Rule Priority: Product vs. Category vs. Tag

Payment Gateway Per Product evaluates rules at three levels — product, category, and tag — and intersects them. There is no simple "product overrides category" hierarchy; all applicable rules are active simultaneously and combined.

How the three levels combine

For any given product in the cart, the plugin collects:

1. The product-level rule (if any rule is set on that product).
2. The category-level rule (if the product's category has a rule).
3. The tag-level rule (if any of the product's tags have a rule).

All collected rules are then intersected. Only gateways present in every applicable rule are kept.

What if a level has no rule?

If a level has no rule assigned, it contributes no restriction — meaning it doesn't narrow the intersection. Effectively, a "no rule" level is treated as "all gateways allowed" for that level.

Example:

• Product rule: PayPal, Stripe, Bank Transfer (product has an explicit rule)
• Category rule: (none — no rule set on the category)
• Tag rule: Stripe, Bank Transfer (tag has a rule)

Result: Stripe and Bank Transfer (intersection of the product rule and the tag rule; category contributes no restriction).

Using product-level rules as exceptions

Because all levels are intersected, you can use a product-level rule to tighten what a category allows — not to override it entirely. For example:

• Category allows: PayPal, Stripe, Bank Transfer
• Product-level rule: PayPal only
• Result: PayPal only at checkout for this product

If you need a product to behave as if it has no restriction at all (ignoring category/tag rules), you'd need to either remove those category/tag rules or ensure all desired gateways appear in all active rule sets.

Troubleshooting unexpected gateway combinations

If checkout shows an unexpected set of gateways, work through each level:

1. Check the product's own Payment Gateways panel.
2. Check the rules on each of the product's categories.
3. Check the rules on each of the product's tags.
4. Intersect all three sets manually — the result should match what checkout shows.