exactly® Payment Gateway – A Comprehensive Overview

Introduction to exactly

exactly® (hereafter referred to as exactly) is a complete, fully PCI-compliant payment gateway and platform for e-commerce merchants, marketplaces, SaaS and subscription services, and high-volume businesses. Based in the UK, with a presence in Europe and global partnerships for acquiring, exactly allows businesses to integrate payments worldwide. It supports over 150 currencies and a variety of payment methods.

Why Your Business Should Consider exactly

For international merchants or businesses scaling globally, exactly offers features that empower growth and conversion:

• Global coverage: Accept payments in 150+ currencies across multiple regions with both card and local alternative payment methods (APMs).

• Fraud & chargeback reduction: Uses machine‑learning combined with manual checks, tokenisation, 3D Secure 2, AVS, smart routing and blacklisting to minimize fraudulent and friendly fraud scenarios and improve authorization success rate.

• Flexible integration options: Choose between hosted, iframe or fully integrated API/SDK, or plugins into major CMS like WooCommerce, Magento, OpenCart, WordPress, PrestaShop, and more.

• Intuitive management console: Real‑time dashboard, templated and customizable reporting, role‑based access controls, CSV export, full reconciliation, and analytics by region, currency, payment type, etc.

• One‑click payments & tokenisation: Supports card‑on‑file checkout flows that increase repeat purchase rates and customer loyalty with tokenized data, especially on mobile and app interfaces

1. Onboarding & Integration Process

1.1 Merchant Onboarding

Onboarding with exactly is fast and straightforward: after registration, you submit basic financial and corporate documentation. The compliance team conducts a brief review before activation, and onboarding speed is generally faster compared to legacy providers.

1.2 Sandbox & Testing

exactly provides a robust sandbox environment, enabling developers and business teams to test integrations thoroughly. Beyond technical testing, it supports sandboxing of managerial and accounting structures, enabling clear roles, responsibilities, and user access before going live.

1.3 Go‑Live & Iterations

Once your setup is complete, you move quickly to live testing on your domain. Feedback loops are encouraged: merchants routinely iterate features and UX based on real customer input, and exactly supports continuous improvement cycles including analytics‑backed enhancements and promotional tools.

2. Integration Methods & Tech Options

2.1 CMS & Plugin Support

exactly offers plugins and integrations for popular platforms such as OpenCart (free module), WooCommerce, Magento, PrestaShop, WordPress, Joomla and others. The OpenCart plugin is free and supports subscriptions, refunds, and seamless checkout without redirection.

2.2 API & Hosted Checkout

For full control over branding and flow, merchants can choose an API‑based integration with UI hosted on their domain. Alternatively, exactly offers a secure hosted payment page that can be branded to harmonize with merchant design while offloading PCI compliance handling to exactly.

2.3 Mobile & App Support

Whether your users shop via mobile web, native iOS/Android apps or progressive web apps, exactly supports seamless mobile checkout, including one‑click purchases and token‑based app payment flows to reduce friction and improve conversion.

3. Features & Capabilities

3.1 Payment Acceptance & Methods

• Card payments: Visa, Mastercard, American Express, UnionPay, JCB, Discover, Maestro, Visa Electron, etc.

• Alternative methods: Bank transfers, e‑wallets (WebMoney, Skrill, QIWI), open invoicing, local debit networks and vouchers, including popular European options like Multibanco and MBWay.

3.2 Recurring & Subscription Billing

exactly supports tokenised recurring payments, auto renewal billing, dunning logic, and one-click reorders. Well-suited for subscription-based services, educational platforms, marketplaces, and SaaS.

3.3 Payment Links & Mass Payouts

You can generate payment links to send to customers or embed in invoices for quick payment capture. Mass payment and batch reconciliation tools simplify disbursing funds to multiple recipients, useful for marketplaces or payout-heavy operations.

3.4 Internal Digital Wallet & Fee-less Transfers

exactly offers a proprietary wallet system: merchants and frequent partners can transact within the ecosystem fee-free, which is especially advantageous for high-volume or repeat partner models.

4. Security, Fraud Prevention & Compliance

4.1 PCI DSS Compliance

exactly is fully certified under PCI DSS and handles storage, transmission, and access to sensitive data. Merchants may reduce or postpone their own compliance burden when using hosted options or tokenisation features.

4.2 Fraud Detection & Chargeback Mitigation

Using a layered approach, exactly combines AI‑driven risk scoring, manual review, machine learning listener systems, AVS, blacklists, and 3D Secure 2.0 processing to reduce approvals decline and prevent chargebacks.
Dedicated chargeback teams and early alert systems assist merchants in representment workflows, improving recovery rates and reducing losses.

4.3 Smart Routing & PSD2 Conformity

Their routing engine dynamically selects optimal acquirers based on geography, currency, and issuer‑acquirer combinations to maximize success rates. exactly is also PSD2‑compliant as a regulated Electronic Money Institution operating in the UK/EU frameworks.

5. Reporting, Analytics & Management Tools

5.1 Real‑Time Dashboard

Merchants access a sleek, intuitive dashboard with real‑time data on sales, rejections, refunds, chargebacks and payment method breakdowns. Permissions roles and access controls help finance and operations teams manage workflows securely.

5.2 Configurable Reports & Reconciliation

Templates and custom reports cover declines by region, currency, card brand, device type, and more. CSV export enables reconciliation with accounting or BI tools. Mass payout and settlement data is presented efficiently for global operations.

5.3 Expert Consultant Support

exactly pairs each merchant with a Payment Expert who helps interpret analytics, improve approval rates, lower chargebacks, and optimize pricing. This advisory approach adds value beyond typical gateway services.

Conclusion

In summary, exactly provides a flexible, secure, and analytical payment gateway for modern merchants expanding globally. It focuses on local APM coverage, recurring and one-click options, and specialized tools like mass payouts and digital wallets, setting it apart from traditional providers. Although pricing needs direct communication and some merchants have voiced concerns about the speed of customer support, the platform’s design, depth of analytics, and advisory support make it a strong option for merchants looking to grow.