PSP-neutral (or processor-agnostic) describes a payment infrastructure design philosophy in which the technology layer that manages transactions is not commercially, technically, or architecturally tied to any single payment service provider. A PSP-neutral platform can connect to multiple processors, route transactions dynamically based on performance, cost, or geography, and add or remove PSPs without re-engineering its payment stack. The opposite of PSP-neutral is single-PSP dependency — where a business’s entire payment capability is built on one provider’s API, SDK, and commercial terms.
Single-PSP dependency is the default starting point for most businesses. When a company first integrates payments, it typically selects one processor — often Stripe, Adyen, or Braintree — and builds its payment flow around that provider’s specific API. This works well initially, but over time the limitations emerge. The PSP may not support a payment method the business needs in a new market. Its approval rates may underperform in certain regions. Its pricing may become uncompetitive as the business scales. Outages at the PSP mean downtime for the business. And migrating to a new provider means rebuilding the integration from scratch, re-certifying for PCI compliance, and managing a complex data migration.
A PSP-neutral architecture avoids these constraints by inserting an abstraction layer between the business and its PSPs. This layer normalises the API interface, tokenisation, settlement reporting, and dispute handling across all connected processors. The business integrates once with the abstraction layer and gains access to multiple PSPs without additional engineering work. Transactions can be routed intelligently — by geography, payment method, cost, or performance — and if one PSP experiences issues, traffic can be shifted to another without any customer-facing disruption.
Shuttle Global is built on a PSP-neutral architecture from the ground up. Rather than acting as a PSP itself, Shuttle serves as a payment layer that connects platforms to 40+ PSPs through a single API. Platforms using Shuttle’s Embedded Payments, Payment Links, or Voice Checkout are never locked into a single processor. They can onboard new PSPs as they expand into new markets, shift volume based on performance data, and maintain business continuity even when individual PSPs experience downtime. This neutrality also means Shuttle’s incentives are aligned with the platform’s: Shuttle succeeds when the platform’s payments work optimally, not when traffic is directed to a preferred processor.