Business Decision Matrix
Before your development team begins integration, your business needs to answer the following strategic questions. These decisions directly affect your customer experience, checkout conversion, financial flows, and compliance obligations.
Review this matrix with the Integration Consultant before integration begins.
Gateway model: Standard or high-risk
Question: Does your business need a standard or a high-risk gateway?
Why it matters: This is a choice of which gateway processes your transactions, not just a setting on your account. Most businesses process on the standard PaymentsAI Gateway. Higher-risk business categories are typically processed through a separate gateway. For example, NMI connected to a suitable backend processor.
Your Integration Consultant will advise which gateway applies based on your business category and transaction profile. See also the Business Category & Document Matrix for category-level guidance, and the Gateways section for setup details.
Dynamic descriptor
Question: What name should appear on your customer's bank statement when they are charged?
Why it matters: When a customer sees an unfamiliar name on their statement, they are more likely to dispute the charge as unrecognised. A clear, recognisable descriptor reduces chargebacks caused by confusion.
Configuration requirements:
- Maximum 22 characters
- Uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers, and spaces are permitted
- Special characters are not permitted
To change your descriptor after go-live, go to your gateway settings in the dashboard.
Express payment methods: Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal
Question: Do you want to offer Apple Pay, Google Pay, or PayPal at checkout?
Why it matters: Express payment methods reduce checkout friction and can increase conversion by allowing customers to pay with a single tap. Each method requires specific setup steps before activation.
| Method | Setup requirement |
|---|---|
| Apple Pay | Domain verification: your developer must add a verification file to your website |
| Google Pay | Merchant registration: your developer completes registration via the Google Pay API |
| PayPal | Connect your PayPal account via the Gateways tab in your dashboard |
Important:
Raise this with your Integration Consultant early, as domain verification and merchant registration must be completed before these methods can be tested on the staging environment.
Tax handling: PaymentsAI or third-party
Question: Will PaymentsAI calculate and report taxes, or will you use a third-party tax provider?
Why it matters: The choice affects how your pricing is structured, what data flows into your accounting systems, and what integrations your development team needs to build.
PaymentsAI tax features (US merchants only): PaymentsAI offers built-in tax reporting, tax location management, and TaxJar integration. These tax features are available to US merchants only, and require Pro Features to be enabled first (see Pricing and Fees: Pro Features). Once Pro Features are active, you configure and connect the tax tools under More → Settings → Taxes:
- Tax locations: additional organisation addresses where you collect taxes. Not needed if you connect TaxJar.
- TaxJar integration: connect your TaxJar account with its API key to calculate sales tax automatically, based on customer location. Sales tax is then calculated on your invoices.
Third-party provider: If you operate outside the US, or prefer your own tax service, you handle tax calculation outside PaymentsAI's tax tools.
Confirm your chosen approach with the Integration Consultant before integration begins.
BIN exposure
Question: Does your integration require access to card BIN data?
Why it matters: Exposing the card BIN (Bank Identification Number) is a compliance-sensitive capability. It is not enabled by default and is granted only on review.
To enable BIN exposure, you must provide an Attestation of Compliance (AoC) and a written business justification. Raise this with your Integration Consultant, who confirms the requirements with the PaymentsAI compliance team. See also the Integration Checklist & Go-Live Runbook.
3D Secure (3DS)
Question: Should 3D Secure authentication be enabled for your transactions, and for which card networks?
Why it matters: 3DS requires customers to complete an additional verification step with their card issuer at checkout. It reduces fraud and chargebacks for card-not-present transactions, but adds a step to the checkout flow.
EU/UK and Japan merchants: 3DS is mandatory for transactions from EU and UK cardholders under PSD2 SCA, and for transactions from Japanese cardholders. Enable 3DS for these markets before processing live traffic.
Global merchants: Enabling 3DS only where required by regulation or where fraud rates are elevated is generally the recommended approach.
Enabling 3DS
For the PaymentsAI Gateway: Contact the PaymentsAI team to enable 3DS.
For other connected gateways: Go to the Gateways tab, click Configure next to the relevant gateway, and toggle the 3-D Secure setting.
Note:
3DS is disabled by default for all gateways. If your business sells to customers in the EU, ensure 3DS is enabled before processing live transactions.