An acquirer – also called a merchant acquirer – is a company that provides services which enable businesses to accept payments with cards and other cashless payment services. Merchants like supermarkets, restaurants, and hotels use the services provided by acquirers in order to accept payments made with cards and other non-cash payment methods.
Acquirers typically offer the following services:
- The supply or lease of point-of-sale terminals to merchants.
- The transfer of card information to card issuers for verification.
- The transfer of money from the card issuer to the merchant.
- Providing customer service to merchants.
- The processing of disputes by customers passed on to the acquirer by card issuers.
Payment methods that can be processed by Acquirers include:
- Credit cards from Mastercard, Visa, American Express, and Diners Club.
- Debit cards like the Debit Mastercard, Visa Debit, Postfinance Card, and Maestro.
- Mobile payment services like Twint.
- Voucher-based payment methods like the cards from Reka and Lunch Check.
- Credit cards and debit cards that are not widely issued in Switzerland, including JCB (Japan), Unionpay (China), and Discover (United States).
- Mobile payment services that are not widely used in Switzerland, including Alipay (China) and Wechat Pay (China).
- Cryptocurrencies like bitcoin.
Which payment methods can be accepted varies between merchant acquirers. In some cases, merchants have to specifically request certain payment methods.
In exchange for the services they provide, acquirers charge merchants a fee called the Merchant Service Charge (MSC). This fee applies to every transaction. The acquirer also charges the interchange fee and passes it on to the issuer of the customer’s card.
The biggest merchant acquirer in Switzerland is Worldline (previously SIX Payment Service and Payone). Another major acquirer is Nexi (formerly Nets, Concardis, CCV). Sumup, a foreign acquirer, is popular among smaller merchants.
More on this topic:
How to accept card payments in Switzerland
