Guides
Step-by-step payment guides for merchants: checkout, 3DS and SCA, chargebacks, routing and payouts, with cited sources and practical checklists.
3D Secure 2 and SCA under PSD2: exemptions, liability shift and conversion
How 3D Secure 2 meets PSD2 strong customer authentication: €30 low-value and €100 to €500 TRA exemptions, out-of-scope payments, liability shift.
How to accept crypto payments as a business: setup, compliance and accounting
Accept crypto payments in 6 steps: choose a MiCA-authorised gateway, pass KYB, set EUR settlement, add checkout, test and reconcile. Fees typically 0.4–2%.
Acquirer vs issuer: what the acquiring bank and the issuing bank each do
Acquirer vs issuer: the issuing bank gives the customer a card, the acquiring bank accepts payments for the merchant. Roles, interchange and chargebacks.
Alternative payment methods in Europe: popular APMs by country, costs and integration
Which alternative payment methods to offer in 12 European markets: iDEAL at about 70% in NL, BLIK, Bizum, TWINT, invoice, typical fees and integration paths.
Buy now pay later for merchants: how BNPL works and what it costs
How buy now pay later works for online shops: who pays the fee, who carries the credit risk, how payouts work and what EU and UK rules change for merchants.
Casino payment methods: what players use and how operators offer them
Online casino payment methods explained for operators: cards, e-wallets, bank transfers, local methods, vouchers and crypto, plus how to process deposits.
Chargeback fee: what Stripe, PayPal and other providers charge per dispute
Chargeback fee by provider, checked 2 Nov 2026: Stripe $15 (US) or £20/€20 (UK/IE) plus contest fees; PayPal US $15–$30 per dispute or a $20 card chargeback.
Chargebacks and payment disputes: lifecycle, reason codes, VAMP and ECM thresholds
How card disputes work in 2026: 120-day filing window, reason-code families, Visa VAMP 1.5% and Mastercard ECM 1.5% thresholds, evidence and prevention.
Checkout conversion: why shoppers abandon payment and how to fix it
About 70% of online carts are abandoned. Fix the payment step with local methods, wallets, 3-D Secure exemptions, clear errors and retries: a 2026 checklist.
Cross-border payment solutions for merchants: acquiring, FX, local methods and payouts
How to accept and send cross-border payments: local vs cross-border acquiring, 1.15% vs 0.2% interchange, FX and DCC rules, local methods, payouts, compliance.
Crypto payment gateway API: invoices, webhooks, payouts and white label
How a crypto payment gateway API works: invoice lifecycle, signed webhooks, underpayments, idempotency, payouts and white label, in 6 integration steps.
E-wallets for merchants: how digital wallets work and which to accept
How e-wallets work for merchants: Apple Pay and Google Pay tokens, PayPal and other stored-balance wallets, local wallets by country, and how to choose.
Giropay and Sofort alternatives: what to offer instead in 2026
Giropay ended on 30 June 2024 and Sofort on 30 September 2024. Compare the replacements: Wero, pay by bank, Klarna, SEPA direct debit, eps and iDEAL.
High-risk payment processing: a practical guide for merchants
High-risk merchant account basics: why providers freeze accounts, rolling reserves, underwriting prep, and how multi-provider routing keeps payments running.
How to create a payment link: pay by link, QR codes, fees and security explained
Payment links let you get paid without a website: create a link in 2 minutes, share it by email, WhatsApp or QR code, and accept cards, iDEAL or BLIK.
iGaming payment gateway: how operators choose one (and why one is rarely enough)
How to choose an iGaming payment gateway: licence fit, local deposit methods, withdrawals, approval rates, KYC hand-offs and multi-provider routing. Checklist.
Marketplace payments: split payments, seller payouts, licensing and providers
How marketplaces handle payments: split payments, seller KYC, payouts, the PSD2 licensing question and 5 marketplace providers compared with 2026 pricing.
Network tokenization: what it is and why it can lift approval rates
What network tokenization is, how scheme tokens differ from gateway and vault tokens, and how they keep card-on-file payments working after reissue.
Omnichannel payments: unifying online, in-app and in-store payments
What omnichannel and unified commerce payments are: one view of the customer across web, app and store, tokens, cross-channel refunds and reporting.
Payment API and webhooks: how to integrate payments reliably
How a payment API and webhooks work together: payment states, idempotency keys, signed webhooks, retries, duplicates and reconciliation, with a checklist.
How to improve your payment approval rate
Learn what payment approval rate means, why payments get declined and practical ways to improve approvals with routing, retries and better data.
Payment fraud prevention for online merchants: fraud types, tools and metrics
Stop card testing, account takeover and friendly fraud: a layered approach, the 1.5% Visa and Mastercard thresholds, false declines and risk-based routing.
Payment gateway integration: options, steps and go-live checklist
How to integrate a payment gateway: hosted checkout, embedded fields or direct API, PCI scope per option, webhooks, testing and a go-live checklist.
Payment gateway in Latin America: local terms, providers and costs for foreign merchants
How to choose a payment gateway for Latin America: local terms, cross-border vs local providers, Pix, OXXO and SPEI, and 2026 cost ranges.
Payment gateway testing: sandboxes, test cards, 3DS and webhook tests
How to test a payment gateway integration: sandbox accounts, test cards, declines, 3-D Secure, refunds, webhooks, idempotency and go-live checks.
Payment gateway vs processor vs PSP vs acquirer: who does what in a payment
Payment gateway vs payment processor, PSP and acquirer: what each one does in a card payment, who holds the licence and the money, and how to choose a setup.
Payment KPIs: the metrics to track for checkout, approvals and costs
The payment KPIs that matter: checkout conversion, approval rate, soft and hard declines, 3DS success, chargeback and fraud rates, cost and payout time.
Payment orchestration: routing, cascading and one API for several PSPs
How payment orchestration works: routing rules, cascading on soft declines, network tokens, a 3-PSP worked example, build vs buy and 8 platforms compared.
Payment processing fees: what a card payment really costs a European merchant
What card payments cost EU merchants: interchange caps, scheme fees, interchange++ vs blended pricing, a worked example, APM costs and hidden fees to check.
Payment routing and smart routing: rule types, cascading and metrics that matter
What payment routing and smart payment routing are, the main rule types (cost, approval, BIN, currency, risk), when to cascade and which metrics matter.
PSD3 and the Payment Services Regulation: status, timeline and what changes for merchants
PSD3 and the PSR were agreed on 27 November 2025 but are not yet adopted. Timeline to application around 2028, SCA, fraud and open banking changes.
Recurring payments: how they work and how to cut failed charges
How recurring payments work: customer- vs merchant-initiated transactions, card on file, network tokens, retries and SCA rules for repeat charges.
How to collect payments by SEPA Direct Debit: a step-by-step merchant guide
Step by step: creditor identifier, mandate, pre-notification, first collection, returns and retries. How merchants set up SEPA Direct Debit.
Recurring and subscription payments: methods, card-on-file, retries and dunning
How to take recurring payments in Europe: card-on-file and MIT, network tokens with up to 5% higher approvals, SEPA Direct Debit, retries and dunning schedules.
How to add Wero to your checkout: a step-by-step merchant guide
Step by step: what changes when iDEAL, Payconiq or Paylib move to Wero, what to ask your payment provider and how to test Wero payments.
What is a PayFac? Payment facilitators and embedded payments explained
How the PayFac model works, how it differs from ISOs, PayFac-as-a-service and marketplaces, and what becoming one costs: 12 to 18 months and $1M+ upfront.
What is a payment service provider (PSP) and how do you choose one?
What a PSP does, how it differs from a gateway, acquirer and orchestrator, the main PSP types in Europe, what they cost and a checklist for choosing one.
What is Pay by Bank? How it works in the US, UK and EU
Pay by Bank lets customers pay straight from a bank account. How it works on ACH, RTP and FedNow in the US and on open banking in the UK and EU.