Marketplace & Platform Payments
Payments are part of the value a marketplace or platform creates for its users and directly affect its margin.
Why payment architecture matters
When a marketplace or platform connects buyers with multiple sellers, accepting the customer's payment is not much different from a simple webshop. But this is only the beginning.
The complexity comes from the many architectural decisions that need to work together across legal, business and operational aspects. These decisions shape the technical implementation and ultimately determine which providers are the right fit.
Getting these decisions right is crucial for marketplaces and platforms because payments are an important part of the value they provide to users and directly impact their margin.
This is one of the areas where we at reMonetary have a lot of experience. In this section, we look at how payments work in marketplaces and platforms and what needs to be considered when designing the payment setup. You can use reMonetary to work through your own architecture and PSP selection or get in touch with us if you want to discuss your specific situation.
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One checkout, multiple recipients
What is a Marketplace / Platform?
Marketplace
A marketplace brings independent sellers and buyers together through a shared storefront and checkout. Think of a home-goods marketplace where a lamp and a rug in the same basket come from two different businesses. The customer stays on your marketplace and completes one payment, even though several sellers may be involved in fulfilling the order.
Platform
A platform provides the infrastructure that allows merchants to run their own business. A booking system for independent gyms, a point-of-sale solution for food trucks, or an invoicing tool for freelance consultants are examples. The merchant remains visible to its customer and sells under its own business. The platform provides the infrastructure underneath rather than acting as the storefront through which the transaction takes place.
The distinction is useful, but it is not always clear-cut. In the payments industry, marketplace and platform are sometimes used interchangeably, and many businesses combine elements of both. A platform can include marketplace functionality, while a marketplace can also provide broader platform services.
For payments, the label therefore matters less than the role the business actually plays in the transaction. The key questions are who sells to the customer, who is responsible for the transaction, who receives the money and what role the platform plays in the flow of funds.
In the following sections, we will go into these differences in more detail and break down the key decisions that shape the payment setup.