Research tool
See the payment stack as responsibilities, not product labels.
A visual framework for understanding where checkout, gateway, processing, acquiring, networks and settlement can sit.
Payment architecture
Follow the transaction from customer to reconciliation.
01Customer
Chooses a payment method and authorises the transaction.
02Checkout / POS
Collects the payment instruction and starts the merchant flow.
03Gateway / PSP
Tokenises, authenticates, routes and passes payment data onward.
04Processor / acquirer
Connects the merchant transaction to the relevant payment network or rail.
05Network / bank rail
Carries authorisation, clearing or bank-payment messages.
06Settlement
Moves net funds and data into the merchant’s payout and reconciliation process.
Important: modern PSPs can combine several layers. The map is a responsibility framework, not a statement that every transaction uses six separate suppliers.
Next step
Compare providers with the same architecture in mind.
Once you know which layer does what, provider claims and pricing become easier to compare.