The Question Every Platform Faces
At some point, every software platform that embeds payments hits the same fork in the road:
Option A: Standardise on a single PSP. Every merchant on your platform processes through Stripe, Adyen, or whichever gateway you've chosen.
Option B: Support multiple PSPs. Merchants choose their preferred gateway, or you assign gateways based on region, volume, or use case.
Option A is simpler. Option B is more flexible. The right answer depends on your merchants, your market, and how far you're planning to scale.
Here's the honest analysis.
The Single-PSP Approach
How It Works
Your platform integrates directly with one PSP — typically Stripe (via Connect) or Adyen (via Adyen for Platforms). All merchants on your platform process through that single gateway.
The Advantages
Simplicity. One API. One set of webhooks. One dashboard. One contract. One relationship to manage. Engineering complexity is minimal.
Speed to market. A single Stripe Connect integration can be live in days to weeks. No routing logic, no gateway abstraction, no multi-PSP configuration.
Proven at scale. Stripe and Adyen have built excellent platform tools. Connect and Adyen for Platforms are mature products used by major marketplaces and SaaS companies.
Support and documentation. Stripe's developer experience is industry-leading. You'll find answers to almost any integration question.
The Limitations
PSP lock-in. Your merchants must use your chosen PSP. If they have an existing relationship with a different gateway, they either switch or don't use your platform for payments.
Enterprise deal friction. Enterprise customers — insurance carriers, large retailers, travel operators — often mandate their PSP. They have negotiated rates, existing contracts, and compliance requirements tied to a specific gateway. "Switch to Stripe" is not an acceptable answer.
Geographic constraints. No single PSP offers optimal coverage and pricing in every market. Stripe's rates in Southeast Asia differ from Adyen's. A UK acquirer may be better for domestic transactions than a global PSP.
No leverage. With a single PSP, you have no negotiating power. If rates increase or terms change, your only options are to accept or rebuild on a different gateway — a project that takes months.
Channel limitations. Most single-PSP integrations cover online checkout only. Voice payments, payment links via SMS, and AI agent payment capture typically require separate infrastructure.
The PSP-Neutral Approach
How It Works
Your platform connects to a payment layer that supports multiple PSPs. Merchants are assigned a gateway based on their preference, geography, or your platform's configuration. Adding a new PSP is a configuration change, not an integration project.
The Advantages
Enterprise deal enablement. When an enterprise customer says "we use Worldpay," you say "no problem." The deal doesn't stall on payment infrastructure.
Merchant choice. Merchants bring their existing PSP relationships — negotiated rates, established contracts, compliance setups. They don't have to start over.
Geographic optimisation. Use the best acquirer for each region. Route UK transactions through a domestic acquirer. Route US transactions through a US processor. Optimise for authorisation rates and cost.
Negotiating leverage. With multiple PSPs available, you're not locked into any single provider's terms. If Stripe raises rates, you route more volume to an alternative. This leverage is structural, not theoretical.
Future-proofing. As payment methods evolve and new gateways emerge, adding support is configuration — not engineering.
The Limitations
More complex initial setup. A multi-PSP architecture has more moving parts than a single integration. Routing rules, gateway configuration, and merchant assignment all need design.
Potentially slower to start. If you use a payment layer, integration is still fast (weeks). But it's not as instant as dropping in a Stripe checkout widget.
Revenue share. Using a payment layer means sharing transaction revenue with the provider. A direct PSP integration may offer better unit economics per transaction.
What Forces the Decision
In theory, you could stay on a single PSP forever. In practice, three forces push platforms toward multi-PSP:
1. Enterprise Customer Mandates
This is the most common trigger. An enterprise customer in your pipeline says: "We use Worldpay. We're not switching."
It happens in every vertical:
Insurance: Carriers require specific payment processors aligned with their compliance frameworks
Travel: Airlines and operators have existing PSP relationships with negotiated rates for their transaction volumes
ERP/Finance: Enterprise clients won't change their treasury and payment infrastructure for a software vendor
Contact centres: BPO clients bring their own gateway and expect the platform to support it
You have three options: turn down the deal, build a custom integration for that PSP (months of work), or use PSP-neutral infrastructure that supports the gateway already.
The first enterprise PSP mandate is the moment most platforms realise single-PSP won't scale.
2. Geographic Expansion
Your platform launches in a new market. The PSP you've standardised on either doesn't support that region well, charges higher fees for cross-border transactions, or doesn't support local payment methods that are dominant in that market.
A single PSP forces a trade-off: higher costs or limited functionality in new markets. Multi-PSP lets you use the optimal provider for each region.
3. Risk and Redundancy
If your single PSP has an outage, your entire platform's payment processing stops. This isn't theoretical — every major PSP has experienced outages. Multi-PSP provides failover: if one gateway is down, transactions route to another.
The Transition Pattern
Most platforms follow the same path:
Stage 1: Single PSP. Platform integrates Stripe or Adyen. Works well for the first 50-200 merchants. Fast, simple, proven.
Stage 2: Friction. Enterprise prospects require different PSPs. Geographic expansion hits coverage gaps. The platform starts scoping a second gateway integration.
Stage 3: Decision point. Build a second PSP integration in-house (months of work, expanded PCI scope, ongoing maintenance) or adopt a PSP-neutral payment layer (weeks, single integration covers all gateways).
Stage 4: Multi-PSP. The platform either builds and maintains multiple PSP integrations (expensive, slow) or uses a payment layer (fast, scalable). The payment layer path is more common because it solves the problem without consuming engineering resources.
The platforms that recognise Stage 2 early and adopt a payment layer skip months of custom integration work. The ones that build integration-by-integration accumulate technical debt until the maintenance burden forces the switch anyway.
Making the Decision
Stay with a single PSP if:
All your merchants are comfortable with your chosen gateway
You don't serve enterprise customers with PSP mandates
You operate in a single geography with strong PSP coverage
Payment revenue optimisation is not a priority
You have no near-term need for voice, link, or AI agent payment channels
Go PSP-neutral if:
Enterprise customers require specific gateways (or you anticipate they will)
You operate across multiple geographies (or plan to)
You want negotiating leverage with your PSP
You need multi-channel payment coverage (voice, links, chat)
You want to future-proof against PSP changes
You want to monetise payments without locking merchants into a single provider
The hybrid approach
Some platforms maintain a "default" PSP (Stripe for most merchants) while supporting alternative gateways for enterprise customers that require them. A PSP-neutral payment layer makes this straightforward — most merchants route through the default, enterprise merchants route through their mandated gateway, all through the same integration and the same merchant experience.
FAQ
How many PSPs do I actually need? Most platforms use 2-4 actively. A primary gateway for the majority of transactions, one or two alternatives for enterprise mandates or geographic coverage, and optionally a backup for failover. The point of PSP-neutral infrastructure isn't to use all 40+ available gateways — it's to support whichever ones your merchants require without rebuilding.
Won't multiple PSPs complicate reconciliation? Not with a unified payment layer. Transactions from all gateways appear in one dashboard. Settlement data, refund tracking, and dispute management are consistent regardless of which PSP processed the transaction. The complexity is abstracted away.
What about tokenisation across PSPs? This is a key technical consideration. If you tokenise a card with Stripe, that token only works with Stripe. A PSP-neutral payment layer provides its own tokenisation — tokens work across any gateway. A card captured during a voice call can be charged later via a different PSP for an online transaction.
Is PSP-neutral more expensive? The payment layer charges per transaction (typically as a fee or revenue share). This adds a cost layer compared to direct PSP integration. But the comparison should include the engineering cost of building and maintaining multiple PSP integrations, PCI compliance, and the revenue impact of deals you can't close without PSP flexibility. For most platforms, the net cost is lower.
Can I switch from single-PSP to multi-PSP without disrupting existing merchants? Yes. A payment layer can connect to your existing PSP. Current merchants continue processing through the same gateway. New merchants (or enterprise customers with mandates) use whichever gateway they require. The transition is additive, not disruptive.
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