# Ratepay — Payment

Ratepay by Ratepay GmbH holds a panel rating of 2/5 from 6 AI judges (category median 2/5), as of 2026-10-21. Provenance: provenance unknown; sovereignty: not determined.

- Vendor: Ratepay GmbH (https://www.ratepay.com)
- Category: [Payment](https://whats-best.ai/software/payment.md)
- Provenance (editorial classification): provenance unknown
- Canonical page: https://whats-best.ai/software/payment/ratepay
- Alternatives: https://whats-best.ai/software/payment/ratepay/alternatives ([markdown](https://whats-best.ai/software/payment/ratepay/alternatives.md))
- Data as of: 2026-10-21 · evaluated 2026-10-21 · oldest source captured 2026-10-20

**AI-generated.** Every score, rationale and verdict here is written by a panel of AI judges from public evidence — an analysis, not a hands-on test. Every fact quotes the vendor page it was read from. No score can be bought. How scores are made: https://whats-best.ai/methodology

## At a glance

- Vendor: Ratepay GmbH
- Headquarters: Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 20 Oct 2026
- Data hosting: Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 20 Oct 2026
- Free plan: Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 20 Oct 2026

## The panel's verdict

Ratepay is a Berlin-based buy-now-pay-later provider offering invoice, SEPA direct debit, interest-free pay-in-3 instalments and prepayment through a hosted, white-label payment page. It scores strongest on settlement and reconciliation (4 to 6) and recurring billing (4 to 6), where judges credit a CSV settlement file per payout itemising eight fee types per transaction, and dunning blocks with defined durations per reason. Weakest is payment methods (2 to 4): we found no public information on card or wallet acceptance, or on which countries and currencies each method serves — the only market signal is 15+ years of experience in DACH payments. Checkout and SCA and licence and account terms both land at 4 to 4. The genuine split is sovereignty (3 to 6): higher scores credit the Berlin entity, BaFin regulation and a payment page developed and hosted in Germany, while the lowest score weighs unconfirmed checks on ownership and data residency, a password-gated data processing agreement, and named safeguards for third-country transfers. We found no public price; the commercial page ends in a demo booking.

**Speaks for it:**
- CSV settlement files arrive with every payout via the ORCA portal or SFTP, itemising eight fee types per transaction with chargeback reason codes and an ERP accounting reference
- Dunning blocks are per-invoice with durations fixed per reason from two to six weeks, extendable once, with automatic resumption
- Recurring SEPA direct debit is documented in depth — payer authorisation, pre-notification rules, a single notice covering follow-on debits, and B2B mandate confirmation
- The strong customer authentication position is published and reasoned: SCA does not apply to SEPA direct debit as Ratepay offers it, a view stated as supported by BaFin
- The checkout is a hosted, white-label page with no redirects or third-party sign-ups and OTP verification on high-value purchases

**Held against it:**
- We found no public information on card or wallet acceptance, or a per-method statement of which countries and currencies are covered
- We found no public price of any kind — the pricing path is a demo booking
- We found no public information on webhooks, idempotency, a test mode, rate limits or a status page
- We found no public information on payout delay, settlement currencies, or exporting stored payment credentials to another provider
- We found no public information on the licence type or register number, safeguarding of merchant funds, chargeback fees, or termination notice periods

**Best for:**
- You sell into DACH markets and want invoice, SEPA direct debit and interest-free pay-in-3 instalments as the core rails
- Your finance team needs reconciliation-grade settlement data: a CSV per payout with fee types itemised per transaction and an ERP accounting reference
- You collect by recurring SEPA direct debit and want mandate handling and dunning run and documented by the provider

**Avoid if:**
- You need cards, wallets or local methods beyond the named set of invoice, direct debit, pay-in-3 and prepayment
- You run card-based subscriptions with trials and proration — the documented recurring machinery is SEPA direct debit mandates and dunning
- You must verify the regulated counterparty by register number and licence type up front — the pages state BaFin regulation and point to a licence page without them
- Your procurement requires a published subprocessor list and openly accessible contract text — the data processing agreement sits behind a password from sales

## Scores by judge and criterion

Scores out of 5, each judge scoring independently against the published rubric (v1). "n/r" = not rated: the vendor publishes no price.

| Criterion | The Finance Lead | The E-Commerce Lead | The SaaS Founder | The Payments Engineer | The Compliance Officer | The Skeptic |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Payment methods & local coverage | 1/5 | 1.5/5 | 1/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 | 1/5 |
| Checkout, SCA & fraud | 2/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 |
| Subscriptions & recurring payments | 2/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 | 3/5 | 2/5 | 2.5/5 |
| Settlement, reconciliation & API | 2.5/5 | 2/5 | 2.5/5 | 3/5 | 2.5/5 | 3/5 |
| Licence, risk & account terms | 2/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 |
| European sovereignty | 2.5/5 | 2.5/5 | 3/5 | 3/5 | 3/5 | 1.5/5 |
| Pricing transparency | n/r | n/r | n/r | n/r | n/r | n/r |
| **Weighted verdict** | **2/5** | **2/5** | **2/5** | **2.5/5** | **2.5/5** | **2/5** |

### The judges

- **The Finance Lead** (v1.0): Closes the month and owns the cash position. Wants payouts on a stated schedule, fees itemised per transaction rather than netted into a lump, reports that match the bank statement, and a rolling reserve written into the contract with a limit rather than discovered on a Tuesday.
- **The E-Commerce Lead** (v1.0): Sells to customers in eight EU countries and is measured on conversion. Wants the local methods each market actually uses named per country, a checkout that stays on her domain, and 3-D Secure that challenges only when it must. Reads "100+ payment methods" as a count, not a list.
- **The SaaS Founder** (v1.0): Runs a B2B subscription business where every failed renewal is churn nobody chose. Wants SEPA mandates as well as cards, dunning that recovers, proration that is correct, and the payment tokens exportable — because a provider that keeps the tokens keeps the customer base hostage.
- **The Payments Engineer** (v1.0): Integrates the provider and gets paged when webhooks stop arriving. Wants a versioned API with idempotency keys, a test mode that behaves like production, the PCI scope of each integration stated, and a status page that admits incidents rather than a green dot.
- **The Compliance Officer** (v1.0): Handles data protection and outsourcing risk, and wants the regulated entity named with its supervisor and register number, not "licensed in Europe". Asks where transaction and cardholder data are processed, who the subprocessors are, and where the provider acts as controller rather than processor.
- **The Skeptic** (v1.0): Knows the headline rate covers the cheapest card in the cheapest country. Reads for the currency conversion markup, the chargeback fee, the payout delay and the clause that lets the provider freeze funds without a reason — and treats a missing licence number as an answer.

## European sovereignty — proven facts

Built only from facts on the vendor's own pages; a dimension we could not prove is left open, never scored as zero. Headline: not determined.

| Dimension | Finding | Points | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Legal entity | Not determined | — | — |
| Ownership | Not determined | — | — |
| Data residency | Not determined | — | — |
| Subprocessors | Not determined | — | — |

## Key facts

Each fact is the vendor's own statement, cited to the source page it was read from ([S*n*] → Sources).

**Compliance**
- Bafin regulated: yes [S5]
- Data processing use: payment processing only [S5]
- Marketing consent: yes [S5]
- Standards: Germany · EAA · PSD2 · GDPR [S5]

**Data**
- Data provision obligation: yes · no [S2]
- Recruitment EU storage: yes [S2]
- Retention contract data: 5 · 3 · 2 · 10 [S2]
- Third country transfers: EU Angemessenheitsbeschlüsse · EU-US Data Privacy Framework · Standardvertragsklauseln · verbindliche interne Datenschutzvorschriften · Art. 49 DSGVO Ausnahmen [S2]

**Integrations**
- API field mapping: settlement file fields map to Payment API 1.8 tags (invoice-id, order-id, reference-id) and Payment API 2.0 fields (partner_invoice_id, partner_transaction_id, partner_operation_id) [S9]
- Partners: Adyen · PayPal · Consors Finanz · Unicredit [S5]
- Sftp data exchange: Data exchange via SFTP documented [S8]

**Legal**
- Bafin licence page exists: yes [S4]
- Controller: datenschutz@ratepay.de · Ratepay GmbH · Ritterstr. 12-14, D-10969 Berlin [S2]
- Disclaimer not legal advice: no [S3]
- DPA conclusion method: Concluded via the Merchant Agreement or a Supplementary Agreement to the Merchant Agreement [S11]
- DPA current version: 23JAN06 · 2023_Ratepay_Vereinbarung_Datenverarbeitung_im_Auftrag_(SKK).pdf [S11]
- DPA party: Auftragsdatenverarbeitung (order data processing agreement) · Ratepay regular customer concept (Stammkundenkonzept) for merchants · Ratepay [S11]
- DPA previous version: 22MAY24 · 20220524_Ratepay_Vereinbarung_Auftragsverarbeitung_(SKK)_v1.3_Ansicht.pdf [S11]
- DPA required GDPR art28: Art. 28 GDPR · yes [S11]
- DPA text access restricted: DPA text available below, password available via Sales/KAM [S11]
- Eba qa reference: 2019_4664 · EBA Single Rule Book Q&A Tool [S4]
- Last update: 2026-06 [S2]
- Nexi group backing: Nexi Group [S5]
- Regulated financial company: yes [S2]
- Sca disclaimer: Page content is not legal advice; merchants must review contractual terms independently and Ratepay recommends qualified legal advice [S4]
- Sca not applicable SEPA dd: no [S4]

**Pricing**
- No prices stated: no [S5]

**Product**
- Account managers: yes [S5]
- AI customer service: yes [S2]
- Buyer portal: Ratepay Käuferportal · yes · no [S2]
- Cart abandonment reduction: 50 [S5]
- Ccd2 deadline: integrations must meet CCD2 requirements [S8]
- Checkout branding: yes · yes [S5]
- Conversion uplift: 54 [S5]
- Customization modules: Checkout · Invoicing · Buyer Portal · Communication [S5]
- Data ownership: yes [S5]
- Dunning block debtor complaint: If, due to a complaint, touch up or exchange has to take place, the payment term can thus be extended. Complaint processing. [S7]
- Dunning block duration: Duration determined by reason and unchangeable; extension once possible; dunning process automatically resumed after expiry [S6]
- Dunning block email copy: An email address can be provided to receive a copy of the reminder block request [S6]
- Dunning block forwarding payment: The customer has transferred the payment for a Ratepay order directly to you as a shop. The forwarding to Ratepay or the repayment to the customer has been arranged. [S7]
- Dunning block fraud suspicion: The customer reports a case of fraud. Forwarding of the fraud report and the documents (invoice and proof of delivery, if necessary notification of the customer) to Ratepay. [S7]
- Dunning block goodwill deferral: Goodwill decision to avoid escalation Reasons can be e.g.: client announces the referral, client's hospitalisation... [S7]
- Dunning block investigation request: A return shipment or a delivery has been lost and an investigation had to be commissioned for clarification. A tracking has been triggered for a delivery or return and it has not yet been completed. [S7]
- Dunning block length defined: The length of the dunning block is clearly defined and depends on the triggering reason. [S7]
- Dunning block per invoice: yes [S6]
- Dunning block purpose: Dunning blocks can be set up in ORCA when an order is delayed or the customer does not receive goods on time or there is a dispute [S6]
- Dunning block return: A return credit note will follow so that no more payment is expected or the invoice amount remaining after a partial return is fixed. Returns processing. [S7]
- Dunning block third request: A third dunning block requires a request to Ratepay, which does not immediately set it up [S6]
- Dunning block visibility: yes [S6]
- Emandate availability germany: Q1 2020 · 0 [S4]
- Emandate definition: E-mandate is set up by the customer in the online banking portal of their PSP, requires QES standard and SCA for interface access [S4]
- Emandate voluntary: yes · SEPA Regulations [S4]
- Enterprise scalability: yes [S5]
- Experience years: 15 [S5]
- German made: yes [S5]
- Hosted payment page: branded, secure, compliant checkout hosted by Ratepay [S5]
- Industries: Fashion · Home & Living · Consumer Electronics · Travel · FMCG [S5]
- Integration speed: launch in days, not weeks [S5]
- Invoice pay in 30: 30 · 60 [S5]
- Merchant growth: 38 [S5]
- Merchant portal: Ratepay Händlerportal · yes [S2]
- No automated decision making: no [S2]
- No data trading: yes [S5]
- Otp verification: yes [S5]
- Pay in 3: 3 · yes · 16 [S5]
- Payment methods: Invoice · Direct Debit [S5]
- Redundant infrastructure: yes [S5]
- Reliable payouts: yes [S5]
- Risk management: yes · yes [S5]
- SEPA b2b mandate confirmation: yes [S3]
- SEPA b2b no consumers: no [S3]
- SEPA b2b refund waiver: yes [S3]
- SEPA b2b submission period: 1 [S3]
- SEPA prenotification addressee: SEPA pre-notification addressee is always the account holder named in the mandate [S3]
- SEPA prenotification bank avis insufficient: no [S3]
- SEPA prenotification deadline: 14 · yes [S3]
- SEPA prenotification delivery methods: Invoice · advice letter · fax · e-mail · SMS · telephone call · no [S3]
- SEPA prenotification minimum info: Amount · SEPA due date · SEPA Creditor Identifier (SEPA Creditor ID) · SEPA Mandate Reference (SEPA Mandate ID) [S3]
- SEPA prenotification missing consequence: breach of duty; return debit note permissible [S3]
- SEPA prenotification recurring single notice: yes [S3]
- SEPA prenotification reissue on change: yes [S3]
- SEPA prenotification waiver not permitted: no [S3]
- SEPA recurring authorisation: Recurring SEPA direct debit authorisation is used for regular direct debits initiated by the creditor [S3]
- SEPA single authorisation once: no [S3]
- Settlement accounting reference: char(255) · REFERENCE_ID_ACCOUNTING · Shop internal accounting number (e. g. from ERP systems), used to reference transaction changes · Merchant [S9]
- Settlement amount field: decimal(14,2) · AMOUNT · Amount of position, based on captured amounts · Ratepay [S9]
- Settlement chargeback reasons: CHARGEBACK_REASON · INR · SUM · SNAD · DEFEND · FRAUD · fee type 8 [S9]
- Settlement customer group: CUSTOMERGROUP · B2B · B2C [S9]
- Settlement descriptor field: char(20) · DESCRIPTOR · Ratepay reference of order · Ratepay [S9]
- Settlement doc sections: For Merchants: Download, Content, Example, Analyzing settlement report data · For Plattform Partners: Clearing files, Regular customers, Merchant invoice · Additional resources: Data exchange via SFTP [S9]
- Settlement feetypes: FEETYPE · Original amount, return, cancellation, credit memo, additional debit · Disagio · Transaction fee (occur at cancellation or delivery) · Fees for return, cancellation, credit memo, additional debit · Service charge · VAT · Interest… [S9]
- Settlement file format: csv · breakdown of payout with amounts and Ratepay fees per transaction · generated with every payout [S9]
- Settlement known customer: KNOWNCUSTOMER · Unknown customer · Known customer [S9]
- Settlement product types: PRODUCT · INVOICE · INSTALLMENT · DIRECT DEBIT · PREPAYMENT · INSTALLMENT DIRECT DEBIT [S9]
- Settlement report archive: archive/settlement_report · 30 [S8]
- Settlement report content: list of all payables and deductibles (claims, returns, fees, chargebacks) paid or deducted from payout on any payout day [S8]
- Settlement report delivery: csv · ORCA portal · SFTP server at from_ratepay/settlement_report [S8]
- Settlement report frequency: provided on each working day when Ratepay generates a payout [S8]
- Settlement report naming: {YYYYMMDD}_{partner_identifier}_settlement_report.csv [S8]
- Settlement report sftp access: SFTP access granted on request during integration [S8]
- Settlement shopinvoice field: char(50) · SHOPINVOICE_ID · invoice-id on Payment API 1.8 or partner_invoice_id on Payment API 2.0 · Merchant identifier of shop invoice · Merchant [S9]
- Settlement shopsorder field: char(50) · SHOPSORDER_ID · order-id on Payment API 1.8 or partner_transaction_id on Payment API 2.0 · Merchant identifier of shop order · Merchant [S9]
- Social presence: Instagram · X (Twitter) · LinkedIn · Xing/Kununu · Glassdoor [S2]
- Solutions: Rechnungskauf und Lastschrift · Hosted Payment Page · Zahle in 3 Raten [S2]
- Survey tool: Markt- und Meinungsforschung · yes [S2]
- White label: yes [S5]

## Questions

### Is Ratepay European?

Not determined: the vendor’s pages as captured do not say where Ratepay is based.

### Where does Ratepay store data?

Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 20 Oct 2026.

### Does Ratepay have a free plan?

Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 20 Oct 2026.

### What are the best alternatives to Ratepay?

As of 21 Oct 2026, the panel rates [Adyen (3/5)](https://whats-best.ai/software/payment/adyen), [Mollie (3/5)](https://whats-best.ai/software/payment/mollie) and [Checkout.com (3/5)](https://whats-best.ai/software/payment/checkout-com) highest among the other 30 Payment products evaluated. Ratings that look equal are rounded to half stars; the order uses the unrounded rating, then the name. The highest-rated European alternative is [Adyen](https://whats-best.ai/software/payment/adyen) (EU-Made). Ratings are the AI panel’s opinion, formed from public evidence: [how scores are made](https://whats-best.ai/methodology#ordering). The full list, with European products first: [Ratepay alternatives](https://whats-best.ai/software/payment/ratepay/alternatives).

## What this page leaves out

- 6 legal facts could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and were left out of this page and of the panel’s material.
- 6 subprocessors facts could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and were left out of this page and of the panel’s material.
- 5 product facts could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and were left out of this page and of the panel’s material.
- 2 compliance facts could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and were left out of this page and of the panel’s material.
- 1 data fact could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and was left out of this page and of the panel’s material.
- 1 support fact could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and was left out of this page and of the panel’s material.
- 1 sovereignty dimension could not be confirmed on the vendor’s own pages and is shown as unknown.

## Sources

- [S1] Vendor page: https://www.ratepay.com (checked 2026-10-20)
- [S2] Privacy policy — found from the homepage: https://www.ratepay.com/datenschutz (checked 2026-10-20)
- [S3] Payment methods & local coverage — found from sitemap: https://docs.ratepay.com/docs/legal/c_faq_special_interest/further_information_on_sepa_direct_debit (checked 2026-10-20)
- [S4] Checkout, SCA & fraud — found from sitemap: https://docs.ratepay.com/docs/legal/c_faq_special_interest/strong_customer_authentication_sca (checked 2026-10-20)
- [S5] Checkout, SCA & fraud — found from sitemap: https://www.ratepay.com/en/solutions/hosted-payment-page (checked 2026-10-20)
- [S6] Subscriptions & recurring payments — found from sitemap: https://docs.ratepay.com/docs/orca/english_version/order/set_up_dunning_block/set_up_dunning_block (checked 2026-10-20)
- [S7] Subscriptions & recurring payments — found from sitemap: https://docs.ratepay.com/docs/orca/english_version/order/set_up_dunning_block/dunning_block_reasons (checked 2026-10-20)
- [S8] Settlement, reconciliation & API — found from sitemap: https://docs.ratepay.com/docs/reporting/settlement/overview (checked 2026-10-20)
- [S9] Settlement, reconciliation & API — found from sitemap: https://docs.ratepay.com/docs/reporting/settlement/merchants/content (checked 2026-10-20)
- [S10] Licence, risk & account terms — found from sitemap: https://docs.ratepay.com/docs/legal/c_faq_special_interest/information_about_ratepays_bafin_license (checked 2026-10-20)
- [S11] Licence, risk & account terms — found from sitemap: https://docs.ratepay.com/docs/legal/b_ratepays_terms_for_merchants/data_processing_agreement/german_version (checked 2026-10-20)

---

Cite as: whats-best.ai, "Ratepay — Payment", AI panel analysis, as of 2026-10-21. https://whats-best.ai/software/payment/ratepay

Corrections: https://whats-best.ai/correct/934?target=page