A payment service provider (PSP) is the broad industry term used to describe companies that provide a turnkey solution to allow merchants to accept payments online without having to set up their own dedicated merchantMerchant merchant An individual or business that accepts payments in exchange for goods or services. account. PSPs operate a single merchant account and offer individual merchants sub accounts which makes it very quick to onboard a merchant. The companies discussed in this post are all PSPs using a variety of different channels (online, point-of-sale, mobile) and are active in different geographies.
A payment gatewayGateway gateway A service that authorizes and processes card payments for online merchants. Examples include Stripe, Adyen, and PayPal. is a technology that sits on top of a merchant’s own account or a PSP, that performs a number of functions on merchants behalf. They analyse, encrypt and transmit transaction data to an issuing bank to request authorisation and then authorises the transfer of funds when its authorisation is approved. PSPs generally force merchants to use their built-in payment gateways but if a merchant has their own merchant account then they can choose to connect to any gateway.
Vibhu is a global payments leader and PhD researcher in real-time payments, dedicated to making payments simpler, smarter, and more inclusive. With 20 years of payments experience across Citibank, Adyen, IKEA, Snapdeal, iPayLinks — and markets spanning India, China, Southeast Asia, Europe, and Australia— he brings a truly global perspective to the future of money. Vibhu is also the founder of PaymentsPedia.com, a knowledge hub where he shares insights on cards, crypto, cross-border flows, and real-time rails.📧 vibhu@paymentspedia.com | LinkedIn