send. A cross-border transfer service that enables real-time money payments without any reliance on the bank’s ACH system.
**Innovative**
Cross-border transfers have improved significantly within a fairly short period of time, and progress doesn’t stop, so there are even more advanced tech solutions for payments arising:
- Open Banking APIs. This technology is here to open doors for cross-border payment process optimization by exposing a range of data to third-party financial service solution providers.
- Decentralized Ledger Technology. DLT has the power to speed up the backend processes of international payments and transfers, improve the transactions’ transparency, minimize compliance-related costs, and present an unprecedented payment method on a global scale.
Now that you are aware of the main cross-border payment methods and services available let’s take a glimpse at how exactly they work.
### How Do Cross-Border Payments Work?
It is important to understand that when an individual or an organization initiates a bank transaction between two jurisdictions, the currency doesn’t physically travel abroad, as the payment systems of different countries are not connected directly. In reality, what happens is that a payment is credited from the sender’s account in their country, and the receivable amount is debited at the beneficiary’s jurisdiction.
Banks also cooperate with other parties, such as Payment Service Providers, for the sake of settling such issues as currency conversions, varying tax regulations, and global transaction fees. Besides, cross border finance is not always as simple as sending a payment message with a debit and credit request from one financial institution to another, as not all banks have direct links. In such a case, a correspondent bank steps in as an intermediary. Every institution in that chain is identified by its [Business Identifier Code (BIC / SWIFT)](https://payneteasy.com/glossary/business-identifier-code-bic), which tells the network exactly where the payment message should go.
The less common the currency pair, the more intermediary services get involved in the transaction, forming a correspondent-banking network and resulting in additional processing fees added to the payments or transfers.
### What Are the Cross-Border Transaction Charges?
As a general rule, a card-issuing bank charges increased commissions for cross-border payments. This is due to the costs they bear for conducting such transactions since both the payment system and acquiring bank also apply fees to these money transfers.
There are many charges associated with cross border payments, such as:
- Bank fees. Typically, the most costly part of the transfer, charged for transactional services.
- Cross-border fees. What is a cross border fee? It’s a percentage applicable to a consumer’s purchase performed with a foreign credit card. The rate varies depending on the card issuer. For instance, an MC cross border fee equals 0.60% of a transaction settled in USD, while PayPal charges 4.6% + $0.30.
- Taxes. This expense category varies from one transaction to another, as country-specific taxes apply.
- Exchange rates. Since we are dealing with international transfers, we should not disregard currency differences and the exchange rates flux.
However, the members of SEPA are exempt from most of these charges on payments - more about it below.
### The Challenges That Traditional Cross-Border Payments Face
Some methods of cross-border payments are inherently more complex than the domestic ones, as they involve multiple currency systems. Here are the main challenges faced by such transactions:
**1\. Slow Transactions**
Cross-border payments initiated through a bank typically take up to five days to process. It is an extremely slow pace as opposed to local transfers.
Besides, the long chain of parties involved in the process of facilitating such payments is often a reason for delays since if one institution fails, the transaction can’t be reviewed by the rest before the issue is resolved.
**2\. High Costs**
International money transfers and payments have already evolved substantially compared to even a few years ago. However, the major part of such payments still remains significantly more expensive than local financial transactions because of the number of intermediaries involved in the process.
**3\. Lack of Transparency**
Another common issue that comes with international transactions and has a negative impact on both consumers and business entities is the cross-border payments’ lack of transparency. According to research conducted in 2017 by SWIFT and EuroFinance, 64% of business clients agreed that they need real-time tracking of payments and 47% requested an improved breakdown of costs and deductions.
**4\. Security Issues**
Unfortunately, if a hacker manages to breach a cross-border payment pathway, the bank may not be able to recover the funds sent by the consumer. Thus, international transactions are also associated with security risks that are much lower for other payment methods.
Losses associated with such fraudulent incidents can be extremely costly and yet not uncommon. For instance, one of the biggest money heists happened in Bangladesh central bank in 2016 and amounted to $81 million.
Security hazards are heightened by the fact that every country that participates in cross-border payment transactions is governed by its own regulations, so if the money has to travel through a country with a less reliable security system, there’s no guarantee that it’s safe.
### How Does SEPA Affect Cross-Border Payments?
SEPA, or the Single Euro Payments Area, is a pan-European initiative aiming to simplify Euro currency cross-border bank transaction processing within the eurozone (36 member states). It was first introduced in 2008 for credit transfers only, followed by direct debits in 2009. SEPA came into full force in 2016.
SEPA makes cross-border payments as simple as local ones and even has similar rates. In other words, SEPA transactions are typically free. Yet, some banks may choose to charge an extra fee if they also perform local transfers at a cost.
Luckily for businesses, there are also all-in-one tech solutions that enable convenient management of all the steps and fees of cross-border transactions.
### How to Optimize Cross-Border Payment Processing
If your business is constantly dealing with cross-border payments, you might be wondering how to refine the processing of such international transactions. Here are three simple steps that can help you:
**1\. Find Out the Overseas Suppliers’ Preferred Payment Method**
Companies that operate on an international or a global scale will find it helpful to determine the preferred payment methods of their suppliers based overseas. Since they already have local regulations to comply with, this is likely to speed up the services they provide and support frictionless cooperation.
**2\. Send Money in the Receiver’s Currency**
By initiating international payments in the currency of the receiver, your business is likely to save at least 10% of the cost of imported goods.
While some companies believe that sending cross-border payments in a currency other than their domestic one is unsafe, it’s not true. On the contrary, doing so has the potential of creating opportunities for more beneficial terms with suppliers.
This is due to the fact that some global suppliers don’t have an account in Euros, US dollars, or any other currency your company operates with. Therefore, to accept the payments you send them, their bank entities have to convert the currency and impose a fee. You forward cross-border payments in the suppliers’ local currencies enables them to avoid high conversion commission and often leads to them agreeing to offer you discounts.
For instance, one survey uncovered that 60% of its respondents who started paying their global suppliers in their local currencies managed to negotiate a discount of up to 2%, 11% of survey participants received a 3%-5% discount, and another 11% received a deal of over 10% off.
**3\. Understand International Payment Rules**
There are a lot of global remittance regulations that can influence every cross-border payment you conduct. For example, any international payments that are not reported can result in a fine starting from $50 up to $500 each.
It is best to have an in-house professional specializing in cross-border payment compliance. Luckily for businesses, there are also all-in-one tech solutions for payments that enable convenient management of all the steps and fees of cross-border transactions.
### Cross-Border Transactions with Payneteasy
Payneteasy was established in 2005 and has grown to be a leading player in the market. We work with banks, platform providers, PSPs, and merchants worldwide to provide custom payment solutions for conducting cross-border transactions seamlessly.
We offer:
- Full support for e-commerce, m-commerce, and alternative payment methods.
- Support for P2P transfers: cards, e-wallets, and more.
- Set of APIs suitable for different payment types.
- Conversion tools and multi-currency support.
Our payment solutions feature 350 integrations with various Payment Service Providers, wire transfers, APMs, and crypto. At Payneteasy, we ensure a cost-effective transaction flow and top security for the efficiency of your business.
Since 2017, we have been providing our international clients with an opportunity to perform cross-border payments between cards of different foreign banks with our white label Smart.Transfers solution, featuring:
- Registration-free P2P transfers
- Online fees calculation and SMS or email confirmation
- Same rules for domestic and cross-border payments
- Transfers by card number
- Free client support included
With the help of this service, any business linked to the Payneteasy platform will provide its clients with stress-free access to international money transfers and payments.
The technology layer behind these flows is covered separately in [the role of payment gateways in supporting cross-border transactions](https://payneteasy.com/blog/the-role-of-payment-gateways-in-supporting-cross-border-transactions).
---
## Everything You Need to Know about Ecommerce Payment Processing
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/everything-you-need-to-know-about-ecommerce-payment-processing
_How ecommerce payment processing works from checkout to settlement — key components and how to set up, from strategy to testing._
Each time someone clicks on the “Buy Now” button, a long chain of events takes place in less than a few seconds. The seller will only see the final result: either a successful transaction or a failed one. Everything else that happens in between determines your approval rates, settlement timelines, fraud exposure, and, finally, your revenue.
26.03.2026 7 min read
In this post, we'll help you understand how ecommerce payment processing actually works, what all the components do, and how to set it up correctly.
### What is Ecommerce Payment Processing?
Ecommerce payment processing is a financial and technical system that authorises, clears, and settles funds between the customer's issuing bank and the merchant's acquiring bank. It involves several parties: the customer, the merchant, a payment gateway, an acquiring bank, a card network (Visa or Mastercard), and finally an issuing bank. All of these parties communicate in a coordinated sequence to authorise, clear, and settle funds.
The process is designed to be quick. It is also secure and invisible to the end user. If everything works well, customers don’t notice, but when it doesn’t, you lose the sale.
### How Ecommerce Payment Processing Works
#### Customer Checkout
The process starts once a paying customer selects the payment method. If they choose their credit card, they enter their card details, such as the card number, expiration date, and CVV. Or they may select another digital payment available, such as Apple Pay or Google Pay.
Payment information is collected from a form embedded on the checkout page. So, the key is a well-built checkout and payment form, as a poorly designed page is one of the top causes of cart abandonment.
#### Encryption via a Payment Gateway
Before any data is sent anywhere, it must be encrypted. Data is transmitted over TLS. Tokenization reduces exposure by ensuring your servers don't handle raw card numbers. PCI DSS compliance requirements begin here, and non-compliance can result in stiff fines and loss of card acceptance rights.
The payment gateway handles this part. It encrypts the customer's sensitive payment data with TLS and tokenizes card details to prevent raw card numbers from being exposed during transit. That is the first line of defence against data interception. PCI DSS applies to the entire environment where cardholder data is stored/processed/transmitted. If you have hosted fields/redirect, the merchant's PCI zone may be smaller; if you have direct collection, it may be larger.
#### Verification by a Processor and Issuing Bank
The encrypted transaction data gets moved (routed) to the acquiring bank (your bank), which sends the authorisation request via the relevant card network (Visa, Mastercard, etc.) to the issuing bank (the customer's bank). The issuing bank then decides whether the card is valid (not stolen) and if the buyer has sufficient funds or credit available for the purchase.
#### Authorisation
The issuing bank sends its authorisation response: approved, declined, or referred. The response is sent back along the same chain, from card network to acquirer and gateway. It only takes seconds. If approved, funds are ring-fenced in the customer’s account but aren’t transferred. Before that happens, risk and fraud controls are applied, such as 3-D Secure (3DS) authentication, velocity checks, and scoring.
#### Final Settlement
Authorisation does not mean payment. Settlement is a payment. After the transaction is authorised, it enters a clearing and settlement cycle that usually lasts 1 to 3 business days. The card network streamlines the interchange between the issuing and acquiring banks. After this, the merchant receives the funds in their account, minus any fees applied, such as interchange, scheme, and processor margins.
### The Key Components in Ecommerce Payment Processing
#### Checkout and Payment Data Collection
The point where the card or wallet details are collected. The payment must be securely processed via a hosted payment page or an embedded form that uses tokenization, guaranteeing that raw card data never touches the merchant server. The checkout UX directly affects conversion rates.
#### Payment Gateway
The gateway encrypts the transaction information and then routes it to the acquirer, which serves as the secure communication layer between your platform and the broader payment network. Good gateways also provide you with reports, retry logic, and routing controls. Every gateway is different, though, with varying speeds of throughput, uptime, and latency.
#### Acquirer and Card Networks
Your acquiring bank has all of your merchant account details and processes transactions on your behalf. The card networks set the rules for how authorisation requests are routed, which fees apply, and which special compliance requirements must be met. In most cases, merchants don’t interact with the card networks, as this part is typically managed by the acquirer.
#### Issuer Authorisation
The issuing bank decides if a transaction gets approved. Reasons for a transaction being declined include insufficient funds, suspected fraud, exceeded limits, and geographic restrictions. So, the key is to be familiar with the decline patterns as a high rate of decline can often point to routing problems, fraud scoring issues, or card type mismatches that can be corrected.
#### Fraud and Risk Controls
Fraud and risk controls are in place at multiple points in the transaction flow. 3DS authentication verifies the cardholder's identity as an additional step before authorisation. Fraud scoring models assess transaction risk using behavioral signals, device data, and historical patterns.
Additionally, Anti-Money Laundering (AML) monitoring may be performed by the PSP/acquirer, and merchants/customers are assessed during onboarding through Know Your Customer/Know Your Business (KYC/KYB) processes. All this aims at blocking fraudulent transactions without increasing friction for legitimate customers, a very fine balance.
#### Clearing and Settlement
Once transactions have been authorised and batched, the card network provides clearing/settlement between the issuer and the acquirer, along with the corresponding settlements/netting. The merchant then receives funds as payout from the PSP/acquirer according to their payout schedule.
For merchants processing high volumes, keeping settlement reconciliations clean and on schedule is one of the more operationally demanding parts of payment management - and a common source of revenue leakage if not handled correctly.
### How to Set Up Payment Processing for Ecommerce
#### Develop Your Strategy
Before you start evaluating vendors, define your requirements. What are your markets? Are they international? What payment methods will your customers expect? Are they cards, wallets, or local payment methods? What is the currency you will use? What is the expected transaction volume, and will it grow? The answers to these questions determine what type of infrastructure you need and which partners can support it.
#### Review Internal Technical Capabilities
Your integration approach comes down to what technical resources you have. A direct API integration gives you better control over the payment experience, but it requires ongoing maintenance and may require development effort. A hosted option can reduce development time but limits customisation, so honestly assess your team's capacity before committing to an approach.
#### Partner With a Payment Provider
Find a [payment provider](https://payneteasy.com/) that covers all your required geographies, accepts your preferred payment methods, and provides the technical infrastructure to match your volume. Check out uptime guarantees, fraud tooling, reporting capabilities, and support responsiveness, not just their pricing bracket. A good provider that can route transactions intelligently across multiple acquirers will usually deliver higher approval rates than a single-acquirer setup.
#### Testing and Trial
Before you go live, plan a testing phase. Perform end-to-end testing across all payment methods, currencies, and edge cases. Check for declined transactions, partial refunds, 3DS flows, and chargebacks, and test in an environment that mirrors production as closely as possible. Never skip this stage, because any issues that arise later will be much more expensive to fix than during testing. Testing and trials will help you identify any problems before you go live.
### Ecommerce Payment Processing with Payneteasy
Payneteasy is a payment infrastructure technology built for merchants and PSPs operating at scale. Our platform offers a comprehensive solution by covering everything from a [PCI DSS Level 1-certified payment gateway](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/gateway) with advanced routing and cascading to an anti-fraud security system, all fully integrated with dispute management tools and reconciliation reporting.
The [Payneteasy Orchestration Platform](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/orchestration-payment-platform) (POP) consolidates everything that merchants need to manage multiple payment providers into a single interface. It helps you reduce operational overhead, increase acceptance rates, and gain real-time control over your payment flow.
Payneteasy has more than 1,000 integrations and almost 20 years of experience processing for PSPs, banks, and [large-scale ecommerce businesses](https://payneteasy.com/branches/retail). If you're evaluating payment infrastructure or looking to improve approval rates and settlement efficiency, get in touch to see how Payneteasy fits your setup!
### Key Takeaways
- Ecommerce payment processing routes online payments through a chain of parties - gateway, acquirer, card network, and issuer - in a matter of seconds.
- Authorisation and settlement are completely separate events; approved funds will usually take one to three business days to transfer into your merchant account.
- Every part of the chain, the checkout, encryption, fraud controls, and routing, all directly affect your approval rates and revenue.
- Intelligent routing across multiple acquirers consistently outperforms single-acquirer systems in approval rates.
- The right payment provider partner is more than just the cost. Evaluate features like uptime, fraud tooling, geographic coverage, and integration flexibility.
### Frequently Asked Questions
#### What is the difference between payment gateways and payment processors?
The difference is that a payment gateway encrypts and transmits transaction data from the merchant to the payment network. In contrast, a payment processor handles the actual movement of funds between the acquiring and issuing banks.
#### How long does ecommerce payment settlement take?
Transaction authorisation takes only seconds. Settlement, the actual transfer of funds to your merchant account, will take around one to three business days, depending on your acquirer and the card network's clearing cycle.
#### What is 3-D Secure, and do I need it?
[3-D Secure (3DS)](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/3ds_adapter) is an authentication protocol that adds a step in the verification process between the customer and their issuing bank before authorisation is completed. The name comes from the three parties involved in the process: Acquirer Domain (the merchant and the bank receiving the money), Issuer Domain (the bank that issued the customer's credit or debit card), and Interoperability Domain (the infrastructure, such as Visa or Mastercard, that connects the two banks). In many regions, particularly under PSD2 in Europe, 3DS may be used to verify card-not-present transactions.
#### What causes a high payment decline rate?
Common causes of high decline rates include mismatches between card types and the target market, routing to acquirers with poor approval rates in specific regions, overly aggressive fraud scoring, and technical issues with the authorisation request. A structured analysis of decline reason codes will usually identify the root cause.
---
## Everything You Need to Know About Payments in the Metaverse
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/everything-you-need-to-know-about-payments-in-the-metaverse
_Is your business ready to enter the virtual space? Find out how financial transactions work in the metaverse and whether this market is worth investing in!_
Mark Zuckerberg called the metaverse “the next chapter of the internet,” while Satya Nadella said, “it's not only transforming how we see the world but how we participate in it.” Indeed, the metaverse is already far more than some distant concept, but rather a whole new world in the making.
18.08.2022 5 min read
The space where physical and virtual realities are set to merge will launch a new era of digital connectivity, VR experiences, and upgraded eCommerce, and now that it’s closer than ever, it is only natural to wonder what exactly it is going to be like. In this guide, we will shed light on what the metaverse is likely to be from the payment industry’s perspective - read ahead to find out!
### What Is the Metaverse?
The metaverse is an integrated network of 3D virtual worlds, where users can interact with a digital environment as well as with other users. This immersive experience is facilitated by VR and AR headsets.
Tech visionaries and consumers alike are looking toward a metaverse where one’s virtual avatar can hop from one platform to another and engage in activities such as:
- Gaming
- Attending concerts
- Watching sports
- Conducting business meetings
- Shopping
For instance, already now Manchester City is building a virtual stadium in the metaverse so that football fans can watch games and, possibly, purchase digital merchandise just like when gamers buy skins.
What’s more, nearly every activity in the metaverse can potentially be monetized, which makes more and more businesses consider the possibility of entering this virtual world. However, there is one question that makes a lot of merchants hesitate: how to accept payments in the metaverse?
### Which Payment Methods Work in the Metaverse?
In its 2022 report, Visa described the metaverse as a strategic inflection point with its unique virtual economic system where users can trade and monetize digital content[1](https://payneteasy.com/blog/everything-you-need-to-know-about-payments-in-the-metaverse#note1).
Similar to physical reality, there are multiple options to make payments in the metaverse, namely:
- **Cryptocurrencies.** Users can exchange fiat currency for cryptocurrency and use it for payments in the metaverse. To do it, they need to have a crypto wallet and access to exchanges such as Coinbase or Binance. Note that every platform in the metaverse accepts its own set of currencies.
- **NFTs.** Non-fungible tokens have become a widespread payment method in the metaverse due to how simple it is to transfer them between users. NFTs use blockchain technology just like crypto, which makes them a great option to transfer value securely and anonymously.
- **Digital wallets.** The number of unique digital wallet users is projected to exceed 4.4 billion globally by 2025[2](https://payneteasy.com/blog/everything-you-need-to-know-about-payments-in-the-metaverse#note2). Not only is this an increasingly popular payment option in the physical world, but also a widely used method to make purchases in the virtual realm. What’s more, in a recent Facebook Post, Mark Zuckerberg announced the launch of Meta Pay, a digital wallet designed specifically for the metaverse.
Due to the digital nature of the metaverse, fiat currencies cannot be used to purchase goods in it.
### Current Challenges in the Metaverse Payments Landscape
As the metaverse is in a fairly early stage of development, there are still aspects in which it can be improved. When it comes to payments in the virtual world, there are currently three main challenges FinTech companies are trying to tackle:
- **Immersion.** The metaverse’s goal is to be an advanced virtual space where your physical and digital versions blend into one. When it comes to payments, this means less context switching and a minimum of accounts and passwords for a seamless experience. However, many payment processes these days still involve multi-step authentication and are yet to be adapted to prevent users from breaking their immersion into the metaverse.
- **Security.** When striving to create a fully immersive payment experience, it’s easy to compromise transaction security. However, fraud always follows large volumes of money, so as more and more users join the metaverse, merchants and FinTech companies should be ready to address emerging security risks.
- **Regulations.** This challenge is related to decentralized payment methods like crypto and NFTs. While they are mainly considered safe, there is a lot of potential for them to be used for dark web transactions due to the anonymity they provide. Hence, the way payments will be regulated in the metaverse is still subject to discussion.
With that said, there’s no reason for merchants to avoid entering the metaverse market. However, before doing so, it’s critical to be prepared to deal with unfamiliar security risks, disputes, and marketing scenarios.
### Future Prospects of Payments in the Metaverse
The metaverse market has the potential to reach $783.3 billion by 2024, compared to $478.7 billion in 2020, representing a CAGR of 13.1%[3](https://payneteasy.com/blog/everything-you-need-to-know-about-payments-in-the-metaverse#note3). This is partially attributed to the high involvement of Gen Z users. For instance, 80% of Zepeto’s users are teenagers, while 54% of people actively playing Roblox are under 13 years old[4](https://payneteasy.com/blog/everything-you-need-to-know-about-payments-in-the-metaverse#note1).
Besides having the interest of a younger audience, the metaverse features a unique monetization model that is rooted in human interaction. Combined with the trend for digital assets, it is sure to encourage users to both generate and purchase virtual products.
Therefore, if you are interested in exploring this developing market, it’s important to be open to new revenue generation strategies, develop a long-term yet flexible strategy, and stay true to an innovative approach.
_1, 4 - Visa - The metaverse as a strategic inflection point 2 - Juniper Research - Digital Wallets ~ Transforming the Way We Pay? 3 - Bloomberg - Metaverse may be $800 billion market, next tech platform_
---
## Evolution of Online Marketplaces: Influences and Challenges
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/evolution-of-online-marketplaces-influences-and-challenges
_Online marketplaces are evolving fast. What causes such major shifts, which challenges come with them, and how sellers and platforms can adapt._
eCommerce is transforming at an unprecedented pace. With digital innovation being on the rise, the marketplace business model as we once knew it is no longer the same.
15.04.2022 3 min read
If you’re a merchant trying to navigate the ever-evolving sales ecosystem, this overview is for you. Read on to find out what exactly has changed for online marketplaces since the COVID-19 pandemic hit and how to remain competitive in this new environment.
### The Pandemic Causing Shifts in Consumer Behavior
The world is seeing a radically increasing demand for online shopping. For instance, in March 2020 approximately 40% of UK shoppers admitted that they began to shop online more than before the pandemic. By the beginning of 2021, the share had hit a 75% mark. Similar dynamics are evident globally, which means that the retailers had no choice but to adapt to the changing consumer habits.
Thus, the current situation demonstrates an example of a self-fulfilling prophecy: the more retailers are selling online, the more choice there is, which in turn attracts more clients.
Undoubtedly, online marketplaces have played a critical role in generating such a high demand for eCommerce.
### New Online Marketplace Landscape: What’s It Like?
Online marketplaces nowadays incorporate a variety of goods equivalent to a department store or even a whole shopping street, with the distinction of it being available in a matter of clicks. Such convenience combined with the lockdowns caused by the global pandemic together create the perfect recipe for growth-fuelled innovation.
The marketplaces have also evolved to accommodate the needs of nearly every shopper, bringing the consumers what they want exactly when they want it. This is largely due to mobile shopping, as an average modern consumer typically has a smartphone at hand most of the time. In fact, the share of mobile eCommerce transactions in total sales has increased to a whopping 72.9% as of February 2022.
### Challenges Faced by Merchants in the Evolved Marketplace Business Model
Marketplaces are extremely appealing for retailers, as they give them the opportunity to start selling without the hassle of building their own web store. However, as attractive as this prospect may seem at first glance, there are certain challenges associated with this business model, namely:
- **The marketplaces play the role of retailers.** It’s typical nowadays for the marketplaces, that are traditionally supposed to only host the retailers’ stores, to offer their own goods and promote them. This sometimes creates a monopoly by destroying any existing competition on the given platform.
- **The increasing instances of counterfeits and fraud.** The cases of fraud and counterfeits are rising alongside the trend for online marketplaces, to the point that the eCommerce platforms have to launch tools to combat them. One such example is the Amazon Brand Registry. For merchants, this means being continuously alert and focusing on brand protection, which isn’t always effective.
These issues are clearly having a significant negative impact on the new marketplace business model. But is there something that can be done to counter them?
### Possible Solutions for the Arising Online Marketplace Threats
The challenges that are listed above are boosted by the development of digital technologies, as they facilitate the rise of challenger brands. One way to tackle this is to revert to a marketplace model that doesn’t offer proprietary goods, facilitates healthy competition, and performs the role of a link between the shoppers and retailers.
What may sound like taking a step back can actually be a run-up toward better alternatives for online marketplaces’ evolution.
[Tailor-Made Solutions Implement payment and card processing project of any complexity, using Payneteasy’s supreme technologies.](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/individual_solutions)
---
## Expert Tips on Maximizing Payment Performance in the Travel Industry
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/expert-tips-on-maximizing-payment-performance-in-the-travel-industry
_Check out this guide to learn how to maximize payment performance in the travel sector, stay ahead of the industry trends, and ensure business resilience!_
The travel industry is a dynamic and rapidly evolving sector, with millions of people worldwide relying on it to connect with others, explore new destinations, and conduct business. Yet, with the rise of digital payment methods, increased competition, and changing consumer behavior, travel companies are under constant pressure to optimize their performance and stay ahead of the curve.
10.05.2023 6 min read
In this article, we will provide you with practical advice on maximizing payment performance in the travel industry, from reducing processing costs to enhancing customer experiences. Whether you're running a hotel, a transportation company, or a tour business, these tips will allow you to stay competitive in today's fast-paced and ever-changing travel landscape. Let's dive in!
### How Have Payments in the Travel Sphere Changed Recently?
Over the past few years, we have all witnessed the travel industry go through drastic changes due to global events and technological progress. For instance, the rise of digitalization has been leading to an increase in online bookings and payments for a while, with consumers relying more on electronic channels to plan their trips.
The COVID-19 pandemic has further accelerated this trend and streamlined the adoption of contactless and cashless payment methods, with many consumers avoiding physical contact with banknotes and cards. As a result, travel firms had to adapt by offering more digital payment options and handling a large influx of customer requests.
Furthermore, the pandemic has caused significant disruptions, causing many flights and reservations to be canceled or postponed. This has resulted in a surge in refunds and chargebacks, which has put pressure on travel companies to implement more robust payment systems and fraud prevention measures.
These factors have shaped the payments landscape that we see in the travel industry today. But which forces are driving its further developments?
### Key Payment Trends to Follow in the Travel Industry Nowadays
The travel industry has always been at the forefront of innovation and technology adoption when it comes to payments. Today, we're seeing several payment trends that are reshaping the travel sector and transforming the way people book and pay for their trips, namely:
- **The continuing rise of mobile payments.** More and more travelers nowadays use their smartphones to make bookings and payments on the go, driven by their convenience and speed.
- **The growing popularity of digital wallets.** With the growing concerns around data security and privacy, e-wallets like Apple Pay, Google Pay, and PayPal are reliable and safe options for travelers to store their payment information. What’s more, they offer a quick and easy way for travelers to make payments and store tickets, making them a preferred choice for many.
- **An increasing demand for Buy Now, Pay Later services.** Although Europe saw a 172% rise in international tourist arrivals between **January-July 2021 and 2022**, travel has become more expensive, squeezing consumer budgets. This has led to the growing popularity of BNPL solutions, with [28%](https://www.oney.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/INFOGRAPHIC_European-Barometer-of-better-consumption-UK.pdf) of customers in the tourism sector expressing interest in split payments.
- **A shift toward real-time payments.** With RTPs, travelers can quickly and securely pay for their travel-related expenses, such as tickets, accommodation, and activities, without having to deal with any processing delays.
- **The need to offer multi-currency payments.** As the number of travelers keeps growing, the need for seamless and cost-effective multi-currency transactions has become critical. By providing clients with the ability to pay in their local currency, you can help them avoid unnecessary charges and eliminate the confusion associated with foreign exchange rates.
Businesses that adapt to these payment trends will be better positioned to succeed in the increasingly competitive travel industry. However, in addition to the aspects listed above, it is also crucial to keep payment orchestration in mind - read on to learn more about it.
### The Importance of Payment Orchestration in the Travel Sector
Payment orchestration is the process of managing and optimizing multiple payment providers in a unified and streamlined way. Although it is a relatively new concept in the travel industry context, it's rapidly gaining popularity due to the variety of benefits it offers, such as:
- **Increased conversion rates.** By using [payment orchestration](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/orchestration-payment-platform), companies in the travel industry can offer a wider range of payment methods to their customers, including local and regional options that may not be available through a single PSP. This can drive conversions, as clients are more likely to complete a purchase if they can use their preferred methods.
- **Reduced payment processing costs.** Payment orchestration can also help travel businesses to reduce their transaction processing costs by streamlining their operations and optimizing payment routing.
- **Improved security and fraud prevention.** Payment orchestration can provide travel businesses with advanced risk management capabilities, better compliance with regulatory requirements, strong customer authentication methods, and enhanced fraud intelligence.
- **Streamlined payment operations.** Implementing payment orchestration enables companies in the travel sector to optimize their operations. By managing multiple payment providers via a single platform, firms can reduce the amount of time and resources required to manage transactions, freeing up staff to focus on other tasks.
Overall, payment orchestration can bring significant benefits to the travel sector, from increased conversion rates and reduced costs to improved security and streamlined operations. As such, it's likely that we'll see more and more companies in the industry adopting this approach in the coming years.
### Payment Optimization for Long-Term Travel Business Success
Developing winning tactics is not always easy and straightforward when running a travel business due to the peculiarities of the industry, yet following current trends and adopting innovative approaches is typically very effective for ensuring a company’s success.
What’s more, for a travel firm to have a strong foundation and solid resilience to the changing market conditions, business owners should also focus on implementing some of the best payment optimization practices that have proven to be effective over time, including:
- **Simplifying the checkout process.** The travel industry moves at a fast pace, and customers want to book and pay for their trips quickly and easily. Thus, it’s essential to ensure that the checkout process is user-friendly, mobile-optimized, and clearly displays the accepted payment methods.
- **Leveraging data to improve payments.** Data analytics can assist travel companies in identifying trends in consumer behavior, such as the most popular payment methods or peak booking times. This information can help optimize a company’s operations and increase conversions.
- **Offering a variety of relevant payment options.** Travel businesses cater to a diverse range of customers, each with their own preferences for payment methods. By offering a variety of options, such as digital wallets, credit cards, and installment payments, they can increase the chances of customers completing their purchases.
- **Complying with regulations.** The travel industry is subject to a plethora of regulations that vary from one country to another. It's important to stay up-to-date with these requirements to avoid legal issues and penalties.
- **Collaborating with a reliable payment gateway.** Travel companies process a large volume of payment transactions, which makes them a prime target for fraudsters and cybercriminals. Thus, a scalable and secure payment gateway is critical for data protection and business expansion.
With these tips in mind, you can build a timeless strategy for your travel-related business, enhance payment performance, meet customer expectations, and stay competitive in the industry for years to come.
[White Label Payment Gateway PSP Offer your customers a top-level payment solution, increase your turnover and boost your business profit.](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/gateway)
[Payneteasy 3DS Adapter Strike a balance between utmost security and frictionless checkout with Payneteasy 3DS Adapter.](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/3ds_adapter)
[Leads Protection System Merchants The technological solution for GDPR compliance, and will protect your most valuable data and leads from hackers, thieves, malware, AND trusted employees. Based on the best PCI DSS practices.](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/leads_protection_system)
---
## Exploring the Payment Preferences & Trends in LATAM’s Thriving Gaming Market
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/exploring-the-payment-preferences-and-trends-in-latams-thriving-gaming-market
_Check out this overview to discover the diverse payment preferences and habits shaping Latin America’s flourishing gaming industry!_
The gaming industry has experienced explosive growth worldwide, captivating audiences of all ages and backgrounds, with the Latin American region being one of the most prominent examples. In this article, we delve into the peculiarities of this flourishing market and shed light on the payment preferences and habits of its gaming enthusiasts.
26.06.2023 5 min read
By examining the evolving landscape of payment methods, the emergence of local trends, and the impact of cultural influences, we aim to provide a comprehensive exploration of the unique payment ecosystem within LATAM’s gaming industry and the lessons it provides to other countries and industries. Keep reading for all the insights!
### An Overview of the Gaming Industry in Latin America
The online gaming industry in Latin America is characterized by the following [figures](https://insights.international.pagseguro.com/the-payment-habits-of-latin-american-gamers-white-paper?utm_campaign=Online%20Gaming%20White%20Paper%202023&utm_source=The%20Paypers&utm_medium=WP%20Article):
- Sales exceeding $8 billion
- A user base of more than 316 million people
- 200 million active paying consumers
- A steady 5% YoY growth in the number of players
In 2021, smartphones were the preferred choice for Latin American gamers, making up 73% of their gaming devices. PC gaming followed closely at 63%, while consoles accounted for 60% of the total number of players. According to industry experts, the same tendency is expected to continue in the coming years.
Moreover, mobile gaming accounted for 48% of the region’s game revenue, which amounted to $1.91 billion. Therefore, the mobile-first approach is an undeniable trend gaming trend in LATAM that should not be disregarded.
### Insights Into Game-Related Spending Habits in LATAM
From casual mobile arcades to immersive narratives and sandbox experiences, games appeal to an increasingly varied audience. Thus, while the average Latin American gamer is typically a male over 30 years old from the middle class or above, this profile is continuously evolving. The share of women in gaming is increasing fast, with females already accounting for 44% of players in LATAM.
The average gaming spending per week is closely tied to socioeconomic status, with higher-class individuals investing two to four times more than their lower-class counterparts.
Notably, mobile gaming serves as an entry point for many gamers across the region, including those from lower-class backgrounds, as mobile devices are more accessible than PCs or consoles capable of running the latest games.
At the same time, there has been an ongoing trend of increased spending among mobile gamers in recent years, with the following monthly averages being reported in the LATAM region:
- $22.1 in 2019
- $26.1 in 2020
- $27.3 in 2021
This tendency also reflects the bigger trend of an increasing number of Latin American players willing to pay for gaming. According to statistical data, the share of gamers who wish to pay to play has grown from 43% in 2010 to 47% in 2021, accounting for nearly half of the local gaming community.
Yet, although mobile gaming attracts a larger player base, console gamers tend to have higher average spending as they often belong to higher socioeconomic classes and invest more in game titles.
When examining the gender distribution by device in Latin America’s top six markets, it becomes evident that 66% of LATAM gamers have made a game-related purchase within the past six months. This engaged audience includes 50% of “frequent purchasers” who make gaming purchases at least once a month.
All these factors, such as average spending, the platform used for purchases, and the gaming environment, influence the payment preferences of gamers. Therefore, it is crucial for merchants in the industry to delve deeper into the available data and understand the subtle intricacies of the local purchasing experience to better cater to their LATAM customers.
### What Kind of Payment Experience Are LATAM Gamers Looking for?
For 25% to 34% of Latin American gamers, depending on the country, prompt confirmation of payments is the main decisive factor for completing the checkout. Other key considerations are as follows:
- The ability to select one’s preferred payment method
- A smooth and user-friendly shopping experience
- Installment payment options
- Being allowed to use multiple payment options for one transaction
- The option to pay cash
Surprisingly, only 13% of gamers in Brazil consider Pix as their preferred payment method for gaming purchases, indicating that most local merchants within the industry have yet to offer it to their customers in this country.
However, gaming merchants who have adopted this payment method have seen extremely positive results, with Pix accounting for over 50% of their total payment volume.
### Key Factors Causing Cart Abandonment Among LATAM Gamers
[39%](https://insights.international.pagseguro.com/the-payment-habits-of-latin-american-gamers-white-paper?utm_campaign=Online%20Gaming%20White%20Paper%202023&utm_source=The%20Paypers&utm_medium=WP%20Article) of LATAM gamers across the region’s top six markets, including Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, Chile, and Peru, cite the inability to use their preferred payment method as the primary reason for abandoning a purchase during the checkout process.
Other cart abandonment reasons include:
- The absence of promotions or discounts
- The need to conduct payments in a foreign currency
- The unavailability of installment payment options
Thus, as you can see, tapping into Latin America’s engaged and digitized gaming market is hardly possible without offering multiple payment options and a seamless shopping experience.
### Summing Up: Making the Most out of the Lessons Learnt from LATAM’s Example
The global online gaming industry thrives on innovation, driven by a passionate consumer base that embraces technology. Yet, aside from looking for top-notch graphics and exciting gameplay, most players also have high expectations for other game-related experiences, including discovering new games, accessing expansions, purchasing virtual items, and acquiring power-ups and enhancements.
While all of this is true for Latin America, merchants must remember that it is a diverse region with distinctive payment habits and preferences. Here are some essential factors to keep in mind:
- **Payment methods.** While credit and debit cards are commonly used in LATAM, such alternative payment methods as local digital wallets, bank transfers, and prepaid cards are also popular. Thus, offering a wide range of payment options can attract more players and increase conversion rates.
- **Local currencies.** Latin America consists of multiple countries with their own currencies. Supporting local currencies in payment transactions can simplify the purchasing process for players and reduce potential barriers to entry.
- **Localization and language.** LATAM is linguistically diverse, with Spanish, Portuguese, and other languages spoken across the region. Providing payment instructions, checkout pages, and customer support in local languages can help reduce cart abandonment and drive conversions.
- **Regional promotions and events.** Understanding the cultural nuances and preferences of Latin American gamers can help merchants tailor promotional campaigns. Offering localized discounts, special events, or exclusive in-game items can engage players and build loyalty.
What’s more, given the fact that LATAM’s gaming market is among those at the forefront of innovation, the lessons gained from it can also be applied to other countries and industries.
By considering payment method diversity, localization, currency support, regional promotions, and user experience optimization, merchants across the globe can effectively cater to the consumers’ needs and preferences, which ultimately leads to higher conversions and improved satisfaction rates.
---
## Zero Discrepancies: Financial Reporting and Multi-Currency Clearing in Real-Time
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/financial-reporting-multi-currency-clearing-real-time
_Learn why manual reconciliation is risky and how real-time 5-link tracking, multi-currency handling, and time zone sync eliminate discrepancies._
Every morning, CFOs and payment professionals manage their process chains, review spreadsheets, cross-reference financial statements, and look for discrepancies that shouldn't exist. The modern marketplace is global and complex, with payments flowing through multiple parties across different countries, currencies, and time zones. Nowadays, manual reconciliation isn't just inefficient; it can even be financially dangerous.
26.02.2026 12 min read
### What You'll Learn in This Article
- Why manual reconciliation is financially dangerous in today's multi-party, multi-currency payment ecosystem.
- How real-time automated reconciliation shifts from reactive verification to proactive continuous monitoring.
- The 5-Link Chain Reconciliation algorithm tracks payments across all intermediaries simultaneously.
- How multi-currency handling and time zone synchronization eliminate common reconciliation discrepancies.
- Why automated reconciliation is fundamental for maintaining accuracy, compliance, and financial transparency at scale.
When just one payment has to pass through an acquirer, acquirer reseller, PSP, merchant reseller, and then finally, the merchant, all of whom take their commission with a potential currency conversion as well, the chances of errors are tenfold.
### The Hidden Cost of Manual Reconciliation
Manual reconciliations can take a tremendous amount of time away from accounting teams during the month-end close period. The real cost goes beyond just these hours of work, though. If reconciliation occurs after the fact, it may be days or even weeks later, leaving businesses uncertain about their actual financial position during that period.
Here is an actual problem: a payment gets processed at 11:45 PM in New York, but your bank in London clears it the next business day. Your PSP recorded it in Hong Kong time, and each intermediary applied its own commission rate. So which of these different dates do you use? Which is the correct exchange rate to apply, and how do you verify that each party calculated their fees correctly?
Discrepancies are usually discovered only months after the actual transactions occur. Research shows that payment service providers lose approximately 0.5-2% of their annual revenue due to accounting errors that go undetected. If a PSP processes $500 million annually, $2.5 to $10 million is vanishing into reconciliation gaps.
### The Multi-Party Chain Challenge
The process of modern payments rarely uses just two parties. A standard e-commerce transaction could involve five or more entities, each with its own records, currencies, and reporting standards. The traditional approach is to treat each relationship as a separate reconciliation task. This approach creates silos of financial data that need hours of manual cross-referencing. It’s time-consuming and highly inefficient.
This split approach creates multiple points of failure. When a discrepancy is discovered, finance teams have to go back through every link to find where the error occurred. Picture it as a chain of links, where you have to check each link to see the broken one. Was it the commission that was calculated wrong? Was the proper exchange rate used? Each of these questions requires reaching out to external parties, requesting transaction registers, and manually comparing the data.
It becomes even more complex in regions with strict currency controls. Markets such as China use CNY/RMB conversion requirements, and cross-border scenarios in other countries require precise AML tracking. In these cases, manual checking cannot be accurate and often doesn’t provide the necessary audit trails.
### Real-Time Automated Reconciliation: A Paradigm Shift
The single and most significant problem with reconciling traditionally is its reactive nature. Businesses are verifying yesterday's transactions today. The figures are never correct because you are always behind, and the mistakes and problems you encounter are last week's, a week too late.
Automated real-time reconciliation shifts from post-factum verification to continuous real-time monitoring, guaranteeing that any discrepancies are spotted and flagged immediately, often before money even reaches the bank.
Payneteasy's approach to automated [payment reconciliation](https://payneteasy.com/payment_technologies) reinvents the system with its proprietary 5-Link Chain Reconciliation algorithm. This way, instead of treating each participant as an individual entity needing separate reconciliation, the system maps the whole payment flow as one long and uninterrupted chain: Acquirer → Acquirer Reseller → PSP → Merchant Reseller → Merchant. Throughout these steps, the platform automatically calculates commissions, verifies the right exchange rates, and guarantees that all data matches at every stage.
Complete and total visibility means that if a merchant receives $97.50 from a $100 transaction, the system can instantly check that the $2.50 in fees was correctly distributed: $0.80 to the acquirer, $0.50 to the acquirer reseller, $0.75 to the PSP, and $0.45 to the merchant reseller, along with all of the individual calculations recorded and documented along the way and verified in real-time. With an automated payment reconciliation system, nothing is manual, there are no Excel spreadsheets, and there is no more uncertainty.
### Multi-Currency Mastery
One of the most complicated reconciliation challenges is currency conversions. The exchange rate changes every second, and different entities may use different rates at various times. One transaction that is authorized at one rate might be settled at another, then processed at a third, and finally reported at the fourth.
Payneteasy's multi-currency handling fixes exchange rates across three key areas: the transaction, processing, and settlement. The system can record the exact rate applied at every stage, guaranteeing that when records are compared to bank statements, the same rates are used, not just an average or yesterday's close price.
The platform converts all traffic into a single base currency for insights and analytics, while retaining the original multi-currency transaction data for audit and compliance. With this double-track approach, CFOs can see consolidated views for strategic decisions while preserving transaction-level detail for regulatory reporting and [dispute resolution](https://payneteasy.com/payment_technologies/dispute_management_system).
### Synchronizing Across Time Zones
The world's payments ecosystem doesn’t sleep, but banks do, in terms of their business hours, which close at different times than when transactions occur. One payment processed at 11:59 PM might be recorded by your system as being on Tuesday, but your bank may assign it to Wednesday. These small details may seem like minor discrepancies, but they can lead to major reconciliation headaches if multiplied across thousands of transactions.
Payneteasy's Time Zone Synchronization feature automatically adjusts transaction dates to align with the bank's clearing cycle and time zone. The system integrates direct bank notifications that include clearing dates, guaranteeing your internal records always match the bank's statement, regardless of when your merchants' "day" ends versus when the bank closes its books.
The synchronization goes beyond just date adjustments. The Payneteasy platform recognizes that banking systems vary and adjusts accordingly. Some banks clear multiple times a day, while others only once a day, and settlement times vary by region. The system automatically aligns your data with each bank's specific operational calendar, eliminating one of the most significant sources of reconciliation discrepancies.
### API Integration and Customization
While the reconciliation tasks are automated, some exceptions will occur. Payneteasy's API integrates directly with bank notification systems, providing seamless exchange of transaction information and registers with partners.
Organizations can configure workflows to match specific scenarios, such as high-value transactions requiring manual approval or merchant categories that need more focused monitoring. The platform anticipates such requirements and automates processing for routine transactions while providing comprehensive audit trails of all activities.
### Building Trust Through Transparency
Financial transparency is about having accurate numbers and being able to prove they are correct. Payneteasy's experience in many challenging markets, including China's CNY/RMB conversion requirements and multi-jurisdictional settlement flows, shows that the platform can maintain complete compliance with international accounting standards.
Its comprehensive audit trail records every transaction, commission calculation, currency conversion, and adjustment. The system maintains a complete, immutable list that passes scrutiny under both internal audit requirements and external regulatory checks.
### The Path Forward
The payment processing industry is changing rapidly and is often becoming more complex, but also more rewarding. Most transactions involve more parties in the settlement chain, more currencies and payment methods, and more regulatory requirements. Best practices no longer involve manual reconciliation processes. Businesses that still rely on a manual approach find themselves increasingly unable to keep up with the speed, accuracy, and transparency that modern financial management demands.
Real-time automated reconciliation can save time and reduce human error. Not only that, but it also changes how financial operations function, shifting from a reactive, damage-control system to a proactive monitoring and control system. Once your reconciliation system substantiates every transaction you make across every link in the processing chain, you know that every transaction was processed and reported accurately. An automatic reconciliation system gives you certainty: this is priceless.
Are you ready to eliminate all your business's reconciliation discrepancies and gain real-time visibility into your payment operations? Contact Payneteasy today to book a personal demonstration of our automated reconciliation platform. Discover how we can improve your current processes to deliver zero-discrepancy financial reporting across your entire payment system!
### Key Takeaways
- Manual reconciliation can cost payment service providers 0.5-2% of annual revenue due to undetected accounting errors and delays.
- Real-time automated reconciliation tracks the entire payment chain (Acquirer → Acquirer Reseller → PSP → Merchant Reseller → Merchant) as one continuous flow, verifying commissions and exchange rates at every stage.
- Multi-currency challenges are solved by locking exchange rates at three key points: transaction, processing, and settlement, while maintaining both consolidated views and transaction-level detail.
- Time zone synchronization automatically aligns internal records with each bank's specific clearing cycle, eliminating date discrepancies across thousands of transactions.
- Automated reconciliation transforms financial operations from reactive damage control to proactive monitoring, providing zero-discrepancy reporting and complete audit trails for regulatory compliance.
---
## From Gateways to Orchestration: How Payments Became Smarter
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/from-gateways-to-orchestration-how-payments-became-smarter
_Payments are evolving fast. See how modern platforms merge gateways and orchestration to make processing smarter and more efficient._
Commerce today moves quickly and rarely stops at national borders. Payments, however, haven’t caught up to that simplicity. Each region comes with its own set of rules, acquirers, and technical standards, which makes maintaining multiple integrations an ongoing and often demanding process.
07.11.2025 9 min read
By [**Boaz Gam**](https://payneteasy.com/authors/boaz_gam), CEO, Payneteasy
Declined transactions only add to the strain. They can result from technical faults or overly aggressive fraud checks, and each decline carries real costs in lost sales, higher operational effort, and customer frustration. For high-risk merchants, those challenges multiply under tighter scrutiny and steeper fees.
That’s why many companies are shifting toward a blended model built on a [payment orchestration platform](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/orchestration-payment-platform) that connects the reach of gateways with the intelligence and adaptability of orchestration.
### Introduction to Modern Payments Stack
Payments have always involved many moving parts. Gateways took care of moving money, orchestration managed the paths transactions could follow, and merchants had to connect and maintain each piece themselves. That separation worked, but it often led to slower setups, higher costs, and less flexibility when markets or rules changed.
Today, those roles have come together into a single system. [Modern providers combine gateway functions with orchestration logic](https://payneteasy.com/blog/best-white-label-payment-gateway-providers), giving merchants a single place to manage transactions, data, and compliance. Let’s take a step back and see how it all came about.
### Early Model and Fragmented Infrastructure
In the early days of online payments, merchants faced a fragmented system. Each new payment method or provider required a separate integration, and features such as fraud checks and reporting had to be added manually. Some businesses added extra tools to manage multiple gateways or retry failed transactions, but these components often operated independently, leaving setups complex and prone to inefficiencies.
The first model relied on a single payment gateway, and the second added an orchestration layer.
#### Payment gateway
In the early stages, a payment gateway focused on encryption, data transfer, basic payment methods, and simple integration. It captured transaction data, secured card details, sent them to the acquiring bank, routed payments through networks like Visa or Mastercard, and returned an authorisation or decline. Gateways also offered features such as recurring billing, subscription management, and basic fraud checks.
The integration process typically required a single API or plugin, which made gateways a practical and straightforward solution for many merchants.
#### Payment orchestration
Orchestration was developed to address the increasing complexity that single gateways couldn’t handle. Its main function was to connect a merchant to multiple gateways and alternative payment methods at once. Beyond simply linking systems, orchestration managed routing, retries, and fallback options to improve the chances of successful transactions. When a payment failed through one route, orchestration automatically tried another without interrupting the customer.
It also provided additional monitoring and reporting, which helped businesses understand which paths were most effective and adjust their processes over time.
Although orchestration required more setup than a single gateway, it allowed merchants to centralise control, reduce reliance on any one provider, and handle a wider range of payment types and regions efficiently.
### Today’s Model and Unified Approach
The newer, unified system doesn’t replace either model. It draws on the best aspects of each and unites them into a single framework. The foundation remains much like the early setup, but the focus shifts to which elements a business relies on most and how they fit together to handle modern payment demands.
#### Enhanced gateways
Modern payment gateways reach far beyond simple transaction processing. They handle encryption, data transfer, and authorisation while supporting dozens or even hundreds of payment methods, including major credit and debit cards, digital wallets, and local options. Many include built-in routing logic, retries for failed transactions, and anti-fraud features that once required separate systems.
Some providers focus on specific segments and support a range of card types and popular wallets, such as Apple Pay and Google Pay, without complex payment routing or fallback systems. The setup works well for businesses with a smaller geographic footprint or straightforward payment needs. Merchants can keep operations simple and avoid adding multiple layers of infrastructure.
#### Integrated orchestration
Orchestration systems, once separate from gateways, now often include their own processing while continuing to manage multiple gateways, route transactions, and coordinate alternative payment methods across regions and currencies. They provide fallback options and monitoring that improve success rates and give businesses insight into declines and approvals.
This combination creates a unified payments stack. Businesses benefit from the reliability and simplicity of enhanced gateways, together with the flexibility and control of orchestration. The result is a system capable of handling high volumes, cross-border payments, and a variety of transaction types through a single interface.
Interestingly, the way these approaches come together varies depending on the business and its priorities. The key is that both models coexist. The choice of which elements to emphasise depends on transaction volume, geographic reach, payment methods, and risk management.
### What Does This Mean for Business?
The real test of a payment setup is how well it supports the business behind it. A strong orchestration model keeps payments steady, efficient, and secure even when volumes rise.
#### 1\. Banking-grade reliability
Modern payment platforms now reach the level of reliability once found only in major banks. They rely on a fault-tolerant setup that keeps payments active even if one provider fails. What matters isn’t the uptime figure but the ability of the system to stay steady.
Payneteasy applies this principle through a multi-provider structure that maintains uninterrupted transaction flow even under heavy load. This kind of stability directly supports business results. Payments go through even at peak times, customers feel confident, and revenue stays protected when the pressure is highest.
#### 2\. High acceptance rates: smart traffic & cascading
Integrated payment stacks use smart routing to send each transaction through the path most likely to succeed. If one route fails, the system automatically directs the payment through another acquirer in a multi-acquirer setup until it goes through. This process, known as cascading, happens in real time and keeps approval rates consistently high.
For a business, that means a higher payment success rate with the same traffic. Each successful payment adds to revenue, and customers complete their purchases without delays or errors.
#### 3\. Real-time chat support
Response speed is not just a measure of service quality but a foundation for business stability. That’s why leading PSPs aim to offer real-time support through chat, instant messaging, and dedicated account managers. In reality, support standards differ. Some providers may take weeks to resolve technical or integration issues.
Payneteasy focuses on real-time communication and personal assistance: every client knows their direct contact and can rely on fast help for integration and transaction review. The approach helps isolate issues quickly and keeps processes under control, so the client’s team can focus on business growth instead of technical problems.
#### 4\. Fast integration
Orchestrated payment platforms make setup fast and simple, often completed within one to three weeks. Ready SDKs, clear APIs, and technical support at every step help teams connect payment systems without long development cycles or heavy engineering work.
This pace allows new products to launch quickly and adapt to market needs without delay. Companies can reduce costs and start processing payments far sooner than before.
#### 5\. Advanced security & anti-fraud
Blended payment infrastructure applies several layers of protection, from tokenisation and EMV 3DS 2.2 to constant monitoring for unusual patterns. Security runs through every part of the process as each transaction, route, and user action is checked against potential risks.
Such depth of control keeps fraud low and compliance strong. Chargebacks become rarer, regulations continue to be met, and customers feel safer when they pay.
#### 6\. Robust reporting & financial tools
Modern payment platforms include detailed analytics and financial tools that show every step of the payment flow in one place. Real-time dashboards, reconciliation reports, and downloadable data give a clear picture of performance and costs.
Payneteasy’s reporting suite unites technical precision with usability and gives merchants instant insight into transaction trends and operational metrics. With all information gathered in a single overview, decisions become faster and more accurate. Teams gain control over their payment process and find new ways to reduce expenses.
### Practical Impact of Merging Gateways and Orchestration
The merging of gateways and orchestration has turned payment systems into full-service ecosystems that handle reliability, routing, and risk in one place. Merchants see stronger approval rates and tighter protection while simplifying how they connect and maintain their payment tools.
The outcome is steady performance, lower costs, and a payment process that feels consistent for both sides.
### FAQ
#### If we already have a payment gateway, why would we need orchestration?
A single gateway works well for straightforward setups, but as payment volumes grow or new markets open, orchestration helps manage different routes, currencies, and methods in one place. It gives you more flexibility without forcing you to rebuild everything from scratch.
#### Is it possible to work with just one provider without losing efficiency?
Yes, many businesses do. The key is to notice when your current setup starts holding you back. As you grow and reach new regions or handle more payments, orchestration helps your system keep up and stay reliable.
#### Does orchestration replace gateways?
Not exactly. Orchestration builds on gateways rather than replacing them. It connects several gateways or acquirers under a single structure so payments can flow through the most efficient route.
#### How complex is the integration process?
Modern providers have simplified the process with ready-made APIs and SDKs. Integration now takes a few weeks instead of months, and technical teams need less hands-on work.
#### Can orchestration reduce transaction costs?
It can, by routing payments to the most cost-effective provider and improving acceptance rates. Over time, this leads to better margins and fewer failed transactions.
#### How do I know if it’s time to move beyond a single gateway?
When you start growing into new regions, adding more payment options, or noticing higher decline rates, it might be time to look at a more blended setup. Combining your gateway with orchestration can make your payment system stronger and more adaptable without replacing what already works.
### Takeaway
There is no longer a strict divide between gateways and orchestration. What matters now are the results: how often payments succeed, how much each one costs to process, how quickly new methods go live, and how well the system holds under pressure. The focus has shifted from definitions to measurable outcomes, such as reliability, efficiency, and compliance.
| | Before: Gateway | Before: Orchestration | Today: Modern Providers |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Payment methods | Primarily card payments with limited local options | Wide range through third-party connections | Broad coverage of cards, wallets, and APMs within one setup |
| Integrations | Direct API connection with one processor | Multiple integrations managed separately | Single integration connecting many acquirers and payment methods |
| Routing | Fixed route for each transaction | Smart routing and cascading between gateways | Dynamic routing built into the core platform |
| Anti-fraud | Core data security and encryption | External fraud detection tools | Integrated, multi-layered fraud prevention across all routes |
| Compliance | PCI DSS handled per provider | Managed separately across systems | Centralised compliance and certification under one provider |
| Reporting | Transaction summaries and logs | Aggregated reports from multiple gateways | Unified dashboards with real-time analytics |
| Scaling | Tied to one provider’s capacity | Flexible, but needing technical support | Elastic capacity with automated load balancing |
| Cost structure | Transaction-based fees per gateway | Combined costs from multiple providers | Optimised cost per successful payment through smart routing |
| Risks and retries | Limited failover support | Conditional retry mechanisms | Continuous operation with automated rerouting and failover |
Both approaches had their strengths. Gateways made payments simple and dependable, and orchestration gave companies more reach and control. The new blended model combines the best parts of both and turns them into a single, more capable system.
[White Label Payment Gateway PSP Offer your customers a top-level payment solution, increase your turnover and boost your business profit.](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/gateway)
[Orchestration Platform Merchants Only one integration to consolidate all your payment providers to a unified management system.](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/orchestration-payment-platform)
---
## From PSD2 to PSD3: What Will Change With the Directive’s Revision?
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/from-psd2-to-psd3-what-will-change-with-the-directives-revision
_PSD2 is beginning to lose its relevance after 7 years in force. Find out how its revision is progressing and what to expect from PSD3 in this guide!_
On May 10, 2022, the European Commission published three consultations that will help shape the regulatory future of payment services and PSPs across the EU and EEA. This marks the beginning of the shift from the Revised Payment Services Directive, PSD2, to its updated version that will tackle the current needs and challenges of the payment industry better.
04.07.2022 5 min read
Read ahead to learn what the published consultations are about and which updates can be expected from PSD3.
### Payment Services Directive Consultations 2022
The questionnaires issued on May 10 comprise one public and two targeted consultations. Here’s an overview of their purposes:
**1\. Payment Services – Review of EU Rules**
This consultation is addressed to the general public that has minimum technical knowledge about the payment industry or data access and reuse in the context of open finance. Its goal is to gather evidence on the application and impact of PSD2 and determine whether this legislation remains fit for its purpose.
It also aims to inform the Commission’s work on open finance to potentially develop a broader framework that will enable customer data beyond the scope of PSD2 to be shared and reused by financial service providers for creating new and improved services, subject to customer agreement as well as the effective application of data protection rules and security safeguards.
The consultation period ends on August 2, 2022 (midnight Brussels time).
**2\. Review of the Revised Payment Services Directive**
It’s a targeted consultation that gathers insights from professional stakeholders, such as individuals and organizations that have more technical knowledge in the field of payments, namely:
- PSPs
- National and EU authorities
- Regulators
- Payment experts
The goal of this review is to inform the EU Commission on the implementation and influence of PSD2 with regard to factors like:
- Latest developments in the payment market
- Evolving payment user needs
- Arising need for potential amendments
The results of this consultation will assist the Commission in assessing the current situation and determining whether new EU policy measures are required.
The consultation period ends on July 5, 2022.
**3\. Open Finance Framework and Data Sharing in the Financial Sector**
The second targeted consultation published on May 10 is also aiming to collect opinions from payment industry experts to gain insight into the views on Open Finance. The questionnaire raises questions regarding critical topics like:
- The relevance of data sharing in the financial sector
- Consumer protection
- Methods of data access and reuse in the financial sector
- Technical infrastructure development
The consultation closes on July 5, 2022, and its results will play a significant role in the EU Commission’s regulatory activities.
### Main PSD2 Aspects to Be Reviewed
There are several key factors that make the PSD2 review a necessary measure. They include:
**1\. Relevance**
According to the Retail Payments Strategy published by the EC on September 24, 2020, a PSD2 review is needed to determine whether the directive has achieved its initial objectives and to understand if its content is still relevant for the modern payments market.
**2\. Scope**
PSD2’s review will also address the aspects beyond the directive’s scope, defining whether the exclusions should be updated. This is especially important due to the emergence of new payment service types since the second directive went live in 2015, such as:
- E-money
- Crypto-assets (including stablecoins)
- Digital wallets
- Payment processing variations
- Operating payment systems and schemes
- Buy-Now-Pay-Later (BNPL)
The addition of such payment services to Annex I is sure to broaden PSD3’s scope. However, it is still not clear whether the new directive would regulate the relationships between the PSPs and consumers within these services or only supervise them.
**3\. PSP Regulations**
The licensing of payments institutions (PIs) and third-party payment providers (TPPs), own funds, and safeguarding-related requirements are also subject to review, and so are the provision on liability when PSPs use third parties to provide services and triangular passporting.
**4\. Transparency**
Depending on the results derived from the consultations, there could also be revisions of the transparency of conditions and information requirements for payment services.
New guidelines may potentially be adapted for one-leg transactions for currency conversion costs and execution time to be displayed before a transaction.
**5\. Open Banking**
The current open banking requirements in PSD2 are also likely to be revised. The consultations will also determine whether the way in which consent to third parties accessing payment data and the liabilities linked to it need to be clarified further.
The question of whether the access to payment data via interfaces must continue being provided for free to third-party providers is also under consideration.
**6\. Execution Time**
It is subject to discussion whether the current maximum execution time for payments within the EU requires adjustment. When it comes to one-leg payments, the main questions to consider are:
- Should the maximum execution time for the transaction be limited?
- Is a unique identifier enough to determine the payee’s payment account, or should their name or other data also be required before a transaction is conducted?
**7\. SCA Application**
The consultations are also aiming to determine whether SCA should be applied differently. They look into questions such as:
- Should SCA’s implementation be extended to payee-initiated transactions?
- Do the limits for contactless payments without SCA need to be reviewed?
### PSD3: Toward State-of-the-Art Payment Regulations
As you can see, there are many aspects of PSD2 that need to be revised for the regulations to keep up with the payment industry’s developments. The consultations published in May are a big step toward an updated directive, making it safe to assume that the draft of PSD3 could be published already in early 2023.
Selecting a reliable payment platform provider will enable you to stay up-to-date with the upcoming regulations and ensure your operations are in-check and ready for a smooth and timely transition to the new regulations once they are published.
No matter your business type or industry, Payneteasy can provide you with the perfect payment solution to fit your needs - now and get a consultation in no time!
---
## Gateway to Success: Why Is a Payment Gateway the Best Solution for E-commerce?
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/gateway-to-success-why-is-a-payment-gateway-the-best-solution-for-e-commerce
_This article gives an overview of how a payment gateway works, what types of gateways exist, and which one is better to choose for your business._
A payment gateway is a tool that no e-commerce company can do without. Let's see why and which benefits it will bring.
16.08.2021 8 min read
### Make Way for the Gateway
A payment gateway is a technological solution that enables fast and secure payment processing of card-not-present (CNP) transactions. It is a link between the seller, the buyer, and the bank, similar to a POS terminal at an offline store.
Thanks to the gateway, it’s all done quickly and securely. So, in a way, it’s a digital “twin” of a physical point-of-sale, which is a payment terminal at a physical shop's counter.
Here is an overview of how the payment gateway works:
1. The buyer goes through the checkout process and enters the required payment data through the interface.
2. The system forwards the transaction details to the payment gateway and through it to the bank that issued the card, with which the client pays for the products or services.
3. The bank forwards a request to the payment system (Mastercard, VISA, etc.), which assesses the client's balance and compares it with the transaction terms.
4. The issuing bank sends an authorization code that allows the payment system to complete the transaction.
5. Then the code travels to the payment gateway and from there to the merchant.
If the payment processing is successful throughout the mentioned steps, the funds are securely debited from the client's account. Therefore, even though this software does not receive payment, it is one of the essential software solutions for an ecommerce business. Read ahead to find out how to get all the benefits a payment gateway has to offer!
With this nifty tool, people are making payment online. But there are some other perks you get from employing it too, which we’ll discuss later.
### Gateway Types
Now, let’s see which gateway solutions you can choose from as a business owner. There are 4 gateway types that allow you to receive payment.
1. Hosted gateways
When your client wants to pay, the system redirects them to the third-party Payment Service Provider. On the new webpage, the customer will need to enter their card credentials.
Pros:
- Quick and easy to install.
- User-friendly.
Cons:
- Customers may lose their trust as a redirection to a new webpage may appear to them as a "scam move".
- Redirection to the third-party services may lead to the dropdown of the [conversion rate](https://payneteasy.com/blog/payment-conversions-a-quick-guide-to-increase-them).
- You can't really control the payment process.
2. Direct API gateway
API stands for Application Programming Interface. This know-how allows clients to enter their card details and complete the checkout on your website.
Pros:
- More customization options.
- Multiple ways to receive payment: via desktop or mobile application.
Cons:
- Responsibility, including [PCI DSS](https://payneteasy.com/blog/pci-dss-certificate-why-your-business-needs-it-right-now) compliance and all of its costs, rests in your hands.
3. Self-hosted gateways
Thanks to this type, card payments take place within one page on your website. Once the client enters their credentials, they are coded in a special format and delivered to the payment gateway.
But a major pitfall of this method is that if it fails technically all of a sudden, you'll have to deal with the poorly organized tech-support solutions.
Pros:
- Improved user experience.
- Quicker checkout process.
- Some customization options.
Cons:
- Poor support options for technical solution.
4. Bank gateways
Finally, you can “borrow” a payment gateway from a local bank. This option includes redirection to the bank’s page where your customer will finalize the purchase.
Pros:
- Easy installation and highly secure payments.
Cons:
- Somewhat clumsy user experience.
- Limited customization: you can’t enable recurring billing, brand payment page etc.
These are fundamental payment gateway types. So, which one should you choose? And which factors are there to consider?
### Hunting for the Best Solution
So, which payment getaway to accept payments is the best for your venue? Here’s what to pay attention to:
- Security compliance. There are various security standards, most notably PCI DSS. It stands for Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard and serves to protect card payments that you receive or make from fraud, cyberattacks, and so on.
- Ease-of-use. Remember: you’re just one click away from losing a customer. Therefore, the checkout process must be simple and quick. Cross-platform and multicurrency support are also a must.
- Customization. Among all else, this implies visual integrity of your brand. You don’t want your checkout page to stand out drastically when compared to the rest of your online venue.
- Setup. Painless and quick setup is preferable as it'll allow you to take payments online immediately.
- Cost-efficiency. Actually, there are ways to reduce your costs by cutting labor and spending money on making your company security-compliant. It is possible thanks to the out-of-box solutions.
- Verification. The payment gateways should also be able to verify your client to exclude fraud. Especially the [false chargebacks](https://payneteasy.com/blog/what-is-chargeback-and-how-to-avoid-it) — a literal plague of e-commerce.
- Support. Another important nuance is that your gateway payment is supported 24/7 by the tech team behind it.
These are the features to look for in a solid option. But what will you gain from employing it?
### Benefits of It All
Services provided by the payment gateway are critical. And here’s why:
- Security. It allows preventing fraud, money/sensitive data theft.
- Reputation. Once you can provide your customers with security, your reputation will be spotless and their loyalty to your brand will grow. They’ll want to return to do business with you later.
- Convenience. Thanks to the intuitive interface and minimum clicking or tapping, customers can pay for the “stuff of their dreams” literally in a snap of their fingers.
- Efficiency. Various protocols — from PCI DDS to Know Your Client — will minimize the risk of fraud, which potentially leads to losses. Malicious chargebacks, that we’ve mentioned, result in extra losses such as issuer fees and other fines.
But how do you add it to your website?
### Gateway = Plug & Play
If you choose the DIY options, you’ll have to scavenge for the pieces of code from GitHub, fiddle with them yourself and hope that they will turn into the gateway buttons through the brain-bending abracadabra of JavaScript. And not to mention that you'd have to somehow support that hardly reliable infrastructure too.
Or you can go the easy way and get the “all-in-one” package, such as a [payment gateway white label](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/gateway) solution that is ready to work from the start. Here are the pros of a ready-made gateway:
- Pivotal security. This gateway is protected with the TLS Certificate, which encrypts traffic and PCI DSS that secures card payments.
- Tokenization. It turns the bank card number into a mambo-jumbo of random digits that hackers can’t use. Also, it simplifies the payment process: the client won't have to enter their credit card credentials over and over as this system "remembers" this data after the initial authorization and stores it for later. Plus you can enable a subscription mode for the recurring billing.
- Customer care. You will get high-quality support at any time of day and night.
- Lower costs. All the necessary features are already here. You don’t need to pay for them separately, and it allows you to cut the expenses.
- Client’s Satisfaction. This payment gateway needs no redirecting pages. Therefore, processing is quick. Purchases can be made in just two clicks/taps — your customers will appreciate this simplicity.
As a result, you won’t need to build your own payment system from scratch. A ready-made solution is there for you. And it waits to become an engine of your success.
---
## Ghana’s 1st PAPSS Cross-Border Real-Time Transfer Marks a New Milestone
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/ghanas-1st-papss-cross-border-real-time-transfer-marks-a-new-milestone
_Ghana completed its first cross-border real-time transfer on the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS). What the milestone means._
Recently, GCB Bank, one of the largest banks in Ghana, marked a significant milestone with its first cross-border real-time transfer in connection with the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS). Read ahead to find out more about the importance of this event in the context of PAPSS and gain insights regarding the initiative’s future developments!
27.03.2023 3 min read
### What Is the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System?
PAPSS is a continental payment and settlement platform launched by the African Union to promote economic integration and facilitate trade among African countries.
The system aims to address some of the major challenges associated with cross-border payments and settlements in Africa, such as:
- High transaction costs
- Long processing times
- Currency conversion issues
- Limited interoperability
- Cybersecurity risks
Thus, PAPSS is designed to provide a low-cost, fast, and secure means of conducting cross-border payments, thereby enhancing economic growth and development on the continent. The system is open to all African countries, and its adoption is expected to increase over time as more jurisdictions seek to leverage its benefits.
The system was formally launched in [January 2022](https://www.trade.gov/market-intelligence/pan-african-payment-and-settlement-system) and currently has central banks of nine African countries connected to its network, namely:
- Djibouti
- Gambia
- Ghana
- Guinea
- Liberia
- Nigeria
- Sierra Leone
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
What’s more, PAPSS also has many strategic partnerships with commercial banks and other payment-related services, which makes it a tool that will inevitably play a critical role in the transformation of the African payments landscape.
### Why Is Ghana’s Participation in PAPSS Important?
Ghana’s first transaction linked to PAPSS occurred on [March 8, 2023](https://www.myjoyonline.com/gcb-bank-completes-first-pan-african-payment-and-settlement-system-client-transaction-in-ghana/). A Ghanaian company initiated a supplier payment from GCB in Ghana Cedis to a recipient in Nigeria who received the payment in Naira instantly.
This event not only showcases Ghana's commitment to enhancing financial inclusion and facilitating intra-African trade but also sets the stage for other countries in the region to follow suit.
According to Mr. Kofi Adomakoh, the Managing Director of GCB, the bank is thrilled to be among the first adopters of such an innovative and cutting-edge technology platform as PAPSS. He also expressed his belief that this system is a vital enabler for the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agenda.
### Ways in Which PAPSS Is Expected to Change Payments in Ghana
The PAPSS integration is expected to bring a wide array of benefits to Ghana, namely:
- **Increased payment efficiency.** The PAPSS integration will make it faster and easier for Ghanaian businesses and individuals to conduct cross-border transactions, as they will no longer need to rely on slow and outdated payment systems.
- **Reduced transaction costs.** The integration of PAPSS is likely to result in cost savings for both consumers and businesses in Ghana, as it eliminates the need for intermediaries and uses real-time settlement mechanisms.
- **Better accessibility.** PAPSS makes modern payment systems more accessible to those who were previously excluded or underserved.
- **Enhanced international trade.** Improved cross-border payment systems can be helpful in promoting international trade between Ghana and other countries, which could lead to increased investment and economic opportunities.
- **Better security and transparency.** The PAPSS integration is set to significantly improve security and transparency in Ghana’s cross-border transfers by providing real-time tracking and monitoring of transactions.
As you can see, the implementation of the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System has plenty of advantages for Ghana’s payments landscape, which makes its adoption perspectives in other countries very promising.
### What’s Next for PAPSS?
Despite GCB’s immense contribution, the adoption of the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System in Ghana is still in its early stages. However, the government of Ghana has expressed its commitment to promoting the use of PAPSS as part of its efforts to increase financial inclusion and boost economic advancements.
The situation is similar in other areas of the African continent, with many countries actively working toward integrating PAPSS into their financial systems. Besides, the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), which developed and operates PAPSS, has been working closely with African authorities and financial institutions to promote the adoption of the platform.
Overall, the integration of PAPSS into financial systems across Africa is still ongoing, but progress has been made, and there is growing momentum toward the expansion of the platform across the continent.
[White Label Payment Gateway PSP Offer your customers a top-level payment solution, increase your turnover and boost your business profit.](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/gateway)
---
## Global Commerce Insights: Expanding into Growth Markets
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/global-commerce-insights-expanding-into-growth-markets
_As a merchant, have you considered expanding your business? Find out if you could benefit from entering developing markets with the help of this guide!_
Lately, emerging markets have been experiencing a surge in commercial activity fueled by the increasing adoption of innovative fintech solutions. This tendency has resulted in significant shifts in consumer behavior and the introduction of various novel products and services. Due to this, expanding into such areas is not only exciting but also often challenging for retailers.
09.04.2024 3 min read
But how can merchants address obstacles like a long time to market, advanced fraud, and low authorization rates in a rapidly changing environment? And is exploring growth markets worth investing time and resources? Read this comprehensive guide to find out the answers to these burning questions!
### Emerging Markets You Need to Look Into
Developing markets are regions and countries that demonstrate rapid economic growth, rising income levels, and increasing purchasing power. These dynamics are usually linked to expanding local industrialization and urbanization and are accompanied by significant investment opportunities.
One bright example of a developing country is China, the rapidly expanding middle class and burgeoning urbanization of which make it a prime market for consumer goods and digital services. Similarly, India’s young and tech-savvy population creates excellent opportunities for eCommerce and novel fintech solutions.
Besides, in Latin America, countries like Brazil and Mexico are experiencing economic transformations and offer fertile ground for commerce businesses seeking to tap into growing consumer demand and capitalize on evolving trends.
### Why Consider Entering Emerging Markets?
Given the dynamic nature of developing markets, it comes as no surprise that expanding business operations to such areas presents plenty of potential benefits for merchants, including:
- **Untapped commercial opportunities.** Emerging markets often boast large populations eager to explore new goods and services.
- **Early mover advantage.** Being among the first to enter a previously untapped niche can provide a significant competitive edge. Early entrants can establish brand recognition, build customer loyalty, and capture a large market share before the market becomes oversaturated.
- **Revenue stream diversification.** Expanding into emerging markets allows merchants to reduce their dependence on mature ones. This, in turn, is likely to enhance their financial resilience and mitigate risks associated with economic fluctuations in specific regions.
- **Access to talent and resources.** Emerging markets usually flourish as hubs of talent, creativity, and entrepreneurship, providing businesses with plenty of resources to drive growth and innovation.
All in all, if you are a merchant with ambitions for global expansion, entering emerging markets is certainly a route to consider as part of your business growth strategy.
### Growth Market Challenges Merchants Must Keep in Mind
While entering emerging markets comes with multiple benefits, merchants must also be aware of the potential challenges linked to such an endeavor, including:
- **Regulatory complexity.** Developing markets often have complex legal, financial, and trade regulations. Due to this, it is essential for merchants to conduct thorough research and engage with local authorities to ensure compliance.
- **Poor infrastructure and logistics.** In some areas, businesses are likely to encounter supply chain management and distribution channel issues, so it is vital to be prepared to invest additional resources in overcoming these hurdles.
- **Cultural and linguistic differences.** To succeed in a local market, business owners need to clearly understand the cultural nuances and have team members who know the local language. Thus, retailers need to conduct diligent market research and invest in localization efforts to operate effectively in growth markets.
What’s more, the rapid evolution of emerging markets calls for merchants to be adaptive and responsive to changing consumer preferences, market trends, and competitive landscape.
### Is Exploring Growth Markets Worth It for Your Business?
Despite the challenges listed above, exploring growth markets is worth investing time and financial resources for a vast majority of merchants involved in international commerce. After all, the opportunities that these areas offer tend to yield high returns for businesses that adopt a careful and thought-through approach.
Therefore, if you take strategic steps to expand your commerce business to developing markets while staying up-to-date on local trends, you can unlock new revenue streams, enhance brand value, and position yourself for long-term success in an increasingly interconnected and competitive global environment.
[White Label Payment Gateway PSP Offer your customers a top-level payment solution, increase your turnover and boost your business profit.](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/gateway)
[Orchestration Platform Merchants Only one integration to consolidate all your payment providers to a unified management system.](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/orchestration-payment-platform)
---
## Global Means Local: How Local Payment Methods Can Grow Your Business
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/global-means-local-how-local-payment-methods-can-grow-your-business
_Want your online business to succeed internationally? Implementing local payment methods is key. Our guide shows you how to help your business go global._
Businesses are no longer limited by geography. Entering the global market has never been easier, all thanks to eCommerce.
20.12.2021 15 min read
### Regional Success
You can easily set up a store, boutique or a service using a popular social media like Instagram, and attract customers from different countries — the whole operation may take just a few hours.
But there’s also a significant pitfall that will get in the way, impeding the sales growth, discouraging the customers and causing a lot of abandoned carts.
This pitfall is called local payment methods. In the western world, we are sure accustomed to see almost every single customer having a Visa, Mastercard or the likes of PayPal and Venmo.
However, when it comes to cross-border commerce, you will discover that the locally popular payment methods radically outshine those that we see “conventional” in our part of the world.
There are numerous factors responsible for that: culture, economic development, available technologies, living standards and even religious beliefs. (To an extent).
Luckily, you don’t need to dive into these complicated issues. All you need is the access to a modern system that can [facilitate local payment methods](https://payneteasy.com/blog/payop-paypal) that customers from Brazil or Norway favor the most.
### Why Local Payment Methods Are Important
Okay, take a look at the stats:
- **Long-term prognosis.** It is expected that the international eCommerce will grow by $1 trillion by 2025.
- **Short-term prognosis.** 22% of all physical sales in eCommerce will belong to the cross-border sales.
_It is expected that the internation eCommerce will grow by $1 trillion by 2025._
That means, the buying activity will only grow in countries where alternative payment methods rule supreme. Naturally, you can’t afford to miss any of that action.
As we’ve mentioned, there are numerous reasons certain local payment methods have gained the monopoly. Let’s quickly review some of them to give you the full picture.
- **Lag in technology.** Many of the foreign countries are still developing. The popular payment methods appeared there, because PayPal and the co. failed to arrive on time to fill the niche.
- **Politics.** Customers from Spain or China have their preferred methods, because their national policies are rather protective when it comes to payment methods.
- **Economics.** Did you know that in Latin America they have their own type of credit services? The local customers often prefer installment payments.
- **Cultural.** The reason why Klarna is one of the top popular payment methods in Sweden is because the Swedish shoppers are pretty conservative when it comes to money management. They’d rather trust a payment system that’s originally from their own place and has already gained favorable reputation.
So, these are just the basic pillars of the popularity behind the local payment methods. For instance, in certain countries — particularly on the African continent — bank industry is in its infancy stages.
And operating a digital wallet is the preferred way to handle finances for both merchants and customers. Especially in economic conditions where the local currency has little value and all transactions are made in the USD or similar equivalents.
### Does Culture Really Impact Online Payments?
Undeniably, national culture impacts the payment preferences a lot. For instance, invoices occupy the second place among the top popular payment methods in Germany.
Historically, German shoppers favored buying various kinds of stuff from the product catalogs. That means you get an item — like a frying pan. You can test it and then either buy or return it.
This cultural heritage echoes today through their payment habits, making PayPal with its invoices the leading alternative payment platform in the entire country.
In the Netherlands, the most popular online payment method is iDeal — the request-to-pay service. Obviously, there is a historic premise, which explains why Dutch customers prefer bank transfers to everything else.
In Indonesia, the Ulama Council — a group of religious scholars — put Bitcoin under a fatwa, making all cryptocurrency transactions and payments forbidden. But a number of enthusiasts found a few loopholes to avoid the ban.
### Payment Kaleidoscope: Local Payments & Their Types
For starters, let’s define what an alternative payment method — also known as APM — actually is.
Basically, an alternative payment method is anything that doesn’t involve either cash or the traditional bank cards. Among them, we can name digital wallets, cryptocurrency wallets, cash vouchers, debit/credit networks of local popularity, and so on.
Frankly speaking. PayPal could be considered as an APM too. But its exceptional presence on the market makes it a metaphorical “whale” of the payment industry.
Now, let’s take a closer look at the most widespread and popular payment methods.
- **Digital wallets.** According to the FIS global payments report, digital wallets were already the most popular payment method in the world back in 2020. They are accessible and don’t need a bank account to function. Plus, they offer security and customers can top up a digital wallet in a store or from an ATM or terminal.
- **Invoicing.** The purchased products are shipped to a customer, while a digital invoice remains open. The customer has to make a payment during a given amount of time or the item returns to the merchant. A major pitfall is that there’s no upfront payment at all, which makes the whole deal risky to the merchant.
- **Vouchers.** Another payment method, it involves cash vouchers. After ordering an item online, a customer receives a coupon. Later, at a pick point they need to have it scanned and make a cash/card payment.
- **Installments.** This payment type becomes more popular in the eCommerce these days. It allows the customers to buy goods now and pay for them later. For example, a payment worth of $300 can be broken up into three installments of $100. Basically, it’s a credit program. And it’s gaining so much popularity that PayPal offers a “4 installment payment plan”.
_According to the FIS global payments report, digital wallets were already the most popular payment method in the world back in 2020._
- **COD.** COD or Cash on Delivery isn’t a global trend — it’s responsible for just 5% of the world’s eCommerce. At the same time, it’s a popular payment option in the Eastern Europe, as well as in India. The customer receives the parcel with goods at a pick point. There they can check the items and then pay with cash or a credit card. COD has a potential for growth in the CIS countries, as well as in countries where bank infrastructure is yet poorly developed.
- **Bank transfers.** This method is quite old. To make a payment, the customer should use an individual reference number, plus the details of a bank account, which will receive their payments. Then, a payment can be done by mailing a check, making an online transaction with a digital wallet, and so on. This method is popular among those shoppers, who don’t want to use a credit/debit card at the checkout or just don’t have one.
As you can see, it’s a colorful kaleidoscope. Every continent has a constellation of popular payment methods, that affect the local and global eCommerce alike.
And how do businesses benefit from employing these payment types? How will the local methods and options reward your venue for making them a part of your brand’s family?
### Payments with Benefits
Adapting your venue to the regionally specific preferences looks like a hassle. So, is it even worth the trouble? Maybe you can just leave a few global online payment options popular in the US and call it a day?
Not exactly. When you offer the popular local methods, you win much more for your business than you can imagine. Let’s review some of the rewards that you can claim.
_When you offer the popular local methods, you win much more for your business than you can imagine. Let’s review some of the rewards that you can claim._
- **Customer experience.** If you want to enter the global market painlessly, establish a steady client base and make your sales grow, then offering a smooth checkout process is an absolute must. If the shoppers from Bangkok, Kraków or Amsterdam won’t see their favorite payment method, they’ll just leave the cart and go to a rival venue. They won’t reject their shopping habits or get a new Visa card just to shop at your place.
- **Reputation and image.** You need to “disguise” your business as something aboriginal and native. It includes offering the local currency, a preferred payment system, language of the region, and so forth. When your customers see the familiar symbols — like pesos or their mothertongue — they fall under an impression that’it’s a local merchant they are dealing with. As a result, this can boost engagement and trust.
_Customers expect to be understood and respected. This includes treating their traditions, habits and cultural preferences with regard._
- **Increased conversions.** As practice shows, customers feel rather disappointed when they don’t get to use their favorite payment methods at the checkout. What’s even worse, they never come back. While looking for the products and services that you offer somewhere else. On the contrary, if the preferred methods are there, they’ll want to do business with you in the future, possibly advertising your brand among their friends and family.
- **Relevancy.** A behemoth service like PayPal may be not that much popular in a country with the growing economy. The reason is its commission — a local payment network can charge a smaller fee, as well as offer bonuses that can be a game-changer for the customers from this region. So, you have a chance to make your brand relevant.
And of course, the local payment methods can make your venue look more appealing from the cultural point of view.
Customers expect to be understood and respected. This includes treating their traditions, habits and cultural preferences with regard.
In turn, this cross-border approach can guarantee more sales, bigger revenue and a steadily growing client base.
### What is Popular in the Regions?
So, now you know how versatile eCommerce is. But which payment methods play the role of “khalifas” on the regional level? Let’s do a quick investigation from Africa to Australia.
**1\. Asia**
Asia is an absolute heavyweight when it comes to digital commerce. For starters, we have here two countries with the biggest population on planet: India and China.
China alone is responsible for almost 60% of all digital shopping in the world, according to statistics. India can’t boast of that. But its share in business-to-customer eCommerce is expected to show a yearly growth of 26%.
At the same time, the “internet penetration” in both countries is far from reaching its apogee. For comparison, in China, only about half of the population have access to the online space. That means digital sales will only keep on growing in the future.
Japan, Korea, and Singapore are more developed in the context of bank services and technology. But e-wallets still play a significant role in these countries. And in South Korea the Buy Now Pay Later model is getting more popularity.
The most popular payment methods:
- **India:** PayZap, PayUMoney, Pockets, Cheque, MobikWik. Cashfree.
- **China:** WeChat Pay, AliPay, China UnionPay.
- **Singapore:** Singtel Dash, Moblamo.
- **Japan:** D-Barai, PayPay, Rakuten Pay.
- **South Korea:** Naver Pay, Kakao Pay, Payco, Toss.
Other Asian countries have their own lesser-known payment methods as well, like ShurjaPay in Bangladesh.
**2\. Europe**
Europe is, probably, the most culturally diverse region. In some countries credit or debit cards are in everyday use like in the UK or France.
So, the cultural nuances greatly impact the preferred payment methods, which vary from digital and BTC wallets to cash-on-demand mode.
The most popular payment methods:
- **UK:** MuchBetter, Neteller, Revoult.
- **Germany:** PayPal, Novalnet, HiPay, Paymil, Klarna.
- **France:** Carte Bancaires, Carte Bleue.
- **Netherlands:** iDeal, Neteller, Masterpass, Sofort.
Even though Europe has a variety of digital payment systems, cash payments still play a certain role in countries like Spain, where 19% of eCommerce payments involve cash-on-delivery. So, the COD scheme is still in demand there in a number of regions.
**3\. Latin America**
The Latin America’s case is interesting, because the credit cards there are of little use outside the respective countries.
Therefore, cash-on-demand and vouchers, play a significant role in the region’s eCommerce.
As of the digital; wallets, they haven’t established a powerful presence yet, except for Brazil. And this is another example of the cultural impact.
The problem is: the customers from the Latin countries would rather trust a bank than an online payment system.
The most popular payment methods:
- **Brazil:** PagBank, Boleto Bancario, RappiPay, MercadoPago.
- **Argentina:** Pagofacil, Mobiamo, Rapipago.
- **Columbia:** Daviplata, Nequi, RappiPay.
- **Chile:** Mobiamo, Mint, Effectivo, Red Compra.
Probably one of the most popular payment options in the region is RappiPay. It has a network of 100,000 affiliates, where people can top up their wallets.
Transfers and payments in it are done with QR codes. And the service is cross-border, working in Brazil, Columbia, and other countries.
**4\. Africa**
Even though in many African countries eCommerce or basic bank infrastructure aren’t accessible yet, mCommerce shows an impressive growth on the continent.
Mobile transfers are among the most secure payment methods in Africa. This is because more traditional tools like credit cards are simply unavailable or not trusted by the local population.
The most popular payment methods
- **South Africa:** Fitbit Pay, Garmin Pay, Apple Pay.
- **Nigeria:** Transferwise, Quickteller, Ecopayz.
- **Morocco:** AlliedWallet, UnionPay, PaySera, Boku.
- **Kenya:** M-Pesa, MobiKash, Orange Money.
M-Pesa is a bright example of an APM becoming the main payment network. About 58% of the Kenyan population have the app and use it instead of bank cards.
**5\. Australia & Oceania**
A continent on its own, Australia is the biggest eCommerce market in Oceania. With a humble population of 25 million, Australia plays a noticeable role on the global digital market, occupying the 10th place.
It is expected that by 2025 Australian eCommerce will reach the 35 billion capitalization mark. And while bank cards are a #1 go-to among the local shoppers, alternative payment options are also in demand.
The most popular payment methods:
- **Australia:** PayPal, V.me (by Visa), PayPass Wallet, Lemon Wallet, Poli
- **New Zealand:** Skrill, PayPal, UPayCard, Dosh.
Interestingly, digital wallets saw a surge in popularity in Australia lately. They occupy the second place among the most popular payment methods in the Sunburnt Country, with 22%.
### How to Accept the Local Payment Methods?
So, now you can see how important it is to accept local payments at the checkout. But there’s a myriad of systems and methods in different countries. How do you handle this all?
Obviously, you can’t contact all of them in person and ask for “cooperation”. Searching through the list of local payment options is also a fruitless task — this list can literally go for miles.
Luckily, there’s a ready-made solution that can take this headache from you.
Payneteasy knows everything about the local payment methods, their popularity and relevance. Here’s what we can do for you:
- **Quick solution.** We’ll prepare a cavalcade of the popular payment options for each region/country. From Visa to AliPay — we’ve got your business covered anywhere.
- **Flexibility.** You can add and remove the payment methods if necessary. If you need one to be added to your arsenal asap, you can request its addition.
- **Security.** Our payment solutions are compliant with the world’s leading online security standards. From PCI DSS to Know Your Client — we’ll make sure that neither you nor your customers will fall a victim to the malicious actors.
- **Privacy.** We employ specific methods — like tokenization and encryption — that make data leakages virtually impossible. Your clientele won’t have to worry about their credit card data or the shopping history being revealed.
- **Simplicity.** Your customers can pay with a single tap. No drudgery, long loading screens or annoying bugs. Just simple, smooth and laconic checkout process.
- **Customer experience.** We’ll do whatever we can to make online shopping at your venue a pleasant adventure. In turn, this can increase the number of sales and boost the customer loyalty.
- **Support.** We stay in touch 24/7 to make sure that no problems will undermine the flow of your business.
Contact us right away, so we can make your brand international in the matter of minutes. Smooth and failproof checkout will be at your disposal in no time.
### It’s Pay Time
As you can see, to launch an international business, you should think both globally and locally.
There is a caboodle of details to consider in the eCommerce landscape. From multicurrency support to cultural differences that can be observed in absolutely every region of the world.
But all this hard work is totally worth it. When your customers see how much care and respect you have for them, they’ll choose to stick to your brand for good.
And this will bring more sales, bigger revenues, more exposure and a dynamic growth of your company. Don’t be afraid to enter the local markets: they are waiting for quality goods.
_And we can help you with everything related to the payments. We’ll help you collect your money, protect your transactions and more. Read our guides and contacts us for further assistance._
---
## Global Payment Systems and Geopolitics
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/global-payment-systems-and-geopolitics
_The current geopolitical climate is unstable. How this impacts global payment systems now and in the future, and what it means for cross-border trade._
International trade and finance are both hugely important forces in our increasingly interconnected world, both driven by cross-border payments. Cross-border payments — that is, transactions that take place between two or more countries — form the backbone of today’s global economy, facilitating the exchange of goods, services, and capital internationally.
28.10.2024 11 min read
Of course, these transactions would not be possible without global payment systems. These platforms provide the infrastructure needed for secure, efficient transfers. By enabling cross-border transactions, global payment systems facilitate global trade and promote economic growth.
With that all being said, these systems do not exist in a vacuum. Like anything else, they are affected by external factors, including geopolitics. Such trends influence both the development and the functioning of cross-border payment systems by shaping the regulations surrounding them and, in turn, their accessibility.
This article will take a closer look at the connection between global payment systems and geopolitics, analysing the current trends and potential risks associated with cross-border payment transactions.
### Evolution of Global Payment Systems
Electronic fund transfers have been around in some form or another since the mid-1800s when the advent of the telegraph made it possible for merchants to transfer money through Western Union. Nowadays, transferring money looks very different. But how did we get from there to here? In this section, we chart the evolution of global payments.
#### The History of Global Payment Systems
By the early 20th century, wire transfers had caught on as a prominent means of transferring money, still through the use of telegraph. However, another couple of decades after that, sometime in the mid-1900s, the world of cross-border payment systems was changed forever by the introduction of telex technology. Telex marked a significant improvement from the telegram, as it allowed real-time person-to-person communication that you could trust.
Historically, payments associations played a crucial role in standardising methods and ensuring compliance across borders, particularly as digital payment platforms emerged and evolved. Nonetheless, there was still room for improvement. So, in 1973, the world said hello to SWIFT. By introducing a standardised platform for transfers and messages, SWIFT outdid telex technology. With faster, more reliable transfers, made possible by removing the human error component, the platform replaced its predecessor in 1977.
#### Modern Payment Systems
These days, SWIFT isn’t the only major player in the world of global payment systems. The Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA), Fedwire, and the Cross-Border Interbank Payment System (CIPS) are a few other examples you might recognise.
These days, we also have access to online payment systems, which make it easy to send money directly from one account to another using the internet. PayPal is often cited as one of the first successful digital payment systems, as we would recognise them today, having been established back in 1998. In the years since, these systems have only increased in popularity, driven by a surge in mobile payments and e-commerce, as well as non-economic factors like the COVID-19 pandemic.
#### The Role of Global Payment Systems in the World Economy
Today, global payment systems ensure stability and speed in cross-border payments. They do this by using standardised messaging formats to streamline communications between banking institutions and payments associations to improve overall accuracy and clarity, providing reliable services you can trust. Furthermore, unlike the payment systems of yesteryear, modern cross-border solutions are near instantaneous, making transferring money abroad far easier and more convenient.
One cannot overstate the impact of this on global trade and investments. As well as increasing transaction speeds, these methods lower processing costs and allow better market access, the result of which is the dynamic world marketplace we’re able to enjoy today.
### Risks and Challenges for International Payment Systems
There are a number of risks and challenges for cross-border payment systems to contend with. Some of these are risks to individual users — cyberattacks and fraud, for example. Other challenges impact payment systems and the overall economy far more broadly. In this section, we’ll examine a few of them.
#### Cybersecurity Risks
As is the case with any online platform, payment systems must contend with any number of cybersecurity risks, including fraud, cyberattacks, and other types of criminal activity. Banking institutions and payments associations are vulnerable to these dangers, as well.
Without putting the necessary precautions in place, companies and banks run the risk of facing a data breach. The effects of this are potentially devastating: on the one hand, consumers can end up losing their money and even their identity; on the other, platforms can lose their good reputation, as well as customer trust. Incorporating encryption and appropriate authentication features is an important part of fighting against these threats.
#### Financial Protectionism
Financial protectionism refers to governmental efforts to restrict financial competition from other countries. This might include imposing tariffs, applying quotas and embargoes, or even direct manipulation of currency — i.e., a country purposefully devaluing its currency to gain an edge in exporting. Creating independent payment systems is another method. We can find a particular example of this in China, which created CIPS to reduce its reliance on Western economic systems.
One final method to consider is the restriction of access certain countries have to international payment systems. Countries may choose to respond to this by developing their own system or by seeking the assistance of others.
#### Influence of Regulators and Economic Institutions
Another challenge to be aware of the influence of regulators, payments associations, and other economic institutions, such as the World Bank or the International Monetary Fund. For service operators, compliance with these funds is a necessity. However, the number of policies this involves means that compliance is something of a legal minefield.
Furthermore, cross-border payments are very heavily regulated, and exchange rates fluctuate all the time. These can lead to delays and extra administrative costs that can be quite detrimental to global payment systems as a whole.
### Geopolitical Factors and Their Impact on Payment Systems
Global payment systems are impacted by geopolitical trends as much as any other part of our society. In this section, we’ll begin to examine the role such factors play, considering the impact of sanctions and economic restrictions, political instability, trade wars, and currency conflicts on payment systems.
#### Sanctions and Economic Restrictions
Since 2008, the EU has placed a number of restrictions on Iran’s banking sector, in large part because of the Iranian nuclear programme, among other reasons. In 2012, the EU passed a regulation prohibiting financial messaging systems, including SWIFT, from offering products and services to any Iranian banks already sanctioned by the Union.
More recently, numerous sanctions have been placed on Russian banks in response to the country’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, as well as the Russo-Ukrainian War. Like Iran, Russia was removed from SWIFT, as well as other service providers. In response to this, Russia turned to CIPS as an alternative, though it seems to have had limited effectiveness.
Sanctions can have quite a significant impact on banks. For one thing, such prohibitions mean they lose access to a lot of global markets. They also often suffer an increase in operational costs and may notice a negative impact on both trade financing and foreign relations.
#### Political Instabilities and Conflicts
Political instabilities and conflicts can have a noticeable impact on access to cross-borderpayment systems, as well. In addition to potential sanctions, countries affected by such changes suffer because of an erosion of trust in the national banking institutions. For that reason, banks from other countries may be hesitant to do business with them, thereby reducing access to global networks.
Syria provides us with a good example of this. Because of the country’s ongoing civil war, strict sanctions have been placed upon both the Syrian government and many of the nation’s banks. Like Iran and Russia, it has been blocked from SWIFT.
Another example can be found in Venezuela, a country that faces various sanctions because of the prolonged political and socioeconomic crisis. The nation’s economic institutions have had heavy restrictions set against them, effectively cutting the country off from access to many international economic services.
#### Trade Wars and Currency Conflicts
Trade wars — that is, when a country retaliates against another by hiking up its import tariffs — can also have a significant impact on international settlements and currency exchange. Such conflicts often result in currency volatility, which can, in turn, create new vulnerabilities. They can also increase costs associated with cross-border payments.
The ongoing trade war between the U.S. and China is a good example of this. These tense relations began in 2018, when former President Trump imposed a number of tariffs on goods from the EU, Canada, China, and Mexico. By May of the following year, these tariffs had affected nearly $200 billion of Chinese imports. China retaliated with its own tariffs not long after.
In the end, this led to growing fears of a currency war, as China’s yuan dropped very steeply in value for the first time in roughly a decade.
### Examples of Geopolitical Influence on Payment Systems
We’ve already looked at some examples of the impact geopolitical risks can have on payment systems. In this question, we will focus on the long-term impact of this. For example, we will consider a couple of ways in which a country might respond to being locked out of an international payment system.
#### Development of Alternative Payment Systems
One response a country might have to being cut out of SWIFT or other similar systems is to create an alternative payment system of their own. We have already discussed China and their system, CIPS. Another example of a country launching its own economic countermeasure is Russia, which established the System for Transfer of Financial Messages (SPFS).
Russia first began the development of SPFS back in 2014 as a response to the U.S. threatening to remove it from SWIFT, but the first transaction wasn’t made through the system until 2017. Despite facing some initial troubles and some operational challenges, it is now fairly popular, with a total of 20 foreign countries having joined up.
Evidently, then, the launch of SPFS has allowed Russia to diversify its trade partners while at the same time providing a means to support local banks.
#### The Battle for Digital Currency
According to a recent report, over 134 countries and current unions are currently investigating the possibility of installing a central bank digital currency (CBDC). CBDCs are a type of decentralised, digital fiat currency and are also largely driven by geopolitical motivations.
Some countries might pursue having a CBDC in order to decrease their dependency on foreign economies and increase their own freedoms. Using this type of currency will allow countries to bypass traditional banking systems entirely, thereby facilitating cross-border payments severely curtailing the economic power of sanctioning.
CBDCs have many other benefits. The digital yuan has a great deal of potential; for example, it is poised to raise awareness of the yuan around the world and increase its size in international trade. According to the former governor of the People’s Bank of China, the total number of transactions made using this currency had reached around [950 million by June 2023](https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3237317/whats-state-chinas-digital-yuan-2023), with a total value of 1.8 trillion yuan. This represents a significant increase from the cumulative value of 100 billion reached less than a year earlier.
### The Future of Global Payment Systems in an Era of Geopolitical Instability
In a time of such instability, it can be difficult to determine what the future holds. One thing is for sure, however: the future of global payment systems is sure to be interesting. In this section, we take a closer look at that future, considering some key trends.
#### Emergence of New Players and Technologies
FinTech companies have already disrupted the traditional banking system by introducing revolutionary new technologies that change the way we think about economics. Blockchain technology, mobile payments, peer-to-peer transfers — these and many other innovations can help facilitate faster, more reliable, and more secure global money transfers.
At the same time, the introduction of such technology helps to drive competition and creation, meaning we will soon soar to even higher heights.
#### Rethinking International Economic Relations
The introduction of CBDCs and alternative payment systems will enable nations to reinvent themselves on the economic stage. We can already see that China and the digital yuan are having a significant impact on the world economy, shifting our focus towards a multipolar system and reducing dependence on the USD and SWIFT.
China’s progress gives us a sense of the dramatic international trends we can expect to see in the future.
#### Possible Development Scenarios
At this time CBDCs are something of a threat to sanctioning powers. In the future, it is likely we will see regulations around sanctions revised and tightened in response. If this does happen, however, it’s probable we will see even stronger trends towards alternative payment systems, further reducing dependence on SWIFT and allowing individual countries more economic autonomy.
An increase in regional payment systems may produce mutual trust in new alliances. This might result in consolidated payment systems that will provide international trade a significant boost while also enabling independence from established Western international payment systems.
### Conclusion
Global payment systems are a key part of international trade and cross-border payments — but they are by no means static. These systems respond to external situations, including the types of geopolitical conflicts and instabilities we see in our world today. Currency conflicts, wars, and sanctions, among countless other issues, help shape the landscape of international economics and cross-border payment solutions.
But for all these factors challenge the future of international finance, they also present opportunities for evolution, growth, and cooperation. To make the most of them, we need to tackle these challenges head-on, finding ways to adapt and develop new payment systems to best service us.
Europe is building its own answer to this pressure, and we follow its progress in [the latest updates on the digital euro project](https://payneteasy.com/blog/what-are-the-latest-updates-on-the-digital-euro-project).
[White Label Payment Gateway PSP Offer your customers a top-level payment solution, increase your turnover and boost your business profit.](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/gateway)
[Orchestration Platform Merchants Only one integration to consolidate all your payment providers to a unified management system.](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/orchestration-payment-platform)
---
## Global Payouts: How to Pay Third Parties Globally with Ease — Step-by-Step Guide
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/global-payouts-how-to-pay-third-parties-globally-with-ease
_Send global payouts to vendors, freelancers, and partners worldwide with a platform that shows exactly where every payment is and when it arrives._
Sending global payouts across borders can be frustrating. Companies juggle different currencies, handle foreign exchange fees, and sometimes build custom tools just to collect bank details. Recipients end up waiting much longer than expected.
07.11.2025 18 min read
Technology platforms such as Payneteasy help businesses manage global [payouts](https://payneteasy.com/payment_technologies/payouts) through integrated banks and payment providers. They let businesses send money to contractors, vendors, policyholders, or customers securely and reliably, without the usual back-and-forth. When payments are simpler, businesses don’t have to worry so much about mistakes[1](https://payneteasy.com/blog/global-payouts-how-to-pay-third-parties-globally-with-ease#link1) and can actually focus on the work that keeps them moving forward.
Payneteasy provides a [payout API](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/payment-integration) for submitting instructions to integrated payment providers, with configurable routing, approval workflows, status tracking and reporting. Available methods and currencies depend on the connected provider and corridor. Payneteasy does not hold or move funds; settlement remains with the licensed banking and payment partners. Confirm which provider statuses indicate processing, completion or beneficiary credit.
Here’s what the whole process looks like.
### What Are Global Payouts?
**[Global payouts](https://payneteasy.com/glossary/what-is-a-payout) are the systems businesses use to send money to people or partners across borders.** Instead of relying on slow bank transfers or manual workarounds, these platforms let a company in London pay a contractor in Nairobi, a driver in Warsaw, or a supplier in Manila with much less friction. Payouts can land in a bank account, on a card or in a digital wallet, in the recipient’s local currency.
### How to Send International Payouts: Step-by-Step
Whether you pay ten contractors or ten thousand sellers, cross-border payouts follow the same sequence. The steps below cover the full flow, from choosing a provider to closing the books.
#### 1\. Choose a Payout Provider
Start with the corridors you need today and the ones you plan to open next. A [global payouts platform](https://payneteasy.com/payment_technologies/payouts) should cover your recipients’ countries and local currencies, support multiple payment methods (bank transfers, card payouts, e-wallets) and expose a [payout API](https://payneteasy.com/blog/payout-api-integration-guide), so payouts run from your own system rather than a bank portal. Compare the total cost, not only the headline fee: FX margin, intermediary charges and the handling of failed payments often decide whether a provider is cost effective at your volume.
#### 2\. Complete KYC and Onboard Beneficiaries
Complete business onboarding with your bank or regulated payment provider, including KYB where required. Then collect the beneficiary information needed for each payout method and corridor using approved collection methods, such as a hosted form or the API. [KYC](https://payneteasy.com/glossary/what-is-kyc) and identity verification requirements depend on the jurisdiction, the transaction and the provider. Keep beneficiary details up to date and validate them to reduce avoidable payout rejections.
#### 3\. Fund Your Payout Balance
Payouts are sent from a pre-funded balance held with the bank or licensed payment institution behind your setup. Most global businesses keep balances in their main currencies, such as USD, EUR and GBP, and top them up by bank transfer ahead of each payout run. Forecast the payroll, invoices and contractor payments due in the cycle, so a batch never stalls on an empty balance.
#### 4\. Upload the Batch or Call the Payout API
Smaller teams usually start with batch uploads: a CSV file listing the beneficiary, amount, currency and payment reference. As volume grows, payout automation through the API takes over, and your platform creates [batch payments](https://payneteasy.com/glossary/batch-payment-processing) when an order clears, an invoice is approved or a pay period closes. Validation at this step (IBAN format, account number checks, duplicate detection) reduces errors before any money moves.
#### 5\. Currency Conversion (FX) and Routing
Each payment is converted into the beneficiary’s currency and sent over the most suitable payment rails. A euro payment to Germany can go over SEPA, a dollar payment to a US supplier over [ACH](https://payneteasy.com/glossary/what-is-ach), and a payment to a corridor without a local scheme over SWIFT. Routing weighs cost, speed and the recipient’s preferred method, while FX conversion at [competitive exchange rates](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/fx_rate) keeps the sender’s cost predictable.
#### 6\. Track Delivery and Settlement
Delivery time depends on the payment method, provider, destination and any compliance checks. Eligible SEPA Instant payments make funds available within ten seconds. UK Faster Payments are usually available almost immediately but can take up to two hours. ACH credits can settle on the same banking day, the next banking day or within two banking days. For international wires, confirm the provider’s delivery estimate. An accepted payout instruction does not confirm beneficiary credit, and interbank settlement may occur separately from funds becoming available to the recipient.
#### 7\. Reconciliation
The last step is matching every payout to your ledger: amount sent, FX rate applied, fees charged and final status. Automated reconciliation through API callbacks and daily settlement reports closes this loop without spreadsheets. Returned payments, for example to a closed account, come back into the same report, so finance can correct the beneficiary’s details and resend. More on this in our article on [multi-currency clearing and real-time reporting](https://payneteasy.com/blog/financial-reporting-multi-currency-clearing-real-time).
Planning payouts in several corridors?
Payneteasy connects payout processing, routing and reporting through one API. Share your corridors and volumes, and we will show how the setup would look for your business.
### How Global Payout Platforms Work
Most global payout platforms offer an API that a company can plug into its own system. For example, a marketplace can set up automatic payouts to thousands of sellers at once instead of uploading spreadsheets or logging into a bank portal every time.
The platform decides how to send the funds. A transfer from London to Berlin may go through [SEPA](https://payneteasy.com/glossary/what-is-sepa-and-how-does-it-work) in euros on the same day, and a payment to India may go through Swift or a local partner bank. These routes, called [payout corridors](https://payneteasy.com/glossary/what-is-payment-routing), are there to match each payment with the fastest and most cost-effective option.
One file can also mix payout types — mass payments to freelancers and wire transfers to suppliers — **so a business paying suppliers and staff on the same day can manage multiple recipients across different corridors in [one batch](https://payneteasy.com/glossary/batch-payment-processing).**
Before a recipient sees the money, the platform requires bank account checks or ID verification to meet rules on fraud prevention and compliance with KYC or AML laws[2](https://payneteasy.com/blog/global-payouts-how-to-pay-third-parties-globally-with-ease#link2). Some services let recipients [create a profile](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/customer-management-system) once and use it again with different payers, which saves time for both sides.
The platform also checks sanctions lists, flags unusual transfers, and applies foreign exchange rates where needed.
### Main Benefits of Using a Global Payout Solution
Here are the key benefits of handling international payments through one simple system:
| Benefit | What It Means |
| --- | --- |
| Faster Cross-Border Payments | Money no longer crawls through the banking system for days. Funds can reach an account in India in under a minute or arrive in Brazil the same day by tapping into local rails instead of long routes. |
| Lower Costs with Transparent FX Fees | Traditional banks layer charges at every step, and the final amount can be less than expected once it reaches the recipient. Modern payout systems show the exchange rate up front and remove most of the intermediary fees. |
| Compliance Workflow Support | Payout tools can support beneficiary data collection, review workflows and audit records. Confirm which organisation performs KYC, sanctions screening, transaction monitoring and any required regulatory reporting. Automation does not remove the responsible organisation’s compliance obligations. |
| Real-Time API Integrations | Instead of uploading spreadsheets or chasing manual approvals, businesses can link a payout API directly into their finance tools. For example, a business can set global marketplace payouts to run once an order clears, or a staffing platform can pay workers as soon as hours are approved. The status of every transfer is available immediately through the same link. |
| Improved Recipient Experience | For the person on the other side, the way the money arrives matters. Global payout platforms provide this flexibility, and when money arrives quickly and in the right format, trust in the business grows. |
### Key Use Cases for Global Mass Payouts
Businesses use global payouts to pay international contractors, marketplace sellers and partners as they expand into new markets.
Marketplaces rely on clear, reliable payouts to keep sellers on board. Remote teams expect their pay to land directly in their local accounts rather than going through slow international systems. Gig platforms get judged by how quickly freelancers get their funds. Even established exporters now feel the push to settle bills in local currencies if they want to stay competitive.
Some payment challenges only become obvious when money has to reach many people at once. That’s where mass payouts prove their worth.
- **Marketplaces:** think about platforms like Etsy or Upwork. Every week, they need to get money to thousands of sellers and freelancers around the world. Mass payouts make sure funds reach accounts quickly, so sellers can focus on their work instead of waiting for payments to clear.
- **Gig Platforms:** services like Uber and Fiverr rely on paying workers in multiple countries. Timely, predictable payments help drivers and freelancers trust the platform and keep doing their jobs.
- **Affiliate Networks:** Amazon Associates, Rakuten, or Impact need to pay commissions to affiliates around the world. Mass payouts let them settle dozens or even hundreds of accounts at once.
- **Freelancers and Content Creators:** Patreon, Substack, and Canva pay creators like writers, designers, and video producers directly. Creators can choose to receive funds to a bank account, card, or digital wallet.
- **SaaS Companies with Global Contractors:** SaaS companies, such as Shopify and Slack, collaborate with developers and consultants across multiple countries. Similar to other industries, they rely on mass payouts to handle payments efficiently.
### How to Choose the Right Global Payout Platform
The platform you choose will determine how secure your transactions are, how transparent the costs look, and how well the system supports your business as it grows.
| What to Check | Why It Matters |
| --- | --- |
| Geographic and Currency Coverage | Check that the platform supports the countries and regions where your recipients are located. If you work with contractors, sellers, or affiliates across multiple currencies, make sure the system can send and receive funds in the ones they use. You may also want to consider countries and currencies you might need in the future. |
| Speed and Reliability | Look at how quickly payments reach recipients and how often the system experiences downtime. Some global payout solutions offer fallback routes or alternative payment rails to keep transfers moving even when one network slows or fails, often powered by a [payment orchestration platform](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/orchestration-payment-platform). |
| Fees and Transparency | Costs should be predictable. Confirm how the platform charges for transactions, withdrawals, and foreign exchange. Hidden fees or fluctuating FX rates can quietly erode payouts and frustrate recipients. |
| API and Integration Options | Review the developer tools and integration options. Strong API documentation, SDKs, and plug-and-play connections make it easier to automate payouts and link the platform to your existing finance or ERP systems. |
| Support and Dispute Resolution | Check how the platform handles onboarding, answers questions, and resolves payment issues. When problems arise, you want a system that responds quickly and keeps payouts on track. |
### Payment Methods for Global Payouts
At this point, it’s worth looking at the payout methods businesses rely on today, as well as the newer ones gaining ground.
The right payout method depends on the country, the currency and how fast the recipient expects the money. The table below compares the main options; coverage and timing vary by provider and corridor, so confirm them before go-live.
| Payout method | Payment rails | Where it is used (currency) | Typical settlement time |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Local bank transfer (Europe) | SEPA Credit Transfer, SEPA Instant | EU/EEA, UK, Switzerland and other SEPA countries (EUR) | Seconds (SEPA Instant) to 1 business day |
| Local bank transfer (UK) | Faster Payments, Bacs | United Kingdom (GBP) | Usually minutes (Faster Payments); 3 business days (Bacs) |
| Local bank transfer (US) | ACH, Same Day ACH | United States (USD) | Same day to 2 business days |
| International wire | SWIFT | 200+ countries and territories (most currencies) | 1–5 business days |
| Instant local rails | PIX, UPI, SPEI | Brazil (BRL), India (INR), Mexico (MXN) | Seconds to minutes |
| Card payouts | Push-to-card (Visa Direct, Mastercard Move) | Eligible debit cards in many markets (card currency) | Often within minutes |
| E-wallets and mobile money | PayPal, M-Pesa, GCash, Alipay | Global wallets; Kenya (KES), Philippines (PHP), China (CNY) | Usually near-instant |
Three of these groups are worth a closer look.
#### Swift Transfers
The Swift network is the traditional method for cross-border bank transfers.
Pros
- Global reach, connects thousands of banks worldwide
- Trusted and secure system
Cons
- Can take several days to complete
- Expensive due to bank fees and intermediary costs
#### Digital Wallets, Mobile Money, and Cross-Border Payment Platforms
Digital wallets, mobile money services, and cross-border payment platforms offer fast alternatives to traditional methods, especially in regions with limited banking infrastructure.
Pros
- Fast, often instant transfers
- Accessible in regions with limited traditional banking
- Convenient for recipients without a bank account
Cons
- Limited to certain countries or platforms
- Fees vary depending on the provider and currency
Examples and popularity:
- Payoneer: widely used by freelancers and marketplaces globally
- PayPal: common for small international transfers, especially in the US and Europe
- Alipay: popular in China for payments to consumers and businesses
- M-Pesa: common in Kenya and parts of Africa for mobile-based transfers
- GCash: widely used in the Philippines for mobile payouts and peer-to-peer transfers
#### Prepaid Cards
Virtual and physical prepaid cards provide recipients with instant access to funds without a bank account.
Pros
- Instant access to funds without a bank account
- Flexible for spending in multiple currencies
- Useful in regions where bank transfers are slow
Cons
- May carry activation or maintenance fees
- Limited in where they can be used or withdrawn
### Fees and FX Costs
The fee on the invoice is rarely the full cost of an international payment. The total is made up of several layers, and each one behaves differently depending on the method.
| Cost component | What it is | How to keep it down |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Payout fee | A flat or percentage fee per transfer charged by the provider | Negotiate volume tiers and group payments into batches |
| FX margin | The difference between the rate you get and the mid-market rate | Compare quotes with the mid-market rate and lock rates for scheduled payouts |
| Intermediary bank fees | Deductions by correspondent banks along a SWIFT wire | Use local rails where they exist; choose the OUR charge option when the beneficiary must receive the full amount |
| Receiving bank fees | Charges by the beneficiary’s bank for incoming international transfers | Pay out in local currency over domestic rails |
| Failed and returned payouts | Return fees plus staff time when details are wrong | Validate bank details and IBANs before sending |
| Method | Per-payout fee | FX cost | Intermediary fees |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| SWIFT wire | Higher, usually flat per wire | Set by the sending bank, often a wider margin | Possible, one or more correspondent banks |
| Local bank transfer | Low | Set by the payout provider | None |
| Card payouts | Moderate | Card network or provider rate | None |
| E-wallets and mobile money | Varies by wallet | Wallet or provider rate | None |
Traditional bank transfers over SWIFT remain the fallback for corridors without a local scheme and for high-value payments. For regular mass payments, local rails combined with competitive FX rates are usually the more cost effective route.
### Compliance and Regulations: AML, KYC and Sanctions
Cross-border payout requirements depend on the jurisdictions, payment method and roles of the organisations involved. Agree which parties are responsible for customer due diligence, transaction monitoring, sanctions controls and record keeping. For a payout program, that usually comes down to three controls.
- **KYC and KYB:** apply customer due diligence where required and collect the beneficiary information needed for the payout. Verification and enhanced due diligence requirements depend on applicable rules and risk. Keep the required information up to date.
- **AML transaction monitoring:** watch for patterns that do not fit the beneficiary’s profile, such as sudden volume spikes, payments split just below thresholds or repeated changes of bank details, and escalate them for review.
- **Sanctions screening:** screen the relevant parties against sanctions lists applicable to the jurisdictions and organisations involved. Establish procedures for reviewing potential matches and re-screening when applicable lists or party details change.
Record keeping matters as much as the checks themselves. Under the UK Money Laundering Regulations, covered businesses generally retain relevant records for five years after the business relationship ends or the occasional transaction is completed, subject to applicable exceptions. EU Regulation 2023/1113 specifies the information required to accompany covered transfers, with different provisions depending on the transfer.
Payneteasy is a technology platform, not a bank, and does not hold or move funds. It supports configurable payout holds, approval workflows and reporting. The regulated providers and other responsible organisations retain their applicable KYC, AML and sanctions obligations. For the wider risk picture, see our overview of [payment risks and compliance](https://payneteasy.com/blog/what-to-know-about-payment-risks-and-compliance-in-2021).
### How to Integrate a Global Payout API Into Your Business
A payout API takes effort to set up, but the steps are clear. Once security, payouts, and tracking are in place, it works as part of your system.
- **API Authentication and Access:** most platforms provide API keys, OAuth tokens, or certificates to confirm your system’s identity. Assign roles carefully so only authorised team members can send payments or access sensitive data.
- **Currency Handling and Conversion:** some platforms let you lock in rates for scheduled payouts or batches, which keeps the amount your recipients receive consistent and helps you get the maximum value from each transfer. Plan ahead for the currencies you use most to avoid unexpected losses.
- **Compliance and KYC Integration:** take advantage of the tools your provider offers to handle KYC and AML requirements. Gather the necessary information from recipients, verify their identities, and keep records in secure storage. You can do this through an API or dashboard to avoid mistakes.
### Common Challenges in Global Payouts and How to Solve Them
Modern global payout systems solve most cross-border payment problems, but a few tricky issues still pop up that businesses need to watch out for.
1. **FX Volatility** Currency values can change between the moment you send funds and when recipients receive them. You can manage this by locking exchange rates for scheduled payouts or using forward contracts to protect payments from sudden swings.
2. **Regulatory Compliance** Each country has its own rules for [cross-border payments](https://payneteasy.com/glossary/international-payment-processing), which can affect how and where you send money. Platforms that track local laws and alert you to restricted transactions can prevent mistakes and failed transfers.
3. **Country-Specific Restrictions** Some regions limit which payout methods you can use or require additional reporting. Certain transfers to high-risk jurisdictions[3](https://payneteasy.com/blog/global-payouts-how-to-pay-third-parties-globally-with-ease#link3) may be blocked or require extra approvals. To avoid this, check supported countries and payment options before sending funds.
4. **Fraud Prevention and KYC** Payments can be intercepted or sent to the wrong person if identities aren’t checked. You can prevent this by confirming recipient information and watching for unusual activity before sending funds.
5. **Failed and Returned Payouts** Wrong account numbers, closed accounts or name mismatches send money back days later, often minus fees. Validate bank details at onboarding, use automated reconciliation to catch returns quickly, and let beneficiaries update their own details.
### Why Global Payouts Are the Future of Scalable Businesses
Not long ago, sending money across borders meant delays, high fees, and little clarity on the financial status of payments. That picture is changing quickly.
The next stage looks even more promising. International bodies including the G20 are targeting a global average cost of no more than 1% for retail cross-border payments, with no corridor exceeding 3% by the end of 2027[4](https://payneteasy.com/blog/global-payouts-how-to-pay-third-parties-globally-with-ease#link4), while EU instant euro payment obligations are being introduced in stages, with deadlines depending on the provider’s location and type[5](https://payneteasy.com/blog/global-payouts-how-to-pay-third-parties-globally-with-ease#link5). At the same time, smarter use of local payment systems will help international transfers feel less complicated and almost as easy as sending money at home.
The future of cross-border payouts could soon look a lot like domestic transfers.
#### Sources
\[1\] - EY, The rise of PayTech - seven forces shaping the future of payments, November 2022
\[2\] - GOV.UK, Your responsibilities under money laundering supervision, May 2025
\[3\] - The FATF, High-Risk Jurisdictions subject to a Call for Action, June 2025
\[4\] - Financial Stability Board, G20 Roadmap for Enhancing Cross-Border Payments: Consolidated progress report for 2023, October 2023 (targets set for 2027)
\[5\] - European Commission, Instant Payments Regulation (EU) 2024/886, April 2024
### Frequently Asked Questions
#### What is a global payout?
It’s the process of sending money to people or businesses in other countries. Instead of handling transfers one by one, you can manage payments across borders in a structured way.
#### How do global mass payouts work?
They allow you to send many payments at once, even if the recipients are in different countries and use different currencies. Funds move through bank networks or local partners. Each person gets paid in the way that works for them.
#### What’s the difference between SWIFT and local payouts?
SWIFT transfers go through an international bank network, which can be slower and more expensive. Local payouts use in-country rails and tend to reach recipients faster and with fewer fees.
#### Can I integrate a global payout API into my platform?
Yes, most providers offer APIs that let you automate payouts from your own system. It takes some setup, but once connected, you can send funds without logging into a separate dashboard.
#### What are the fees involved in global payouts?
Costs vary by provider, country, and payout method. Some charge a flat fee per transfer, while others take a cut (between 1% and 3% of the amount). On top of that, many providers add foreign exchange fees, which range from 0.5% to 2%.
#### How do I pay multiple international recipients at once?
Use mass payments: upload a batch file or send the batch through a payout API. The platform converts each payment into the beneficiary’s currency, routes it over the right payment rails and reports the status of every payout in one place.
#### How long do international payouts take?
It depends on the rail. Instant schemes such as SEPA Instant, UK Faster Payments or PIX settle in seconds or minutes, local bank transfers such as ACH and standard SEPA within one or two business days, and SWIFT wires in one to five business days.
#### Which provider is best for UK businesses in 2026?
Don't be fooled by a fast transaction. If the back-end infrastructure is shaky, speed means nothing. Real confidence in payments comes from knowing your security is locked down at every step. That means strict adherence to standards like KYC, AML, and PCI DSS is non-negotiable.
At Payneteasy, we understand trust isn't a feature you switch on. It's earned through openness, stability, and respecting the rules. We build dependable systems designed to last, giving your business the platform it needs to expand without ever losing control.
---
## Handling Chargebacks in 3 Steps: The Ultimate Merchant’s Checklist
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/handling-chargebacks-in-3-steps-the-ultimate-merchants-checklist
_Chargebacks present significant challenges for card-not-present merchants. Find out how you can effectively address these hurdles in three simple steps!_
Chargebacks, whether stemming from genuine concerns or fraudulent activities, pose a pressing issue for merchants. After all, these fees have the power to chip away business revenue, drain valuable resources, and negatively affect the company’s reputation.
21.02.2024 3 min read
Fortunately, if you know the right approach, chargebacks can be addressed promptly and effectively. In this guide, we go over the key steps that will help you minimize the unwanted impact of chargebacks on your business while maintaining high customer satisfaction and safeguarding your bottom line. Without further ado, let’s dive in!
### How to Deal with Chargebacks: A Step-by-Step Guide
**1\. Prevent the Issue from Escalating**
When dealing with chargeback issues, it is crucial to act swiftly to prevent them from escalating. Some important steps you can undertake include:
- **Activating chargeback alerts.** This way, you will receive immediate notifications and will be able to intercept disputes and issue refunds promptly.
- **Leveraging network inquiries.** Utilizing tools like Order Insight and [Consumer Clarity](https://www.mastercard.com/us/en/business/cybersecurity-fraud-prevention/dispute-management/ethoca-consumer-clarity.html) will help you communicate with banks and resolve issues directly before they worsen.
- **Utilizing Real-Time Dispute Resolution (RDR).** Engaging in immediate problem-solving with banks during transactions is an effective modern approach to reducing chargeback instances.
It has also proven to be helpful for merchants to establish clear communication channels with customers for the sake of resolving inquiries before they lead to chargebacks. Besides, it is crucial not to forget about the importance of implementing robust fraud detection measures and educating customers about refund policies to minimize misunderstandings.
**2\. Get to the Root of the Problem**
The next step is all about investigating the reasons behind the chargebacks your business is experiencing by analyzing transaction records and customer communications. The three common causes are as follows:
- **Criminal activity** - such fees are usually prominent when stolen card information is used for purchases. They can be combatted through the implementation of robust security measures and advanced fraud detection tools.
- **Merchant errors** - such chargebacks arise from business mistakes like double charges, undelivered goods or services, or unclear return policies. They can typically be mitigated through workflow optimization.
- **Friendly fraud** - these chargeback fees entail customers falsely claiming non-receipt or poor quality of purchased items or services, which can be either inadvertent or intentional. Business owners can try to mitigate these instances by maintaining detailed transaction records and customer interactions.
After analyzing your company data, you will be able to identify which of these chargeback types are mainly affecting your business. Look closely at your transaction records and customer interactions to spot trends. Knowing the source of your disputes will enable you to take specific actions to address them.
**3\. Develop a Tailored Strategy**
With the sources of your chargebacks identified, it’s crucial to shift focus toward prevention. And, given the uniqueness of every business, your anti-chargeback approach should be customized to suit your specific needs and requirements.
To develop a custom plan of action, consider such factors as:
- Your industry and business model
- Key sales channels and payment methods used
- Customer demographics and behavioral patterns
- Documentation and evidence collection protocols
- Customer service and communication
By aligning your strategy with these aspects, you can enhance your ability to prevent and manage unwanted fees effectively.
However, ultimately, adopting a proactive mindset, leveraging advanced technologies, and fostering transparent communication will be your main stepping stones toward minimum chargebacks.
### Additional Tips on Developing a Winning Anti-Chargeback Strategy
While all of the steps mentioned above are essential for your anti-chargeback strategy, it is also crucial to keep in mind that, in most cases, engaging with customers directly can provide you with additional insights and help resolve issues amicably.
Moreover, business owners need to remember that dealing with chargebacks through in-house efforts is not always the best option. In fact, the majority of merchants see the best results when they outsource dispute management and prevention to dedicated payment service providers like Payneteasy. [Reach out to us](https://payneteasy.com/contacts) for more information on how we could help you deal with chargebacks!
If you are new to the topic, start with [chargebacks 101: what they are and how to prevent them](https://payneteasy.com/blog/chargebacks-101-what-they-are-and-how-to-prevent-them).
[White Label Payment Gateway PSP Offer your customers a top-level payment solution, increase your turnover and boost your business profit.](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/gateway)
[Orchestration Platform Merchants Only one integration to consolidate all your payment providers to a unified management system.](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/orchestration-payment-platform)
---
## High-Risk Payment Processing: How It Works and Who Manages Risk
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/high-risk-payment-processing
_Learn how high-risk payment processing works, including merchant approval, acquiring terms, reserves, authorisation and settlement. See where payment technology fits._
Understand how higher-risk merchants are approved to process payments, what acquiring terms can apply, and how transactions move from checkout to settlement and disputes.
24.09.2026 9 min read
High-risk payment processing involves more than connecting a business to a [payment gateway](https://payneteasy.com/blog/payment-gateway-for-forex-brokers). An acquiring provider must agree to accept the merchant and define the conditions for its transactions. Payments then pass through checkout, authentication, fraud checks, authorisation and settlement, with refunds and disputes possible after the sale.
A merchant, PSP, acquirer and technology provider may each manage a different part of this process. Understanding those roles matters when a business faces volume limits, reserves, delayed payouts or rising disputes: changing gateway settings cannot change the terms of an acquiring agreement.
This guide explains how high-risk payment processing works, what an acquiring provider controls and where gateway technology supports the payment flow.
### What Is High-Risk Payment Processing?
High-risk payment processing is the acceptance and management of payments for a business that an acquiring provider considers to require additional scrutiny or different processing terms. Its assessment can reflect the business model, operating markets, transaction patterns, fraud and dispute exposure, fulfilment risks and applicable requirements.
There is no single classification that every provider applies in the same way. One acquirer may approve a merchant subject to specific limits; another may decline the relationship or permit a different set of countries and payment methods. The conditions can also change as the provider monitors the merchant's activity.
For a merchant or PSP, processing higher-risk payments therefore has two parts: obtaining a provider relationship that permits the traffic and operating payments within its agreed conditions. [Gateway technology](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/gateway) supports the payment flow, but it does not replace merchant approval.
### Who Manages Risk in High-Risk Payment Processing?
| Responsibility | Party or parties involved |
| --- | --- |
| Merchant approval, permitted traffic and acquiring terms | The acquirer or provider underwriting the relationship |
| Business model, fulfilment, refunds and customer obligations | The merchant |
| Oversight of a merchant portfolio | The PSP, according to its operating model and agreements |
| Payment connections, configured routing, fraud tools and transaction records | The gateway or orchestration provider within its agreed service scope |
| Card authorisation decision | The issuer or an applicable stand-in authorisation service |
| Settlement and payout | The parties specified in the acquiring and payment agreements |
Payneteasy provides gateway and orchestration technology. It does not approve or guarantee a high-risk merchant account. A technology platform may show settlement data and support reconciliation without becoming the provider that underwrites the merchant or sets its acquiring terms.
### What Acquiring Terms Can Affect a High-Risk Merchant?
An acquiring provider may define which business activities, countries, currencies and payment methods it will accept. The agreement can also set transaction or volume limits, processing fees, payout schedules, monitoring requirements and, where applicable, a reserve.
A rolling reserve temporarily holds an agreed share of processed funds to cover potential refunds or disputes. Its percentage, holding period and release schedule depend on the provider agreement. Merchants and PSPs should assess these terms alongside authorisation performance: a payment can be approved while part of the proceeds remains unavailable for a period.
A payment gateway can help a team monitor transactions and operate within approved limits. It cannot remove a contractual reserve or change an acquirer's underwriting decision.
### How Does a High-Risk Payment Move Through the System?
#### 1\. Merchant approval defines the permitted traffic
Before processing begins, the acquiring provider reviews the business and agrees which transactions it will accept. Its conditions may cover markets, currencies, payment methods, volume and ongoing risk monitoring. A technical connection cannot override those conditions.
#### 2\. Checkout collects the payment details
The merchant uses a checkout integration to collect payment information and initiate the transaction. The chosen implementation determines which systems handle cardholder data and what PCI DSS responsibilities remain with the merchant or PSP. Where applicable, 3-D Secure supports cardholder authentication.
#### 3\. Fraud controls assess the attempt
Configured checks can evaluate signals such as transaction velocity, geography and behaviour. A payment may be stopped before it reaches an acquirer. Teams should review those decisions for false positives as well as fraud exposure.
#### 4\. The payment is submitted for authorisation
The gateway sends the request through a provider permitted to process that merchant's traffic. The issuer, or an applicable stand-in authorisation service, returns a response. An issuer decline, a provider error and an unanswered request require different handling.
If a PSP uses several approved providers, routing rules determine where an eligible request goes. For the technical detail, see [How a High-Risk Payment Control Layer Manages Multiple Acquirers](https://payneteasy.com/blog/high-risk-payment-processing-control-layer).
#### 5\. Capture, settlement and payout follow
Authorisation is not the same as receiving funds. Depending on the payment setup, capture may happen automatically or as a separate step. Clearing, settlement and payout then follow the arrangements with the relevant payment providers. Gateway, provider and settlement records need to be reconciled.
### Fraud, 3-D Secure and Disputes Address Different Risks
3-D Secure supports cardholder authentication where it applies. Fraud screening assesses a transaction against configured risk rules. Dispute management addresses a payment challenged after processing. These controls operate at different points in the payment lifecycle and should be reviewed together.
Payneteasy offers [more than 130 configurable fraud filters](https://payneteasy.com/payment_technologies/control/antifraud), including velocity checks, country restrictions, scoring and behavioural analysis. Filter settings can be tailored by merchant project. For a PSP, the useful question is how fraud decisions affect legitimate payments, authorisation results and subsequent disputes—not how many rules are switched on.
### PCI Scope, White-Label and On-Premises Deployment
A single gateway integration can simplify how a business connects to multiple providers. It does not automatically reduce [PCI DSS scope](https://payneteasy.com/glossary/what-is-the-pci-dss). The result depends on the checkout implementation and on which systems store, process or transmit cardholder data. A PSP or merchant should map the actual data flow, review the provider's current compliance documentation and define its remaining responsibilities.
For PSPs building a merchant-facing service, Payneteasy offers a **white-label gateway** that can run under their own brand. Its published deployment information also describes an option to host required equipment on the client's premises. Whether that option meets a particular security or data residency requirement should be checked against the proposed architecture, rather than assumed from the availability of on-premises hosting.
### How Quickly Can a New Payment Route Go Live?
Payneteasy states that a branded gateway can typically launch within 1 week. Its Payment Channels service says a merchant can start using a PSP in 1–2 weeks, longer if there is a lot of back-and-forth with the provider. These are Payneteasy-specific planning figures, not a promise that any new acquirer can take production traffic within that period. Provider approval, commercial agreements, configuration and testing can affect the full timeline. Payneteasy’s Processing API is also published as an OpenAPI 3.1 specification, which gives engineering teams a machine-readable description of the API.
Before moving volume to a new route, test a successful authorisation, a decline eligible for cascading, a decline that must stop, a timeout and a provider outage. Check the transaction records and reconciliation output for each case. Then monitor approval rate by route and merchant segment: an overall figure can conceal a connection that is deteriorating.
Reliability matters because the control layer sits in the payment path. Payneteasy reports [99.95% platform uptime](https://status.payneteasy.eu/), tracked by Pingdom since 2022. A buyer should also review the service terms and establish how an incident affecting an individual provider connection will be detected and handled.
High-risk payment processing is easier to manage when alternative routes are approved, tested and governed before the primary route comes under pressure. If you are evaluating how Payneteasy would fit your existing acquirer stack, [talk to the team](https://payneteasy.com/contacts) about your markets, merchant categories, provider relationships and the controls your payments team needs.
### What Should You Monitor in High-Risk Payment Processing?
- **Authorisation results by merchant and provider:** an overall approval rate can hide a problem affecting one part of the portfolio.
- **Reasons for failed attempts:** distinguish issuer declines, fraud decisions, provider restrictions and technical errors.
- **Fraud and disputes:** review them alongside authorisation performance to see whether tighter screening is blocking legitimate customers.
- **Approved provider capacity:** compare transaction volume with the conditions agreed for each merchant relationship.
- **Settlement timing and reserves:** compare expected payouts with settlement records, fees and any funds held under the acquiring agreement.
- **Reconciliation exceptions:** investigate payments whose gateway, provider and settlement records do not agree.
These measures help identify which party needs to act before a team changes the payment flow.
### When Do You Need an Additional Payment Provider or Gateway?
If the business does not yet have an approved acquiring relationship, start with a provider willing to assess the merchant. Ask which traffic it permits and review the fees, reserves, payout schedule and ongoing obligations. Gateway software cannot grant that approval.
If an acquiring relationship is already in place, assess whether the checkout, fraud controls, reporting and reconciliation tools support the agreed processing model. A PSP managing several approved providers may also need routing and monitoring across them; that architecture is covered in the [high-risk payment control layer guide](https://payneteasy.com/blog/high-risk-payment-processing-control-layer).
### How Payneteasy Supports High-Risk Payment Operations
Payneteasy provides [white-label payment gateway](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/gateway) and [payment orchestration technology](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/orchestration-payment-platform). These tools support payment connections, configured routing, fraud controls and transaction visibility across approved provider relationships.
The acquiring provider still decides whether to accept the merchant and on what terms. Payneteasy supplies the technology used to operate the payment flow; it does not provide or guarantee a high-risk merchant account.
### Frequently Asked Questions
#### What makes a business high-risk for payment processing?
An acquiring provider may consider the business model, operating markets, transaction history, fraud and dispute exposure, fulfilment risks and applicable requirements. Providers can assess the same business differently or offer different terms.
#### Is high-risk payment processing the same as a high-risk merchant account?
No. An approved acquiring relationship permits the provider to accept the merchant under agreed conditions. Payment processing also involves checkout, authentication, authorisation, fraud controls, settlement, refunds and disputes.
#### Does high-risk payment processing cost more?
It can. An acquiring provider may set different fees, payout schedules or reserve requirements based on its assessment of the merchant. The actual terms depend on the agreement. Gateway or orchestration fees are a separate cost.
#### What is a rolling reserve in high-risk payment processing?
A rolling reserve is an arrangement in which a provider temporarily holds an agreed percentage of processed funds to cover potential refunds, disputes or other liabilities. The percentage, holding period and release schedule depend on the acquiring agreement.
#### Does Payneteasy provide high-risk merchant accounts?
No. Payneteasy provides gateway and orchestration technology for payment flows across approved provider relationships. Merchant approval, acquiring terms and settlement arrangements remain with the relevant parties.
---
## Run High-Risk Payments Across Many Banks Without Losing Control
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/high-risk-payment-processing-control-layer
_A control layer for high-risk payment processing keeps your acquirers, keeps your risk, and keeps approvals up across every bank you already use._
High-risk payment orchestration gives PSPs and merchants a central way to route transactions across multiple approved acquirers, configure fallback paths and change payment flows without rebuilding the payment stack for every provider.
29.07.2026 9 min read
This guide focuses specifically on the technical layer used when several acquiring or processing connections are already in place.
If you are looking for an explanation of merchant approval, acquiring terms, reserves, settlement and who carries payment risk, see [High-Risk Payment Processing: How It Works and Who Manages Risk](https://payneteasy.com/blog/high-risk-payment-processing).
### What High-Risk Payment Orchestration Controls
Payment orchestration sits between the payment flow and the acquiring or processing connections available to the business.
Its job is not to decide whether a merchant should be accepted by an acquirer. Instead, it manages how transactions move across provider relationships that are already available for that traffic.
In a multi-acquirer setup, the [orchestration layer](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/orchestration-payment-platform) can centralize:
- routing rules;
- provider priorities;
- cascading sequences;
- transaction eligibility rules;
- connection configuration;
- transaction records.
The result is one technical layer for controlling several payment connections instead of implementing routing logic separately for every provider.
### Why Multiple Acquirers Create an Orchestration Problem
Adding another [acquirer](https://payneteasy.com/glossary/what-is-an-acquirer) creates more than another endpoint.
Each connection can have its own:
- supported countries and currencies;
- card schemes and payment methods;
- merchant configuration;
- transaction limits;
- technical requirements;
- response codes;
- availability conditions.
Without a central orchestration layer, this logic often ends up distributed across application code and individual integrations.
For example, a PSP may need one provider for domestic Visa traffic, another for a specific currency and a third as an alternative route when the primary connection is unavailable.
If those decisions are hardcoded independently, every change can require additional development and testing.
Payment orchestration moves that decision logic into a common control layer.
### How Routing Rules Choose the First Payment Route
Routing determines where an eligible payment attempt should be sent first.
The route can be selected using configured parameters such as:
- card country;
- card scheme;
- currency;
- card type;
- BIN;
- transaction amount;
- merchant or project;
- product line;
- configured risk conditions.
Consider a PSP operating several acquiring connections.
Traffic from one country may be directed to Acquirer A, while another currency goes to Acquirer B. Transactions above a defined amount may use a separate route, while another merchant portfolio follows its own provider sequence.
The important architectural difference is that these rules can be managed centrally instead of being repeated inside separate integrations.
This makes routing configuration easier to change as provider relationships or traffic patterns evolve.
### How Cascading Handles Eligible Failed Attempts
Routing decides which eligible provider receives the first attempt.
[Cascading](https://payneteasy.com/glossary/cascading-payment-routing) defines what should happen when that attempt cannot be completed and another approved route is available.
A simplified flow can look like this:
Payment request ↓ Routing rules select Acquirer A ↓ Acquirer A returns an eligible failure or technical error ↓ The orchestration layer evaluates the next configured route ↓ The request can proceed through Acquirer B if the transaction remains eligible
A cascade should not mean retrying every decline automatically.
The platform needs to distinguish between responses that can be retried and responses that should stop the payment flow.
For example, a technical failure may justify trying another connection, while another response may require the transaction to end without an additional attempt.
The sequence is therefore determined by configured routing and cascading logic rather than simply sending every failed transaction to every available provider.
### Routing and Cascading Solve Different Problems
Although the two are often discussed together, they perform different functions.
| Function | Purpose |
| --- | --- |
| Routing | Selects the first eligible provider |
| Cascading | Defines the next eligible provider after a qualifying failure |
| Provider priority | Determines the preferred order of available routes |
| Eligibility rules | Determine whether a provider may receive a particular transaction |
Keeping these functions separate makes multi-provider payment flows easier to control.
A PSP can change which provider receives traffic without rewriting the checkout itself, while still applying restrictions to particular merchants, countries or transaction types.
### How a Control Layer Changes Multi-Acquirer Integration
Without orchestration, adding another provider can mean creating and maintaining another individual integration path.
That can include:
- provider-specific request formats;
- response handling;
- routing logic;
- error processing;
- transaction records;
- operational configuration.
A payment orchestration layer creates a shared technical layer above those provider connections.
Payneteasy provides more than 1,000 pre-built integrations, allowing supported connections to be added to the existing payment architecture rather than building every provider integration from the beginning.
This does not remove provider onboarding, commercial agreements, configuration or testing. It changes the technical integration model.
Instead of putting provider-selection logic throughout the merchant or PSP application, the application sends the payment into the payment platform and configured orchestration rules determine the appropriate connection.
### Separating Route Eligibility From Routing Logic
One of the most important parts of multi-acquirer orchestration is separating two questions:
**Can this provider process this transaction?**
and:
**Should this provider receive this transaction first?**
They are not the same decision.
A provider may technically be connected but not be appropriate for every merchant, currency, country or transaction type.
The orchestration layer therefore needs to work only with routes that are eligible for the specific payment. Routing then determines the preferred route among those eligible connections.
This distinction becomes increasingly important as a PSP adds more merchants and provider relationships. Ten technical connections do not mean every transaction should have ten possible destinations.
Each payment should only move through the subset of routes configured for that merchant and transaction.
### Managing Different Merchants and Traffic Segments
A PSP rarely wants one routing configuration for its entire portfolio.
Different merchants may have different:
- provider relationships;
- markets;
- currencies;
- payment methods;
- transaction profiles;
- routing priorities.
A centralized control layer allows those differences to be represented through configuration. For example:
| Merchant A | Merchant B |
| --- | --- |
| Primary → Acquirer 1 | Primary → Acquirer 3 |
| Fallback → Acquirer 2 | Fallback → Acquirer 1 |
The same configuration can also separate routing by currency within a single merchant, for example:
| Merchant C · EUR | Merchant C · GBP |
| --- | --- |
| Primary → Acquirer 2 | Primary → Acquirer 4 |
The checkout integration does not need to contain separate provider-selection logic for each scenario. The routing configuration determines which eligible connection should process each payment.
### Configuration Instead of Scattered Routing Code
Routing requirements change. A provider can undergo maintenance. A new connection can be added. Traffic can be moved between providers. A merchant can receive access to an additional route. A currency or country can require another configuration.
When provider selection is hardcoded across an application, these changes can become development tasks.
With an orchestration layer, more of that logic can be managed through centralized configuration. That does not mean changes should be made without testing.
It means the payment architecture does not need a separate custom routing implementation for every provider combination.
For a PSP managing a growing provider estate, that distinction becomes increasingly important.
### Validate Routing Configuration Before Production
Before production traffic uses a new orchestration configuration, verify that the routing rules produce the intended provider selection across the scenarios they are designed to control.
Test the configuration against cases such as:
- transactions that should qualify for only one provider
- transactions eligible for several providers but assigned different priorities
- merchant projects that use different provider sequences
- country or currency rules that exclude particular routes
- changes to provider priority
- temporary disabling of a connection
- cascading rules that should or should not expose another eligible route
The objective is to validate the orchestration decision itself: which connections are eligible, which route is selected first and which alternatives remain available under the configured rules.
This keeps routing behaviour predictable as providers, merchants and traffic segments are added or changed.
### What to Evaluate in a Multi-Acquirer Control Layer
When comparing orchestration platforms, focus on how much control they provide over the multi-provider payment flow.
Useful questions include:
#### Can Routing Rules Vary by Merchant?
A PSP should be able to operate different provider configurations for different merchant projects or traffic segments.
#### What Parameters Can Routing Use?
Check whether rules can consider relevant payment attributes such as country, currency, card scheme, BIN, amount or merchant configuration.
#### How Is Cascading Configured?
Determine which responses can trigger another attempt and how provider order is controlled.
#### Can Routes Be Enabled or Disabled Without Rebuilding the Checkout?
Provider configuration should not require routing logic to be duplicated throughout the merchant-facing application.
#### How Are Provider-Specific Responses Represented?
Operations teams need to be able to distinguish issuer responses, provider errors and technical failures when investigating the payment flow.
#### How Easily Can Another Connection Be Introduced?
Look beyond the number of supported integrations and check what configuration, testing and provider-side work remains before production traffic can use a new route.
#### Can Different Portfolios Use Different Routing Logic?
A multi-merchant PSP should not have to apply one universal provider sequence to every business it serves.
### How Payneteasy Fits Into a Multi-Acquirer Stack
Payneteasy provides payment gateway and payment orchestration technology for businesses operating payment connections across multiple providers.
The platform can centralize provider integrations, routing configuration, cascading and transaction handling within the same payment infrastructure.
For a PSP or merchant already working with several acquiring or processing partners, the architecture can be represented as:
Checkout or merchant application → Payneteasy payment gateway and orchestration layer → routing and eligibility configuration → acquirer/processor A, acquirer/processor B or acquirer/processor C.
The merchant or PSP retains its provider relationships.
Payneteasy provides the technology used to connect those relationships and control how eligible payment traffic moves between them.
The distinction is important: orchestration manages the payment path. It does not replace the acquiring relationship that determines whether a provider is permitted to process the merchant's traffic.
### High-Risk Payment Orchestration Is a Multi-Provider Architecture Problem
Once several payment providers are involved, the main technical challenge is no longer simply connecting to another API.
The harder problem is deciding:
- which provider should receive each transaction
- which routes are eligible
- what happens when a connection fails
- when another attempt is permitted
- how provider priorities differ by merchant
- how routing changes can be made without spreading more logic throughout the application
That is the role of a control layer.
For businesses operating several acquiring relationships, it provides one place to control the payment path while the commercial and risk relationships with those providers remain separate.
[Payment Orchestration Platform The control-layer model this guide describes: your existing acquirers behind one integration, with smart routing and cascading under rules you author.](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/orchestration-payment-platform)
[Smart Payment Strategy Routing and balancing rules that decide where each transaction goes — send in traffic, get back profit.](https://payneteasy.com/payment_technologies/routing_and_balancing_system)
[Advanced Anti‑Fraud System A wide range of tools for fraud prevention and risk management.](https://payneteasy.com/payment_technologies/risk_management_and_dispute_management_system)
[High-Risk Payment Gateway The processing, payment-flow and back-office layer this guide describes — white-label, with smart routing and cascading built in.](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/gateway)
### Frequently Asked Questions
#### Is Payneteasy a high-risk merchant account provider?
No. Payneteasy is a payment technology and control layer for high-risk payment processing — not a merchant account, acquirer, or payment facilitator. You keep your own acquiring relationships. The platform handles routing, fraud screening, and compliance on top of them. It does not approve, accept, or guarantee merchant accounts.
#### What Is High-Risk Payment Orchestration?
High-risk payment orchestration is the technical management of payment flows across multiple acquiring or processing connections used for higher-risk merchant traffic. It can centralize routing rules, provider priorities, cascading and transaction handling.
#### Does Payment Orchestration Replace an Acquirer?
No. An orchestration platform connects and manages payment routes across available providers. The acquiring provider still determines whether it accepts the merchant and which traffic it permits.
#### What Is the Difference Between Routing and Cascading?
Routing selects the first eligible provider for a payment. Cascading determines whether another eligible route should be attempted after a qualifying failure or technical problem.
#### Does Every Decline Trigger a Cascade?
No. Whether another provider can be attempted depends on the response and the configured payment logic. Some failures may be eligible for another route, while others should stop the transaction.
#### Can Different Merchants Use Different Routing Rules?
Yes. Routing can be configured around merchant projects and transaction characteristics so different portfolios do not need to use the same provider sequence.
#### Does Adding an Acquirer Mean Rebuilding the Checkout?
Not necessarily. A central orchestration layer can keep provider integration and routing logic behind the existing payment interface. Provider onboarding, configuration, testing and commercial approval may still be required.
#### What Does Payneteasy Provide in This Architecture?
Payneteasy provides payment gateway and orchestration technology, including provider connections, configured routing, cascading and transaction management. It does not provide or guarantee a high-risk merchant account.
#### Do you take on our payment or settlement risk?
No. Your settlement and payment risk stays with you and your acquirers. Payneteasy does not pool merchants and does not hold or assume the risk on your transactions. The platform is the technology that makes your existing risk easier to manage — not a party that absorbs it.
#### How does cascading work across multiple acquirers?
You define a route: an ordered list of eligible banks for a given set of payment attributes such as country, currency, card type, and amount. When the first bank declines, the platform passes the payment to the next bank in your route. The logic and the order are entirely yours, applied consistently across 1000+ pre-built integrations.
#### Can we run Payneteasy on our own infrastructure?
Yes. The platform supports on-prem deployment in addition to cloud, so it can run inside your own perimeter when data-residency rules or your security requirements call for it. Card-data handling and tokenization also reduce the PCI scope your own systems carry.
#### Will our customers see Payneteasy's brand?
No. The platform is white-label, so the checkout and customer-facing flow carry your brand, not ours. The routing, cascading, and fraud filtering run underneath, invisible to your merchants and their customers.
#### Is Payneteasy a high-risk payment gateway?
Payneteasy provides [white-label payment gateway](https://payneteasy.com/solutions/gateway) and payment orchestration technology that can support businesses operating in high-risk and other demanding verticals. It sits above your existing acquirers and PSPs, providing capabilities such as smart routing, cascading, fraud prevention and centralized payment management across 1000+ pre-built integrations.
Payneteasy is not a high-risk merchant account provider or acquirer. You keep your own acquiring relationships and settlement arrangements, while Payneteasy provides the technology layer for managing payment flows across them.
#### Do you offer a high-risk payment gateway for UK businesses?
Yes. UK-based high-risk businesses can run Payneteasy's control layer on top of the acquirers and PSPs they already use, with smart routing and cascading applied across 1000+ pre-built integrations and 130+ auto-learning fraud filters screening traffic before it ever reaches a bank. Payneteasy does not become your merchant account provider or take on your settlement risk, can run on-prem when data-residency or security requirements call for it, and stays fully white-label under your own brand.
---
## Hosted Fields: keep your checkout, keep card data out of your systems
Source: https://payneteasy.com/blog/hosted-fields
_Accept cards directly on your own checkout page, while raw card data is collected directly by Payneteasy instead of your systems._
Accept cards directly on your own checkout page, while raw card data is collected directly by Payneteasy instead of your systems.
28.09.2026 6 min read
You have spent time getting your checkout right. The layout, the wording, the order of the fields, the light and dark themes — all of it tuned to the way your payers actually behave. Then compliance enters the room. The moment your page handles a raw card number, that page, its JavaScript and your backend become part of the PCI DSS scope you have to manage. The usual escape is a hosted payment page: you send the payer to a page you don’t control, and the checkout you designed disappears at the most sensitive step.
Hosted Fields removes that trade-off. You keep your checkout. Your page code and backend never receive the raw card data.
### What Hosted Fields is
Hosted Fields lets you build the payment form on your own site and drop the sensitive card inputs into it as fields served by Payneteasy. Three fields — **card number**, **expiry date** and **CVV** — are each loaded as a separate, cross-origin iframe from the Payneteasy domain. Everything around them — name, email, cardholder name, your headings, your “Pay” button — stays yours.
To the payer, it looks and behaves like a single form. Technically, the three card fields are isolated: their contents live in Payneteasy-origin iframes that your page code cannot read, so the card number, expiry and CVV never enter your page’s DOM or JavaScript, the requests to your server, or your logs. That isolation also keeps card data away from the third-party scripts on your page — analytics, tag managers, chat widgets — which on a regular form have the same access to the inputs as your own code does.
#### You keep your design — including the theme
You control the placement, spacing, borders, backgrounds and field containers with your regular CSS. The inputs inside the hosted fields are styled through the Hosted Fields SDK, so they match the rest of your checkout — including light and dark themes.
The screenshots below show the same checkout in light and dark themes: when you switch the theme, the card number, MM/YY and CVV fields are restyled to match the rest of the form, instead of standing out as a foreign block.
Hosted Fields checkout in light theme
Hosted Fields checkout in dark theme
The most sensitive step of checkout stays on your page, in your brand, with the UX you have already optimised. No redirect at the moment the card is entered, no unfamiliar page, no lost context.
### How it works
1. Your server requests a single-use `ephemeralTicket` from Payneteasy and places it on the checkout page. The ticket lives for 15 minutes and authorises exactly one tokenization attempt. Your private RSA signing key stays on your server and never reaches the browser — only the ticket does.
2. The payer enters their card details into the hosted fields on your page.
3. On “Pay”, the SDK exchanges those details for a `hostedFieldsToken` — a single-use token, valid for 5 minutes, that stands in for the card details in the next request. Your page code never sees the raw card data, only this token.
4. Your server sends the `hostedFieldsToken` to the Sale (or Preauth) API in place of the card parameters.
The two objects do different jobs:
**ephemeralTicket** → authorises one tokenization attempt (issued server-side, safe to place on the page).
**hostedFieldsToken** → represents the card details in the subsequent Sale request (single-use, and the card cannot be reconstructed from it).
On the payment API side, the change is small: four card parameters (`credit_card_number`, `expire_month`, `expire_year`, `cvv2`) are replaced by one `hosted_fields_token`. The other Sale parameters stay the same. The token is accepted by Sale and Preauth (and, for deposit-to-card transfers, for the receiving card).
#### What the integration looks like
The basic front-end setup starts with one script tag and one SDK initialization:
```
const sdk = HostedFields.init({
endpointId: ENDPOINT_ID,
fields: {
cardNumber: { type: 'pan', placeholder: '1234 1234 1234 1234' },
expiryDate: { type: 'exp' },
cvv: { type: 'cvv' }
},
onReady: () => { payButton.disabled = false; },
onToken: token => sendToYourServer({ hosted_fields_token: token }),
onError: error => showError(error.payerMessage)
});
payButton.addEventListener('click', () => sdk.tokenize(EPHEMERAL_TICKET));
```
`cardNumber`, `expiryDate` and `cvv` are the ids of empty `` elements in your markup; the SDK creates a Payneteasy-origin iframe inside each. You style the containers with your own CSS and pass input styles through the SDK; the SDK toggles `hf-field--focus`, `hf-field--filled` and `hf-field--error` on the containers so your CSS can react to what happens inside the iframe.
Load the SDK with a plain `