Payments
Payment facilitator
Also known as PayFac
A payment facilitator is a company that holds a master merchant account and onboards sub-merchants beneath it, allowing them to accept card payments without their own acquiring relationship. Stripe and Square operate on this model.
In plain terms: A provider that lets you take card payments without applying for your own merchant account.
Why it matters
Why onboarding takes minutes rather than weeks. The trade-off is that the facilitator can suspend a sub-merchant far more readily than a traditional acquirer could terminate a dedicated merchant account.
Read the full guideGetting paid