The payfac model has catapulted into the mainstream, thanks to payments disruptors like PayPal, Square, and Stripe. The growth in the number of payfacs, and in the payment volume passing through them, is reshaping key relationships within the payments ecosystem. But the model bears some drawbacks for the diverse swath of companies adopting it, as well as for the merchants that work with them.

Payments Ecosystem: Acquirers and processors, networks, and issuers each play distinct roles in the payments purchasing chain. But those roles are shifting amid commoditization, new competitive dynamics, and technological innovation.

The payfac model is a framework that allows merchant-facing companies to embed card payments into their software—which in turn enables their customers to process payments.

Check out the “Payment Facilitators” report.

Increasing digitization among the 32 million US small businesses is changing the competitive landscape and forcing banks, acquirers, and fintechs to invest in next-generation features. These features range from payments and value-added services to outreach.

Visa Acceptance Cloud, which lets payment service providers embed transaction software into digital devices, opens new acceptance channels for Visa.

Supporting e-Transfer Autodeposit setup ensures that the FI is the customers’ primary peer-to-peer (P2P) payment facilitator. This feature is the most in-demand transfers tool Desjardins could add: 34.0% of respondents considered it “extremely valuable.”. Enabling foreign transfers appeals to a niche demographic that regularly sends money abroad.

Digital commerce platforms help merchants of all sizes sell online, making them an increasingly big factor in ecommerce payments. This creates new opportunities for processors, gateways, and other payments stakeholders to reach merchants—but also complicates their relationship.

The pandemic accelerated payments industry digitization across the entire landscape, as merchants turned to ecommerce to keep doors open, consumers eschewed cash in favor of electronic and contactless payments, and payments technology providers rapidly developed and launched new solutions to keep up.

Related content: Check out our “Payment Facilitators” report to learn about how Square’s PayFac model is disrupting the traditional merchant acquiring process and helping it build a merchant services empire.

Are crypto users ahead of the payments curve?

Article: Why are payments facilitators worth watching?

Report: Payment Facilitators. Article: Apple, PayPal signal growing interest in crypto. Article: Interest in crypto payments is widening among US consumers, per BitPay study.

In its most simple form, Shopify is a facilitator of brand experience, while Amazon is a destination that drives traffic to brands. Many brands chose to use both platforms simultaneously for somewhat different purposes—but always with the end goal of fostering sales.