Barion

Barion: Payment Gateway Overview For Merchants

Barion is an EU-licensed e-money institution offering an online payment gateway, data-driven fraud prevention, and built-in analytics for web and mobile checkouts. Merchants can accept cards, popular digital wallets, and select local payment methods while using Barion’s tracking pixel and analytics to monitor conversion and risk. The company operates under the supervision of the Central Bank of Hungary and states compliance with PCI DSS.

At A Glance

• Regulatory status: Barion Payment Zrt. is authorized by the Central Bank of Hungary as an electronic-money issuer (license ID H-EN-I-1064/2013). The company’s legal information page lists the same license identifiers.

• Supported payment methods: Cards (Visa, Mastercard, Maestro; Discover and Diners Club in Czechia and Slovakia), wallets (Apple Pay, Google Pay, Barion Wallet), and local bank transfers in selected markets.

• Checkout channels: Hosted web checkout, payment links, and in-app/mobile flows with SDKs.

• Fraud and SCA: Base Barion Pixel is required for fraud prevention; 3D Secure is implemented with support for SCA exemptions via transaction risk analysis.

• Currencies and languages: Payments and balances support HUF, EUR, USD, and CZK; Smart Gateway is available in eight languages.

• Status and reliability: Public incident and uptime information is available on the status page.

Pricing And Fee Structure

The provider publishes two merchant pricing packages for the Smart Gateway:

• Fix (flat) pricing: A stable percentage fee regardless of card type. Eligibility depends on conditions including a minimum average cart value; Barion reviews compliance and may switch the merchant to IC++ if conditions are not met.

• IC++ (interchange plus plus): Variable pricing tied to card type/brand and scheme fees.

Barion also markets a “0.99% or less” fee level when the Full Barion Pixel is integrated, indicating pricing optimization linked to data sharing.

Payment Methods And Customer Experience

Cards

The provider supports major card brands via the Smart Gateway: Visa, Mastercard, Maestro, and, in Czechia and Slovakia, Diners Club and Discover. Barion handles 3D Secure to meet PSD2 SCA requirements and provides data fields to help maximize frictionless flows.

Digital Wallets

Merchants can add Apple Pay and Google Pay through the API. Eligibility follows Apple/Google ecosystem rules; Barion provides specific integration guides and tokenized payment endpoints.

Local Payment Methods

The provider exposes local bank transfer options in selected countries, currently highlighted for Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Latvia with additional markets documented. These methods appear automatically on the hosted page when relevant.

Checkout Channels

• Hosted Gateway on Web: A redirect to the page that can be branded. The provider notes that merchants using this flow do not need to submit PCI DSS documentation.

• Payment Links: One-time links redirecting customers to the hosted page.

• Mobile Gateway: Webview or native interfaces via mobile SDKs.

Fraud Prevention, SCA, And PCI

Base Barion Pixel is mandatory for all merchants. The provider states it uses pixel telemetry in its risk engine to reduce fraud, enable PSD2 SCA exemptions (e.g., TRA), and support smoother checkouts. The pixel requirement is positioned as a legitimate-interest fraud-prevention measure.

Barion documents 3D Secure capabilities and supporting data structures for risk scoring and frictionless authentication. The company also states PCI DSS compliance in public materials. For clarity, PCI DSS obligations for the merchant depend on the chosen integration model and scope; Barion’s hosted flow reduces merchant PCI exposure.

Currencies, Settlement, And Payouts

The provider supports HUF, EUR, USD, and CZK for payments and wallet balances. The features page highlights instant domestic payout and cross-border payout, with withdrawals and refunds available through APIs. The Prices and Conditions note that outgoing transfers are available to IBAN countries that meet Barion’s compliance criteria. The provider maintains an eligibility list.

The gateway settles incoming payments to the merchant’s Barion account; merchants can withdraw to bank accounts and initiate refunds via the Withdraw and Refund APIs. Refer to contracts and API docs for operational timing and processing details.

Analytics And Data Products

The provider bundles analytics around its pixel:

• Barion Pixel: Captures on-site events such as product views, clicks, add-to-cart, and purchases.

• Barion Metrics: Visualizes sales funnels and customer behavior from pixel data.

• Full Barion Pixel: An expanded implementation that powers broader insights and, per Barion’s pricing communications, may unlock lower fees.

These tools are optional beyond the mandatory Base Pixel and can be implemented with common e-commerce platforms and tag managers.

Marketplaces And Platforms

Barion Bridge is designed for platforms and marketplaces. It supports facilitated payments, split settlements, reservations, and subscriptions, and the provider positions it as handling payment-compliance obligations for the platform.

Developer Experience

Barion provides a REST API and SDKs with documentation covering Payment Start flows, mobile inline, and one-click/tokenized payments. A sandbox mirrors production behavior for integration testing. The provider also offers downloadable plugins and reference libraries for popular platforms.

Key implementation details include creating a Shop in the merchant wallet and using a POSKey to authenticate API calls. The gateway also publishes a status page for operational updates that engineering teams can monitor during go-live.

Onboarding, Compliance, And Operations

After approval, the provider indicates that fees and any withdrawal delay configuration are communicated in the merchant center. Merchants can operate multiple shops under the same wallet. Operational limits, eligible use cases, and prohibited activities are governed by Barion’s terms and help center policies.

From a compliance perspective, Barion is an EU e-money issuer regulated by the Central Bank of Hungary. Merchants integrating the hosted page reduce PCI obligations, but the merchant’s own data handling, cookies, and analytics should remain GDPR-compliant. Consult Barion’s legal pages and your legal counsel for policy alignment.

When Barion Is A Good Fit

• EU-focused online stores needing card and wallet acceptance with multilingual checkout and support for HUF/EUR/USD/CZK.

• Merchants prioritizing analytics-led optimization, where the pixel and Metrics help diagnose funnels and potentially qualify for pricing benefits when using Full Barion Pixel.

• Marketplaces and SaaS platforms that require split payments and managed compliance via Barion Bridge.