Payments glossary
Payment service provider (PSP)
A payment service provider (PSP) is a company that enables businesses to accept payments - cards, EFT, wallets, vouchers - through a single integration and contract, bundling gateway technology, acquiring connections, risk management and settlement.
What a PSP actually provides
A payment service provider bundles everything a business needs to get paid into one integration and one contract: gateway technology, connections to acquiring banks, alternative payment methods, fraud and risk tools, tokenisation for repeat billing, and consolidated settlement and reporting. The merchant integrates once and gains a portfolio of payment capabilities that would otherwise mean separate contracts with an acquirer, a gateway vendor, an EFT provider and a fraud tool.
PSP, gateway, PayFac - untangling the labels
The terms overlap because most modern providers are several things at once. "Gateway" names the technology layer; "payment facilitator" names a specific commercial model, with sub-merchants under a master merchant account; "PSP" is the umbrella term for the whole service. A single company - LekkaPay included - can offer gateway-only connections for merchants with their own acquiring, and full-service facilitation for merchants that want one provider for everything.
Choosing a PSP in South Africa
The local test is method coverage and settlement clarity. A South African checkout typically needs cards with 3-D Secure, instant EFT, digital wallets and increasingly vouchers - plus clean ZAR settlement and reporting that survives an accountant's scrutiny. Ask which acquirers the provider routes to, how quickly funds settle, and what happens when you outgrow the starting arrangement. LekkaPay's gateway covers cards, instant EFT (via Ozow in South Africa and NIBSS in Nigeria), wallets and vouchers behind one integration.
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Payments without the jargon.
One integration, every way Africa pays - we'll handle the acronyms.