GUARDIAN
Take control of your authorization rates
Guardian gives you the tokenized foundation to route intelligently, detect fraud natively, and monitor every transaction in real time.
THE PROBLEM
Your single-PSP setup has a ceiling.
When one provider handles everything, you lose the granular control that separates good payment operations from great ones.
No acquirer competition
Blind optimization
Fragmented fraud stack
Composable Payment Architecture
Four modules. Total control.
Guardian is the tokenized foundation.
Compose it with Hub, Specter, and Pulse to build a payment stack optimized for your KPIs.
Guardian
Vault & Tokenization
Hub
Smart Routing
Specter
Fraud Intelligence
Pulse
Observability
Each module works independently or together. Start with Guardian for
tokenization, then compose Hub, Specter, and Pulse as your needs grow.
See how Guardian can transform your payment operations.
Capabilities
Every lever. One platform.
Guardian combined with the CPA gives you the tools to optimize authorization rates, reduce fraud, and monitor everything.
Multi-acquirer routing
Routing decision tree illustration
Native fraud scoring
Routing decision tree illustration
Real-time payment observability
97.3%
Auth rate
0.12%
Chargeback Rate
23ms
Median latency
Network Token lifecycle
Dynamic cryptograms from Visa and Mastercard boost issuer trust. Account Updater automatically refreshes expiring credentials, protecting subscription revenue from silent churn.
True data sovereignty
Use Cases
Built for your payment challenges.
Guardian serves as the secure foundation for the payment operations that matter most to your business.
Multi-acquirer routing
Optimize globally by routing to the best acquirer per market.
Route by region, BIN, card type
Failover between processors
A/B test acquirer performance
Subscription protection
Eliminate involuntary churn from expiring card credentials.
Auto-refresh via Account Updater
Network Token lifecycle
Zero customer intervention
Marketplace payments
Secure multi-party payment flows for complex marketplace models.
Tokenize across sellers
PCI descoping for platform
Route per-seller to optimal PSP
Trusted by enterprise payment teams
"By moving to Guardian's token vault,
we finally took back control of our customers' payment credentials.
We're now able to keep cards on file automatically updated behind the scenes,
and we have the total freedom to steer our
payment flows directly to our preferred gateways."
Head of Payments
at a high-volume European merchant
OPERATIONAL COMPARISON
More control. Better outcomes.
How Guardian and Hellgate Cloud Platform compares to monolithic PSPs on the KPIs that drive your payment strategy.
Operational Factor
Monolithic PSP
Hellgate Guardian
Acquirer routing
Single processor. No ability to A/B test or failover between acquirers.
Route by region, BIN, card type, or cost. Automatic failover via Hub orchestration.
Auth rate optimization
Dependent on PSP's internal optimization. No independent benchmarking.
Network Tokens with dynamic cryptograms increase issuer trust. Account Updater prevents silent declines.
Fraud intelligence
Bundled fraud tools. Limited to what the PSP offers. Adding external engines expands PCI scope.
Native Specter integration with Visa Decision Manager. Real-time scoring without exposing raw data.
Payment observability
PSP-reported dashboards. No independent event streaming or anomaly detection.
Pulse streams real-time events across the full flow. Independent anomaly detection and performance tracking.
Vendor independence
Proprietary tokens. Migration requires customer re-entry of card details.
Universal tokens belong to you. Move volume to any acquirer without customer intervention.
Credential lifecycle
Basic updater services. Inconsistent coverage across card networks.
Visa + Mastercard Account Updater with automatic fallback from Network Tokens to vault tokens.
"Monolithic PSP" reflects common limitations of bundled payment platforms. Hellgate CPA capabilities per developer.hellgate.io
AGENTIC COMMERCE READY
When agents start transacting, your controls still apply.
AI-initiated payments flow through the same Guardian vault, Hub routing, Specter fraud scoring, and Pulse observability as human-initiated transactions. No control gaps.
Side-by-side flow comparison: human checkout and AI
agent both converging into the same CPA pipeline
(Guardian > Hub > Specter > Pulse). Identical controls,
different initiation point.
Today
Human commerce
Emerging
Hybrid flows
Next
Autonomous agents
Routing rules persist
Agent transactions follow the same Hub routing logic. Cost-based, region-based, and performance-based rules apply automatically.
Fraud controls hold
Specter scores every transaction identically, regardless of whether a human or agent initiated it. No gaps in fraud coverage.
Full observability
Pulse streams agent-initiated events into the same dashboards. Track auth rates, anomalies, and performance across all transaction types.
Walk through Hellgate Cloud Platform with our product team.
We'll map Guardian to your payment stack and
show you exactly where it drives impact.
PRICING
Scale on your terms
Our usage-based pricing is built for growth
- with no hidden fees, no surprises, and no friction.
Playground
0.28 EUR
per hour
5000 tokens
Development Tier
SAQ/A, A-EP, D
Single node
EU region only
Network Token support
DAuth Support
DEV
Hello World
0.56 EUR
per hour
Unlimited Tokens
Production Tier
SAQ/A
Single node
EU region only
S
Go Live
1,000 EUR
per month
Everything in "Hello World" Plan
Cluster M
EU and US region
Network Token support ¹
M
Think Global
5,800 EUR
per month
Everything in "Go Live" Plan
SAQ/A, D
Cluster L
All regions
Network Token support ²
L
Think Big
12,500 EUR
per month
Everything in "Think Global" plan
SAQ/A, D, RoC
Cluster XL
High Availability
Network Token support 3
XL
God Mode
Contact us
Everything in "Think Big" Plan
Cluster XXL
DAuth Support
Extension Support
Network Token support 4
XXL
ADD-ONS
Add-on Services
Enabling efficient orchestration, expanding merchant access, and powering embedded finance models.
Network Tokens
Manages lifecycle of network tokens (Visa, Mastercard, etc.)
Enables secure token provisioning and refreshing
Enables processing over different PSPs and Acquirers
Optional fallback for PAN vaulting
Build modern, user-friendly authentication flows aligned with PSD2 and beyond with delegated authentication
Account Updater
Keeps stored CHD actual and refreshes if needed
Reduces transaction failures through expired, replaced, reissued CHD
Is integrated with VISA (Account Updater) and Mastercard (Automatic Billing Updater)
Improves authorization rates
Improves customer retention, esp. for loyalty programs and recurring billings
Identification and Verification for Tokens
Fully compliant with EMV 3DS 2.x protocol
Supports both frictionless and challenge flows
Designed for seamless use across multiple PSPs and Acquirers
Compatible with PSD2/SCA and global authentication mandates
Card Metadata Service
Provides Card Metadata, like Issuer, BIN, and country
Delivers card types, scheme affiliation and feature flags
Provides the fuel to improve routing scenarios and customer analytics
Can Guardian be standalone?
Yes. Independent of Hub/Commerce.
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How do network tokens help?
Reduce declines, mitigate fraud, and keep subscriptions alive.
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Does Guardian only handle cards?
Primarily, but can vault other sensitive data (PII, GDPR).
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Can I migrate tokens into Guardian?
Yes. Migration flows are supported.
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BOOK A DEMO
Walk through the Hellgate Cloud Platform with our product team. We'll map Guardian to your payment stack and show you exactly
where it drives impact.
