PostFinance Checkout vs Datatrans: Which Fits Your Swiss Shop?

PostFinance Checkout is the simpler choice for a small or mid-sized Swiss shop that wants one contract, published fees and the usual Swiss methods working quickly. Datatrans is the stronger choice when you need several acquirers, many methods and currencies, app payments or a fully customized checkout, and have developers to build it. Below you get the fees, methods, integration effort and support side by side, plus the questions to settle before you sign.

TL;DR

• Choose PostFinance Checkout for a fast start: a starter package with a one-off CHF 199 setup fee, CHF 14.90 per month and 2.5% per transaction (CHF 0.20 minimum) for shops under CHF 200,000 annual turnover.
• Choose Datatrans for flexibility: more than 20 acquirers, more than 40 payment methods, 135+ currencies, SDKs for iOS and Android, and tokenization for subscriptions.
• Cost is not comparable at face value. PostFinance bundles acquiring into its rate, while Datatrans prices acquiring separately, so ask both for a quote based on your own volume.
• Integration effort differs. Plug-ins cover standard shops on both sides, but Datatrans pays off mostly when someone can build against its API.

What each service actually is

Both are payment service providers (PSPs). According to the Swiss Confederation’s SME portal, a PSP supplies the secure interface that connects your online shop with methods such as Visa, Mastercard, PayPal, PostFinance and TWINT. The same page notes that Swiss PSP pricing usually combines setup, monthly and per-transaction charges. That is the frame for comparing the two.

PostFinance Checkout is PostFinance’s PSP solution. It offers a central portal, online onboarding, an overview of incoming payments, shop plug-ins and connected services, in two models: All-in-One and Flex. It comes from the bank behind PostFinance Pay, so the payment method most Swiss consumers know sits close to the product.

Datatrans, now presented as Datatrans from Planet, is a payment platform for web and in-app payments. Its feature page lists hosted payment pages, secure fields, full customization, tokenization, 3-D Secure, dashboards and iOS and Android SDKs. It routes payments across many acquirers, which is its main architectural difference from a bundled offer.

Put simply: PostFinance Checkout is a package, and Datatrans is a toolkit. Neither is better in the abstract. The question is how much of the work you want to own.

PostFinance Checkout: All-in-One vs Flex

The two PostFinance models differ in how contracts work. All-in-One processes PostFinance Pay, Visa, Mastercard and TWINT under one collecting-service contract. Flex allows additional acceptance partners and methods, but you need a separate contract with each partner.

In practice:

• All-in-One suits you if the four main Swiss methods cover your customers. One contract, one invoice, one counterpart.
• Flex suits you if you also need methods such as American Express, PayPal, Diners, JCB, China UnionPay or invoice-based options. PostFinance’s method table lists these, depending on the acceptance partner. You then manage a contract per partner.

For integration, PostFinance documents plug-ins for standard shops, including Shopify and ECWID, and specialists can connect a custom shop through REST web services. So a custom build is possible, but the product is designed around the plug-in route.

Datatrans: the multi-acquirer toolkit

Datatrans is built for merchants who want control over how payments are routed and shown. Its documentation covers cards, PostFinance Pay, TWINT and other methods, with the acquirers available for each. Beyond the basics, a few features matter for specific business models:

• Subscriptions and recurring billing. The docs separate customer-initiated payments from merchant-initiated ones and cover recurring processing explicitly. Aliases work as tokens for one-click checkout and monthly billing, though activation can depend on the payment-method provider.
• Marketplaces. Datatrans supports split settlements and marketplace commissions, with automatic payouts at least twice a month and a higher frequency on request. If you run a platform where money flows to several sellers, this is a real differentiator.
• Mobile apps. SDKs for iOS and Android, plus PostFinance Pay support through a mobile SDK, matter if your app, not your website, is the main sales channel.
• Authentication rules. Datatrans states that Mastercard’s updated 3-D Secure data requirements apply from 1 April 2026 and call for valid consumer data in authentication requests. A custom integration has to send that data correctly, which is exactly the kind of detail a developer needs to own.

The flip side is effort. A StartupSchwiiz comparison describes Datatrans as aimed at medium-to-large Swiss shops, tourism and hospitality, and merchants with in-house or agency development capacity. That matches the product’s shape.

Payment methods side by side

Both cover the methods Swiss shoppers expect. One naming detail is worth knowing: Datatrans documents that PostFinance Pay replaces PostFinance Card and E-Finance for new merchant IDs. Customers confirm payment by QR code or in the PostFinance app.

Criterion	PostFinance Checkout	Datatrans
Core Swiss methods	PostFinance Pay, TWINT, Visa, Mastercard	PostFinance Pay, TWINT, Visa, Mastercard
Wallets	Apple Pay, Google Pay, Click to Pay	Apple Pay, Google Pay among 40+ methods
Other methods	Amex, Diners, JCB, UnionPay, PayPal, Powerpay, invoice/eBill or QR-bill, depending on partner	More than 40 methods overall
Acquirers	Via PostFinance (All-in-One) or per-partner contracts (Flex)	More than 20 acquirers
Currencies	Not stated in the sources reviewed	135+
Contract model	One contract (All-in-One) or one per partner (Flex)	Plan plus separate acquiring
Mobile SDKs	Plug-ins and REST web services	iOS and Android SDKs

If your shop sells mainly in Switzerland in francs and the four core methods are enough, the table shows little difference in what customers see. The difference lies behind the checkout.

Fees and contract terms

Fees are where readers most often compare apples with oranges, so read this section slowly.

PostFinance Checkout. The current starter package for Swiss shops with annual turnover up to CHF 200,000 includes Visa, Mastercard, PostFinance Pay, TWINT, Apple Pay and Click to Pay. It costs a one-off CHF 199 to set up, CHF 14.90 per month, and 2.5% per transaction with a CHF 0.20 minimum. Because it is a bundle, the acquiring side is inside that rate.

PostFinance’s fee sheet from April 2025 lists optional extras: Support Plus at CHF 69.90 per month, accounting booking entries at CHF 0.02 each, chargebacks at CHF 35 per case, and CHF 6.90 per month per space from the third onward. Cancellation is monthly, by the next billing run, so you are not locked in for a year.

Datatrans. The pricing page lists Scale Now at EUR 20 per month plus EUR 0.25 per transaction. It also states that acquiring is priced separately and that individual offers are available. So the total cost is the Datatrans fee plus whatever your acquirers charge, and the interchange and scheme fees behind card payments are in the second part.

A worked comparison shows why a headline rate misleads. For a CHF 100 order on PostFinance’s starter package, the transaction charge is CHF 2.50, all-in. On Datatrans, the gateway part is EUR 0.25, and the acquiring part depends on your contracts and card mix. The Datatrans route can end up cheaper at volume, because negotiated acquiring rates beat a fixed 2.5%, or dearer at low volume once monthly fees add up. At small volume the bundle is predictable. At high volume, a custom quote is usually the better deal. That is a reasoning aid, not a quote: ask each provider to price your actual monthly turnover and average basket.

The prices above come from each provider’s own pages and can change, so check them before deciding. If you are a new business with no card history, expect underwriting questions from any acquirer. Guides to merchant accounts for new businesses explain what that process looks like when you have no track record.

Support and reliability

Support depth at Datatrans scales with the plan. Per its pricing page, Get Started includes email support, Scale Now adds telephone support Monday to Friday, and Enterprise offers 24/7 support with an SLA. If payments are your lifeline outside office hours, for instance a ticketing or hospitality business, that tier difference matters more than the monthly fee.

PostFinance sells Support Plus as a paid option. Whichever you pick, find out what response time you get and who answers, because a failed payment on a Friday evening is a revenue problem, not a technical one.

Which one fits which business

PostFinance Checkout fits when:

• You run a small or mid-sized shop on a standard platform and want to be live quickly.
• You want one contract and one bill for the main Swiss methods.
• You have no developer on hand and prefer a plug-in.
• Your annual turnover sits under CHF 200,000 and the starter package applies.

Datatrans fits when:

• You sell in many currencies or markets, or want to route payments across acquirers.
• You need subscriptions, one-click checkout or marketplace payouts.
• You have a mobile app that must take payments natively.
• You want a checkout designed to your own brand, built by your team or an agency.

A mixed case is common: a shop starts on a bundled package and outgrows it when it adds an app, a second country or recurring billing. Choose with that path in mind. Moving PSPs later means re-testing every payment flow, refunds, and saved-card tokens, and tokens may not move over without work, so ask each provider how migration works before you commit.

Questions to answer before you sign

1. What is your monthly turnover and average basket? Use them to get a written all-in quote from each.
2. Which methods do your customers actually use? If it is TWINT, PostFinance Pay and cards, you may not need 40 methods.
3. Do you need recurring payments or saved cards? If so, confirm tokenization is in your plan.
4. Who will integrate? A plug-in is a few hours of work, while a custom API build is a project with testing, 3-D Secure data handling and refund flows.
5. What happens when something fails? Check support hours and escalation.
6. How easy is it to leave? PostFinance cancels monthly, and you should ask Datatrans for its terms in the offer.

Where a studio helps

The gateway choice is the easy part. The harder part is connecting it cleanly to your shop, your ERP, your accounting and your order flow, then keeping it working when rules change. That is the work we do at Ampersand: senior engineers from the first conversation to handover, building custom checkouts, system integrations and API connections for shops, CRM and ERP. If you are weighing a custom Datatrans integration or migrating from another PSP, look at our services and plans. The page lists, among others, a Run & monitor plan at CHF 750 per month. You can also see examples of our work before you get in touch.

FAQ

Is PostFinance Checkout cheaper than Datatrans?

For a small shop, usually the bundled package is easier to predict: CHF 14.90 per month plus 2.5% per transaction on the starter package. Datatrans lists EUR 20 per month and EUR 0.25 per transaction on Scale Now, but acquiring is priced on top. At higher volumes the Datatrans route can come out cheaper, so ask both for a quote on your own numbers.

Can I accept TWINT and PostFinance Pay with both?

Yes. PostFinance Checkout All-in-One includes TWINT and PostFinance Pay under one contract, and Datatrans documents both among its supported methods. Check that the method is active in your specific plan before launch.

Which one is better for subscriptions?

Datatrans documents merchant-initiated payments, aliases and recurring processing in detail, and its higher plans include tokenization. PostFinance Checkout can suit simple setups, but if recurring billing is central to your business, test it with both providers before committing.

Do I need a developer?

For PostFinance Checkout on a standard platform, usually not, as plug-ins exist for shops such as Shopify. For Datatrans, a developer or agency is advisable if you want custom checkout, SDKs or marketplace payouts.

Sources

• Payment service providers, Swiss SME portal
• PostFinance Checkout: collect payments in your online shop
• PostFinance: questions about Checkout Flex and All-in-One
• PostFinance Checkout documentation
• PostFinance fee sheet, E-com bundle and Checkout Flex
• Datatrans from Planet, scalable online payments
• Datatrans pricing
• Datatrans documentation: payment methods
• Datatrans documentation: payment process
• Datatrans documentation: alias
• Datatrans documentation: marketplace payments
• Datatrans documentation: 3D Secure
• StartupSchwiiz: payment solutions for Swiss businesses