Merchant Question
What Is a Payment Gateway?
A plain-English explanation of payment gateways, how they fit into a payment stack and what merchants should compare.
Simple definition
A payment gateway is technology that securely transmits payment information between a merchant checkout and the payment infrastructure used to process a transaction.
Gateway versus processor
The terms are often bundled by providers, but they describe different functions. A gateway focuses on payment-data transmission and checkout connectivity; processing covers transaction handling and related infrastructure.
Questions for merchants
- Which payment methods does the gateway support?
- Which countries and currencies are available?
- How does it integrate with the checkout or POS?
- What fraud and authentication features are included?
- Are gateway charges separate from processing charges?