What is a Payment Service Provider (PSP)?
If you are a merchant trading on the internet, then you need a method of accepting payment for the goods and services that you provide. The most convenient method, for both you and your customers, is for you to accept payment by credit or debit card. But how do you present card details to the bank for settlement? could print out the card details you received and send them to the bank using, say, a POS terminal – but this would be slow, labour-intensive, and prone to mistakes. Or you could write software to interface your e-commerce system directly with the banking networks – but this would be a major programming project, even if the banks were willing to let you do this. The simplest solution is to use a Payment Service Provider (PSP). A Payment Service Provider acts as a gateway between your e-commerce system and the banks. The PSP takes payment details from your customer, checks the details with the appropriate bank, and sends the result of the check back to your system. Authorisatio
