What is a Payment Aggregator vs. Payment Facilitator?

Payment aggregators and facilitators are services that enable a business to receive online payments without opening a traditional merchant bank account. However, they differ in how they set up merchant accounts, liability, and control. It also affects the cost, flexibility, and risk involved in your decision-making process.

A payment aggregator is a third-party service where a single master merchant account processes payments for many merchants at once. This model indicates that businesses are not required to open their own accounts. Alternatively, a payment facilitator (a payfac) lets a business start a payment stream quickly, but it is also more complex. A payfac registers a merchant as a sub-account while letting that merchant operate as independently as a business in its own building.

• Aggregator: A good way to understand how an aggregator works is by comparing it to renting a ready-to-move apartment. In such a scenario, you get a home quickly with minimal effort, but you can barely change things to suit your liking.
• Facilitator: On the other hand, a facilitating service is more like having your own unit in a managed apartment building: you can get a personalized environment, but you do have to go through more formalities and documentation.

The main disadvantage when comparing these two payment models is the trade-off between having the freedom to run a business yourself and the comfort and support of a payment solution that handles everything for you.

自問してみてください。

・ What is my timeframe for setting up a payment system?
・ Do I want my checkout to be thoroughly branded?
・ Is my current or anticipated transaction volume so high that a different kind of business analysis (underwriting) will be necessary?

Decision factors to consider:

• Size of the business and resource availability for setup
• Tolerance for account holds or terminations
• Level of checkout personalization required
• Compliance capacity (AML, KYC, PCI DSS)
• Plan of growth and entry into new markets