Platform payments describe the payment infrastructure, flows, and commercial models that allow a software platform or marketplace to process transactions on behalf of the businesses and individuals that use it. Unlike a single merchant accepting payments for its own goods or services, a platform facilitates payments between its users, connecting buyers with sellers, patients with providers, tenants with landlords, or any other parties that transact within the platform’s ecosystem. The platform sits in the middle of these transactions, managing the payment lifecycle from authorisation through to settlement.
The complexity of platform payments stems from the multi-party nature of the transactions. A marketplace might need to split a single payment between a seller, a shipping provider, and the platform’s own commission. A vertical SaaS platform might process payments on behalf of hundreds of small businesses, each requiring its own merchant account, settlement schedule, and tax reporting. The platform must handle onboarding, identity verification, compliance, and ongoing monitoring for each of these sub-merchants, responsibilities that grow linearly with the number of merchants on the platform.
Historically, platforms have approached this challenge in one of three ways: becoming a registered payment facilitator (PayFac), using a managed PayFac service like Stripe Connect, or building on top of payment infrastructure that handles the complexity on their behalf. The PayFac model offers maximum control but requires significant regulatory investment. Managed PayFac services simplify compliance but lock the platform into a single PSP and limit commercial flexibility. The third option, a PSP-neutral payment layer, is increasingly attractive because it avoids the regulatory overhead and single-provider lock-in.
Shuttle Global is purpose-built for platform payments. Through its Embedded Payments product, Shuttle gives platforms a payment infrastructure, with merchant onboarding, a choice of gateway for each payment method, a PCI DSS Level 1 certified layer, and transaction and refund data in one format, without requiring the platform to register as a PayFac or commit to a single processor. Platforms can collect payments across online, remote (Links Checkout), and telephone (Voice Checkout) channels, all through one integration. Shuttle’s PSP-neutral architecture means platforms can offer their merchants broad payment coverage by configuring the processor that suits each merchant, while the platform retains commercial flexibility.