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Infrastructure · Glossary

Payment gateway

A payment gateway is the technology layer that transmits card-not-present transaction data from a merchant's website or terminal to the acquirer for authorization. Examples: Authorize.net, Stripe, Braintree (which is both processor and gateway).

Why this matters to merchants

Payment gatewaysits inside the broader system of U.S. payment processing economics that determine a merchant’s effective rate. Most operators encounter this term on their merchant statement without understanding what it controls, which is how the four hidden fees covered by our methodology slip past unnoticed.