Building Branded Payment Services: Beyond Third-Party Logos
Discover why UK businesses are moving away from third-party payment branding to build their own payment identity and capture greater commercial value.
Content Team13 April 20267 min read
When you scroll through any major marketplace or software platform today, you'll notice something interesting. The payment experience feels seamlessly integrated into PayFacLite®'s brand identity. There's no jarring redirect to a third-party payment page sporting someone else's logo and colour scheme.
This isn't accidental. Leading platforms understand that payment processing represents far more than a technical necessity. It's a critical touchpoint in the customer journey and, more importantly, a significant revenue opportunity that many businesses inadvertently hand over to third-party providers.
The question facing UK ISVs, SaaS companies, and platforms isn't whether to accept payments online. That ship sailed years ago. The real question is whether you'll build branded payment services under your own identity or continue operating under someone else's brand umbrella.
UK businesses can reclaim significant revenue by transitioning from third-party payment brands to owned solutions
Payment Facilitator Lite models enable businesses to maintain brand control without full regulatory burden
Settlement visibility and merchant controls become possible when you own the payment experience
FCA-regulated infrastructure partnerships allow branded payments without becoming the regulated entity
Enterprise platforms require direct acquiring relationships to compete effectively with incumbent providers
Why Payment Branding Matters More Than You Think
Payment branding extends far beyond visual identity. When your customers see a third-party logo during checkout, three critical disruptions occur that directly impact your bottom line.
Trust Transfer Interruption
Your carefully built brand relationship gets interrupted at the most sensitive moment - when customers part with their money. Research consistently shows that customers hesitate more when redirected to unfamiliar payment pages, even when those pages belong to well-known payment providers like PayPal or Stripe.
The cognitive load increases at precisely the wrong moment. Instead of confirming their purchase decision, customers suddenly evaluate a new brand they weren't expecting to encounter.
Customer Ownership Confusion
Who owns the payment experience? Who owns the customer relationship at that crucial moment? When problems arise - chargebacks, failed transactions, refund requests - customers often contact the payment provider directly, bypassing your support channels entirely.
This fragmentation weakens your customer relationships and creates opportunities for payment providers to build direct relationships with your merchants.
Competitive Differentiation Neutralisation
If every platform in your market uses the same third-party payment provider, the checkout experience becomes commoditised. Your unique value proposition gets diluted at exactly the point where customers make their final commitment to your platform.
Consider two competing SaaS platforms that both redirect to Stripe's checkout. From the customer's perspective, the final purchase experience becomes identical, regardless of the preceding platform differences.
How to Build Your Own Branded Payment Experience
Step 1: Audit Your Current Payment Journey
Map every touchpoint in your payment process from initial pricing display through final receipt delivery. Identify moments where third-party branding appears and assess the impact on user experience.
Quantify the revenue impact of third-party payment branding using this framework:
Conversion Loss Calculation
Monthly payment page visits: [A]
Current conversion rate: [B]
Estimated branded conversion uplift: significant
Additional monthly conversions: A × B × a relevant factor
Average transaction value: [C]
Monthly revenue opportunity: Additional conversions × C
Customer Lifetime Value Impact
Customers lost to payment confusion monthly: [D]
Average customer lifetime value: [E]
Annual LTV leakage: D × E × 12
Step 3: Choose Your Branded Payment Strategy
Three primary approaches exist for building branded payment services:
White-Label Integration
Partner with payment processors offering white-label solutions. You maintain visual branding while leveraging existing infrastructure. Best for businesses seeking quick implementation with moderate control.
Investment level: Low to moderate Control level: Limited
Payment Facilitator Partnership
Work with Payment Facilitator providers who offer sub-merchant models under your brand. You gain more control over merchant relationships and pricing while avoiding direct regulatory burden.
Investment level: Moderate Control level: High
Direct Acquiring Relationship
Establish direct relationships with acquiring banks and build your own payment infrastructure. Maximum control and revenue retention, but requires significant technical and regulatory investment.
Investment level: High Control level: Complete
Step 4: Design Your Branded Experience
Create payment interfaces that seamlessly extend your platform's design language:
Visual Consistency Requirements
Colour schemes match your primary brand palette
Typography uses your platform's font families
Button styles and form layouts mirror your existing UI patterns
Error messages maintain your platform's tone of voice
Functional Integration Goals
Single-page checkout without external redirects
Payment status updates appear within your platform notifications
Receipt and invoice templates use your branding
Customer support channels remain within your ecosystem
Step 5: Implement Gradual Migration
Avoid disrupting existing payment flows by implementing branded payments progressively:
A/B Testing Setup
Direct a portion of payment traffic to your new branded experience. Monitor conversion rates, error rates, and customer feedback closely.
Performance Analysis
Compare branded vs. third-party performance across key metrics:
Conversion rates
Average transaction values
Customer support ticket volume
Payment completion times
Gradual Rollout
Increase branded payment traffic progressively if performance metrics improve. Maintain rollback capability throughout the transition.
Full Implementation
Complete migration to branded payments while monitoring strategic customer satisfaction and retention metrics.
The Hidden Costs of Third-Party Payment Branding
Most businesses focus on obvious payment processing costs - transaction fees, monthly charges, setup expenses. But hidden costs of third-party payment branding often exceed these visible expenses by substantial margins.
Customer Attrition Analysis
Trust-Based Abandonment
Studies show a notable percentage of customers abandon transactions when redirected to unexpected payment providers. For a platform processing significant monthly payments, this represents immediate revenue loss.
But immediate loss understates the real impact. Each abandoned customer represents lost lifetime value, reduced platform credibility, and potential negative word-of-mouth marketing.
Brand Confusion Costs
When customers can't easily identify who they're paying, support costs increase dramatically. Payment-related support tickets typically cost per resolution. Platforms using third-party payment branding report increased payment-related support requests.
Commercial Control Limitations
Pricing Flexibility Constraints
Third-party payment providers control merchant pricing, settlement schedules, and commercial terms. You become a price taker rather than price setter, limiting your ability to optimise for profitability.
Example: A SaaS platform wants to offer premium merchants expedited settlement for higher fees. With third-party providers, this becomes impossible without their approval and revenue sharing.
Revenue Share Surrender
Payment processing generates revenue beyond basic transaction fees through foreign exchange margins, premium features, and merchant cash advances. Third-party providers capture this revenue, not your platform.
Data Visibility Gaps
Limited Transaction Analytics
Third-party providers rarely share comprehensive transaction data, settlement visibility, or merchant behaviour analytics. Without this information, you can't identify revenue opportunities, detect problems early, or make data-driven improvements to your payment strategy.
Customer Insight Reduction
Payment behaviour reveals crucial customer insights - purchasing patterns, seasonal trends, price sensitivity indicators. Third-party payment providers capture this data for their own analytics while sharing minimal insights with platform partners.
Measuring Branded Payment Success
Implement these metrics to track your branded payment performance:
Core Performance Indicators
Conversion Rate Improvement
Baseline: Third-party payment conversion rate
Target: Improved performance with branded payments
Measurement: Monthly comparison of completed transactions / payment page visits
Premium payment features (express checkout, saved cards)
Foreign exchange margins on international transactions
Late payment fees and penalty charges
Cross-selling opportunities during payment processes
Competitive Differentiation Value
Quantify how branded payments impact competitive positioning:
Customer acquisition cost changes
Win rates in competitive deals
Customer feedback mentioning payment experience
Market share growth in target segments
Building branded payment services requires significant upfront investment in technology, partnerships, and process redesign. However, platforms that successfully implement branded payments typically recover implementation costs through improved conversion rates, reduced customer acquisition costs, and increased customer lifetime values.
The key lies in treating payment branding as a strategic business capability rather than a cosmetic enhancement. When done correctly, branded payments become a competitive moat that's difficult for competitors to replicate and valuable for customers to abandon.
