How to Choose a Payment Processor

Start with acceptance, not price. Confirm that the provider's acquirer will underwrite your industry, countries and volume; then compare approval rates, payment methods, settlement terms and total cost, and check how you would leave if it does not work out.

1. Acceptance first

Get confirmation that your MCC, registration country, target markets and monthly volume are within policy. Everything else is irrelevant if the answer here is no.

2. Revenue performance

Authorisation rate in your top markets and card types.
Local payment methods your customers expect.
3-D Secure handling and exemption strategy.
Retry, dunning and account updater support if you bill recurring.

3. Money and terms

Blended or interchange-plus pricing, and what is excluded.
Settlement frequency, currency and FX margin.
Reserve type, percentage and release schedule.
Chargeback fees, monthly minimums and gateway fees.

4. Operations

Integration type and PCI scope: hosted, components or full API.
Reporting and reconciliation quality.
Named support versus ticket-only, and response times.
Sandbox quality and documentation.

5. Exit and redundancy

Check the notice period, whether stored card credentials can be migrated, and whether you can add a second provider without breaching exclusivity. Redundancy is what keeps revenue running during an account review.

Total cost is not the discount rate

A slightly cheaper rate with a lower authorisation rate, weekly settlement and a large reserve is usually more expensive in practice. Model cost per successful transaction and cash-flow impact together.

What is a PSP?

A payment service provider is the company that connects your checkout to the card schemes and local payment methods, submits transactions for authorisation, and reports on them. Some PSPs also hold the acquiring licence; many route your transactions to a separate acquiring bank.

PSP vs acquirer

The PSP provides the technology and the commercial relationship; the acquirer holds the scheme licence, underwrites your business and settles your money. Many merchants need both, sometimes bundled by one provider, sometimes contracted separately.

Chargeback ratio

Chargeback ratio is the number of chargebacks in a month divided by the transactions or volume in that period, expressed as a percentage. It is the metric acquirers watch most closely, because card schemes place merchants above their thresholds into monitoring programmes with fees and remediation requirements.

Rolling reserve

A rolling reserve is a percentage of each settlement that your acquirer holds for a fixed period before releasing it. It exists to cover refunds and chargebacks the acquirer might otherwise have to fund, and it directly affects your working capital.

All payment guides

Find a payment provider that fits your business

Add your business essentials once and see which PSPs and acquirers match your profile before applying.

Find my payment provider

Nothing is shared with a provider until you submit your onboarding pack. Approval is always the provider's decision.