What is a payment aggregator?
A payment aggregator accepts payments for many merchants under its own acquiring relationship and receives their settlement funds before paying them out. Card schemes call this role a payment facilitator. Unlike a payment gateway, an aggregator holds the merchant relationship and the funds, so it is regulated and registered.
In detail
A payment aggregator accepts payments on behalf of many merchants under its own acquiring relationship. It signs the merchants, receives their settlement funds from the acquirer and pays them out. The card schemes call this role a payment facilitator, or PayFac, and the merchants are sub-merchants.
Aggregator vs gateway
A payment gateway only transmits data. An aggregator holds the merchant relationship and handles money, so it has to underwrite and monitor its merchants, be registered with the schemes by its acquirer and, in many countries, hold a license.
A regulated term in India
In India, “payment aggregator” is a defined category. The Reserve Bank of India’s Master Direction of September 15, 2025 describes it as an entity that facilitates aggregation of payments made by customers to merchants through one or more payment channels, and requires a minimum net worth of ₹15 crore at application, rising to ₹25 crore by the end of the third financial year after authorization.
More in PayFac vs ISO, in What Is a Payment Gateway? and on the onboarding workflow page.