When you set up an online store or update your business’s checkout, choosing how you process payments is one of the biggest financial decisions you’ll make. Many international providers default to a payment facilitator model, bundling payment processing into a flat rate. But for growing Kiwi businesses, using a dedicated payment gateway with a linked merchant facility is often a much smarter, cost-effective choice.

Here is a straight up guide to the difference between a payment gateway and a payment facilitator, and how a linked gateway model puts money back into your business.

Gateway vs facilitator: What’s the difference?

To accept credit cards online, your transaction needs to travel from your website through a secure switch to the cardholder’s bank. How that connection is handled separates gateways from facilitators:

• Payment Facilitator (PayFac): A payment facilitator acts as an intermediary. They aggregate thousands of small businesses under their own single merchant account with a bank. While this makes signing up quick, they charge flat, higher transaction fees to cover their risk, and you rarely deal directly with a bank.
• Payment Gateway (Messenger): Paystation operates as a specialist payment gateway. We provide the secure bridge between your checkout and your bank, while you hold your own dedicated ‘Linked Gateway’ Merchant ID (MID) directly with your local New Zealand bank.

Negotiate your own merchant service fees

The biggest advantage of the linked gateway model is cost control.

When you use a payment facilitator, you are locked into their fixed percentage rate regardless of how much revenue you bring in. With Paystation, because you hold your own merchant facility with your bank, you can negotiate volume-based Merchant Service Fees (MSFs) directly with your acquiring bank.

As your business grows and your transaction volumes increase, your bank can lower your MSF percentage rate. Combined with Paystation’s low monthly subscription plans – starting from just $15 a month – this model delivers significantly lower per-transaction costs for established and scaling merchants.

Faster settlements and better cash flow

Money sitting in a third-party holding account doesn’t help pay your suppliers or staff. Because Paystation connects directly to your local bank account, your funds settle quickly into your bank account every day.

We support all major New Zealand banks, including ANZ, ASB, BNZ, Kiwibank, and Westpac. If you bank with ASB, you can even access same-day settlement seven days a week, giving your business maximum liquidity over weekends and public holidays.

Local support and no long-term lock-ins

Dealing with payment issues through overseas chatbots or delayed email threads can halt your operations. Paystation provides local support based right here in Aotearoa, operating in your time zone so you can speak directly with an expert during business hours.

We also believe in earning your business every month, which is why our standard plans come with no long-term contracts.

Getting connected in three simple steps

Setting up a linked gateway account is straightforward:

1. Apply: Fill out an online application to trigger a development account immediately.
2. Provide your Merchant ID: Get your ‘Linked Gateway’ Merchant ID from your local bank.
3. Integrate and go: Test your checkout against our go-live checklist and start accepting secure payments.