What Is a PSP (Payment Service Provider)?
A payment service provider (PSP) is the company that lets your business accept payments: it connects your checkout to card schemes and local payment methods, sends each payment for authorisation and reports the result. Some PSPs also hold the acquiring licence and settle the money to you; others route your payments to a separate acquiring bank that does.
What a PSP does
- Provides the checkout: a hosted payment page, an embedded component or an API.
- Stores card details as tokens, so you can charge returning customers without holding card data.
- Sends each payment to an acquirer or card scheme for authorisation.
- Runs 3-D Secure and fraud screening on each payment.
- Handles refunds, chargeback notifications and reporting.
- Adds local payment methods such as bank transfers and wallets.
PSP, acquirer, gateway or payment facilitator?
Acquirer
The acquirer holds the card scheme licence, underwrites your business and settles card payments to you. It decides whether your industry is accepted and on what terms, including reserves.
Payment gateway
A gateway only transmits payments between your checkout and the acquirer. It does not hold funds, settle money or underwrite you.
Payment facilitator
A payment facilitator signs merchants up as sponsored merchants on behalf of an acquirer and passes their settlement on to them. Onboarding is fast because you share the facilitator's account, but the facilitator can also stop processing for you quickly if your profile changes.
PSP with its own acquiring
Some providers hold both the technology and the acquiring licence. One contract covers checkout and settlement, but it also means one company controls both.
How PSPs are regulated in the EU
Under the second Payment Services Directive (PSD2), payment services may only be provided by authorised payment service providers, mainly banks, electronic money institutions and payment institutions. Acquiring payment transactions, meaning contracting with a merchant to accept and process its payments so the money reaches it, is itself a regulated payment service.
The EU is replacing PSD2 with a new directive and a Payment Services Regulation. The Council and the European Parliament reached a provisional agreement in November 2025; the texts still need formal adoption, and the new rules are not expected to apply before around 2028.
How to choose a PSP
- Written confirmation that your industry, markets and volume are accepted.
- Approval rates in your main markets, not global averages.
- The local payment methods and currencies your customers actually use.
- Who the acquirer is, and who settles the money to you.
- Settlement timing, reserve terms and FX costs.
- Whether your stored card tokens can be moved if you ever switch.
Try it with your own numbers
Rolling reserve calculatorSee what that percentage and hold period would tie up on your own volume.
How Ecompayer helps
Ecompayer is not a PSP. We match your business with a payment service provider whose acquirer accepts your industry and markets, through one online application.
- Add your business, markets, volumes and payment needs once.
- We match you with a PSP that fits your profile.
- Your account is prepared with the provider so you can go live.
Check your own situation
Which PSP fits depends on your industry, markets and volume. Answer four questions to start checking which providers may fit your business.
Four questions about your business
Industry, company country, customer markets and estimated monthly volume, that is all we need to begin.
Related guides
What is an acquirer?
An acquiring bank is licensed by the card schemes to accept card transactions on your behalf, holds your merchant account, and settles the funds to your bank. It also carries the financial risk if you cannot refund your customers, which is why the acquirer, not the gateway, decides whether you are accepted.
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.
How to choose a payment processor
Start with acceptance, not price. Confirm that the processor will take on your industry, markets and volume; then compare approval rates, the pricing model, settlement and reserve terms, integration and PCI scope, and how easily you can leave. The cheapest headline rate is rarely the cheapest processor once declines and cash flow are counted.
What is a merchant account?
A merchant account is an account held with an acquiring bank that allows you to accept card payments and receive settlement. It is not a business bank account: funds pass through it, are netted against refunds, fees and any reserve, and are then paid out to your ordinary bank account.
Find a payment provider that fits your business
Add your business essentials once and see which PSPs and acquirers match your profile before applying.
Check my payment optionsNothing is shared with a provider until you submit your onboarding pack. Approval is always the provider's decision.