Gateway, acquirer and sub-acquirer: what are the differences

Understand the role of each player in the payment chain, who keeps which slice of the fee, and which model makes sense for your business.

Pagnovo Team · 2026-08-03

"Gateway", "acquirer", "sub-acquirer", "facilitator", "PSP". These terms get used interchangeably every day, but they mean quite different things — and the difference shows up directly in your fee and your settlement time. Let's separate each role.

The chain of a card payment

When a customer taps a card, the money travels through several participants:

Customer → Merchant → Gateway → Acquirer → Card network → Issuing bank
                                                                ↓
                                                        (approve or decline)

Each link charges for its work. Understanding who is who explains why the fee is what it is.

Payment gateway

The gateway is the technology layer. It connects your application to the rest of the chain: it receives transaction data, encrypts it, applies anti-fraud rules and routes it to whoever will process it.

• What it does: data transport and security, tokenization, routing, retries
• What it does not do: it does not process money, does not settle, takes no financial risk
• How it charges: usually per transaction (flat fee) or a monthly subscription

Think of the gateway as the plumbing. It does not own the water — it carries it safely.

Acquirer

The acquirer is the institution authorized by the Central Bank that actually processes the transaction with the card networks and settles the money into the merchant's account. It is the one with a direct contract with Visa, Mastercard, Elo and others.

• What it does: capture, processing, settlement, assumes chargeback risk
• Relationship: you have a direct contract with it, with your own accredited entity
• How it charges: MDR (a percentage of the sale) plus possible equipment rental

Upside: lower rates at high volume and a direct relationship. Downside: requires your own accreditation, paperwork and meaningful minimum volume.

Sub-acquirer (facilitator)

The sub-acquirer sits between the merchant and the acquirer. It is accredited with the acquirer and "resells" that capability to many merchants, grouping them under its own structure.

• What it does: fast onboarding, merchant risk management, payment split, payouts
• Relationship: you contract the sub-acquirer, not the acquirer
• How it charges: a single rate, usually higher than going direct to an acquirer

Upside: sign-up in minutes, no paperwork, ideal for those starting out or with low-to-medium volume. It is also the model that makes marketplaces possible (split across multiple sellers). Downside: higher rate and one more layer between you and the money.

Quick comparison

And what about "PSP"?

PSP (Payment Service Provider) is an umbrella term: any company providing payment services. A sub-acquirer is a PSP. A gateway is a PSP. In the PIX context, "PSP" usually designates the institution that provides access to the Central Bank's SPI.

In other words: a PSP is not a fourth type — it is the category that contains the others.

How this shows up in your fee

The fee you pay does not go entirely to whoever sold you the solution. It splits roughly like this:

1. Interchange fee — goes to the card's issuing bank (the largest slice)
2. Network fee — goes to Visa/Mastercard/Elo
3. Acquirer margin — processing and settlement
4. Sub-acquirer/gateway margin — if that layer exists

That is why no company can offer a near-zero credit card rate: much of the cost is structural and does not belong to them. Be suspicious of rates far below market — there is usually an extended settlement period or a cost hidden elsewhere.

Which model to choose

• Just starting or low volume? Sub-acquirer. The higher rate pays for the absence of paperwork and a faster time to first sale.
• High volume and a technical team? It is worth negotiating directly with an acquirer and using a gateway to orchestrate. MDR savings justify the complexity.
• Marketplace or multiple receivers? A sub-acquirer with split is practically mandatory.
• Want the best of both? A technology layer that speaks to multiple processors and routes each transaction down the best path — that is what cuts cost without locking you into a single vendor.

Pagnovo is the technology layer that connects your business to this chain without you having to deal with each participant separately. Explore our integrations or talk to our team.