The Aggregation Stack PayFacs Wish Existed
PayFacs and PSPs run economics that demand programmatic everything — onboarding, branding, billing, settlement, support. Surfboard ships those as first-class API surfaces, not afterthoughts. Service Providers API for sub-aggregation. Multi-Merchant API for shared infrastructure. Billing API for granular pricing. All composable.
Built for Aggregation Economics
PayFac models work when acquisition cost stays low, sub-merchant margins compound, and operations don't grow linearly with merchant count. Surfboard's API surface is designed for that constraint set — programmatic onboarding, programmatic branding, programmatic billing, programmatic settlement, programmatic everything.
Service Providers API for the next layer of aggregation. Multi-Merchant API for shared-fleet workflows like food courts and event marketplaces. Logistics API for terminal procurement at scale. Notifications API for per-merchant report delivery without portal logins. All running on PCI DSS 4.0 multi-cloud infrastructure with 99.99% uptime.
One platform, every aggregation primitive
Most PayFacs assemble their tech stack from 5-10 separate vendors — one for processing, one for KYB, one for hardware, one for branding, one for reporting. Surfboard ships all of them as composable APIs on a single platform. Less integration overhead, lower vendor cost, and a coherent merchant experience.
Why PayFacs and PSPs choose Surfboard
Six reasons aggregation models pick Surfboard over building in-house or stitching together legacy vendors.
1. Programmatic Onboarding & KYB
PayFac economics live and die by acquisition cost per merchant. Surfboard's onboarding API runs KYB, creates merchants, configures stores, places terminal orders, and goes live — all without your team touching a ticket.
Current record: 5 hours from signup to first live transaction.
Pair with the AI API to generate per-merchant branding from the merchant's URL — instant, no design ops.
2. Service Providers API
PayFacs aggregating sub-providers, vertical integrators, or kiosk operators need a way to manage them programmatically. The Service Providers API covers the full lifecycle — create, track applications, fetch configs, manage approvals.
- Onboard third-party application providers under your umbrella
- Track application and approval status
- Per-provider configurations and routing
3. Multi-Merchant Terminal Sharing
Food courts, festival ecosystems, shared retail spaces, marketplace operators — all of them break the standard one-merchant-per-terminal model. The Multi-Merchant API lets one fleet serve many independent merchants while preserving per-merchant settlement, branding, and reporting.
Built into the platform as a first-class API, not a workaround.
4. Per-Merchant Pricing and Margin Control
PayFac economics demand granular pricing. The Billing API lets you define plans per merchant, per store, or per terminal — including IC++ pricing, usage-based charges, and tiered structures that adjust automatically with volume.
- Custom plans per merchant segment
- IC++ for transparency-focused buyers
- Usage-based charges for value-add features
- Automated invoicing and settlement deduction
5. Settlement and Reporting at Scale
Per-merchant daily or monthly settlement reports. SFTP delivery for ERP integration. Adjustments ledger for tip and surcharge audit. Stable IDs and immutable URLs designed for the data-pipeline scale PayFacs operate at.
Pair with the Notifications API to push reports to merchants automatically — no portal logins, no support tickets.
6. White-Label Across Every Sub-Merchant
Each merchant in your portfolio gets their own branded experience — terminals, hosted checkout, merchant portal, receipts, identification prompts. Branding cascades from PayFac default → merchant override → store override → terminal override.
Deploy thousands of branded merchant experiences without a design ops team.
The aggregation primitives PayFacs need
Onboarding economics that work at scale
Programmatic merchant onboarding with built-in KYB. AI-generated branding from a URL. Automatic terminal shipment. Default billing plan applied. First transaction in hours, not weeks. PayFacs running Surfboard onboard at a fraction of the operational cost of legacy stacks.
That's how aggregation economics actually compound.
Onboard your first sub-merchant
One POST creates the merchant, runs KYB, applies a billing plan, and queues a terminal order. Pair with the AI API to generate branding from the merchant's URL — onboarding goes from days to seconds.
// Programmatic sub-merchant onboarding
POST /partners/:partnerId/merchants
{
"businessName": "Hötorget Coffee Bar",
"country": "SE",
"registrationNumber": "5566778899",
"billingPlanId": "plan_payfac_smb",
"brandingFromUrl": "https://hotorget-coffee.example",
"shipTerminal": {
"productId": "surftouch-pro",
"quantity": 1
}
}