Payments glossary
Hosted checkout
A hosted checkout is a payment page run by the payment provider instead of the merchant. The customer is handed over - by redirect or an embedded frame - to enter payment details on the provider's secure page, keeping card data off the merchant's systems entirely.
How hosted checkout works
The merchant's site creates a payment session - amount, reference, customer details - and hands the customer to the provider's page, either by full redirect or inside an embedded frame. The provider's page collects the card or bank details, runs 3DS2 authentication where needed, presents the available payment methods, and returns the customer with the result; a webhook confirms the outcome to the merchant's server independently of the browser. Because sensitive data is only ever entered on the provider's systems, the merchant's PCI DSS obligations shrink to the lightest assessment tier.
Hosted checkout versus building your own
Hosted is the fast, safe default: new payment methods appear without development work, compliance sits with the provider, and the page is maintained by people who do nothing else. A direct API integration buys pixel-level control of the payment experience at the cost of carrying far more of the security burden yourself. The middle ground - provider-hosted fields embedded inside the merchant's own page - trades some simplicity for a seamless look. The right choice is a question of team capacity, not ambition: a well-localised hosted page, showing the methods local customers actually use, converts strongly. On LekkaPay, the hosted route presents cards, digital wallets, Instant EFT and voucher payments on one provider-maintained page.
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