> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.archefusion.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Introduction

> Welcome to the Archefusion API documentation

Archefusion is a payment orchestration platform that enables businesses to accept payments through multiple payment gateways (Paystack, Flutterwave, Monnify, etc.) with a single integration.

It smartly routes each transaction to the best available payment gateway to reduce payment failures, tracks transactions, and provides detailed reports to inform business decisions, without holding funds at any point in the payment process.

## How payments flow with Archefusion

Here is how payment flows when you integrate into the Archefusion platform:

<Steps>
  <Step title="Step 1">
    Customers click the pay button to initiate a payment.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Step 2">
    Archefusion uses smart routing to determine the best available gateway to process the payment based on your predefined rules and live provider health data.

    For example, if Paystack is down, Archefusion automatically routes to Flutterwave instead, so your customers always reach a working checkout page.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Step 3">
    Archefusion redirects the customer to the selected gateway’s checkout page.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Step 4">
    Customer completes the payment on the checkout page.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Step 5">
    Archefusion sends a notification with the payment outcome to your server and updates your dashboard.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Step 6">
    You view transaction history and payment gateway performance metrics through a dashboard.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Note>
  Archefusion ensures every payment is routed to the best available gateway. However, if a payment fails on the checkout page, for example, due to insufficient funds or a declined card, it is marked as failed. This is outside Archefusion's control.
</Note>

## Payment gateway vs. Payment orchestrator platform

As a merchant, accepting payments through a single gateway creates a single point of failure.
This means that if a payment gateway like Flutterwave suddenly experiences downtime for any reason, your customers will be unable to make payments, which is a lost sale you might never get back.

A Payment orchestrator platform like Archefusion provides a simplified way to accept payments via multiple payment gateways with a single integration. If a payment gateway experiences downtime, it automatically fails over to another gateway based on your [smart routing rules](https://docs.archefusion.com/pages/smart-routing), reducing payment failures.

Here is a more detailed comparison between a payment gateway and an orchestrator

| Feature                                       | Payment gateway                                                                                             | Payment orchestrator (Archefusion)                                                                                                                    |
| --------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Payment routing                               | Routes payment through a single payment gateway                                                             | Dynamically routes each payment through the best available payment gateway based on your smart routing rules and live provider health data.           |
| Handling gateway downtime                     | If the gateway experiences downtime, the payment fails entirely.                                            | Automatically routes to the best available gateway based on live health data and your smart routing rules, ensuring uninterrupted payment processing. |
| Geographical payments                         | May offer limited local payment methods, leading to higher fees in specific regions                         | Covers multiple payment gateways with multiple local payment methods, giving you access to better rates for specific regions                          |
| Multiple payment gateway integration          | Complex to independently integrate and manage multiple payment gateways                                     | Simple to integrate and manage multiple payment gateways through a single integration                                                                 |
| Multiple payment gateway transaction analysis | The transaction data is separated across each payment gateway, making it challenging to view how cash flows | The transaction data is displayed in a unified dashboard to streamline reconciliation, manage varying settlement timelines, and view how cash flows   |

## What it means for you

Choosing Archefusion as your payment orchestrator platform means that:

* Your customers experience fewer payment failures, and your conversions increase.

* You accept payments across various regions via gateways that support local payment methods.

* You integrate multiple payment gateways with less complexity.

* You get a comprehensive report on gateway performance, refunds, failure reasons, and other metrics to make informed decisions.

<Card title="Quickstart" icon="rocket" href="https://docs.Archefusion.com/pages/quickstart-guide">
  Launch in minutes.
</Card>