How does a split payment work?
The customer pays once and the provider books parts of the amount to different accounts. Adyen’s documentation for platforms lets the merchant send split instructions with the payment, at capture or with a refund, booking each part to a user’s balance account, the platform’s commission to its own account and fees to a chosen account; the splits must add up to the full amount. Stripe Connect offers destination charges, where a charge on the platform immediately transfers a portion to one connected account, and separate charges and transfers, where the platform charges first and then moves funds to one or several connected accounts.
Why does it matter?
It lets a marketplace sell a basket from several sellers in one checkout and keep its commission automatically. As an illustrative example: a customer pays 200 euros for items from two sellers, worth 120 and 80 euros. With a 10% commission, the platform keeps 20 euros and the sellers receive 108 and 72 euros, before provider fees. The model also decides who carries refunds and disputes, which Stripe’s documentation sets out per charge type.
What are the limits?
Collecting money for others can be a regulated payment service. A European Commission answer published by the European Banking Authority says an e-commerce platform that receives payment on behalf of the payee is not excluded from PSD2 by default. That is one reason marketplaces use a provider’s platform product, a payment facilitator set-up or a merchant-of-record model. Split features also differ between providers, so changing provider can mean rebuilding the flow. The term has a second meaning too: a customer paying one order with two methods.
Where does Omno use it?
Splitting a payment when it is processed is a provider feature, so support depends on the connected PSP. Marketplace seller payouts run through Omno’s Pay-Out, which shares authentication, statuses and webhook format with Pay-In and supports payout routers and manual approval.