An acquirer is a financial institution or payment provider that enables a merchant to accept card payments and routes transactions between the merchant and the card network. It is also called a merchant acquirer or acquiring bank.
What does an acquirer do?
The acquirer receives a transaction from the merchant or payment gateway, sends it through the relevant card network to the issuer, returns the response and helps settle approved transactions to the merchant.
Acquirer versus issuer
The acquirer serves the merchant side of a card transaction. The issuer provides the card or account to the customer and decides whether to approve the payment based on funds, credentials and risk controls.
How does the acquirer get paid?
Merchant pricing may include an acquiring margin, processing fees and other charges in addition to interchange and card-network assessments. The contract should show which amounts are pass-through costs and which are provider charges.
What risks does the acquirer manage?
Acquirers monitor fraud, chargebacks, prohibited activity, merchant solvency and compliance with card-scheme rules. They may apply reserves, settlement delays or processing limits when exposure increases.
What should a merchant verify?
Review supported countries, currencies and card types; settlement timing; reserve terms; chargeback handling; reporting; data portability; and what happens to pending funds if the relationship ends.
