Payments as a service (PaaS) is a marketing phrase used to describe a

software as a service Software as a service (SaaS ) is a software licensing and delivery model in which software is licensed on a subscription basis and is centrally hosted. SaaS is also known as "on-demand software" and Web-based/Web-hosted software. SaaS is con ...

to connect a group of international

payment systems A payment system is any system used to settle financial transactions through the transfer of monetary value. This includes the institutions, instruments, people, rules, procedures, standards, and technologies that make its exchange possible.Biago ...

. The architecture is represented by a layer – or overlay – that resides on top of these disparate systems and provides for two-way communications between the payment system and the PaaS. Communication is governed by standard APIs created by the PaaS provider.

History

Since the 1980s, credit cards and international

wire transfer Wire transfer, bank transfer, or credit transfer, is a method of electronic funds transfer from one person or entity to another. A wire transfer can be made from one bank account to another bank account, or through a transfer of cash at a cash ...

systems like the

Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication Swift or SWIFT most commonly refers to: * SWIFT, an international organization facilitating transactions between banks ** SWIFT code * Swift (programming language) * Swift (bird), a family of birds It may also refer to: Organizations * SWIFT, a ...

(SWIFT) were primary methods for making and receiving electronic cross-border payments. Within individual countries, payers and payees have used various electronic systems to make such payments. In the United States, for instance, the Federal Reserve Bank operates the automated clearing house (ACH) system. In the Eurozone the

Single Euro Payments Area The Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) is a payment-integration initiative of the European Union for simplification of bank transfers denominated in euro. , there were 36 members in SEPA, consisting of the 27 member states of the European Union ...

(SEPA) defines the rules for credit transfer (SCT) and direct debits (SDD) for Euro payments and these are implemented by various clearing and settlement both within Eurozone countries and for pan-European payments. SEPA Instant
SCT Inst
has been available since November 2017 for single immediate payments. The ECB provides a real time gross settlement system (RTGS) for SEPA payments called TARGET2. The ECB also provides TIPS for immediate settlement of SEPA payments using TARGET2. RT1 from EBA Clearing provides a pan-European ACH (PEACH) for SEPA instant payments settling on TARGET2. With the advent of the World Wide Web, it became necessary to provide alternative payment systems. At first, consumers were hesitant to use their credit cards on the Web due to security concerns. Entrepreneurs tried to market an "electronic wallet". As early as 1994, CyberCash allowed consumers to make secure purchases over the Internet. CyberCash eventually failed. In March 2000,

PayPal PayPal Holdings, Inc. is an American multinational financial technology company operating an online payments system in the majority of countries that support online money transfers, and serves as an electronic alternative to traditional paper ...

was formed and became a predominant electronic wallet in the U.S. Similar regional services include

WebMoney WebMoney is an online payment settlement system established in Russia in 1998. It is one of the largest electronic payments processors in Russia by number of users, with the company reporting 45 million registered accounts and 300,000 active week ...

and

Yandex.Money YooMoney branded as ЮMoney, formerly known as Yandex.Money (russian: Яндекс.Деньги), is Russia's second largest electronic payment service after "Sberbank Online" according to a 2020 research by Mediascope. It is an online payment ...

in Russia and Alipay in China. While popular in their own countries, these do not have significant global reach. PayPal and

Moneybookers Skrill (formerly Moneybookers) is a digital wallet provider established in 2001 which offers a multiple online payment and money transfer services. Skrill operates in 131 countries with the digital wallet offered in 40 currencies. Customers can ...

(Skrill)EOctopus in Hong Kong – A Feasibility Study
— Ben Beiske, Leslie Lee, Iris Yim, David Yu became regional electronic wallets, providing greater liquidity, but still do not provide for the free flow of funds between all popular electronic wallet solutions.

References

{{reflist, colwidth=30em Digital currencies Payment systems Credit cards Electronic funds transfer Cloud applications Software industry As a service