A fourth category requires that a merchant have a single connection to an alternative payment provider.

This alternative payment provider then have connections to multiple online banks.

The infrastructure and electronic clearing methods are formed by the payment provider.

So is Visa likely to share its technological secrets with competing credit card organizations or other payment providers?

Cabcharge has not given other payment providers access to process Cabcharge's own cards and vouchers.

They are hosting files, serving up content (across multiple platforms), and working as a payment provider.

One drawback: the payout rate will be much lower than with other payment providers.

The cloud based approach places the mobile payment provider in the middle of the transaction, which involves two separate steps.

During this step, the payment provider automatically covers the cost of the purchase with issuer linked funds.

FastSpring (the payment provider) is located in the United States.