The role of payment service providers (PSPs) is not always clear, even for experts in financial services. The authors explain the role of the service providers in the market, undertake a typification of the individual business models and show the market share of the PSPs currently active in the German market among the top 200 merchants. They also explore the question of whether there is a "hidden champion" in this sector in Germany or whether international providers will dominate the market.
This independent study sees Computop as the clear market leader with a 38% share of the turnover of the merchants that it serves who are, in turn, 1.4 times larger than the average dealer. Payone follows in second place with 21% and Adyen in third place with 11%. Further evaluations concern the shares of the merchant segments of individual PSPs, the effects of mergers of different providers as well as the market outlook for payment service providers.