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A lot of mobile wallet apps are using QR codes in a transaction. Does the fund go through a payment gateway upon scanning the QR codes in a transaction? Is mobile wallet app getting a merchant account from the available payment gateway that the app uses and issue sub-meechant IDs to the sub-merchants? So that the funds will go to the gateway first, then into master merchsnt(mobile wallet app) and finally to the sub-merchants(eg. Restaurants/stores)
The essence of a mobile wallet is to allow one party to make a payment to another party. There is no need for a payment gateway in order to allow one wallet user to pay some amount to another wallet user.
However, any wallet has an “entry point” and an “exit point”. I.e., the wallet itself does not generate funds, so they have to come from somewhere. In order to use the funds from the wallet, you need to somehow get them out of the wallet. Consequently, a wallet should be connected to the financial/bank system and the wallet.
In theory, you could make a wallet that could accept bank transfers and deposit funds itself. In such a case you do not need a merchant account and a gateway. Otherwise, you do need both.
There are two processes that your question touches upon: payments and funding of the wallet.
If you have a portfolio of sub-merchants, they get payments through wallets (and not through credit cards). The wallet owner opens a merchant account in order to let other entities “refill” the wallet through credit card transactions. However, businesses that sell their products and services through the wallet (sub-merchants) do not need to have accounts themselves (as they do not handle card transactions).
In some countries, such as USA, there is a special legislation, that requires you to check third parties before any funds are transfered to them. Such checks are very similar to those merchant applicants have to go through before getting their merchant accounts.
So, technically, every sub-merchant does not need an account. But in order to be able to accept payments, they have to go through quite rigorous verification process.
To summarize: sub-merchants can withdraw money from the wallet only if they are registered within the wallet. Before the wallet can “pay” to these sub-merchants, they have to go through verification process which is similar to the process you have to go through to get an actual credit card merchant account.
