Interested in the payment facilitator (Payfac) model?
Thinking of becoming one, or ready to learn what they’re all about?
You’re in the right place. Think of this site as your roadmap to achieving software-led payments. We go all out to be vertical software companies’ trusted source for information and analysis about embedded payments and becoming a payment facilitator.
What is a Payfac?
What Is the Payment Facilitator Model?
Payment facilitators have simplified the merchant application and onboarding process and tailored it to the businesses they serve, enabling them to begin accepting card payments more quickly.
Payment Facilitator vs ISO. What’s the Difference?
Like Payfacs, ISOs provide merchants with access to the payments system on behalf of their acquiring bank partners. But they differ from payment facilitators (PFs) in important ways.
How Becoming a PF Improves the Merchant Experience
For many ISVs, becoming a payment facilitator can help them gain control and improve their merchant experience to deliver the best possible solution to their customers, end to end.
Learn more about the Payfac model and the payments ecosystem with these guides
The Payfac eBook
There’s plenty of talk regarding payment facilitators and how they fit in to software-led payments. But it can be a lot to sort through: What is a payment facilitator, exactly? What do they do? What’s involved in becoming one? And who should make that move?
Payments 101: A Guide to Who Does What in Payments
Whenever a consumer pays for a good or service, the process is quick and easy. But behind the scenes, a massive system is humming, making that transaction and more than a billion like it possible every day. Who are the primary players? The new entrants? And how do they all fit together?
Compliance 101
Payment facilitators – also known as Payfacs – are obligated to follow rules and regulations from the multiple entities that govern the payments ecosystem. Compliance is achieved by implementing the appropriate processes needed to adhere to these rules and remaining aware of changing conditions.
Underwriting 101
Before a Payfac can onboard a new submerchant, they must first ensure that the business is legitimate and does not engage in illegal activity. This guide will walk you through the basics of what’s involved in underwriting, from collecting merchant information to required checks and best practices to onboarding.
What do Payfacs do?
What are payment facilitators responsible for?
Payment facilitators – also known as Payfacs – operate in cooperation with acquiring banks, card networks, and the regulators who oversee the payments system.
Who’s Who in a Payments Transaction?
Cashless payment transactions are supported by banks, card networks, payment processors, and software providers. Who are the entities involved and what, exactly, do they do?
Breaking Down the Merchant Onboarding Process
Traditionally, payment processing providers might go directly to merchant locations, applications in hand. Payfacs today perform a similar function, but often at much greater speed.
Have questions about becoming a payment facilitator?
What are the benefits of becoming a Payfac?
How Does Becoming A Payfac Improve Your Merchant's Experience?
Traditionally, software providers were at the mercy of third parties who handled their payments. This created a fragmented experience while leaving the software provider with little control.
How Do Software Companies Fit Into the Payments Revenue Food Chain?
As software companies become a larger part of the payments world, they will have to determine how far up the payments revenue food chain they want to go.
Can Payment Facilitators Claim Processing Fees as Top-Line Revenue?
For many startups, top-line or gross revenue is a factor that investors often use to determine a company’s valuation. Maximizing that number has a tangible impact.
Getting Started
Determining Whether the ROI Makes Sense
The first step in becoming a Payfac is ensuring that you will achieve a positive ROI from doing so.
One of the main benefits of the payment facilitator model is the increase in revenue you get from each transaction processed using your software. But the cost and time investment involved means that any company considering the option should conduct an ROI analysis.
In general, if a software company is processing over $50 million of transaction volume through their software, the ROI of adopting the Payfac model makes sense. However, there are many factors that could change this figure.
Use our ROI Calculator to determine whether it makes sense financially for your business to become a Payfac.
When is It Worth Becoming a Payment Facilitator?
For many B2B software companies, the reasons for offering a proprietary payments product make sense: deepening relationships, additional revenue, increased valuations. But becoming a PF isn’t for everyone.
How Does a Software Company Become a Payment Facilitator?
Bringing payments in-house has the potential to open up new revenue and better control of the experience ISVs provide for their merchant customers. But what does it take?
What is the Relationship Between Payment Facilitators and Merchant Acquirers?
Perhaps no relationship is more important to a payment facilitator than the one they have with a merchant acquirer.
How much does it cost to become a Payment Facilitator?
One of the main benefits to adopting the Payfac® model is the increase in revenue you get from each transaction processed using your software. But of course, there is also cost involved. So naturally, any company considering the option needs to make sure the investment they’ll make in the Payfac model makes sense financially.
So how much does it cost? Fortunately, the range of costs to integrate payments into a software platform is already well established.
On-Demand Webinars
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