Most of us today as individuals or corporate entities have done some form of online transaction or another, especially in urban areas. But only a few of us know what happens behind the scenes when we make an online payment through online transfers, UPI, or via cards. 

While we imagine a complex network of entities working on this behind the scenes, we do not know what actually happens. This is where the role of a payment aggregator becomes critical.

What is a payment aggregator? 

A payment aggregator offers payment-related support to merchants or e-commerce sites by accepting payments that customers make. The payment aggregator then collects the funds that customers have remitted and sends them to merchants after a certain period of time.

A payment aggregator allows different types of payments, which include online payments of all sorts, cash, billing counters, and many more options. In effect, payment aggregators let merchants receive amount transfers without having a merchant account with that bank. 

Are payment aggregators and payment gateways the same?

You will come across many instances where the terms payment gateway (PG) and payment aggregator (PA) are used interchangeably. However, an interesting fact to note is that while payment aggregators can also function as payment gateways, the reverse is not true.

To further clarify, payment aggregators (PA) are the front end of the payments function. PA onboards merchants, collects funds from the customer on behalf of merchants and assimilates them into an escrow account. 

Payment gateways (PG) provide the technology infrastructure that enables payment transactions. Unlike the PA, the PG does not handle the funds at all. In some cases, the PA is also the PG and in others, the PA may work with a third-party PG.

The payment aggregation process is as follows:

• When a customer goes to the checkout and payment stage of the transaction, the PG tokenizes the information and does a fraud verification
• The PA’s acquiring bank then validates the customer details and shares with the related card company using a payment processor
• Once the card company confirms the validity of the details, the details are sent to the issuing bank via the payment processor
• The customer’s bank, which is the issuing bank, checks the details and the availability of the balance. Approval or denial is based on the balance amount
• Information about this follows the reverse route via the payment gateway, which informs the merchant about approval or denial, who updates the customer
• At this time, the bank that is getting the funds requests payment via the payment aggregator from the bank sending the funds once approval is confirmed
• The payment aggregator will then settle the amount to the merchant as per the terms of their agreement

Before the PA gets into the transactional mode, which involves the above steps, it aggregates merchants. The process involves the onboarding of merchants by running background checks and ensuring the legitimacy of the business. One completion of this process, merchants are enabled to accept different types of payment modes without an individual merchant account with a bank or financial institution.

What are the benefits of a payment aggregator?

Easy process: The process of going with a payment aggregator as a sub-merchant is easier and shorter than the lengthy process of applying for a merchant account

Quick approvals: It takes a mere few days to get approvals to accept payments under a payment aggregator

Start immediately: Once the application has been processed, the sub-merchant can start getting payments online, like through cards or online transfers

Attractive fee structure: Most payment aggregators offer a simple fee structure that will help the sub-merchant save on costs

Payment aggregators offer a plethora of benefits, especially to small and medium businesses with relatively low transaction volumes. EnKash, Asia’s 1st and smartest spend management platform has been part of this realm helping businesses with smart fintech solutions. EnKash has also received in-principle approval as a payment aggregator from RBI. Visit our site to learn more.