When you take a payment through Paytia, the payment is securely processed using your connected acquiring bank or payment service provider.
Paytia provides the secure payment capture and transaction workflow, while the acquiring bank or payment provider is responsible for processing and settling the funds into your nominated business bank account.
The exact settlement process and timing will depend on your payment provider.
To process card payments, your business needs an account with an acquiring bank, payment gateway or payment service provider.
Depending on your Paytia service, you may:
Your payment provider supplies the merchant credentials needed to process transactions.
These may include:
Paytia uses the configured integration to securely submit payment transactions to your payment provider.
When a customer makes a payment, their card details are captured securely through the Paytia payment process.
Depending on the Paytia service you are using, this may include:
With telephone payments, the customer can enter their card information directly into Paytia's secure payment environment rather than reading their card details aloud to the person taking the payment.
The payment information is then securely passed to the connected payment provider for processing.
Paytia submits the transaction to your acquiring bank or payment service provider.
The payment then travels through the normal card payment network.
A typical authorisation flow is:
Customer
↓
Paytia secure payment service
↓
Your payment gateway / acquiring provider
↓
Card network
↓
Customer's card-issuing bank
The customer's issuing bank checks the transaction and decides whether to approve or decline it.
This can include checks such as:
The result is then returned through the payment network to Paytia.
Once the transaction has been processed, Paytia receives the response from the payment provider.
The payment will normally be shown as:
Where supported, the transaction will also have a payment or transaction reference that can be used for reconciliation and support.
An approved payment means that the issuing bank has authorised the transaction.
It does not necessarily mean that the money has already reached your business bank account.
After an approved transaction has been processed, your acquiring bank or payment service provider includes it in its settlement process.
The acquirer is responsible for moving the funds through the card payment system and settling the money to your nominated business bank account.
Paytia does not normally hold the merchant's card payment funds as part of this process.
Your acquiring bank or payment provider deposits the settlement amount into the business bank account linked to your merchant account.
The exact amount received will depend on your commercial agreement with your provider.
Depending on the provider, processing charges may:
You should refer to your payment provider's agreement for the exact fee and settlement structure.
Settlement times are controlled by your acquiring bank or payment service provider.
Many providers offer settlement within approximately 1–3 business days, but this should not be treated as a guaranteed Paytia settlement period.
Actual settlement times can vary depending on:
Some providers may offer faster or slower settlement arrangements.
Card processing fees are normally charged by your acquiring bank, gateway or payment service provider under your agreement with them.
Paytia service charges are separate from the fees charged by your payment provider unless your commercial agreement specifically states otherwise.
This means you may have:
Your payment provider can confirm the exact charges that apply to your merchant account.
Paytia provides transaction information that allows authorised users to review payments processed through the Paytia service.
Depending on your configuration, you may be able to view information such as:
Settlement reporting may also be available directly from your acquiring bank or payment service provider.
For full bank settlement reconciliation, the payment provider's merchant portal or settlement reports should normally be treated as the source of settlement information.
Paytia is designed to protect sensitive cardholder information during the payment process.
For telephone payments, Paytia can securely capture card information without exposing the full payment card details to the person handling the customer interaction.
This can help reduce the amount of cardholder data entering your:
The PCI DSS responsibilities that apply to your business will depend on your complete payment environment and configuration.
For a normal immediate telephone payment:
Paytia securely handles the payment capture and transaction interaction, while your acquiring bank or payment service provider processes the financial transaction and settles the funds.
The money normally flows directly through your merchant acquiring arrangement to your nominated business bank account rather than being held by Paytia.
Settlement times, processing fees and payout arrangements are therefore determined by the agreement you have with your acquiring bank or payment service provider.