Acquirer (Acquiring Bank)

An acquirer, or acquiring bank, is the financial institution that processes card payments on behalf of a merchant. It connects to the card schemes (e.g. Visa, Mastercard) to authorise, collect, and settle funds from customers’ issuing banks.

The acquirer effectively enables businesses to accept debit and credit card payments, whether online, in-store, or via mobile. They also handle chargebacks, settlement timing, and compliance with payment security standards (like PCI DSS).

Example:

A café uses Barclaycard as its acquirer. When a customer pays by card, Barclaycard routes the transaction through Visa, collects the funds from the customer’s bank, and deposits them into the café’s merchant account (minus fees).

Used in:

Merchant services, payment processing, and card acceptance infrastructure.