Windcave

Windcave is a payment processor founded in Auckland, New Zealand in 1999 and known as Payment Express until it rebranded in July 2019. It now employs more than 400 people across offices in New Zealand, Australia, the UK, the US, Canada and Lithuania, and operates in over 40 countries. Unusually for a company of its size it owns the whole stack: the gateway, its own merchant acquiring licences, and payment terminals designed and manufactured in house since 2015. Acquiring launched in New Zealand in 2016, Australia in 2018, the UK and US in 2020, Canada in 2021 and Europe in 2023.

Pricing and how it works

Windcave publishes no rates. Every merchant is quoted individually, and the company offers three merchant service fee models: blended, where interchange, scheme and acquirer costs are collapsed into one fixed percentage of card sales; Interchange+, which passes interchange through with a separate acquirer fee; and Interchange++, which itemises interchange, scheme fee and acquirer fee separately. Windcave states that the rate depends on transaction count, average ticket size, the share of international transactions and which payment methods are enabled, and that international transactions attract additional fees. Funds are generally settled into the merchant bank account the following business day, with configurable settlement cut-off times. The commercial terms are the sticking point: new merchant agreements run to a 36-month term from the start date, and cancellation fees apply. Merchants should also budget for gateway and establishment charges that sit alongside the merchant service fee.

Who it is for

Windcave suits mid-market and enterprise merchants that need one provider across ecommerce, staffed retail and unattended terminals, particularly in Australia and New Zealand where it is one of the few non-bank acquirers. Its unattended and self-service coverage for parking, vending, fuel, transport and ticketing is genuinely hard to replicate elsewhere. It is a weaker choice for small merchants and startups, who will find the opaque quoting process and the three-year commitment heavy next to month-to-month competitors with published rates.