Merchant Acquiring Contracts

Accepting payments from credit and debit cards is critical for many businesses.

There are only a small number of acquiring banks and for many smaller organizations, it is more cost effective to contract through a third party payment service provider . 

Acquiring banks include:

• Barclaycard
• FIS
• Worldpay
• Elavon
• Lloyds Cardnet
• Global Payments
• First Data
• AIB

For larger merchants

If you have a significant amount of credit/debit card turnover, you may be surprised to know that the acquiring banks are willing to negotiate their acquiring contracts with customers. 

We have negotiated contracts with most of the acquirers commonly operating in the UK and are ready to support you if and when required. 

For smaller merchants

Whilst less likely that an acquiring bank will be willing to negotiate its standard terms and conditions, it is important to enter into such arrangements “eyes open” and so we offer a high level review of key concerning legal issues. 

Even smaller merchants have, on the back of such reviews, managed to obtain some concessions from the acquiring banks. 

Some areas to be aware of in merchant acquiring contracts:

• Understanding fees
  Merchants should be aware of all fees associated with the contract, including transaction fees, monthly fees, and any additional charges. It is important to compare these fees with those offered by other acquiring banks to ensure competitive pricing.
• Chargebacks & excessive chargeback merchants
  Merchants need to understand how and when it may be hit with chargebacks, how to deal with them and avoid becoming an excessive chargeback merchant and being subjected to higher acquiring fees.
• Compliance requirements
  Ensuring compliance with industry standards, such as PCI DSS, is crucial for maintaining the security of electronic payment transactions. Merchants should verify that the acquiring bank provides adequate support for meeting these compliance requirements and understand what its own obligations are, particularly if it is separately providing PoS hardware (or ePoS payment layers) from another third party. The latest details regarding PCI DSS can be found here →
• Service levels and consequences of failures
  The contract should include clear SLAs that outline the expected performance and reliability of the acquiring bank's services. This includes the timeframes for processing transactions and resolving any issues that may arise.
• Suspension rights
  Merchants should understand the conditions under which the contract can be suspended by the acquirer.
• Termination clauses
  Merchants should understand the conditions under which the contract can be terminated by either party. This includes any penalties or fees associated with early termination.