Shuttle vs Checkout.com for Platforms

Two Models for Platform Payments

Checkout.com Flow and Shuttle both let platforms embed payments. But they come from fundamentally different starting points:

Checkout.com Flow is a platform and marketplace solution from Checkout.com — a premium PSP built for high-growth enterprise merchants. Flow lets platforms onboard sub-merchants and process their transactions through Checkout.com's direct acquiring network.

Shuttle is a PSP-neutral payment layer. It lets platforms embed multi-PSP payments through a single integration — supporting 40+ gateways, multiple payment channels, and white-label merchant tooling.

The core difference: Checkout.com Flow makes Checkout.com your sole processor. Shuttle lets merchants choose their processor — including Checkout.com.

Side-by-Side Comparison

Where Checkout.com Wins

Be honest about this — credibility matters.

Payment performance optimisation

This is Checkout.com's genuine edge. Their intelligent retry logic, network tokenisation, and account updater capabilities are best-in-class for maximising authorisation rates. If your platform's merchants are losing revenue to declined transactions, Checkout.com's performance stack is serious. They publish transparent benchmarks and have built their reputation on squeezing out basis points of approval rate improvement.

Direct acquiring in key markets

Checkout.com is a principal member of card networks and a direct acquirer in the UK, Europe, US, and MENA. This means fewer intermediaries, faster settlement, and often better interchange rates for high-volume merchants in those regions. For platforms concentrated in these geographies, Checkout.com's acquiring economics can be very competitive.

High-risk and complex verticals

Checkout.com has built deep expertise in verticals that many PSPs avoid — gaming, crypto, travel, and fintech. If your platform operates in one of these sectors, Checkout.com understands the risk profile, regulatory requirements, and chargeback patterns. Their underwriting appetite for complex verticals is broader than most acquirers.

Scale and throughput

Checkout.com is engineered for high-volume merchants processing at enterprise scale. If your platform's merchants individually process very large volumes, Checkout.com's infrastructure handles it without performance degradation. They're built for the kind of throughput that gaming and travel platforms demand.

Identity and KYC capabilities

Checkout.com's acquisition of Ubble gives them integrated KYC and identity verification for merchant onboarding. For platforms in regulated markets where identity verification is critical, this is a meaningful addition to the onboarding flow — especially in European markets where Ubble has strong document verification coverage.

Where Shuttle Wins

PSP flexibility — the structural difference

This is not a feature comparison. It's an architectural divide.

Checkout.com Flow routes every transaction through Checkout.com's network. If a merchant needs Worldpay, Stripe, Adyen, a regional acquirer, or any other PSP — Checkout.com cannot support it. This is the same single-PSP limitation that applies to Stripe Connect and Adyen for Platforms.

Shuttle connects to 40+ PSPs. Merchants choose their gateway — or your platform configures the optimal PSP per region, per merchant, per use case.

Why this matters: Enterprise merchants frequently mandate their PSP. They have existing contracts, negotiated rates, and banking relationships. "Switch everything to Checkout.com" is not always an option — especially when a merchant already has interchange-plus rates they've spent years negotiating with another acquirer.

The further upmarket your platform moves, the more this matters.

Enterprise deal enablement

Here's the scenario that plays out repeatedly: your platform lands an enterprise customer. They want embedded payments. But they already process through Worldpay, or Adyen, or a regional acquirer with rates that Checkout.com can't match for their specific volume and geography.

With Checkout.com Flow, the conversation stalls. The enterprise customer won't switch processors just to use your platform.

With Shuttle, you configure their existing PSP. The deal closes. Your platform earns revenue share on their transactions. No PSP migration conversation needed.

Multi-channel coverage

Checkout.com covers online and in-app payments. Shuttle covers:

• Embedded checkout

• PCI-compliant voice payments (IVR, agent-assisted, AI voice agents)

• White-label payment links (SMS, email, chat)

• Chat agent payments

• AI voice agent payments

If your platform serves contact centres, operates AI voice agents, or sends payment requests via messaging channels — Shuttle covers the channels Checkout.com doesn't. This is particularly relevant for platforms building on agentic payment infrastructure where voice and chat are primary payment channels, not secondary.

White-label everything

Checkout.com's merchant experience lives in their dashboard — "The Hub." Merchants know they're using Checkout.com. Shuttle's merchant experience is fully white-label — onboarding, portal, payment pages, and emails are all branded as your platform.

For platforms positioning themselves as the payments provider to their merchants, white-label is essential. The merchant should never know there's an infrastructure provider underneath.

Speed and flexibility

Checkout.com Flow typically requires enterprise-level engagement — sales cycle, volume commitments, enterprise contracts, and integration projects.

Shuttle's integration is a single API that takes weeks. No volume minimums, flexible contracts, and pre-built components that accelerate time to market.

PSP-neutral revenue share

With Checkout.com Flow, your platform's revenue share applies only to Checkout.com-processed transactions. If a merchant processes outside Checkout.com (because you couldn't support their PSP requirement), you earn nothing.

With Shuttle, your revenue share applies to all transactions — regardless of which PSP processes them. This means your highest-volume enterprise merchants (who are most likely to mandate their own PSP) still generate platform payment revenue.

The Single-PSP Problem

Every PSP-owned platform solution — Checkout.com Flow, Stripe Connect, Adyen for Platforms — shares the same structural limitation: all transactions must route through that PSP's network.

This works well when:

• Your merchants are in markets where that PSP has strong acquiring

• Your merchants don't have existing PSP commitments

• Your merchants are small enough that they don't negotiate their own rates

It breaks down when:

• Enterprise merchants mandate their own PSP

• Regional coverage requires acquirers the PSP doesn't support

• Merchants have pre-negotiated rates with other processors that Checkout.com can't match

• Your platform needs payment channels the PSP doesn't offer

Checkout.com Flow is a strong product if your entire merchant base will process through Checkout.com. But the question platforms need to ask is: will EVERY merchant, in EVERY market, for EVERY use case, be willing to process exclusively through Checkout.com?

For most platforms moving upmarket, the answer is no.

When to Choose Checkout.com

• Your platform's merchants are concentrated in UK, Europe, US, or MENA

• You operate in complex verticals (gaming, crypto, travel, fintech) where Checkout.com has deep expertise

• Maximising authorisation rates is your top priority and you want best-in-class retry logic

• All your merchants will process through Checkout.com — no PSP mandates

• You don't need voice, chat, or AI agent payment channels

• You can commit to enterprise volume requirements

• You're comfortable with Checkout.com-branded merchant experiences

When to Choose Shuttle

• Your merchants need or demand PSP choice

• You sell into enterprise where PSP mandates are common

• You operate across geographies where no single PSP has optimal coverage

• You need voice payments, payment links, or AI agent payment channels

• White-label merchant experience matters to your brand

• You want to go live quickly without enterprise contract negotiations

• You need to support merchants who already have negotiated rates with other acquirers

When to Use Both

Checkout.com can be one of the 40+ PSPs available through Shuttle. Platforms that value Checkout.com's authorisation rate optimisation in specific markets can configure Checkout.com as the default PSP for those regions — while using other PSPs elsewhere. This gives you Checkout.com's performance where it's strongest, plus flexibility everywhere else.

FAQ

Is Shuttle trying to replace Checkout.com?

No. Shuttle is not a PSP — it doesn't process transactions itself. Shuttle connects platforms to PSPs, including Checkout.com. If Checkout.com is the right PSP for a merchant, Shuttle routes their transactions through Checkout.com. The difference is that Shuttle doesn't require ALL merchants to use Checkout.com.

Can I migrate from Checkout.com Flow to Shuttle?

Yes. The migration is additive — keep existing Checkout.com merchants on Checkout.com (via Shuttle), and enable new merchants to choose their PSP. No merchant disruption required.

How does pricing compare?

Checkout.com Flow charges interchange-plus processing fees (custom negotiated) plus platform fees. Shuttle charges transaction-based fees across all PSPs. The net cost depends on volume, merchant mix, and PSP rates. For platforms with diverse merchant PSP requirements, Shuttle often reduces total cost because merchants use PSPs with better rates for their specific geography and volume.

What about Checkout.com's authorisation rate performance?

Checkout.com's intelligent retry, network tokens, and account updater are genuinely strong. When you route through Checkout.com via Shuttle, you still benefit from Checkout.com's performance optimisation on those transactions. Shuttle doesn't diminish the PSP's capabilities — it lets you access them alongside other PSPs.

Does Shuttle support the same complex verticals as Checkout.com?

Shuttle is PSP-agnostic, so vertical expertise depends on the PSP processing the transaction. If a gaming merchant processes through Checkout.com via Shuttle, they get Checkout.com's gaming expertise. If a merchant in another vertical needs a specialist acquirer, Shuttle routes to that acquirer instead. The platform gets the best of both worlds.

Related Reading

• When Your SaaS Outgrows Stripe Connect — the same single-PSP problem applies to Stripe Connect

• Shuttle vs Stripe Connect — the Stripe comparison

• Shuttle vs Adyen for Platforms — the Adyen comparison

• How Platforms Monetise Payments Without PSP Lock-In — why PSP-neutral architecture captures more payment revenue

• How to Get Payments Off Your Product Roadmap — the hidden cost of maintaining payment infrastructure

• Agentic Payments for Platforms — AI agent payments: a channel Checkout.com doesn't cover

• Shuttle vs Worldpay for Platforms — another enterprise PSP comparison

• Adyen for Platforms Alternatives — the full landscape of single-PSP alternatives

Need PSP flexibility that Checkout.com can't offer?

See how platforms use Shuttle to support Checkout.com AND 40+ other PSPs — with voice payments, AI agent channels, and fully white-label merchant experiences.

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