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?