Payment gateway

What it means

A payment gateway takes card or transfer payments on the website and passes the money to the merchant. It handles authorisation, cardholder verification and returning the result to the online store.

The merchant never sees the card details - those stay with the gateway and its partners. That is why connecting a gateway is materially different from a "pay by transfer" button with a bank account on it.

A card payment taken through a gateway on the website is not a sale that has to be recorded in eKasa. The cash register covers cash and card payments at the point of sale, so an online store that accepts cash at its own pickup point or on delivery needs one as well, even though online payments go through the gateway.

How it works in practice

The money usually arrives not per order but as a settlement net of fees. So the books match the order, the gateway report and the bank statement; the fee is a cost in its own right, not a discount off revenue.

Comparing gateways means looking at the transaction fee, settlement speed, support for refunds and chargebacks, and whether it offers the payment methods your customers actually use.

For larger B2B orders it is often cheaper to put a Pay by square QR code on the invoice and let the payment reach the account directly, with no gateway fee. Card payment through the gateway then stays for small customers, for whom convenience and instant order confirmation matter most.

What to watch out for

On small orders, gateway and carrier fees can eat the whole margin - so they belong in the price calculation, not in an end-of-month surprise. Access to the gateway admin is protected with two-factor authentication, because the payout account number is changed there.

A gateway may hold back a reserve from payouts to cover refunds and chargebacks. Anyone who does not plan for it finds less money in the account than expected, and the books carry an open receivable from the gateway that has to be reconciled regularly against its report.