Payment Processor

A payment processor is a company that handles electronic transactions between buyers and sellers — authorizing credit card charges, transferring funds, and managing the financial infrastructure of commerce. The dominant players in the U.S. are Stripe, PayPal, Square, and Braintree (owned by PayPal). For businesses in the parallel economy, payment processors have become one of the most significant deplatforming vectors, with major processors terminating relationships with legal businesses over political and ideological disputes.

What it means

A payment processor can terminate your merchant account with minimal notice, citing vague terms of service provisions around "reputational risk" or "acceptable use." For online businesses that can only accept electronic payments, this is existentially damaging — the equivalent of a brick-and-mortar business having the power grid cut. Stripe, PayPal, Square, and GoFundMe have all been documented terminating accounts of political activists, Christian organizations, gun dealers, conservative media, and others whose only offense was legal activity disapproved of by payment company executives.

How it works on Gab

Gab has been terminated by multiple payment processors and rebuilt its own in-house payment infrastructure as a direct response. Gab processes its own GabPRO subscription payments without depending on third-party processors that could be pressured to cut service. This in-house infrastructure is a significant competitive advantage in the parallel economy.

Related terms

Debanking is the broader financial version of this problem. Merchant accounts are what processors provide. High-risk merchant designation is the mechanism. Cryptocurrency is the payment processor–independent alternative.