With Clearhaus, a licensed financial institution can operate as a Payment Facilitator (PayFac) and embed acquiring services directly into your platform. You control the full merchant lifecycle, including onboarding, compliance, and ongoing management, while Clearhaus provides the licensed acquiring infrastructure behind the scenes.
Who the PayFac model is ideal for
This setup is designed for regulated companies that want to integrate acquiring directly into their product. It’s a strong fit for organisations that:
- Hold a Financial Institution (FI) or Electronic Money Institution (EMI) license (or a similar regulated status)
- Wants greater control, flexibility, and ownership over their merchant ecosystem
- Can take responsibility for merchant onboarding and compliance
- Run SaaS platforms, marketplaces, or payment‑enabled products
- Want a direct API integration with an acquirer
Why Clearhaus - key capabilities for PayFacs
1. Faster onboarding of sub‑merchants
Clearhaus enables you to onboard and activate sub‑merchants under your own processes, with each receiving their own MID and no separate acquiring agreements. The API‑driven onboarding flow integrates directly into your platform, ensuring fast activation, a smooth merchant experience, and a scalable setup.
2. Modern, API-first acquiring infrastructure
Clearhaus delivers a clean, API‑driven integration that slots directly into your platform. You gain access to:
- Visa and Mastercard acceptance
- Recurring and subscription payments
- Merchant‑level reporting
- Automated settlement and reconciliation
- Configurable payout frequencies and currencies
- Connectivity to 30+ payment gateways
This gives you full control over the merchant journey while ensuring reliable transaction processing.
3. Compliance handled by the PayFac
As a PayFac, you take on full compliance responsibility, including KYC, AML, risk assessment, ongoing monitoring, and first‑line handling of fraud and chargebacks. Clearhaus provides the acquiring framework behind the scenes, but regulatory ownership of compliance remains with the PayFac.
4. Payment-driven business models
By controlling both the merchant relationship and the payment flow, you can define your own commercial model. This includes setting merchant fees, applying mark‑ups or revenue‑share structures, and designing platform‑specific payment logic. Payments become a natural part of your core offering rather than a standalone service.
5. Clear separation of roles
The PayFac model with Clearhaus ensures a clear separation of roles. You manage the merchant relationship, onboarding, and compliance, while Clearhaus acts as the licensed acquirer and handles acquiring connectivity. Sub‑merchants interact only with your platform, creating a clean operational and contractual setup that meets regulatory requirements.
What your merchants get
Your merchants gain a smoother and more integrated payment experience directly through your platform. They benefit from:
- Access to Visa and Mastercard acceptance: Offered directly through your platform, without separate agreements.
- Embedded onboarding: A seamless onboarding flow aligned with your own processes and branding.
- One single commercial and operational relationship — with you: No need to manage external payment providers.
- No direct acquiring agreement with Clearhaus: You handle the relationship; we handle the acquiring infrastructure in the background.
Ready to discuss a PayFac setup?
If you operate under an FI or EMI license and want to embed acquiring directly into your platform, our partner team is ready to guide you. We can walk you through the PayFac model, the technical integration, and the operational requirements — so you know exactly what it takes to get started.
Contact us to start the conversation.