Cybersource

Cybersource is the enterprise gateway inside Visa. It was founded in 1994 in California, originally to take payments for an online software shop, and Visa bought it in 2010 for about $2 billion. Its smaller-business sibling, Authorize.net, sits in the same group.

Large merchants use it as a single connection to many acquirers and processors around the world, so a retailer can keep its existing banks in each region while running one integration. On top of authorisation and capture it sells Decision Manager for fraud screening, a token management service that stores cards and supports network tokens, payer authentication for 3-D Secure, an account updater and payouts. Card schemes include Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, JCB, Diners Club and UnionPay, with Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay on top. Alternative methods such as PayPal, Klarna, Alipay and US eCheck each have their own service guides.

There is no public price list. Contracts are negotiated and the gateway fee usually comes on top of what the merchant's acquirer charges. Integration is through REST APIs, a hosted checkout, embeddable card fields and mobile SDKs, and through connectors for platforms such as Salesforce Commerce Cloud and Magento.

It suits retailers, airlines and marketplaces that process in several regions and want fraud tools and tokenisation under one contract. Small businesses will usually find Authorize.net, or a gateway with flat published pricing, simpler to set up. Which methods are available depends on the acquirer behind each account, so check that list country by country.