A payment facilitator (payfac) is a payment service model that involves opening a master merchant account in an acquiring bank and registering clients as sub-merchants. Payment facilitator provides e-commerce businesses with their master merchant account, enabling them to accept online payments from customers on short notice, freeing them from the hassle of opening merchant accounts on their own.
Payment facilitators make it easier for merchants to get merchant accounts, without which they cannot accept online transactions from customers. By underwriting a business as a sub-merchant, payfacs eliminate the need for the merchant to go through a long and troublesome process of applying, verifying and onboarding at the acquiring bank. The payment facilitator model allows for handling large transaction volumes, which is extremely attractive for large businesses.
The work of payment facilitators is not limited to underwriting merchants. They also provide e-commerce businesses with the infrastructure they need to accept and process all kinds of transactions. Besides, payfacs offer many value-added services, including:
Unlike acquiring banks, payment facilitators are customer-focused, tailoring their services to the specific needs of each merchant. This allows businesses to be more flexible in choosing payment methods, entering new markets, and discovering new lines of revenue with the facilitator's qualified support.
If you want to quickly and easily get your own turnkey merchant account and competent management over it, payment facilitators will take care of this. To start accepting online payments with a payment facilitator, you just need to submit an application including answers to a few questions about your business. After verification and approval, you will be registered as a sub-merchant and ready to receive payments online.