1. Introduction Gateway Evolution The payment gateway market in 2026 is no longer simply about accepting card payments online. Modern payment platforms increasingly combine payment acceptance with payment processing, acquiring, local payment methods, fraud management, tokenization, smart routing, payment orchestration, reconciliation, payouts and analytics. This evolution means that a payment gateway is increasingly becoming a payment technology and optimization platform, rather than simply a technical connection between a merchant and a payment network. Why Payments Are Becoming Strategic Payments are now closely connected to conversion, customer experience, revenue, cost, risk and operational efficiency. Customers increasingly expect merchants to support a combination of: Cards Digital wallets Local payment methods Bank payments and A2A BNPL Recurring payments Local currencies At the same time, businesses need to manage fraud, authentication, payment failures, chargebacks, settle...