Diana Vorniceanu, Senior Editor at The Paypers, discusses the role of payment orchestration in global ecommerce.
The concept of payment modularity defines the direction in which the payment industry is heading. At its core, modularity is about moving away from setups where a single provider handles payments end-to-end and opting to build personalised payment infrastructures by combining several interchangeable components. In simple terms, merchants now select specialised providers for different functions, combining their capabilities into payment stacks that are tailored to their specific needs. Payment orchestration reflects this trend.
When leveraging an orchestration layer, a merchant moves past simply being a user of PSP services, taking a more flexible and active role in customising its payment stacks. This does not mean abandoning existing provider relationships. Instead, the orchestration layer sits on top of a merchant’s current infrastructure, acting as a unified interface that connects and coordinates multiple providers through a single integration.
This modularity also enables access to value-added services like tokenization, reconciliation and reporting, fraud detection, 3DS authentication, and chargeback management. Smart routing, the process of automatically directing transactions to the most suitable provider based on criteria like amount, currency, or geography, is another capability available through orchestration platforms.
The core value of orchestration lies in accelerating time to market. Through a single integration, merchants can connect with multiple PSPs and acquirers and easily add new gateways or payment methods without dedicating resources to building each new connection from scratch. This is particularly valuable for merchants expanding into new markets or adapting to shifting customer preferences, areas where speed impacts revenue and where the operational challenges are the greatest.
Cross-border payment complexities
The global ecommerce market is only expanding and is anticipated to reach USD 6.8 trillion in 2026. A significant segment of the market value is linked to selling in growth markets.
As the rise of global ecommerce dissolves geographic boundaries, the pain points of global merchants grow equally difficult to navigate, with cross-border payment processing remaining one of the most complex operational challenges.
In the equation of global ecommerce, payment orchestration is often brought up as a solution to the challenges associated with selling across borders, acting as a centralised layer that manages multiple PSP and acquirer integrations and helps merchants stay compliant with different regulatory requirements.
Innately cultural payment preferences also validate the fundamental premise of payment orchestration: payment optimisation must be cultural as much as it is technical – a German customer needs SEPA processing, not just access to local payment methods (LPMs). LPM access is very important, especially in geographies with low card penetration. With over 70% of international shoppers abandoning their cards when their LPM is unavailable, having the right payment option at checkout is key. But offering the right payment methods is only part of the equation. How payments are secured matters just as much.
The shift towards tokenized payments
Network tokenization (the use of tokens from card networks like Visa or Mastercard to replace PANs in the transaction flow) is gaining ground. These tokens differ from gateway or acquirer tokens, which are non-portable and only function within specific payment flows. When network tokens are used, the PAN remains tokenized throughout the entire payment flow, protecting the underlying account information from breaches.
According to Mastercard, 30% of global and almost 50% of its European ecommerce transactions are tokenized. Similarly, Visa recently announced that nearly half of its digital transactions are tokenized. Although the adoption of network tokens is not uniform – with the US market experiencing higher adoption levels than Europe – and acquirer and issuer adoption remains a pain point in the industry, network tokenization is here to stay. In March 2025, Mastercard announced its plans to achieve 100% tokenization by 2030 and phase out manual card entry for ecommerce.
For merchants, network tokens bring several benefits. For one, tokens enable credentials to be updated when cards expire, thus limiting the chances of failed payments. According to Visa, tokenized payments reduce fraud by 34% and increase authorisation rates by 4.7% on average. Similarly, Mastercard data suggests a 2.1% average increase in authorisation rates, as well as a reduction in fraud.
Conclusions
Recent stats highlight that the payment orchestration market is consolidating and seeing constant growth. Now valued at USD 1.89 billion, the market is anticipated to reach USD 14.98 billion by 2035. The interest from merchants to enter growth markets without investing in in-house capabilities in LATAM, APAC, and MENA is fuelling this growth.
The future of payment orchestration lies in its ability to cater to global commercial experiences. As the payment landscape continues to diversify and, consequently, become more fragmented, orchestration layers are becoming a critical and invisible infrastructure layer that enables merchants to compete in the global ecommerce race.
This editorial piece was first published in The Paypers' Global Ecommerce Report 2026, which provides a complete overview of key trends and strategies to help businesses worldwide succeed. Download your free copy today to explore in-depth insights on global ecommerce trends, the latest innovations in payment solutions, and strategies to stay ahead in a competitive market.
About the author
Diana Vorniceanu (Lupuleac) is a Senior Editor at The Paypers. She has an extensive background in content creation and is a graduate of Foreign Languages and Literature studies, currently specialising in payments and ecommerce. She strives to bring forward the latest trends for our readers, while investigating the ever-evolving landscape of cross-border payments, global ecommerce, payments for marketplaces and online platforms, and emerging technologies across the globe. You can reach Diana via email at diana@thepaypers.com or on LinkedIn.
