Why You Should Have a Backup Payment Service Provider (PSP)
At Shuttle, we continuously monitor our payment partners’ uptime and understand that payment gateways and services experience occasional outages. While brief downtimes of around 10 minutes may be acceptable, longer disruptions can significantly impact businesses. Having a backup payment provider that you can switch to quickly is a smart move for any merchant.
Some payment providers are less transparent about their service availability, sometimes taking hours to acknowledge an incident. Shuttle’s uptime page categorizes provider statuses using GREEN, AMBER, or RED indicators. Additionally, platform users can request access to real-time alerts, which may be subject to an additional fee.
Recent Payment Service Downtime Examples:
- Authorize.net – Down for 36 hours
- Mollie – Unavailable for several days over a week
- Square – Completely offline for seven days
While downtime is a significant reason to have multiple PSPs, there are additional benefits to consider.
Beyond Downtime: Why You Need Another PSP
When it comes to payments, merchants should focus on two key factors:
- Processing Costs – The fees associated with each transaction and the overall cost of payment operations.
- Acceptance Rates – The percentage of successfully processed transactions (or, conversely, the cost of failed payments).
Comparing costs and acceptance rates can be challenging without actually processing payments through multiple providers. PSP contracts may include various hidden fees, and acceptance rates are best measured through real transactions. Additionally, if a PSP is unavailable, your acceptance rate drops to 0%. A backup PSP is also essential for businesses operating in markets where their primary provider lacks coverage or does not support common local payment methods.
Many Shuttle merchants opt to connect PayPal separately alongside another provider. This setup can reduce PayPal processing costs and ensure access to the latest PayPal features. Shuttle is also evolving to allow Apple Pay and Google Pay to be connected independently from the primary PSP.
Choosing a Backup Payment Provider
When selecting a backup PSP, consider the following factors:
- Cost & Acceptance Rates – Compare transaction fees and success rates.
- Technology & Features – Evaluate dashboards, value-added services, and ease of integration.
- Customer Support – Do you prefer a dedicated account manager or are you comfortable with online chat support?
Newer PSPs often provide advanced technology and user-friendly dashboards but may offer limited personal support. If improving acceptance rates is your priority, having access to knowledgeable support staff is crucial.
How Backup PSPs Work with Shuttle
Connecting a new PSP via Shuttle is straightforward. However, to maintain a seamless checkout experience, we do not allow merchants to run two concurrent PSPs with the same payment method within a single checkout instance. This prevents customer confusion over choosing between multiple card gateways.
Instead, Shuttle enables merchants to route transactions based on predefined workflow rules. For example, PayPal wallet transactions can be directed exclusively to PayPal.
For merchants using a backup PSP, payment methods can be manually toggled on and off between connected providers. But, saved payment methods will not be automatically available across different gateways unless manually stored in both. This can be a challenge for merchants processing recurring payments. Shuttle is exploring the use of Network Tokens to enable seamless transaction processing across multiple PSPs, though this feature may incur additional costs.
For one-off payments, Shuttle offers a quick and simple way to enable a new PSP or payment method. Merchants looking for deeper cost and performance comparisons can set up an additional Shuttle account to process a portion of their payments through a separate instance.
Future Solutions
Shuttle is evaluating the best ways to support backup PSPs for both one-off and recurring transactions, as well as for PSP performance comparisons. Since card vaults have not been a full-proof and soon to be outdated solution. Potential solutions include:
- Network Tokens – To securely store payment details across multiple PSPs
- And Automated Switching Rules – To dynamically route transactions based on real-time conditions
A backup PSP is not just a safeguard against downtime—it’s a strategic move to optimize costs, improve acceptance rates, and ensure business continuity. Shuttle makes it easy for merchants to integrate multiple PSPs and stay in control of their payment operations.
