What are integrated payments? What they are, and how they work

Key takeaways

• Integrated payments connect your payment processor directly to your existing software — your website, app, or POS — so customers can pay without leaving your site and you can manage everything from one place.

• This setup cuts manual work, improves checkout conversion, strengthens security, and supports global expansion with multi-currency and local payment methods.

• Airwallex's integrated payment platform supports 160+ payment methods across 180+ countries, with built-in reconciliation, local acquiring in 35+ markets, and multi-currency accounts to help you scale without complexity.

If you're running a growing business, you've probably felt the friction that comes with disconnected payment systems. Maybe you're manually reconciling transactions across spreadsheets, watching customers abandon carts when they get bounced to a third-party checkout, or struggling to accept payments in new markets. These aren't just annoying problems. They're costing you time, money, and sales.

Integrated payments fix this by connecting your payment processor directly to your existing software, so transactions move through without extra steps. Digital wallets now make up 50% of global eCommerce transaction value, and that figure is expected to rise to 61% by 2027¹. As digital payments keep growing, the businesses that come out ahead will be the ones with payment systems that work together, not against each other.

In this guide, we'll cover what integrated payments are, how they work, the different types, how they differ from embedded payments, the key benefits, and how to get started.

What are integrated payments?

Integrated payments connect your checkout, payment processing, and business software into one system that shares information automatically. Think of it like a universal remote for your finances. Instead of switching between separate tools for your checkout, your accounting, and your payment processor, everything talks to each other through one system, usually through APIs or pre-built plugins.

For eCommerce businesses, this means your eCommerce payment processing connects straight to your platform, so customers can complete transactions without leaving your website. For brick-and-mortar stores, it means your POS system syncs with your payment processor and back-office tools in real time.

So, what's the practical upside? Your customers get a better experience, and you get less admin. You get automated reconciliation, one dashboard for all payment activity, and the ability to accept cards, digital wallets, and local payment methods without juggling multiple providers. But what happens when a customer pays? Here's how the pieces fit together.

How do integrated payments work?

Integrated payments work by connecting different payment and financial services so they can share information with each other. Let's say an online shopper decides to buy a new jumper. Here's how an integrated payment system handles the transaction:

• The customer adds the item to their cart and enters payment details through an integrated checkout that keeps them on your site.

• The checkout shares payment information with a payment gateway, which encrypts the data and sends it to the payment processor. The processor then checks with the customer's issuing bank to make sure the funds are available and the transaction is legitimate.

• The gateway gets payment approval, or rejection, from the customer's bank and passes that back to the checkout.

• The checkout confirms the transaction and completes the order.

With a non-integrated payment, the customer gets sent from your site to a third-party checkout to enter their payment details, then sent back to your screen to confirm the order. Those extra steps create friction. They can put customers off and raise the risk of payment failures.

Now that you've seen how integrated payments work, it helps to look at how they differ from a related concept: embedded payments.

Integrated payments vs embedded payments

These two terms get mixed up a lot, but they describe different approaches. Integrated payments connect your software to an external payment provider. In other words, you're plugging in a separate service through APIs or plugins. Embedded payments go a step further by building payments natively into the software itself, so the payment experience becomes invisible to the end user.

Think of it this way: integrated payments are like plugging a speaker into your laptop. It works, but you can still see the connection. Embedded payments are like the speakers built into the laptop itself. The function is just part of the product.

For most businesses taking payments on their own website or app, integrated payments are the right fit. Embedded payments matter more for platforms that are building payments into their product for users, like marketplaces that let sellers accept payments or SaaS platforms that offer payment features to their customers.

Types of integrated payment methods

So what can you accept through an integrated payment system? That depends on your provider, but modern integrated systems support a wide range of payment methods to match how your customers want to pay.

Cards (credit and debit)

Visa, Mastercard, and Amex are the baseline that every integrated system supports. The main advantage of processing cards through an integrated system is security. Your system handles card data through tokenization, so you never store raw card numbers on your servers.

Digital wallets

Apple Pay and Google Pay have become the fast lane for mobile checkout. Customers approve payment with a fingerprint or face scan instead of typing in card details, which cuts checkout time dramatically. For mobile shoppers in particular, digital wallets can be the difference between a completed sale and an abandoned cart.

Buy now, pay later (BNPL)

BNPL services let customers split purchases into instalments, which can lift average order values for higher-ticket items. For merchants, the benefit is simple: customers who might hesitate at a bigger upfront cost are more likely to complete the purchase when they can spread payments over time.

Local and regional payment methods

In the Netherlands, iDEAL dominates online payments. In Brazil, it's Pix. In India, UPI. Offering local methods builds trust and increases conversion in specific markets because customers are more likely to complete a purchase when they see a payment option they recognise and use every day. Airwallex supports 160+ payment methods, including these regional favourites.

Recurring and subscription payments

For SaaS companies and subscription businesses, integrated systems can automate recurring charges across different plans, currencies, and billing schedules. Instead of manually processing renewals or chasing failed payments, the system handles retries, updates expired cards, and keeps subscriptions running smoothly.

5 ways integrated payments benefit your business

If you're spending hours reconciling transactions by hand, watching customers abandon carts at checkout, or struggling to accept payments in new markets, integrated payments help with all three. Here's how.

Better checkout experience

The most obvious benefit is what your customers see: a faster, simpler checkout. With integrated payments, you cut the number of steps needed to complete a purchase. Customers stay on your site, see prices in their local currency, and choose from payment methods they already use.

Take a customer in Germany shopping on your UK site. With an integrated system, they see prices in euros, pay with their preferred method, and never have to leave your site. That's often the difference between a completed sale and an abandoned cart. You can also customise the payment interface to match your brand, so the experience feels consistent from browsing to confirmation.

Simplified operations and reconciliation

Integrated payments automate the work that used to take up your finance team's time. Instead of manually matching transactions across spreadsheets and bank statements, the system reconciles payments automatically and syncs with accounting software like Xero or QuickBooks in real time.

This matters even more for subscription businesses. If you're processing recurring payments across different plans and billing schedules, automation handles the complexity: retries for failed payments, prorated charges, and plan upgrades, all without manual intervention. You also get one dashboard to track transactions, handle disputes, and pull reports instead of logging into multiple systems.

Higher conversion and revenue

Every extra step in your checkout is another chance for the customer to leave. Integrated payments reduce those steps, which helps more buyers make it through to confirmation. Fewer checkout steps mean fewer abandoned carts, and fewer abandoned carts mean more completed sales.

The revenue impact grows when you add in the payment methods you can accept. Offering digital wallets helps you capture mobile shoppers who won't type card details on a small screen. Offering BNPL helps you capture customers who need more flexibility on larger purchases. Each extra payment method you support gives a customer one more reason to say yes.

Multi-currency and cross-border payments

Expanding internationally shouldn't mean juggling multiple payment providers or losing money to forced currency conversions. Integrated systems let you accept payments in your customers' local currencies, settle in the currency you choose, and avoid double-conversion fees.

For example, a UK business selling to customers in Japan can accept yen, settle in yen or GBP, and keep more of each sale. Airwallex supports 130+ currencies with local acquiring in 35+ markets, so you can reach new audiences without the hassle of setting up local banking relationships in every country.

Stronger security and compliance

Integrated payment systems protect both you and your customers through multiple layers of security. It starts with tokenization, which replaces your customer's card number with a random string of characters. Think of it like a hotel key card: it opens your room, but if someone steals it, they can't use it anywhere else. Even if there's a data breach, the stolen data is useless.

On top of tokenization, integrated systems use encryption to protect data in transit, 3D Secure to add authentication for online card payments, and machine learning to spot fraudulent transactions before they go through. Compliance with PCI DSS², the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard, is the baseline and makes sure your payment handling meets international security requirements. These protections help safeguard your customers' data and your brand's reputation.

How to get started with integrated payments

Getting started comes down to choosing the right payment service provider. The best providers give you flexibility in how you integrate, with pre-built plugins for speed and APIs for control, so you can start simply and customise as you grow.

Here's the typical process:

• Create an account and verify your business. This usually means providing basic business information and completing identity verification. You'll also set up your business profile, including the payment methods and currencies you want to accept.

• Choose your integration approach. If you're on Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento, or BigCommerce, pre-built plugins can get you live quickly. If you want more control, use a low-code checkout or the full Payments API to build a custom experience.

• Test in a sandbox environment. Before you go live, run test transactions to catch any issues. Check that payment confirmations, error handling, and reconciliation all work as expected.

• Go live and monitor performance. Once you're confident, switch to production. Track transaction success rates, watch for failed payments, and adjust your setup over time to improve conversion.

With Airwallex Payments, you get all of this in one platform: 160+ payment methods, 180+ countries, local acquiring in 35+ markets, and multi-currency accounts to manage your money across borders. Ready to get started? Create an account and start accepting payments in minutes.

Got more questions? Here are answers to the ones we hear most often.

Frequently asked questions

What is an example of an integrated payment?

When you buy something on a major retailer's site like Amazon, you can choose from multiple payment methods, including cards, digital wallets, and BNPL, pay without leaving the site, and let the system handle routing, currency, and confirmation behind the scenes. That's an integrated payment in action. The checkout, payment gateway, and processor all work together, so the transaction feels effortless to the customer whilst the merchant gets automated reconciliation and centralised reporting.

What is the difference between integrated and non-integrated payments?

With integrated payments, your checkout, payment gateway, and processor all talk to each other automatically. Non-integrated payments need manual steps between systems, like re-entering transaction data or sending customers to a third-party site to pay. The result is more friction for customers and more admin for you.

What is the difference between embedded payments and integrated payments?

Integrated payments connect your software to an external payment provider, usually through APIs or plugins. Embedded payments go a step further by building payments natively into the software itself, so the payment experience is invisible to the end user. Most businesses taking payments on their own site use integrated payments; embedded payments are more common for platforms that offer payments as a feature to their users.

How do I choose an integrated payment provider?

Look for a provider that supports the payment methods your customers prefer, covers the markets you sell in, and integrates with your existing platform. You should also check pricing transparency, security certifications (PCI DSS Level 1 is the gold standard), and whether the provider offers both pre-built plugins and API access, so you can start simply and customise later as your needs change.

Sources and references

• https://www.statista.com/statistics/1111233/payment-method-usage-transaction-volume-share-worldwide

• https://www.pcisecuritystandards.org/standards/pci-dss/